Lift opinions

What's up all? I recently bought my first truck and of course it had to be a Tacoma!!
I am looking to lift my truck and put big wheels on it. I rarely go off roading but I bought a '13 TRD off road crew cab.

I am getting mixed reviews of how to achieve the look I am going for. I ultimately want to put 20" fuel rims on (black with chrome inlay) and also have a decent looking mud tire.

I am looking for the truck to look like the pic below but I don't want to spend a lot of money. Can I achieve this look with the 3" spacer suspension lift or do I have to upgrade,leaf springs, struts and rest of suspension? I was also looking to do the work myself

Thanks for any help

 

Only way you're going to achieve that amount of lift is with a 6" drop bracket lift. Yours is 4x4, correct? If you can't afford the lift, then there are plenty of ways to get 3" on a budget. You could do it yourself for about $400. At that point though 20" wheels might look a bit dumb. I think the tacos with 3" and 17s with some 33s are the best looking ones.

 

You could definitely achieve that look but maybe not with that clearance. So let me tell you about my story hahaha. I have a 2007 trd offroad ac and I always wanted to have the wider beefy look of about the same style as the picture you have above. Ive done a 3 inch lift and then later a 6 inch lift on the truck with the help of my father, who is not a mechanic professionally. So both are definitely do-able. And now, my truck sits on 18 inch rims with 35s and a 6 inch lift and I hate it. I didn't want to spend much money either but to do a 6 inch lift right and have your truck running and working like its supposed to at a 6 inch lift is a costly job. My truck runs like a slug because since I'm a student I don't have the money nor time to re-gear, get full coil-overs and ditch the spacers, and what not. So with this said, if I were you I would look into a nice 3 inch lift. I bought my coils/struts disassembled as its a bit cheaper and aal's for the rear. This will help you keep the performance of the ride. I would suggest staying away from spacer lifts as they are going to make the drive a bit stiff. Also, you may be able to fit a 20 inch rim with 33s but I am not sure, especially if they are 12.5 wide . But if you have a 3 inch lift with 18's and 33's(maybe 12 wide) it should almost achieve the same look.

 

The truck will be screaming

No personal offense intended. It's your truck, strike the pose you wish.

PS, your goals are conflicting. Especially the 'I don't want to spend a lot of money' part. Do it right, do it once, and you'll be a lot happier, even if you have to wait and save up your sheckles.

 

I appreciate the info. I have been doing a lot of research and at this point I am leaning towards a 3-4" lift with 18" rims. I wa looking at either tuffcountry or procomp 3" lift kit and then 18" rims with a 31" tire.

I have seen spacer lifts that look good as well I am just concerned about the ride.

 

What's your budget for a lift? I can recommend way better lifts than that for pretty cheap.

 

Well I'm trying to stay under 1k for the lift. I am not a mechanic but I am mechanically inclined. I was gonna do it myself but if the lift is cheap I may have someone put it in. My wife is about to have our second kid any day now so time may be a factor on doing it myself.

Any recommendations from someone who knows about these would be much appreciated.

 

I would love to hear your suggestions eatsleeptacos

 

Here's what I'd do. Get bilstein 5100s all around, 2" AAL in the rear, OME 885 coils up front along with the 1/2" spacers to get a full 3" of lift. That should run you around 700 or so. I have the 5100s, 885 coils, 2" AAL and the diff drop kit and total it was about 650 shipped to my door.

As far as the install, I say do it yourself. I'm slightly mechanically inclined and was able to do it all myself in the driveway. All I needed was a second set of hands to make some things easier. Just follow these videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E6u7dC7EHg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo0FJSi-KYs

 

Only thing is, once you get up to 3", that's when you start bordering on needing new upper control arms, which are about 450, not including install (which I hear is a bitch).

 

Someone on here has a saying that goes something like this - Good, Fast, Cheap, pick any two.

 

Where did you order from? I think I will go with the bilstein 5100s. How long did the install take you? Did you need any special tools?

 

No shit, I ordered from Amazon. That was the cheapest I could find them shipped to me. Let me find you the links.

 

For the rear:

$110 Bilstein (24-186728) 5100 Series Shock Absorber

http://www.amazon.com/Bilstein-2418...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

And the front:

Bilstein 24-239370 Shock Absorber

http://www.amazon.com/Bilstein-24-2...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

Are you going to use the front 5100 for lift or buy some aftermarket coils too? Because I also got those on Amazon...

$225 ARB 2885 Old Man Emu Coil Spring

http://www.amazon.com/ARB-2885-Old-...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

 

Glad to hear somebody giving info. My goal was 33x12.5 x17 was told the rough country 3-2 lift would do it. now that i have it installed i understand it's not enough and people here don't like spacers. where we live theres not much trail riding mainly mud but what do i do now i cant throw away a new lift kit that i actually like so far but i cant fit the tires i want either. so, go with 285's that should fit or add more of some kind of lift? hell im lost at this point

 

Eatsleeptacos thanks for the info. Do I need anything else to install? Also I am thinking 18" rims with a smaller tire. Do you happen to know what size tire I can put on with 18" rim?

 

Well you'll for sure need something to left the rear. Check out add a leafs from various vendors. I got mine from wheelers off road. Something that'll be a personal decision is a front differential drop. Some people do it, some people don't. That's for you to research and decide on, as well as carrier bearing drop and axle shims.

As far as tire size goes, you can either go 265/65/18 or for a little bigger/wider, 275/65/18. You'll probably need new wheels/spacers for the 275/65/18s.

 

Check out headstrongoffroad.com they are vendors in this forum. I have not personally bought from them, but from what I've read they are well priced aND great customer service.

 

Do you have the link for the aals and diff drop kit that you installed? Sorry for all the questions I am just still confused. What about old man emus instead of bilstein 5100.

 

You could do OME instead of bilstein 5100s, it's just that the 5100s are cheaper and still great quality. For the other stuff, go to wheelers off road and you'll find it.