EXPLAIN WHY SPACER AND BLOCK LIFTS ARE CONSIDERED SO INFERIOR TO OTHER 3" LIFTS (all Gens)

I quote " We do no need a thread like this" What are you afraid of?

 

Well, as someone who's gone from stock, to stock with a spacer, to bilstein 5100s, to a set of kings,

don't waste the money on the bandaids. The kings will give you +100% stock ride quality, since you're into percentages

 

All good conversation is.

 

Gent's, good night as its approaching 1:00 am here on the East coast.

Look forward to further discussion.


God Bless America.

 

Because it's cool to tell people how much money you have invested in something.
What sounds better? "I have a $3k King suspension setup", or "yea I lifted it and it looks the same for $200."

 

What if, when you put in the spacer, you extended your bumpstops as well?
Sorry if it's already been brought up.

 

When I bought my truck, and then my tires & wheels I had hoped going with 265/70r17s I wouldn't have any rub. I do though when the tire is half way between straight and full lock, and I hit the brakes. I removed my mud flaps. That wasn't enough. I still hear it. I can't find any visual evidence though so it must be very minimal. I still like how the truck looks but I also like how lifted trucks look, and how that balances them visually.

I don't offroad (yet) but I don't baby my truck either. Some of my driving is in the city, and potholes & rr tracks are commonplace. In the winter, driving in snow can almost be the same as some mild offroad trails. Sure none of this driving will require severe articulation but my current wheel & tire setup weighs in at about 80 lbs.

The reason I'm saying all this is because I stumbled into this thread looking for answers to my particular situation. I want to retain the stock ride, and do not want anything stiffer or harsher. I would think that if you tighten up the suspension and make it stronger that the energy will be directed to a weaker part.

So I'd like a mild lift to stop the rubbing, and allow me to do mild off-roading (later on) if I wanted to, or at least be able to drive over frozen piles of snow, rr tracks and potholes without worrying about damaging my truck. I really don't worry about the rubbing sound, it's just annoying.

So I'm sub'd to see where this (and other threads like it) go.
Rob

 

"You get what you pay for"...
Pretty much sums it up.

 

This. Stop trying to justify a cheap lift. The ride quality suffers immensely for "mediocre" at best performance. I don't like driving around and feeling like its a tractor, but if that works for you than hey I am glad you like it. But its not adequate or even worth spending the money one.

 

You could do that to help save your shocks. That'd be the "proper" way of doing a spacer lift. I just don't know of any kits or spacers specifically meant to fix this problem, but that's not to say they don't exist.

 

Can not agree less on this statement - There seems to be some logic that $$ spent is directly proportional to quality. I spacer lifted a new truck at a low mile point and drove the same tires before and after the lift- The change was negligible- wife also didn't see a difference either. Also have a considerable off pavement miles.

I would allow that I have the off road suspension and maybe a sport suspension is not as kind to this type of 2.5" lift but I would suggest that people are going for the full 3" and throwing a heavy tire rim combo on with the lift which is creating the change in feel.

Not saying that it can not be done better by swapping in a new full length spring but my experience the space is a very suitable lift at the 2.5" or less.

 

I think the biggest reason you see spacer lifts thrashed on it the fact that almost nobody ever tries to actually tune the rest of the parts to work correctly.

The stock bump stops are garbage, replace them with something softer and more progressive.
Check the compressed length of the shocks, adjust bumps to limit compression accordingly.

I have done spacer lifts on other vehicles and never had any problems when done right.

 

I dont think anyone is afraid of anything, but what is happening is, there are good reasons NOT to use spacers/blocks but those reasons dont apply to everyone, particularly you. You asked a question, got answers, but dismiss the reasoning. Then whats the point?

The common sense here is, do what fits your needs.

 

You have to access your need and buy a lift accordingly.

Go and read this, it is the best ever explanation of all type of lifts I have read.

http://www.tacomahq.com/66/tacoma-leveling-lift-kit/

 

I've installed spacer lifts on 3 Tacomas, 1 Tundra and 1 4Runner. I never noticed ANY change or deterioration of ride on ANY of these vehicles. None of them broke any shocks. One of them gets taken off-road several times per week.

There is a lot of bandwagon hate of spacer lifts by people who have never even had a spacer lift. They're just repeating what other people on the internet say so it must be true.

FYI even 5100 shocks WITHOUT spacer lifts have been known to snap/bend(google it). Even with those half dozen pics out there of bent shocks from people who were most likely abusing their trucks to the point of bending SOMETHING(yeah I know, they were just slowly driving across the grocery store parking lot when it happened).

Spacer lifts aren't the devil. Tens of thousands of trucks are driving around with them with no issues. They are a cheap way to make your truck look better and gain a little clearance. That's all.

If you're looking for an actual improvement in your trucks suspension than spacers are not for you.

No, I do not have a spacer on my truck. I spent thousands to make my truck ride slightly better.

 

I need input from people like you! Mine's currently on stock with spacers (about 3") and I need new shocks so going to do the suspension. I bought it like this and don't really like how it rides (some rubbing and I think vibes too), also it hates potholes, washboard roads, etc. I like the height so thinking to put bilstein or OME old man emu at about 2.5" lift. Would love to do king/fox/icon but I'm broke so that's not likely.

If you were not abusing your truck too much and doing backcountry dirt roads at most 15-20% of the time, would you say your bilsteins were good enough? Comfortable on the highway but capable enough off them?

 

From someone who has 5100s and OME coils, it's a fantastic budget solution! Just my 0.02.