Best lift kit height and tire size for daily driver

Just did mine. 5100's. Clip in #3 for 1.1" in the front. Did a 1/2" Headstrong shim on the driver side rear leaf for taco lean. Back sits 3/8" higher than the front. Falken 265/75r16.

Edit... if u often carry loads I would do a 1" block or aal in the rear... and then maybe front on clip position #4.

 

Yep, my thoughts 100%.

 

Thank you taco brother!

 

What coils are you using with the 5100s, your factory springs or something else? I have the same tire size and what you've done fits what I'm after nicely.

 

Couple threads that are pic heavy w/ moderate lifts and either 265/75/16's or 265/70/17's. All depends on your wants & needs. I've been running 265/70/17s on a 1.5"/1" for a while now as a daily and personally would not go bigger. Looks OEM+ and performs great on and offroad.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/leveled-on-265-70’s.745545/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/stock-vs-1-vs-1-5-lift-pics.789700/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/post-your-265-75-16s.493583/

Are you planning on raising the front? If not, 1st notch on the 5100's is the same as the stock height. If so, raise the rear accordingly.

 

Thanks! I’m stock coils as the 5100s are designed to pair with. It’s a noticeable improvement over stock. FYI, anything other than stock coils on the 5100s will void the warranty, as I was told by Bilstien.

 

Are you running Bilstein rear shocks? I'm looking at this: (1) - The Bilstein 5100 is one of the most popular options for improved handling on your truck. How can we help with your vehicle? (shocksurplus.com)
however, the rear shocks show 0-1" lift and the ICON AAL is 1.5".

 

Hey I know lots of guys insist on a lift, for off roading or just appearance sake. Guys into serious rock crawling need it.

My first Taco, but 4th 4x4 in the last 35 years. All used primarily for remote off road fishing trips in the southern half of BC.

My 2016 Taco for the past 5 years is off road every week, and sometimes twice per week.

No lift on any of my 4x4s and these are for the most part bad deactivated trails. Never broke any of the trucks, other than wear and tear replacing CV axles, inner bearings, etc.

I have over 25,000km off road on my Taco now. Just replaced my ujoints, swaybar links and my third inner needle bearing. ECGS put in this time. CV axles changed too. Just stock replacement on those. Frequent off roading and that is to be expected.

I do have Bilstein 5100, but no lift. Firestone air bags in the rear as I carry up to a thousand pounds in the back for my frequent remote fishing trips. I seldom see another person on my trips.

Don’t underestimate what the trucks can do in mostly stock form. I really like the look of a lifted truck, but I personally don’t need it.

These pics are typical of my offroad trips.

 

I'm running Bilstein 5100s on all 4 corners (stock springs with 1/4 driver side spacer for lean) set to 4th clip up front. The rear shocks do not lift, but do add about an inch of additional travel. I'm running the Icon AAL in the rear, but left the overload spring in, which netted around 2" rear with my topper. This essentially lifted my truck 1.5" over stock, and maintained about 0.5" of rake. everyone's results will differ based on how old your leaf springs are, mine only had 20K on them when I put the lift on; I was sagging a bit on stock leafs with my topper and bike rack. Hope this helps!

 

I went TRD Lift 2-1 .. 265/75/16 & love it, 30k miles & would do again for sure..

 

Agreed. You'd be amazed at what these trucks can do without a lift. I opted for 255/85R16's instead of a lift before two trips to Moab in 2021 and 2022. The tires, plus skid plates and sliders, helped me way more than a lift would have.

 

Thanks. On the shock I meant they are for use with 0-1" lift (ie slightly extended travel), sounds like what I'm looking at should be okay.

 

The blue and yellow rear stock shocks on 3rd gen Offroad models are made by Bilstein. Rear 5100s are fatter but just a shade longer length as the stock Bilsteins.

 

Sweet. Great info. Thanks for the replies.

And everyone's trucks look awesome.

 

2/1" Lift, 33" tires. No regrets...

 

Cmixgo, you can go up an additional circlip notch on the drivers side in place of the 1/4" spacer to accomplish the same extra 1/2" of drivers side lift with the 5100s for 3rd Gen, which are already extended length coilovers at 22.22".

 

True, but I already had a 1/4” spacer so I used it.

 

I daily mine quite a bit. But still do the forest roads and little trail rides . I didn’t want to go so much that I needed to start cutting or anything
Running 5100 up front with the second to highest setting (1.85) lift I think is what the manual said. And in the rear Icon rtx leafs packs in setting 2 with a 2degree shim . I have some weight with Alucab and it has a tiny bit of rake still which is just what I wanted. I ended up going with SCS 16” with the 0 offset so I could run the slightly bigger 265/75/16 without and weirdness going in. It’s been great and it rides super smooth .

 

I will throw my 2cent in: for a DD and not wanting/needing to much just throw on some 265/75R16 - they look good and fit with no issues and you can do some easy trails definitely rutted gravel roads and forest roads. This is my Taco on stock suspension just 264/75R16 - It's on a trail rated "Easy" but this set up was great as a DD.

The next step for moderate trails and maybe some trails with some technical spots but nothing serious for sure and still be OK as a DD I went with Bilstein 5100 front and rear, these are entry level shocks for off roading and not too expensive - if you are going to get really serious about rock crawling then you will need something way more than 5100s. I got my lift 2" lift in the front with OME spings not with the 5100s and got just shy of 2" with Icon RXT leaf pack. I went with 285/75R16 on DX4 wheels. I also got an OTT tune. I wanted to make sure I did not have to deal with rubbing so had a viper cut an CMC done. For a DD this would be overkill but like I mentioned I want the best of both worlds - an Ok daily driver (although I sacrifice some MPG) I also want to be able to do some moderate trails.