Poor Man's SR lift- TRDOR coils!

I've been shopping around for a very mild lift for my base-base-base model Tacoma SR- 4x2 Access Cab Utility package. On the order of an inch or less in front. I don't offroad a whole lot and I wasn't looking to spend a mint on a prerunner because I would get bullied. Mainly I just wanted a little bit more confidence and smoothness handling gravel roads in the area.

My final decision was to get a pair of TRD Off Road take-offs, and throw them on there with a spacer! (gasp!) OK, calm down, the spacer is a 1/4" Toytec spacer that doesn't even require new studs.

Anyways, I figured on maybe 1/2" or 5/8" of lift in the front only out of this setup. Imagine my surprise when in the front I got 1 and 1/4" on one side, and 1 and 1/2" on the other! AND I gained 1/4" in the back! No change in leaf springs!

This is my lazy man's measurement but I did wheel gap before and after, unladen, same tires with same pressures, ~20 miles in between measurements so basically same weight. (one gallon of gas gone would be 6.3 pounds off the rear axle)

Before I drove it off to the install:
Driver front 5 3/4" Passenger front 6"
Driver rear 7 1/4" Passenger rear 7 1/2"

After I parked it in my garage again:
Driver front 7 1/4" Passenger front 7 1/4"
Driver rear 7 1/2" Passenger rear 7 3/4"


So 1: I cured my taco lean but only in the front, and 2: I apparently just accidentally developed an OEM+ leveling kit!

 

nice!

 

How she sits now:

Ignore the unpainted front hub, I need to get off my lazy ass and rattle can them.


The "spacer" lift- heck, you can't even see them, the only way you could tell is if you knew those top nut studs should be longer.
(also shameless plug, look at how fuggen sexy that LCE header is, peeking out!)

 

Sweet, and good to know! I also purchased some TRD OR take-off goodies for my SR.
Did you or are you planning on getting an alignment done?

 

Soon. We marked the eccentrics and put them back to where they had been, so it's in the ballpark. I need to get an appointment for it to be done. Not gonna let it go too long, but it's not like it's gonna wreck anything by waiting a bit either.

The truck feels SO much better now. Bumps are more controlled, the rear is more planted and doesn't have anywhere near as much of that "bouncy ox cart" sensation to it with an empty bed. It does feel a bit heavier through turns, but I'm very happy so far.

 

OP......I was unaware but Toyota includes a free alignment within the first year of purchase. My dealer didn't even question the fact that I had just installed a lift. Worth a shot to save some coin

 

Really surprised not many if any besides @Nitori SR owners jumped on this relatively cheap upgrade knowing the OR has that +1 advantage and a pretty good supply for sale on Tdub....

Good call @Nitori

 

Noticed I'm getting a bit of bump steer and maybe I'm crazy but it looks like I might be rocking some sweet positive camber on the left front. Maybe I will step up the schedule on the alignment.

Speaking of which, is it just gonna be a matter of an alignment for getting the bump steer out of ~1" of lift or am I gonna have to futz with the tie rod ends a little?

 

Thanks for the info. I hadn't read through the Warranty & Maintenance Guide, but I found it on page 13.
http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/omms-s/T-MMS-16Tacoma/pdf/T-MMS-16Tacoma.pdf

 

What size tires are you running

 

265/70R16.

Sorry it took me a few days, I was on vacation.

 

Can you give a measurement from center of hub to top of wheel well opening on the front? thanks

 

How much did you pay for the take-off front struts/springs?

 

I paid a bit of a premium on a very low mileage set because I was trying to nab a set ASAP- $250 shipped. That's all 4 corners, BTW. Browse locally and you can get it for half that, maybe less. Shipping for a full set works out to like $60-$100 because common carriers really bust your balls.

I wanted to get them as soon as possible as I had a favor to call in with a local shop to swap them out for free, and I didn't want to keep them on the hook too long. Also I'm an impatient bastard.

The toytec spacers were... 22 a piece? So, all told it cost me under $300, without alignment.

Let me go get hub to fender measurements, it's hard to do it accurately with a single person but I can wrangle my roomate to go help me do it soon.

 

I sold my struts, shocks, front springs,and tow hook for $150 shipped

 

Looks like about 21 and 9/16" driver's side, 21 and 5/8" passenger's side, so my lean is still there but at 1/16th.

This is a lot harder to measure consistently than you might think... The shape of our fenders isn't particularly good for easy & consistent measurement!

 

How are you measuring this? Center of my wheel to the bottom of the fender is 30.25". No way I'm sitting 8 inches higher than you.

 

Thank you

 

I have no idea what you are measuring, my ground to fender measurements are 36 and 1/2" and 36 and 9/16", respectively...

Anyways I measured to the top of the fender from the ground, and then from the middle of the hub to ground, and worked out the difference. Every hub to ground measurement was 14 and 15/16" inches which makes sense accounting for the deflection of the tire on a 30" wheel.

 

My ground to fender is 40". That sounds about right given your measurements