1st Gen Body Lifts, thoughts and opinions.

I have a '95 Tacoma with a 2" body lift and daystar leveling kit on it. I'm currently running 35s on my truck. i have very little rubbing issues with the main spots being the frame and the front bumper. I bought the truck with the lift already on it and I want to get rid of the body lift or got down to maybe a 1" body lift. I know getting rid of the body lift will probably require some work to let the tires clear where the fenders bolt up to the cab. How hard would it be to remove the body lift and what would I need to buy to accomplish this task? Replacing it with a 1" lift would be pretty straight forward.

Any thought and input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks -JB

 

How do you have 35's without tubbing the front fenders and chopping the body mounts?

I should clarify: most people even with a 6" suspension lift can't fit 35's without doing at least some cutting...

 

Do I need to send pictures, the wheel offset I should assume helps. I did cut a few inches out of the inner fender plastic, but for the most part it just fit and works.

 

You don't NEED to send pics, but yeah, pics would help.

What "leveling" kit do you have? I would venture it's more than just a simple leveling kit and more like an actual lift. Most people I've seen that fit 35's need to do a fair bit of cutting, and even wheel spacers etc... don't negate the need to cut, so honestly you'd be the first I've seen.

The "pinch weld mod" is common (hammering the fender pinch weld down) but that's needed ever for most 33's.

Here's what most people end up doing to fit 35's on a 3" lift. But even a 6" bracket style lift and I think there's still some cutting and tubbing that needs to happen.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fitting-35s-on-3-suspension-lift.307596/

 

Yeah I hammer down the pinch welds for good measure. It's a Daystar leveling kit, it lifted it 2.5 and 1.75 in the rear if I remember correctly, I end up replacing the spacers and UCA in the front with Fox 2.5 coil-overs and Camburg UCAs. If it wouldn't cost me an arm and leg to get some leaf springs shipped up to Alaska I replace the expedition leaf springs in the rear with some Deaver leaf springs. Then fab up some new shock mounts and mount up some 2.0 w/reservoir to the rears.

 

This is a long shot but worth the try....Where’d you get the 2” body lift at??

 

+1 on this.

I have a 1" 4crawler body lift on my 04 Dcab.

Most on here don't like bodylifts. I haven't had any issues with mine. Stick to 1" and it will be fine.

 

Did the 1” really make much of a difference appearance wise?

I know the typical view on BL’s but I’m struggling to decide between a 3” or 1”.

I’m currently running 33s with a 2.5” suspension lift. I would like to go higher without having to drop the $800+application on a 6”.

Any recommendations?

 

I had a suspension lift.and was rubbing the mud flaps and the fram when the front wheels were turned. I added the 1" body lift and it no longer rubbed.

 

I'm running 2" BL with 2.5"/4" suspension lift. My opinion, it's perfect. 1" seems too much work and very little gain and 3" will just show everything up. I fabbed up my own bumper brackets, bed support and added gap guards. There's a gap between the hitch and rear bumper but with the back end sitting high, it doesn't bother me.

Although, on my previous second gen, my only choice was a 1" BL and it was enough to make 35's clear but that was more of functionality rather than aesthetics.

 

I definitely agree with the 1" being too little for what you work for. I would love to do a 2" BL, I think it would be just what I'm looking for and enough to do 35's. However, they don't have one for my year (2003). It seems to only be a 1" or 3" with nothing in between....It looks like I might have to go with the 3" and grab some gap guards to go along with because I myself don't like the look of being able to see under the bed...Thanks for the input!

By the way, was the BL something you were able to install yourself or did you take it in to get done?

 

We can tell....

 

Happen to have any photos from the side/rear?? Trying to get an idea of what I'd be looking at. Did you install yourself or have it done?

 

How was the install process for you? Thanks for the photos!

 

Mine had a 3" body lift. I though it looked and drove like shit so I removed it. What a PITA.

 

What made it drive like shit?

 

Maybe the tall spacers wear faster but the thing was loose, felt like the cab would move around in corners especially mid-corner ripples. Removing the lift and replacing with stock height bushings really tightened it up.

 

Recheck the bolts after driving for a short period of time. retighten as needed. 1" 4Crawler BL here. If you ever have to do any work on the transmission, BL's do make bolt access easier @ top of bellhousing.

 

3" suspension lift. I had a taco with a 3" body lift and hated it.

 

May I ask why?