Will this combination work

Hey! This place looks pretty knowledgeable so I figured I'd stop by and check with the experts before I spent some $$$. I've been a gear head for most of my life, and mostly dealing with mustangs. Among others in the stable, is an '03 Mach 1, and an '87 LX 5.0 that I race in the NASA Central region.

What brings me here today is one of my brothers, who's not proficient with tools at all, wants me to modify his 2013 Tacoma, extended cab 4x4 for him. He mostly does mall crawling so I convinced him not to do anything crazy. Knowing him, and interpreting what he's telling me, he's looking for 2.5-3" of lift, stock driving feel, and no issues with U/CV joints. I tried to do my research before hand and come up with a good combination. So far I've come up with:

http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/OME-Tacoma-Suspension-lift-kit_p_231.html
885 springs, no spacers, and no stone guards

He would like these wheels
http://www.autoanything.com/wheels-rims/american-racing-atx-series-ax185-crawl-wheels
I selected 17x8's, 6 x 5.5" bolt pattern, with no offset

and for tires

$219+ Firestone Destination A/T Tires

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...hite Letters&partnum=87TR7DESTATOWL&tab=Sizes

285/70-R17


I'm just wanting to double check with you guys that this combination will not cause any issues. I've heard mixed reports that the front tires will contact the upper control arms or fender liners when you turn sharply. I wouldn't have an issue if it was my vehicle, but I know he's going to get real nervous if I crawl under there with an angle grinder or sawzall. However, most of those reports have been with guys still running stock wheels so I was unsure if that issue when away with the 0mm offset of the aftermarket wheels or not. Also, the OME lift seems to have a positive report on this forum, but just to double check, this will not cause any other drive line issues, correct?

Thanks for your time guys.

Edit: Results are on page 2!

 

Curious to see what the responses are for this, as I am interested in the same setup with a little difference in wheels

 

I have the OME kit and I love it. Great ride on and off road.

Couple things I would recommend:

Ditch the diff drop; does absolutely nothing for 2nd gens. If you REALLY want one, pay shipping and I will send you mine. Brand new in box never installed and never will be.

I would also get a carrier bearing drop kit: Anything over 2.5" of lift it is highly recommended that you get new UCAs. This will help get the the truck in spec for an alignment. Could you get it aligned without new UCAs? Sure. Some have and some haven't. I did mine right away because it was all coming apart anyways. Might as well do it once and do it right. Just my .02.

I have aftermarket wheels (16x8 with 4.5" backspacing on 285's) and I still had to trim the fender liner, ditch the mud flaps, do a cab mount chop, and still have to do some more trimming and flatten the pinch weld. But, if he's a mall crawler, he might only need to trim a tiny bit of inner fender well.

 

^^^ Responses like this are what make TW such a great place.

 

Thanks Chad

 

couldnt of said it better myself.....

Honestly id stick with something around the 265/75R16 size tire (what ever that translates to a 285).... you wont have to do any chopping or changing of things.

Also, at 2.5inches go with some light racing UCA's to get proper caster / camber numbers.

Also yup ditch the diff drop... it doesnt fix any thing and if you do get vibes from the front diff you need the ECGS front diff bushing regardless.

OME kit is a good kit.... but it sounds like it would be better off going with 5100's in all 4 corners, using stock coils set at like 1.75 and then just put a 2in aal in the rear. gonna be a solid 300 bucks cheaper.

 

what happens to stock CV's when lifted beyond 2 inches ? how much height can stock CV's go before lifetime is reduced ? my 4runner, it is bad mojo to go past 2 inches the CV's get explody beyond that, so they say...

 

Somebody might correct me, but I believe 2.5" is the threshold before things start imploding.

 

By extended cab do you mean the access cab? If so you will definitely want to get some UCA's. The 885 springs on an access cab give more lift than they would on a double cab so your stock UCA's will be more than maxed out.

Best to get them on while your front end is already taken apart.

 

Stick with a conventional ball joint uca over a uniball uca if low maintenance is desired.

 

that was on the older 1st gen tacoma's 3rd gen 4 runners, where a diff drop actually changed the CV angles...

hell at 2 in of lift my cv's are still close to flat.

 

All good advice. I put on Light Racing UCA's, once you have it all apart it's not that much more work. +$400, but highly recommended for that much lift. You'll need to get the alignment done at a shop that knows how to work with adjustable UCA's. There is a good chance they will say they can, then eff it up and you might end up visiting a couple shops before it's right. To install the new UCA's, you will very likely end up bending/grinding a seam in the chassis to remove the UCA bolts. Totally unseen but he will wonder what the eff you're pounding on under there.

I used a Pitman puller for the ball joints, well worth the investment and doesn't tear up the boots like forks.

I also installed (I think) that same Deaver AAL. The back end is bouncy compared to my Icon I's up front but it's settling out quickly.

The biggest thing you should consider though, is the potential for driveline vibrations. Many guys get them after a lift install. This is a rabbit hole of confusion. Some have no issues, some solve it with one of two available carrier bearing drops, some solve it with axle shims, some with a combination of both, with the ultimate solution being a custom one-piece driveshaft.

I'm dealing with this process right now. The truck remains very driveable, but it's a matter of buy a part, try something, order another part and wait a week, etc.

 

Great advice, thanks! Yeah, he really doesn't go off road much at all. I'm pretty sure I can convince him to let me do minor trimming. I just know he'll shit a brick if I pull out half the fender liner. haha

No diff drop, and look into carrier bearing shim kit. Got it.

He wants different wheels, that's why we're switching to 17's. Will 265s look alright on a 17 inch wheel? I know there's only 20mm difference between a 285 and a 265 but sometimes it's the little things that bring a look together.

Apologies for my ignorance, but I have no idea what you said here.

I'm not very familiar with the sub models. You tell me.

Hey, that's a plus!

I could turn this into a fun prank.

Hmmm... well drive line vibrations will not do. He won't be okay with that, nor will he know what to do.Do you have any links to the axle shims? I've already had one for the carrier bearing posted.


Thanks for all the responses guys. I really appreciate it.

 

Toyteclifts.com sells them too. By my research 3 degree is the one to get, make sure it's steel not aluminum.

 

I have that exact lift, except for my Dakar rear leaf pack, on my double cab and it rides like a log truck compared to stock. Probably due to the Dakars but I wanted the load carrying capacity for hauling wood and towing heavy stuff. The 885's gave me about 3" after settling and the dakars about 3.5". After the lift I had it aligned and they told me they couldn't get it to speck so I ordered light racing upper control arms and then realigned to speck. After a couple thousand miles I noticed vibrations in the gas pedal so I came here looking for an answer. Ended up ordering the eastcoastgearsupply.com front diff bushing and solved that problem. Then I noticed my driver side was leaning a bit so I ordered the top plate spacer for the front coil and fixed part of it, still have a driver side lean in the back.
All this and I still love my truck. I would love to afford an ARB bumper for the front to soften up the ride some, although some say 886 coils are required, I think I would be ok. If 884's still provide a lift you might look into them. I don't know how much trimming is required with this lift and 285's because I ran 285's with no lift for a while and trimmed as necessary then. Sorry for the long post. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for this tips!

Excellent post! Now I've got a plan B in place if things don't go well. Does anyone think I should switch to the 884 coils? I thought we needed to go with the 885's since he had a cattle guard on front. Nice looking truck too.

Also,

still looking for a translation for the above quote.

 

I didn't know his truck had a heavy bumper on the front. Since that's the case then definetly go with 885's. Some people say 886's but unless he's gonna put on a winch those would be too stiff.

 

Double cab with front plate bumper; could always go with 887 coils.

 

Wow, thanks for the explanation! It sounds like you just pieced together what the OME kit offers though. Why did you go that route?

Yeah, it's just a brush guard. Not a complete bumper replacement.

 

Okay, sounds like I need to price match and see what I can find!

Also just brainstorming here, lots of road race guys have put steering rack limiters on their cars in my class when running wide front tires to keep the tires/rims from hitting control arms and fender wells. Has anyone here tried that or does it decrease the turning radius on these trucks too much?