modification priority

Even a basic bilstein lift. A couple inches of lift will help. Does not need to be wild. Skids are great but heavy. if you’re not wheeling hard you can save some weight. All that listed will start to being up other areas of need. I have all steel but have considered switching some to try and bring the weight of the truck down. It adds up fast.

 

The weight of skids won’t lower your planned 3.5” lift, if that’s what you’re asking in your last post. I can tell you from experience that my 265/75/16 tires looked completely silly with a 2” lift. If you’re going to do 3.5” you’ll be sick when you see how tiny the 265’s look lol

Unless you’re planning on doing actual rock crawling, there’s no reason for 3.5” of lift. If you want it for the looks that’s obviously fine too but even 285/75/16 tires would look small with a 3.5” lift.

I have the bilstein 5100’s on my truck. I’ve driven all over North America and Canada on and off-road and I’ve never needed beefier/taller suspension.

 

That's a good point, running the numbers on some of the equipment it easily exceeds 1000LBS combined,

what I'm thinking of doing for right now is focusing on Sliders first as I've already lightly kissed a rock and stump with my factory tube/nerf steps, which thankfully didn't harm the body, but that seems to be one of the most vulnerable areas on the vehicle. I could also probably sell the used tubes for a $100 or so,
After that AGM Battery and Tune, so on. RCI seems to have a sale going on right now.

 

I don’t know much about the Nokian AT’s but if they’re not LT tires or E rated, I would consider switching to an LT or E rated tire. P rated tires will puncture real quick off road if you’re doing anything more than very very easy trails.

 

Aluminum is easier to get hung up on, it "bites" into rocks vs. steel that slides easier. There is also typically an option to have your exhaust rerouted (if you get full skids: engine, transmission, transfer case) so the skid plates are completely flat vs. having a bump down where the stock exhaust crosses over underneath the transfer case, which is another place to get hung up on. Aluminum is better for the occasional "oh shit" moment if you aren't rock crawling often, steel is better if you plan to bash them more than a handful of times. Like you mentioned, steel is better from a performance perspective for wheeling because the lower your center of gravity, the better. Typically people choose aluminum to shave weight where they can because everything else they've bolted to their truck makes it a heavy pig.

Like @MR E30 mentioned, anything over 2" for a lift is typically going to bring more headaches than it's worth, IMO, if you want to keep your vehicle as a decent daily driver and have it perform off road. Toyota IFS gives us roughly 4" of uptravel and 4" of downtravel from a stock ride height in the front, for a total of 8" of travel. If you raise your truck 3.5", it still has 8" of total travel, but now you're left with 7.5" of uptravel and 0.5" of downtravel, which will top out your shocks if you hit even a small pot hole where your wheel falls into the hole. Keeping your lift to 2" at least leaves you with 2" of downtravel.

 

They're E1

 

This month will be the best month to buy with black Friday many shops like CBI, DO, BAMF are doing 25% off all month. Slides are a great call. I went lift ,tires/wheels, sliders as my first mods (also had a camper shell before hand.)

 

Are you referring to the cases where the lift is done by means of a spacer/block, keeping the stock shocks and struts?

In my case, it would likely be the occasional oh-shit moment, so aluminum may be a better idea as you're saying so that it's not as much as of a gas hog, nor to detract too much from it's trailer tow rating. I don't plan on crawling, just driving occasional trails.

 

Bug shield and rear tailgate step are essential mods! Just ask us old guys.

 

Spacer lifts will add downtravel (usually too much downtravel) while also trading away some uptravel (which, if you don't also lower your bumpstops, could wind up damaging the shocks). These should be avoided at all costs.

Extended travel (a.k.a. mid-travel) shocks should add about 1 - 1.5" of downtravel over stock without reducing uptravel (which the suspension will tolerate), but will require you replace your upper control arms with aftermarket arms.
But like already said, the bigger issue is the angle of your CV axle joints (and to some extent your steering rack also) when you go over 2" lift. The higher you lift it, the steeper the angle on these parts, the faster they will wear, the faster they will fail. The steeper angles on your control arms will degrade your ride & handling as well.

A way around this is a complete suspension lift with drop brackets for the lower control arms which preserves more of the suspension's factory geometry. (BDS Suspension offers some real nice 4-6" lift options, though it gets quite spendy if you go with the Fox upgrade) But these have a caveat; they require cutting part of your truck's frame, which (contrary to what some folks here will tell you) is NOT irreversible, but will require the part be welded back in place should you ever decide to remove the lift in the future (might not be a good idea on a leased vehicle for example). You'll need to think this through, the cost of it all, and what any future plans for your truck might be (do you plan to keep it forever until the wheels fall off? Do you plan to sell after a few years?) and decide what you want.
Drop bracket lifts do have a lot to offer, if you can get past the needed frame modification...

 

I've been eyeballing this kit which seems complete to my uneducated self, and from the photos the CV axels angle looks okay-ish?
It drops the Front Diff down 1", which I think is to offset what you're mentioning.
https://www.roughcountry.com/product/configurable/toyota-suspension-lift-kit-74232c#gallery What are your thoughts?

I particularly like the appearance of the shocks plus reseviour and the concept that I can adjust them to my needs.

 

Some food for thought. These trucks are quite capable out of the box. Drive your daily driver for a while and while off roading see what you really need. This can be an expensive hobby.

https://youtu.be/bTOOuF9kQiA?si=I0-Drz0z2VWkWoVz

 

I've gone off-road a few times, I discovered I really needed another 2" or so clearance for some of the stumps and boulders in the middle of the few trails I've been on,

 

Personally, I think if you can get away with 3" of lift and 285's, that combination looks great. Just enough lift to fit the wheels and have some clearance/stance without mandating some larger changes down the road. Just have to keep an eye out for rubbing (SPC UCAs), needle bearing (ECGS bushing), and driveline angles (shims/carrier bearing/etc.). Easy to get carried away

 

The 8" of total travel is typical with normal lifts with aftermarket coilovers, but as someone else mentioned, it's also a function of other components and stock geometry. I personally don't know much about drop bracket lifts.

This guy has some good videos, here's a relevant one on Toyota IFS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_68Hc8GtLko

It's also worth noting that bigger tires are the only thing that will lift the low points on your truck, which are the diffs. A suspension lift will raise the body, but doesn't do anything to raise your diffs. More clearance is sort of relative to those two scenarios, if you're trying to not get hung up underneath, you want bigger tires, and if you're trying to avoid body damage, you need a lift.

 

Use it the way you intend to and you'll know what the priorities are

 

Keep an eye on your payload. Sounds like you’ll use it up before you ever get inside… don’t forget to add port/dealer installed accessories like a tonneau cover, roof rack, etc.

If you made a spreadsheet like someone else mentioned then you should be more focused on weight rather than cost.

 

How do you like the Nokians?
Any snow/ice driving?
I was going to get a set last year, but they were out of stock due to... geopolitical events

 

OTT Tune over that entire list.

 

Bed mat (I'm a simple guy) didn't see it anywhere maybe missed it.