Need advice on a 3" Lift

Hello all Taco Drivers!!
I need help with a 3" lift.
I have a 2015 Tacoma DCSB TRD Off-Road 4x4 and want to lift it
so I can fit 285/75/R16 under there.
I'd like to do a 3" lift. What kind should I buy?

 

First time THIS question has ever been asked.....

First off, WELCOME! Most here are friendly and won't bite. Some will. And ChasPride will be here soon to like your post. A given.....

Will 285/75/16's fit (without cutting) NO.
Can they be made to fit. Yes
What kind of kit? Answers range from sublime to the ridiculous. Give us a budget. Do you plan on off roading? How much off road?
Get ready to have your world rocked.....You're about to hear every conceivable opinion known to man.

 

Are you mechanically inclined? Are you dead set on 3"s of lift and 285's? Again, budget will determine what people will provide for advice. First off 285's are probably too wide for your stock wheels depending on the tire manufacturer. Ballpark you're looking anywhere from $2k with cheaper options like spacers and blocks. Nobody wants to see that. A decent coil/strut lift, leaf springs uca's, wheels, tires and you're headed towards $3k and up. Sky is the limit from there. Still interested?

 

285's are recommended to be on 7.5" to 9" wheels.....Stock are 8". Perfectly fine. They MIGHT rub the UCA's but that can easily be remedied with wheel spacers. (ie, 3/4" Bora spacers best IMHO)

Tires, $800 to $1000 on average.
Good lift kit (5100's, OME coils, AAL) $733 (from Headstrong Offroad)
Stay with 2-1/2" lift and avoid new UCA's/3", figure $400 to $1000 for UCA's

I did 5100's, OME 885X's (w/1/2" top plate spacer), Deavers 2" AAL. @ $733. (2-5/8" of front lift) Did install myself. Goodyear Duratrac 265/75/16's @ $810, stock wheels, Bora spacers $205, and a Headstrong U-bolt flip kit for $80. (Approx $1850) Alignment numbers perfect.....Truck rides great,, looks great, performs (off road) great, and handles (on road) great. Will be putting 285's on soon. I've ran a set (belonging to someone else) for about 100 miles and was very happy with that experiment. Deciding on which brand of tire at the moment. Also considering 255/85/16's as an option.

 

Thanks for the welcome.
My goal is this....I want more aggressive-looking tires and rims.
I want to lift the truck just a bit solely to put something like 33" tires under.
I'm not dead set on 285/75/16's, but I mean if I'm going to do a lift I want something in the tire size range.
If I can't do a QUALITY lift for under $1000, I'm not doing it.
I was liking the strut spacer for front/AAL or block in the rear but a lot of folks say that this is not a quality lift due to pretensioning and limited travel for UCA. Is this true?
I don't want anything half-ass on my vehicle, but I'm not prepared to spend over $1000 merely to install more aggressive rims/tires. What is the most economical option for my goal?

 

This thread would be useless without mentioning the possibility of having to trim, cab mount chop, remove mud flaps.

 

Thanks Bluegrass Taco.
You are happy with your Headstrong Offroad setup? It ran the 285's fine and no problems with the UCA's?

 

Oh, did you have to trim anything?

 

You can drive around on flat ground with 285's and no cutting on a 3" lift. Just don't do much sharp turning or any flexing suspension....285's WILL rub HARD.

I'm VERY pleased with the set up I went with. Affordable and still has great performance. Point is NO 3" lift will give you "no trimming" tire clearance for 285's.....

 

I have a similar lift to Bluegrass Taco and run 255/85/16 tires on stock wheels - No trimming and no (significant) rubbing with stock components. I recently changed a few things (spent more money) now no rubbing at all.

Check the tire size calculator to see the difference in those tire sizes. Welcome to the rabbit hole, Alice!

 

Im running 3inches with 285 70 17s right now on my 2015. They will rub. Nothing a lil trimming wont fix. Dont be scared.
An this time around i choose to install a ome kit in the front. 885s with nitroshocks and top plate spacer. Its stiff as hell on and offroad. Or to me it is. Im in the process of deciding weather i wanna go back to icon or venture onto unknown territory and install my first 6inch db lift. My opionon is if u want a 3inch lift save as much as you can and by the best you can. You get what you pay for in lift kits. JMO. Good luck.

 

Oh and dont forget if you do come up with the $ to buy a good coilover lift like icon,fox,or king. Keep in mind you have to have the coilovers rebuilt from time to time. An that means taking them off and sending them into be rebuilt. Tons of research here. Searching long and hard will serve you best in tbe long run.

 

I love the ride of my 5100s with 885 coils and top plate spacers - Dakars on rear. My tires firm up the ride a little - load E Toyo M55 but the diameter smooths things out (33.4") 255/85/16

 

For the money 5100s are the best hands down. Rather u wanna run ome springs or stock springs. For a couple hundred bucks there freakin great shocks. Cant say that about the ome shocks.

 

I had that debate internally. I had 5100s with stock coils set at 1.75" (2.5" actual lift) and really liked them, but wanted an upgrade. Instead of just switching coils, I put in whole new assemblies, but went with 5100s again.

 

5100s with ome springs is a million times better than ome nitrochargers. 5100s at zero with 885x coils will clear bighorn 255/85/16 tires on stock wheels with the front mud flaps in place.

 

And you might get away without needing uca's. It will only give you 2-1/2"s max though without spacers.

 

That's why I put in spacers

Edit: I also put in spacers to take advantage of the available travel in the strut that we don't get to use without the spacer.

 

So you're also running aftermarket UCA's which will blow his $1,000 budget?