Question on levelling spacers

Hi all ,

So I recently got my tacoma and am still learning some things about it. It came with a level (spacers) on it already and some 285/70r17 (brand new) .

One of the things I am wondering is a) do spacer lifts make a bumpier or stiffer ride and b) does it make the trucks handling real jerky or twitchy?

I plan on swapping out to some actual lift struts asap, but the twitchy and bumpy feeling are prevalent . Also the spacer lift only seems to be a 1 in spacer so 2 in lift. I'm just not sure if it's an alignment issue causing that feeling , the spacers themselves , or if new adjustable a arms are needed to compensate for a 2 in lift alignment. New to tacos and never had a spacer lift before.

 

A poorly-chosen spacer lift can easily make the truck ride very poorly, i.e. bumpy.

Just say "no" to spacer lifts. Get rid of it.

https://accutuneoffroad.com/why-are-tacoma-spacer-lifts-so-bad/

https://accutuneoffroad.com/spacer-lift-vs-preload-spacer-vs-coilover-preload/

 

Gotcha. Yea that's kind of what I assumed but having never had one before wasn't sure. I had a dobinsons full suspension on my tundra and I think I'm going to go that route again on the taco

 

The steering twitchyness can come from a mixture of wheel back spacing and alignment

 

How does the backspacing affect it ? These wheels that came on it are probably -12mm as they have some poke. (More than I would have chosen but they're brand new)

 

Yeah actually that's the most-likely cause of the steering twitch. The spacer lift reduced caster and there was no way to get it back with (I assume) stock UCA's on the truck. Any lift past.. ?? 1" or so.. really needs some kind of aftermarket UCAs in order to be able to re-align to a reasonable caster number.

 

+1 not to jack this thread but does Toyota do the same thing with a Tacoma that they offer with a 4runner?

That being spacer lift it from I guess the dealer level and thus not voiding the warranty.

My sister purchased a 5th gen T4R as such and I’ve always thought it was wild

 

Don't know, haven't heard of such a thing.

 

no

 

Spacer lift =

 

I have a 1" spacer lift (front and rear to keep rake) and I wouldn't do any more than that. Just getting me by until I get a suspension lift but it still drives fine with the 1", leaf springs are a little clunky but that might just be due to age

 

Spacers are a no for any professional recommendation. 1/4" spacers or "shims" can be used to level left to right or some minor fine tuning of ride height, but anything more than 0.5-1" is a geometry killer and is doing more harm than good. It will get you by, but at the end the maintenance required on surrounding components will be far more than with a proper suspension lift or no lift at all.

You will need to be leveled/lifted over stock to fit those 285s, so you cant just take the spacers out. But a set of Bilstein 5100s with the OE coils will net you that height no problem and correct the geometry as well as likely improve the ride quality over the rough/harsh ride you have now. You could do a 0-2" adjustable coilover kit, but cost starts going up and up the fancier the coilover you go with. Bilsteins will replace the spacer and keep the same ride height, correct the geometry and fix alot of the poor ride quality for >$250. You can then take your time looking at better quality lifts if you want to go up to the 2.5-3" height because you will need upper control arms and rear lift components to achieve this height.