Alignment questions after adding 3” readylift leveling kit 33”

Just a question that is all.

 

Thanks guys I appreciate it! Lift install normally runs us about 8 hours, give or take for front and rear, and have done multiple Tacomas, including a 3rd gen that also got Ride Right airbags installed in the rear.

 

3rd gen. Was that recently?

 

I think I’m done with the lift experiment and the bigger tires...Going back to stock. I guess
I made mistakes. I put the kit on I’ll take it off. I’ll lose the cost of the kit and my time. It is what it is. I tried to read the forums and suggestions and it’s my own fault.
Oh well. Thanks again for your honesty guys.

 

Just because 3rd gens are an inch higher than a 2nd, doesn’t make it a 4 inch lift

 

Understood and that is why there was a ? at the end of the question. Good Luck OP I'll see myself out now.

 

Last summer in August at some point if I remember right

 

Must have been nice to work on a "clean" truck.

 

We put in a Toytec Boss kit, new leaf packs and 2.5 non-resi coilovers up front, which we had to adjust to proper ride height. The lift and ECGS bushing by itself took us 5 hours to do, then he said if we wanted to make some more money we could put the airbags in for him. Which we proceeded to do after a trip to the hardware store and we ended up at a total of 8 hours

 

Look man, don't let the opinions of people on here deter you from what you want out of your truck. I have run every kind of lift kit out there, from torsion keys, to hockey pucks, to drop bracket lifts, spring replacements all the way up to extended travel coilovers. Every kit on the market has pros and cons, if they didn't, there wouldn't be thousands of then out there. If the pucks work for your intended use, enjoy the cheap lift and good looks. If you're going to be doing overland, prerunning, rock crawling etc, you will break stuff. For probably 95% of truck owners out there, a spacer lift will give them nothing but joy.

Onto the heartburn over your alignment. Your lifting method did not cause the low caster numbers, the overall height did. I am running a forum favorite lift (5100 with 887 springs) which netted around 2.5" of lift and my caster is also less than one. The next component needed to fix your alignment is UCA's. They are not required, but it makes the driveability of the truck a lot better. I am still running my stock UCA's, as I was hoping I could avoid the extra expenses up front. I've put 2,000+ miles on my truck with them. Yes I have low caster, yes I have some bump steer, it's certainly not the end of the world. I'm not beating the fuck out of my truck like most people seem to think is a requirement once you lift it.

I say, run the truck as it is and see if you like it. If you live the look/height, but want to fix your alignment, then order up some UCA's. If you're sick of throwing money at the truck, then you can remove the lift, but you'll have to pay for another alignment just to go back to stock, which kinda sucks. Hope that helps...

 

Thanks BD. I really appreciate that insight. I can read through the lines and see that Leveling kits or hockey pucks as I am learning now, are not favored by some and some like it,. Truth be told, I just want some extra clearance and like the looks. The only 4 wheeling you will see me at is a beach and the more plovers and turtles we get? The less beach access we have. I can see where the 5100 shock crowd is coming from. Maybe that's a route I will take. For now, I'm going to go into a hold pattern, just called up the tire joint and cancelled that appointment for tomorrow and come up with another plan. Thanks again man.

 

Like I said when you decide to change it up or do whatever you want to do the Boys in Western Mass will hook you up nicely. @tacobell007 and his buddy Levi are amazing.

 

I really appreciate that offer but no thank you.

 

@The Riddler at the very least talk to Marie over @HeadStrong Off-Road, I purchased my kit from them. I have heard wonderful things about their customer service, really quite knowledgeable. Took me 18 months of research before deciding on what I would need and how much. Took about 5k for rims/tires/lift/ecgs bushing. I made a few mistakes along the way but nothing serious. The ride and look is exactly what I need "for now". If you put aside all the bs here, most people are willing to steer you in the right direction. Spacers, Blocks and Hocky Pucks tend to provide a very harsh ride, if you can't enjoy driving your truck, then you won't drive it as much.

 

I'm good thanks. Thank you.

 

8 hours?! Shouldn't take any longer than 4 unless something goes wrong. I've installed lifts on 6-7 tacomas now and none have taken that long. That's with doing everything right and torquing it all to spec.

 

That's an hour lunch break, UCA's, front setup, ECGS bushing and new seal, top off front diff, rear setup, shims or carrier drop if wanted/needed, test drive, tweaks, and BSing. I've had trucks that took awhile to tweak in trying to get the pinion and driveshaft angles right.

 

Ahhh, yep I could see it taking that long with the ECGS bushing in there, and the other couple minor things. I always did those things after the fact to see if they were needed.

 

Plus as @Unchained 5150 stated, we are meticulous about care for the person's vehicle and torque specs for certain things. Some people want changes made along the way or after the lift is complete, it really all depends

 

Took about that amount of time when they boys did mine including the ECGS Bearing, lift front and rear, plus new UCA's and shooting the shit as well