Upgrade shocks or whole suspension kit

Hey everyone, I'm thinking of doing my first upgrade to my taco very soon. I have a 2015 tacoma trd pro. Its completely stock. My question is should I just upgrade my shocks or do a whole suspension lift kit. I was thinking of raising it 2-3 inches higher then what the stock is at now. So I guess I would get a 4 inch lift? correct me if I'm wrong. And if I do go the suspension lift kit. What would you guys recommend.

I enjoy off-roading but mainly into overlanding and wild camping. So I don't think ill ever do a long travel kit, but I do want to cover my bases with good quality gear in the future.

 

Go to Accutuneoffroad.com and look at their kits. For the front you'll be looking at new coilovers and possibly upgraded upper control arms. For the rear, possibly an add-a-leaf and upgraded shocks. Its recommended to upgrade your upper control arms if you go with 2" of lift and is pretty much necessary for anything 3" or above. A 3" suspension lift will lift your truck 3" minus some possible sagging once broken in. Bilstein and Old Man Emu are very popular "budget" choices and will get you the best bang for your buck. Welcome to TW!

 

Go to rough country they got a 3 inch suspension lift for 800 bucks oh they give you all the drop-down brackets needed along with the coil overs in the rear shocks

 

Again sorry, im new to the off-road upgrade terminology. when it says 2" or 3" lift it means lift from stock height. I do own the 2015 trd pro with the bilsteins. is mine considered stock height or slightly higher. i was thinking Bilstein again. But I have had my eye on suspension lifts that come with king shocks

 

inches is not from TRD
it's from a regular Tacoma

if it says 3" lift spring, it gives 3" of lift. It does not care that you had a TRD pro front spring.
If you remove that front spring, and put a 3" spring, you now have 3" lift.
If you have a TSB leaf pack with a 2" AAL in back, and you take that out for a 3" lift leafpack such as maybe OME, Icon RXT, and supposedly Deaver, then you have 3" lift. Or whatever it says it is.
Shocks come in lifted versions to handle higher ride height.
Stock non-Pro Tacoma shocks (a pretend version of Bilstein 4600) cannot handle lifted height dimensions or they will be ruined. Hence the need for "lift compatible" shocks like the Bilstein 5100 at minimum, which is not known to ride great, but rather work with people's lift springs, or provide lift by pre-loading the front shock via adjustable perch that can worsen ride quality (cheap).
Or coil overs where they are height adjustable using a threaded collar.

I would say total, for an off road truck, it should have at least 3" to comfortably climb over obstacles and look good.
some rear leaf packs are said to handle holding up to weight (if you have something like a camper shell) better than others.
And that's just the basics. We're not even getting in to long travel, different kinds of travel, why pick this or that aftermarket fabricated control arm, and so on. products like
-JD Fab
-King
-Total Chaos
-Icon
-Fox
and so on

 

Welcome to TW. I went with a local company in Denver, Toytec Lifts. I highly recommend you buy local to you & during sales. When you buy local you save big bucks on shipping costs as you can pick it up.

lots of suppliers are on backorder. So unless you buy local & opt for pickup, most are going to be a long wait no matter who you order with.

 

Your Pro sits 1.75" higher in the front, than a non-Pro Tacoma. If you install a 3" lift kit, you'll only be raising the front another 1.25" over what it is now.

Pro's are no higher in the rear than any other 4WD or PreRunner Tacoma, TRD or not. You just have better shocks.


As your Pro already has Bilstein 6112 front shocks and 5160 rear, if you want another easy inch of front lift look into these from ToyTec: . For the rear, if you want lift you're looking at a replacement spring pack from any of the reputable companies out there. Personally I'd avoid the add a leaf (AAL) route; BTDT, it's a temporary band-aid for weak leafsprings at best.

It is highly recommended to upgrade the upper control arms (UCAs) once you cross the front 3" lift threshold. Again, any of the reputable companies out there offering those. Also be prepared for some trimming and a cab mount chop (CMC), depending on how big a tire you're trying to stuff.