2002 Tacoma with 280,000 miles and big tires. Just got for my daughter.

Photo #2 is called a body lift. Yes it's a spacer but it has zero to do with suspension. We would need to see the top of the coil assembly to know if there is a top load or preload spacer giving it some suspension lift.

 

Gotcha, I will take a photo tomorrow. At least you guys are educating me what to look for.

 

If you don't want rub go wider rims. At that point it should also be more stable but like some other comments check the ball joints, wheel bearings and tie rods other wise nice truck

 

Thanks

 

Some of you are probably wondering why don’t I take it to a shop? Well, I live on an island with very few mechanics takes a month +2 get an appointment, as well as just a inspection

 

Just got the shot this morning. Hopefully I got the right area.

 

2~3" BL + 3" spacers = trash. I wouldn't say a tacoma would be an ideal vehicle I'll give to a new driver. There litterily no safety feature, that's if the air bags even function during a MVA. Plus, the tacoma is easy to fish tail when the road is wet.

 

Rim width have nothing to do with rubbing. You can run a x10 wide and will not achieve anything. It's having the proper back spacing that will prevent rubbing when lock to lock.

 

Why is it trash but it does have airbags?

 

A combination of spacer lift with body lift is a formula for disaster and terrible ride quality.

Yes, it got air bags but will it deploy, that's the question. At a minimum of 20 years old, I wouldn't rely on it.

 

Pretty much just a beater for my daughter to go to school which is a mile away drive around town, etc. what should I remove the lift?

 

It's a nice "beater" in my opinion. Tall body lifts and top hat spacers are frowned upon. What you change would depend on budget. If you drop tire size you could ditch the body lift but that might be a challenge to source all the bolts etc. to return to stock. New coilover assemblies might not be a bad investment. It's possible that that stuff is original. There are pre assembled options that use lift coils instead of spacers (e.g. Old Man Emu). If you go that route 2" or less will net a better ride.

 

That makes sense but of course I’m on a budget, the truck rides really good actually. The tires are really noisy because of the tread and they rub a little on a hard turn going slow.

 

I’m just thinking a slightly smaller tire and more of a road type, and would be quieter, better ride, and very good on the sand as well as the road. Also, still need to check all the joints and bearings.

 

If it was me I'd remove the lift it has on it. Terrible ride quality.

Either go back to stock-ish with Bilstein 4600s or if you want a lift, do it properly.

If I were giving my Tacoma to my daughter I'd want it as safe and comfortable as possible.

 

Sounds like a plan. You can always revisit suspension options down the road if need be.

 

Yeah, I hear ya. That’s what I originally posted, the safety of my daughter and trying to figure out the best option. Thank you for your opinion & everyone else’s. Straight up it’s kind of hard with all the different opinions. But it is what it is.

 

Lol, I used Siri and didn’t proofread on a bunch of opinions x 3

 

Well safety should be first and foremost, of course. But it's all relative. The worst, most dangerous beaters I see around town are always driven by teenagers. Usually old beater pickups, pre-airbag generation, with lifts. In Montana (snow, ice). And a 1st gen Tacoma is far safer than what most of us drove for our first few cars. Yeah, a safer vehicle would have been a older Subaru wagon or something.

It's a spectrum. A pickup truck behaves more erratically than a car, no doubt. She'll need to learn what causes fishtailing, how to get out of one, and how to avoid rolling, especially in a lifted truck with a narrow wheelbase and high center of gravity. That'll be your job and I'm sure you were already planning on doing it.

It's like towing. Some people think if you're towing a 3,000 lb trailer with a truck that has a 5,000 lb tow rating, you're being irresponsible and it's dangerous, because you aren't giving yourself enough buffer. It's not irresponsible to tow a trailer within your trucks tow rating, and there's nothing irresponsible about a Tacoma as a first vehicle for teenager. But just like me, everybody's got an opinion.