Lift and Level! How much am I looking at?

2011 4-cyl 4WD

How cheaply can I lift and level her?


I've been reading through this sub-forum the past few days and haven't been able to really narrow it down.

Having no prior knowledge of suspension, all of the different options are somewhat overwhelming (Although some of the stickies are super helpful).


Ideally, I'd like to take the front up ~3" (more if i can afford it)

and level the back (guessing 1.5" since I've read on here the rear sits 1.5 higher)






For your time: (not mine)

 

how cheap? well you get what you pay for. spacers and blocks would prolly be the cheapest, but your ride quality will be worse than stock and its not recommended for many reasons.

so do you want to do srs offroading or mostly on-road with occasional excursions or is it strictly for mall crawling? you can look at my build thread for what I did. not the cheapest route, but not the most expensive one either. for something that is worth having tho id ballpark it at 3k depending on what you end up buying.

anything over 3" is alot of $ and trouble to do on a taco.

those girls are blocking my view of the truck btw!

 

I can tell you the answer you will get from every single person on here. Billys.

 

Makes sense, I've seen a lot about them on here.


If I ordered the set, and went up 1" in the rear and 2.5" in the front, 1) would i need to modify anything? and 2) what kind of ride quality should i expect?

I like to drive through pit but pretty rarely. And anytime i have in this thing, it's been super conservatively because it's a lease. So i guess you could say mostly mall-crawling.

I honestly couldn't afford to come near $2k, let alone $3k, and am hoping to be able to do the install myself - both for the experience and so if i turn it in at the end of the lease i can quickly swap it back to stock.


PS: I know what you're saying about those girls being in the way. Looks like a pretty sexy taco too, it's a shame.

 

What truck???

 

You could do billies up front for about $200 if you install yourself. If you want to keep the stock ride quality you should do Maxtrac 4" spindles and wheelers 3-piece add a leaf in the rear. Gonna run you closer to 1K and you need to be decent at turning a wrench, but worth it on both accounts. You will need longer shocks in the rear though. In the rear I run the 3-piece AALs, with overload spring, with adapted 5125s. I've run spacers before and they kinda suck. Right now I've got lift coils and they give a pretty stiff ride. I'm gonna switch to lift spindles and some billy 5100s when I have the $$$

 

So are you saying I couldn't just do the 5100s in the front and rear, and sit level at 2.5" up in the front and 1" up in the rear?

 

well if its just a lease, I wouldnt do anything to it really.

tires alone will be half your budget there, which I assume you will want, cause theres not much point in lifting without getting larger tires imo.

but if your dead set on doing something, then your gonna be closer to 1.5-2" of lift up front, cause if you go much higher than that youll prolly need new uca's, which arent that cheap. prolly an AAL in the back tho.

I dont have this setup but for ride quality everything ive read suggests its around stock, give or take. I suggest you look thru the build threads on here and find one thats close of what you want and ask them about it.

 

hes a 4x4, you can only do spindle lifts on prerunners

also op, to lift the back you have to do something to the leaf springs, like put another leaf in em or a block or something like that.

 

I'm definitely searching. I just can't find any good pics/info on just the 4 billie 5100s all the way up at 2.5 and 1.0, and nothing else modified.

Why is that?

 

I set the billies to 2.5 and did nothing to the rear. Sits just about level. Cost me about $450 for the billies, the labor, and for the alignment.

 

Have you read this? If not I suggest you do before going much further.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/suspension/11282-tacoma-lift-faq-guide-read.html

 

Thanks. I have read through that OP, pretty informative. I didn't see anything about the billsteins 5100 at 2.5 front/1.0 rear though.

 

Didn't notice he was 4X4. Spindles are out. Although, if I remember correctly, there was someone designing lift spindles for 4X4s. Don't know if that ever came through, though.

It looks like for economy purposes it'll have to be billies up front at 1.75" and 1" blocks in the rear. Should be pretty cheap.

 

How are 1" rear blocks better than 1" rear billsteins?

 

You need to study a little more. Bilsteins in the back are only shocks. They cannot provide any lift. However, you must buy the right Bilstein shcok with the correct amount of travel for the lift you get. Otherwise, you can destroy the shocks if they top or bottom out.

The rear can be lifted by one of three means: block, add-a-leaf, or new leaf pack. Choose this, then select a shock. If you are not sure on the shocks, Downsouth Motor Sports or Wheeler's Offroad can advise you.

Blocks are cheap put provide sucky ride and will increase axle wrap. Add-a-leafs are a little more expensive, but if your rear leafs are already worn, they aren't recommended. New leaf pack is the best, and most expensive, quality lift you can get.

You get what you pay for.

 

And if you had read the first page of this link I sent you, you would already know this. We are trying to help you, so try to meet us halfway and pay attention.