OK, I am ready for judgement...

i ran 265/75r16 for a long time before i ever got a lift and had no rubbing... Why not just forget the lift if you are worried about vibes?

 

I wanted a lift so bad when I first got my truck. Did research, made threads, asked questions, but I never could do it. 5 years and 55k miles later and I still have no lift. I have yet to run into a situation where a mild lift would have helped me out of a jam. The fact that your truck is your DD makes me think you should just leave it. If I replace my shocks in 30k or so, I might go billies set to 0.85". Or maybe not. A friend has a truck like mine with a complete OME setup, ARB, Dakars...rides like a tractor. No thanks.

Here's my factory-height truck from last week at 11,000 feet in Colorado. The 265/75/r16s fill out the wells nicely and give me 1/2" or so of height on their own. Never needed more in 5 years of farm driving, hunting and random 17" snows.

 

Sounds like you and I have similar needs. I've been doing a ton of research on this lately too and still have no idea what's best. I've hit the limits of the stock suspension on some gnarly forest roads and have come to the conclusion I want more travel. I'm personally leaning towards the Icon stage 1 kit with upper control arms and an add a leaf or bags in the rear. I have the TSB spring pack and even with my topper and bed full of camping gear I have a decent rake.

I wonder if keeping the coil overs set around 2" and going with new UCAs would give me travel without potentially causing issues?

 

I have a factory extended travel lift. Since it is designed from the factory I had confidence I would have zero issues, and a great ride.

You don't need UCAs at 2" and under, though they can help provide extra droop. It is perfectly possible to mildly lift these trucks without issue, as many on this forum have done. Issues arise when you push the suspension outside of its designed operational range.

 

Thanks for the post. I really thought and am still thinking about no lift at all. But the issue here in NH is wheel travel because of the rocky class VI "roads". In the old un-modified 4-runner, travel was an issue at times. Even so, I made it a lot of places with that old 4-runner that most people wouldn't believe - with little to no damage to the truck. I still might go your route in the end. Maybe some one can educate me a bit more about travel....

 

I hear you - sounds like you're headed in the right direction. Lots of people put lifts on that reduce travel, as you probably know. Post up whatever you end up with!

 

Same. I didn't want to chance the lift. Just went with the larger tire and never had issues.

 

hi OP, i skipped all the rest of the posts after yours to give my 3 cents.... i ran an OME lift on my reg cab 4x4 that had a heavy bumper some sliders and a full cap. it rode pretty good other than the endless clunking up front due to having no down travel.. i know a lot of ppl here run OME and think it is the best thing ever. they just haven't experienced better, or should i say what you are looking for.. something simple that doesn't clunk like junk! when i went into an f150 4x4 reg cab short bed i upgraded to fox 2.0 adjustable coil overs and all i can say is wow, so much better than OME, no more clunking up front, was really really nice. as for the rear vibes you just need to order the axle shims and carrier bearing drop with your lift. if you are doing a full leaf pack just add the 2-3 deg shims right away, then see where you stand. i had zero vibes from my lift with these installed with the dakars... back to OME, the dakars rode great for me, they did squeak and annoy me sometimes though, then other times they were silent and perfect... humidity with high temps and dirt seemed to be a big factor to this. anyway i'm now into a jeep jk and running fox 2.0 shocks all around because i was so very impressed with their coil overs... don't settle on OME, for an extra few hundred bucks you can do a lot better and be much happier. now all that said the ome stuff isn't junk, but if i get back into a tacoma i will either spend the money on fox again or go cheaper and run bilstein/eibach up front... fyi the fox 2.0's come with eibach coils..

 

This is not my pic, but these are the kind of NH roads I encounter (this is an extreme one, but still...):

 

that 2.5 inches of ground clearance from a decent little lift is a monster difference if you are wheeling, or even just trying to get to your favourite fishing/camping spot... even a 2 inch lift with 255's gives you a solid 3-3.5 inches of clearance that can save all kinds of things..... and looks good while doing it.

 

that is NOT, i repeat, NOT stock taco 126+ inch wheelbase friendly!! but does look fun

 

I did these sorts of roads in my old stock 4-runner...very...very...slowly...lol

Maybe not that bad now that I look again...but rough enough...lol

 

ya it had better clearance and a shorter wheelbase! do a fox front lift with either an add a leaf or full pack and some proper extended travel rear shocks and you will be happy. when doing the rear shocks don't just buy what ppl say if for your truck/lift. research your compressed and extended lengths. for example the OME rear shocks are not even 2 inches longer than stock, not much good for a 3 inch lift imo... for example i ran sky jacker H7045 rear shocks, an inch longer than OME at less than half the price.. paired with my dakars, the ride was surprisingly good for budget shocks... but there's no cheaping out up front...

 

I'd go with aftermarket UCAs, and a full replacement leaf pack. I have camburgs and Dakars.

Pick a brand for shocks: Icon/fox/king. Give wheelers off-road or down shout motorsports a call, both are well regarded here.

Good luck,
AE

 

I feel sorry for your spouse then. You owe it to your spouse to be the best lookin' dude you're able to be in my opinion.

Vibrations - I have noticed lately a slight vibe in the gas pedal itself at low speeds when I first start going. But pretty minor though. I've got about 3" of lift using an OME lift kit with 887 coils. And that's using the carrier bearing drop kit. Ultimately, as I understand it the vibration has everything to do with the degree of angle on the drive shafts themselves as they attach to the transmission and the rear diff. These can be adjusted manually using shims and such. Some folks have issues while others say they don't.


Icon vs OME: Icon is arguably the better option if you don't mind spending more. At least from what I hear! My on-road ride with my OME system rides smooth enough for my tastes! Bumps are stiffer/rougher than the factory suspension granted. But isn't that part of the point in upgrading to an off-road suspension? Stiff = Load capability. Soft = Comfort.

When I spoke to one of the folks on the Expedition Overland team about their Overlanding Tacoma they said they chose the Icon system over the OME system on purpose. Primarily because they needed something that would handle the heavy loads they routinely carry on their adventures - and something that wouldn't fail on them under those conditions. Otherwise, they said they like the OME system for their "other vehicles". I think they used Icon again on their latest 4 Runners as well. They load them to the gills though!

Keep in mind, with a 4 cyl and an access cab your truck will be lighter than may of the folks on this forum. Less weight on the suspension will just make it feel stiffer.