Advice for a 2.5" lift on a 2nd Gen - Now with Pics!

I will let you know after my first few fill ups. I just filled up yesterday for the first time since the lift went on.

 

I just gotta say to OP, good job on doing your research before asking general questions. It's obvious you did your research and knew exactly what you wanted.

 

Thanks man!

Like many of us on this forum, I started researching lift options and tire upgrades right after I bought my Tacoma. It took me a lot longer than I had hoped to make this happen (Toyota didn't help with the delayed rear leaf spring recall) but looking back I'm thankful to have had the extra time to research both lifts and tires. If I had done this lift when I created this thread I'd likely be riding on OME 884 springs and Hankook DynaPro ATM tires in 255/75/R17. I have no idea how I would have liked that setup but given how the truck rides and looks right now, I couldn't be happier with the 5100s, OME 885 springs, the Icon 3 Leaf AAL and the 265/70/R17 BFG All-Terrain KO2 tires!

I'm still working on getting some pictures of the new setup. I'm hoping I can find some time this weekend to snap a few good ones. I've also been unfortunate enough to have developed a slight drive line vibration on takeoffs with this new lift so I'll be spending some time over the next few days calculating my drive line angles and figuring out my best course of action to prevent the axle wrap I'm experiencing. And even with the shudder on takeoffs, I still couldn't be happier with the outcome of this lift.

 

Alright, I did the best I could to find a decent side angle before picture and then replicate it for an after shot. The before picture happens to be the day I picked my truck up (100% stock) and I literally just took the after shot in my garage. I've done several other things to the truck since I bought it so you guys will notice some other stuff has changed as well but either way, here is a rough idea of what this setup looks like.

Before:



After:

 

looking good with that set up!

 

guess you are stock all over if you are worried about mpgs

 

Nice setup! Did you use a spring compressor? Did you have to use shims anywhere ?

 

Thanks man!

Yes, we used a spring compressor to install the new front springs on the 5100s. And as of right now I do not have any shims installed. That could change though as I do have a slight shudder at low speeds. I'll post an update once I figure out how to remedy the shudder.

 

First tank came in at 16.5 MPG. That's about 1 MPG lower than I had been averaging combined city/highway driving. I'm going out of town next Thursday so I'll probably get one more city/highway combined tank's worth of data before a highway only tank.

 

Second tank of combined city/highway came in at 16.7 MPG (I'm noticing a trend here) and disappointingly, both highway tanks came in at 18.0 and 17.85 MPG. The highway tanks weren't 100% highway but even this small amount of data tells me that the days of 20+ MPG on the highway are gone (for the record, I only saw 20+ once anyway). Oh well, the truck looks boss and that's all that matters!

 

wow, i use my truck for road trips and usually when i do 90% highway using 91 octane, i can clear 375-385 miles on a full tank. i guess when the time comes to do my upgrades ill have to expect drop in gas mileage. i average about 17-18 miles now on city driving.

 

In the two years I've owned this truck I've seen 20 MPG one time and it was when I was bone stock on an all highway trip to Michigan last summer (flat the entire time). My 09 DCSB has 65K miles on it and I've never seen more than 350 miles on a tank. And since purchasing the truck I've put in a K&N air filter and changed the spark plugs... I gave up on trying to improve my gas mileage months ago. The new tires and the lift definitely didn't help but surprisingly my city/highway mileage is about what it was before (16-17 MPG range). It seems that the highway mileage took the biggest hit from the mods.

 

did you ever find the source or resolution of your driveline vibration?

 

I did find the source and as of yesterday, it’s been corrected. The CB gave out around 90k miles and instead of replacing it I opted for a custom one piece rear driveshaft. All of the vibrations are gone, from takeoff all the way up to 70+ mph. I couldn’t be happier with this lift or the new rear driveshaft.

 

Great thread, OP. Thanks for all the detailed info.

In your original post, you were wondering if you needed a diff drop. Did you get one?

I'm about to go with a 2.5" lift. Getting LR UCAs for sure, but just wondering about the diff drop?