02 Tacoma Double Cab Lift Help

Hi TW, I'm still fairly new here and new to my 1st gen Tacoma. Picked it up not long ago and now starting my build. I've been doing a lot of research on lifts and got stuck. Hopefully I can get some clarification.

So I have an 02 Tacoma double cab that I'm trying to figure out what I should do with my lift.
Currently I have Sway-a-way racerunner 2.5 with 700lb elbach, I want more lift but don't want to crank up the coilovers to the point they get really stiff. so about 2.5''. I have a pair of top spacers I could put on, they are .25'' thick or my other option I'm considering is going with a 4crawler 1 or 1.5'' body lift. Is anyone running a similar set up? or can you guys recommend what I should do. Maybe a combination of both?
I want to get close to a 4'' lift and still have a good moderate off-roading rig.

Also just a few thing to keep in mind I have a 3 piece skid plates, sliders and hopefully soon a winch bumper with a winch in the front. Ill take a wild guess and say everything together will be an additional 380-400 pounds

Thanks in advance

 

Not sure how much lift you have now, or if 4x4. But if 4x4 you really dont wanna go more then 2.5" of lift. Many will say 3", but I found 3 to be a bit much and prematurely wear out the boots. If NOT 4x4, look into drop spindles.

As for the body lift, Many run 1-1.5" for tire clearance. It also makes dropping the trans even easier.

You will be hard pressed to get performance out of much more lift without a drop bracket setup, long travel, or sas.

 

@Greensystemsgo, Mine is a 4x4. If I do a 3'' lift with a 1.5'' body lift would the 1'' diff drop help any with the premature boot wear?

and are you referring to transmission drop as replacing it or is there a different reason that you would want to drop the tranny?

 

with 3" lift, and 1" diff drop I was replacing boots/axles every few months ~4-6 months. And per dropping the trans, any reason really, especially to replace a clutch.

 

OP,
Stay away from a diff drop kit, assembly, garbage or whatever else you want to call it, and spacers too.
I suggest staying @ 2.5" on the race runners and installing a Roger Brown 1" lift. Then tackle the sliders as they may be need to be moved upwards.
Post pics when you have time.

Hope this helps you.

 

@Greensystemsgo, in that case would a 2.5'' suspention lift with 1'' diff drop and a 1.5'' body lift be the better way to go? That would be a total of 4''

 

What you guys are recommending, will it all work on a 4x2 prerunner double cab ?

 

I don't have sliders on yet. I thought if I'm doing a body lift its best to do that first and then install the sliders.
Also with a body lift the sliders would move up about 1''-1.5'' then you would typically have them getting better clearance on the sides. Is that correct?

 

^^ Yes it will.
OP,
Search the web for diff drops, they suck... even if you're a mall crawler.

 

OK... I misread your post. I thought you already had sliders.
Get the BL installed then do the sliders. For God's sake, don't do a diff drop. Do a search and you'll learn.

 

Do you need a 1" body lift to clear 33s? i'm in the same boat as the OP and was thinking a 2.5" old man emu lift (882s or 883s) but hadn't considered a body lift. just want to be able to have a front/rear plate bumper, sliders, and other stuff for overlanding.

 

^^ While I was IFS, I ran 33's without a BL. The ICON's were set @ 2.5" of lift.
Depending on the wheels, you may or may not need to do the pinch weld mod.

 

@Ritchie, There are a lot of mixed opinions about diff drops but I seem to lean to the side of getting one. I haven't had any experience with diff drops but by the looks of it, it definitely seems to help the cv axle angle. I pulled these pictures from following link: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-how-to-install-a-toytec-diff-drop-pics.53991/
(yes its a 2nd gen but concept is the same)

 

I'm running the eibach springs and bilstien shocks with a 1 in body lift from daystar and 33s and absolutely no rubbing at all and a diff drop with no
issues

 

Is 1'' enough or if you did it again would you go with a 1.5'' body lift. price difference is only like $30.00

 

The reason the angle on the CV is bad is not because of the angle itself, but the boot being compressed on one side, so as the axle turns, it gets compressed and decompressed and eventually tears, then dirt gets in there, *then* it goes bad. Apparently you can undo the clamp, readjust the boot so it's not so kinked, then re clamp it.
Disclaimer: I only have a 1.5" lift on mine, have not done either diff drop or CV boot adjustment, so I have no first-hand experience, but I read about this on the internet, which is just as good, right?

 

I can't believe I'm hearing people say that diff drop kits suck. If your boots tear or pop off, yes, dirt gets in and destroys them, but the angle itself is bad, too, even if your boot stays intact. It forces the CVs to a high angle (near full droop) during normal driving and puts excess wear on them.

IMO, stay away from stacking lifts, too. I.e. don't put spacers on your coils when you already have adjustable shocks/coils. The coils are designed to go from 0-3" (or whatever they say), so putting spacers in there can exceed that. There's a reason pretty much all lifts out there stop at 3", more than that and you start getting all sorts of issues with CV angles etc... After 3" you need a bracket style lift.

As for fitting tires with whatever lift, there's a whole thread on fitting 35's with a 3" lift. You can do 33's with a 3" too, or even a 2.5". Yes, you'll probably need to do a little trimming or hit the pinch weld, but it's easily doable and very popular to have 33's with 3" lift or less.

I tend to recommend against a body lift (imo they create more problems than they solve), there are other options to get you what you need (tire clearance) withOUT raising your center of gravity (like the pinch weld mod, etc...).

 

Diff drops kits can suck for you depending on what you plan to do with the rig. I wheel hard so would rather replace CVs than lose clearance.

 

But if you have a skid plate that wouldn't really mater right? it would still cove the diff.

 

Skid plate doesn't change that you lost ground clearance by using a diff drop