3” rough country lift reviews?

Hey guys, thank you for all the replies..

I’m debating on lifting my Tacoma or leaving it as is.. has anyone experienced better ride quality by lifting or have you guys experienced negative effects ?

I heard lifting it sometimes can create extra wear and leads to issues.. what’s are your experiences?

thanks,

 

I put in the 3” rough country lift on my 07 about 2000km’s ago. All good so far but a little early to say lol. I’d be curious as well

 

If off-roading, a lift gives better ride quality in terms of the added clearance to better clear trail obstacles. On the road, your center of gravity is higher and that is generally considered an adverse effect. It is a trade-off to be decided on by the car owner. If that lift uses a front spacer, be informed that you lose suspension travel.

 

3" will put a lot of strain on your front axles. I wouldn't go more than 2" on the stock control arms.

At the end of the day, anything more than 2" is really just for looks which is fine.

Remember you still need up travel.

 

A lot of guys on here including myself run the bilstein 5100s. They’re great. Combine that with a toytec add-a-leaf for the rear and you have a solid setup.

 

Have you had any issues with any extra wear using this setup ?

 

It all comes down to what you want to do with your truck, and how much you want to spend. I started with 5100’s and an add a leaf, but couldn’t keep up with the guys I wanted to trail with, so now I have more. It can be an expensive hole to start down. If you just want your truck to look better, but don’t intend to beat on it real hard, then the 5100’s and leaf are a great solution. It gave me no problems the years I ran it.

 

rough country uses cheap parts and their customer service is below average. this is based on my experience.

 

Wear on what? I don’t run this setup anymore, but for the time I did, it was good.

 

As people have said, lifting changes things in the frontend, and can actually make the ride worse, or better, depending on how you lift it.
Rough Country's 3" and 3.5" kits will almost surely make the ride worse though, and should be avoided (as was said, 2" lift is the max you want to go if to avoid lift-related headaches). RC's 4" kit however isn't bad if you put a set of good shocks on it (this because it has drop-downs that retain the front suspension's geometry, but does require you replace a crossmember on your frame).

Look around in the Suspensions section here, lots of good info to be had there.

 

Wear on the CV axles or front end components, I never had a truck before so I wouldn't know exactly what wears out when you lift. Could you share your setup that you said you ran with no problems in detail? I know you said Bilstein 1500s, and leaf spings with toytec. What brand of leaf springs and what products from toytec did you run.

thanks

 

I want to do it more for looks, did you put aftermarket control arms when you lifted yours?

 

How do the aftermarket control arms reduce the wear of the cv axles ?

 

Not the first time, but I have now. Solves a lot of alignment and rub issues.

 

They help with some of the geometry changes associated with the lift

 

I installed the 2" lift OME springs in the front and a 1.5 spacer block in the rear, with bilstein 5100 shocks all the way around.
Since I don't haul a trailer or put a lot of weight in the bed I chose the spacer block over the add a leaf system. No upper or lower control arm changes. Alignment went well, no issues
Looks and works great for my application

 

Keep it stock, because, stock is cool.
Or,,,,, save your money and get a good quality lift.
Good luck with your truck.

 

After reading all the recommendations from my previous thread on this subject, I finally pulled the trigger. Installed OME 2885 2" lift springs with the Bilstein 5100's on the front end. Best video for this was the team oil drop video "Easy 5100 Lift"

Installed using a floor jack as my spring compressor. Marked the alignment washers for the reinstall, LOOSEND the 2 lower control arm nuts, and removed the 2 19mm bolts on the mount bracket. Lowered the arm then removed the lower shock bolt and remove the top shock nut. Everything went according to plan. I did however adjust the drivers side shock to the .55 setting due to added weight on that side (double battery). Took the Taco in for alignment and they did not charge me as the alignment was still correct.

For the rear, I went with a i.5 " spacer block (I dont haul a trailer or have any additional weight in the truck bed)(Hence not going with an AAL)
Only had one small issue with this install, after the drivers side rear lift block was installed, when I went to remove the passenger side U-Bolts, the rear axle shifted forward about an inch or so. For as hard as I could pull, I could not get the axle to budge in order for the leaf spring centering bolt to align with the spacer. Took a ratchet strap and wrapped around the axle and the other end to a stationary object. Started tightening the strap and the axle started moving back and the pin dropped into the spacer block (whew) needless to say I was a little worried that it was not going to work. But it did and the truck looks and DRIVES great.

 

My tacoma had the cheap 3” lift shocks/springs from RC when I bought it. Rides like ass, partly due to the block and stock shock rear setup but the RC fronts are pretty rough for sure. It will be replaced with either Fox 2.0 or Bilstein 6112 this summer.

 

if you want a complete GOOD lift, reach out to @HeadStrong Off-Road and ask them to put one together for you and you can see pricing as well. That way you will have quality parts and everything you need.