Budget Friendly lift with 30.5" tires

So I figured I'd go ahead and make a small build thread of my truck to help anyone else who might want to lift their truck, but, like me, you might not have too much money to spend. This is my 2005 5lug I got 2 months ago with 56k miles on it. She was super clean, but like all of us, I wasn't a huge fan of how low it was and how small the tires were.


So, of course, I started looking up lift kits and realized very quickly I had limited options.
I settled on the Pro Comp 2.75" front lift and 1.75" rear aal you can find on Amazon. I chose that one because I heard that the Fat Bobs rear shocks are crap and I was going to get some 6 lug bilsteins for the rear instead. Then I started looking at wheels and tires and I quickly realized that my "budget" lift was turning into a not so cheap venture.

So, I scrapped my plans and took a measuring tape out to my truck and measured the front and rear ride heights. Turns out the rear sites about 1.75" higher than the front. I then started looking for 1.75"-2" front spacer lifts to "level" out my truck instead of going the whole 9 yards on suspension.

I found this kit on Ebay for $60: https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-2005-2...nsion-Lift-Kit/162571497090?fits=Model:Tacoma

Much cheaper than any other lift I was looking at.

Next I set out for wheels since I really didn't like the sunken in look of the stock 15s. 4wp.com had a sale on pro comp wheels and I picked up a set of 16x8 series 51 wheels for $280. Alright finally looking like a "budget build."


Keep in mind you will need at least a 3mm spacer or these will rub on your caliper. I chose to just shave my caliper down a little.


Next was tires and after reading reviews I settled on Hankook Dynopro AT2s. They are a great option for light offroading while being a pretty good tire for everyday commuting. I was stumped on tire size for a while, but the ebay listing for the spacer lift recommended a 30x9.5 tire. I went with a 245/75r16 which is about a 30.5x9.6" tire and it is perfect.

To make sure they'd fit I did the Black Box Mod, but instead of just cutting away at the fender liner I ripped it off and ordered some ebay Prerunner fender liners.


They ended up fitting pretty well for $20 each:


Plenty of space in there for a bigger tire



I was stoked when the new tires came in. I wish I had taken a picture of them next to the old ones because the difference is insane.

So, from here I don't really have any pictures of the wheels or the lift kit.I'll just show you the end product!



This is how the truck sits today and I couldn't be happier with it.



It sits pretty close to level, maybe 1/4" higher up front, but it's really not noticable. Anyway, here's a price breakdown:

Leveling kit: $60
Wheels: $280
Tires: $570
Fender liners and clips: $60
Install and Alignment: $280

Total was roughly $1250

I think the truck is perfect how it sits and if anyone is looking for a cheap way to lift their 5lugs I hope this little thread helped you guys out.

 

Looks really good man. My only suggestion for future people that want to copy this build it to look at cragar rims. They have 2 styles that will fit with no spacers or shaving calipers. Just look for 4" backspacing and around -13mm offset.

 

Truck came out great! I like it

 

Cool!! Take it to the next level and put more black on your white truck to match those killer tires and rims. De-chrome it. Black grille, black badges, black rear bumper, etc. Cheap to do.

 

I agree that would deffinately finish it off and look sharp

 

What kind of shocks are you running? I just purchased my truck and its 100% stock. I was trying to go the same route (level the front and some steelies with bigger tires) but am trying to figure out if getting better shocks would lift the front enough for some bigger tires. Nothing crazy but something bigger than stock.. do you think i would i need a level to fit the same kind of rims with slightly smaller tires?

 

So shocks will not lift your truck, they are merely for smoothing out the ride. If you want added height in the front then you need a spacer lift (or a crazy expensive, rare, long travel kit). The normal go-to size for upgrading tires is 235/75r15. You can keep your stock wheels, no lift needed, they are approx 2 inches bigger than stock (its what i have on my truck)

all the above information and much more is available in the sticky threads

 

long time lurker on tw but I never pulled the trigger on doing the full 2.75 and AAL - saw your thread and finally made an account and did the spacer lift upfront. thanks for the inspiration!

thinking I am going to keep the stock steelies and get bigger tires? not really sure. right now all in im at like 100 bucks for the plastidip and the spacers. could get out at under $500 bucks that way

 

Nice build! Do you have a link for the fender liners? Any issues with them?

 

I don't have a link to the ones I bought, but these should work:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-Liner-Set-For-2005-2011-Toyota-Tacoma-4WD-Front-Left-Right-2Pc/371690047640?fits=Model%3ATacoma%7CMake%3AToyota&epid=1278910761

I would definitely look into getting new clips while you're at it. The old ones were a bitch to get off and I broke most of them.