Difference between strut extender and coil spacer?

I'm looking for a mild front lift (2-2 1/2") for my 09 DC with TSB springs. From what I gather, the Toytec style spacer goes on top of the coil itself, while the Fat Bob style mounts on top of the entire strut assembly. I've read tons of posts (all of them are fairly subjective, naturally), but I'm looking to see if one style has more negative effects on alignment or other components than the other. While I won't be doing any rock crawling, I will be doing some mild off-road driving to access biking, camping and climbing areas. I understand UCA's and a diff drop may be needed. Thanks in advance for constructive input.

 

Do some searching.... lots of info out there already.

Search for these words......

"Top plate spacer" <---- goes ontop the assembly

and

"Coil Spacer" <--- goes inside the coil assembly

Try using Google also.

 

Preload, and Top-spacer. Both provide lift. A kit that acheives lift via all top-spacer though does tend to have some issues with upper balljoints and other things, Pre-load spacers tend to give a harsher ride. Your best bet is to get either Bilstein 5100 shocks that can provide up to 2.5" of lift, or an OME setup to do the same.

 

Coil spacers & Bilstein 5100's do the same thing......preload the coil.

Both can give harsher ride quality. THe only difference between the two - is the 5100's are adjustable.

If you have a 2.5" coil spacer compared to the 5100's set at 2.5" lift - they preload the coil the same amount. The ride quality will vary based on the struts themselves and not the coils.

 

would it be okay to set 5100's to .85" with sagged 885 coils? my coils have sagged over the past 3 years. i wanna get my full 3" back.

 

Giggity

 

Thread revival?

 

No. Im just a child, sometimes. What I gathered was that top spacers can mess stuff up, preloads make it stiffer and don't break things?

 

They're both shitty lifts, but a cheap way to gain clearance for tires. Not recommended for off-roading. You can break shit with either lift or no lift at all.

 

It only preloads the coil springs if the spacer is between the top plate and the spring.
I've gotten my truck airborne, hit large holes at high speed and the ball joints are still tight. My bushings have finally gotten tired but other than that all is well. It has held alignment over the years as well. So as far as breaking stuff you would have to get pretty wild.