Question about 3 inch lift...

part of what he is saying has some truth. when you lift your truck 3 inches, you basically are losing 3" of downtravel or droop. when he says 4" he is referring to a drop bracket lift. drop bracket lifts will maintain the stock suspension geometry, but they are more expensive and if you are 4wd I believe it involves cutting the crossmember. if you really want to go 3" and you don't want limited downtravel then go with a extended travel adjustable coilover and aftermarket upper control arms. that will help get some lost downtravel back, but now for a complete kit your in the $2000 dollar range. if you want to be more in the $1000 range and still want a quality setup there are plenty of options, like a full old man emu kit, or one of toytecs kits.
I am running a full OME kit right now with light racing upper control arms, its a good setup. but I am switching to Icon extended travel coilovers soon.

 

So just purchase something with matching shocks in front and rear. Coilovers in the front and leafs in the back??? Anything else im missing? Thats pretty basic right? What brands do yall recommend???

 

Full 3" OME lift with Dakars springs (not add a leaf) in the back. I believe mine was $1382 shipped from Toytec so with you being in NY it should be around that. Don't bother with the front diff drop, it doesn't do anything on 2nd gens. Get the carrier bearing drop. My price included the diff drop so yours will be a little less than mine. I also went with LR UCA's at the same time so the shop could align everything with no issues they were $375 on a group buy on here. I'm running 285/75/16 Nitto Terra Grapplers on stock off road wheels. The drivers side rubs a little on the UCA at full lock to the right. Other than that I don't rub anywhere else on the road. At full droop the tire will contact the UCA. I have 1.25" spacers but haven't put them on yet. When you do that you will have to do the cab mount chop because you are increasing the turning radius of the front wheels causing them to contact the cab mount. My alignment came out perfect and the truck drives and rides like it should instead of a cadillac. I hated the way the truck road stock. Don't forget if you order from toytec to ask for your TW discount. I haven't had one problem with my truck since the lift was installed at 2 months old and 6000 miles. It has 37,000 on it now and no problems whatsoever. With 285's you will have to take your front mud flaps off too.

 

Thats alot of useful info man. Thank you. Thanks everyone actually. I'm still learning this stuff? What are some good extended travel coil overs? Brand wise. An old man emu is just like i was saying right???? and also, is that a brand or a style. Just curious. still learning this stuff, but researching alot

 

This is the OMU kit. I forgot to add I also had Toytec assemble mine so it was basically a bolt on setup when it arrived. Best $100 spent and they supply all the components needed to assemble them instead of you having to take your stock parts off and reuse them.

OME Kit

 

old man emu is a brand, made by ARB, a reputable offroad company based out of Australia. if you are thinking about some nice high end coilovers check out this build your own midtravel package or if you are interested in OME heres a good price DSM, pair that with some light racing upper control arms (buy through headstrong offroad) and you will be good to go. you can also do a add a leaf in the rear instead off a whole new leaf pack to save a few hundred bucks off of the complete OME kit.

also I would recommend, before making any purchases, use this forum to your advantage. Take some time and search around and you will find answers to a lot of questions that come with lifting your truck, take a look at some builds and get a good idea of exactly what you want and what it will take to get it. you will find that the more you learn getting started, the more questions you will have. there is almost to much information that you should know for someone to condense into one post or even one thread. you can even go real basic, do bilstein 5100s with stock coils and a add aleaf, get around 3" of lift, and not break the bank. maybe talk to a vendor on here, like toytec, downsouth motorsports or wheelers offroad, they might be able to help with your decision. but again, do some research so you have a good idea of what you want

 

X2

 

This is the OME (old man emu) lift kit with an add a leaf (aal)

Note the aal will make the rear ride really stiff

http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/OME-Tacoma-Suspension-lift-kit_p_231.html


These are Icon coil overs. Many people, including myself, on here have them and love them. These are also rebuildable like most coil overs of this kind

http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/Front-ICON-Coil-Overs-for-05-UP-Tacoma-03-UP-4Runner_p_176.html


These are the rear OME Dakar leaf packs. They give lift in the back and ride a hell of a lot better than a AAL

http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/OME-Rear-leaf-springs-2005-2010-Tacoma-SET_p_18.html

 

So I'm def going with dakar in the back for the ride. However, I'm curious of whether the high end coil overs are that much better than just regular bilstein 5100's or OME 884 coils???? Am I looking at a smoother ride or just more durability in case i wanted to do some damage off road???? Right now I'm leaning toward the OME Kit with the dakar in the back without the add a leaf...

 

The high end coilovers like icon, king, fox are rebuildable. Meaning when they start leaking oil or nitrogen and just getting old you can pull them out, rebuild them and put them back on. With the 5100's and OME you can't. And personally I like my icons really well. They have an awesome ride. And they are fully adjustable so you can preload the spring and get how ever much lift you want and you can get them in an extended version to give you a little more droop.

 

How much did yours run you?

 

If your driving in and out of the city on those shitty pot hole infested hi ways a nice coilover might be worth it lol. I drove into manhattan not long ago and was wishing i had a nicer setup than OME. And old man emu or bilstein setup is nice, but my experience, i want a nicer ride on and off road so i am upgrading to Icons. Dont get me wrong OME is a great suspension, i just want more downtravel and the ability to adjust the ride height, and something that handles bumps at high speed better. Alot of people love their old man emu and bilstein setups, but if i could do it all over again i would go with something better from the start.

 

Yea that is why I was wondering; the highways here seem to have meteor craters in the road. I noticed though that on the down south motors website they have regular and extended icons, but they seem to be only 2.5 max. Do those extend out to three maybe??

 

So when you upgrade would you keep the Dakar leaf pack as it is and just upgrade the front coilovers and rear shocks to Icons for that better ride that you want?

 

You might want to check out some other shops...

 

Are you looking at the diameter of 2.5 perhaps? Also you have to remember the more you preload your coils to get more lift the stiffer the ride will be.

 

The reason i want 3 inches is so i can fit 285/75r16 tires. otherwise from what i understand the max is 265/75r16's...

 

I'm also guessing thats why the extended coilovers are better too. The more droop the softer ride???

 

Whatsup erick! Im just going to upgrade the front for now, then down the road i will be upgrading the rear. I plan on keeping the dakars but going with Icon shocks, and i am thinking about plans for a mid-travel rear (shock mount relocation, shackle flip kit) so i can run a 12" stroke shock.

 

Thats the diameter of the shock. Icons are adjustable from 0-3.5". And you dont necesarily need 3" to clear 285s. There will most likely be some trimming needed for 285s even with a 3" lift, you might just have to cut a little more if you dont have a full 3" lift. Dont let me talk you into high end coilovers if you dont think you need them, because old man emu is a great setup.

Not necessarily softer, but smoother. Especially when hitting bumps or potholes at high speed