Going from 6in to 3in need advice

Purchased a 2014 Tacoma for a great deal,2wd prerunner with a 6 inch lift. The truck has spindle lift with crossmember lowered. Crossmember has not been cut.
I was wanting to do the rear first with all pro leafs or Dakar leafs. Truck currently has 4 inch block on it and rides like hell.

Will the reAr be that much lower if I don’t do the front right away? I was thinking maybe 1-2 inches lower.

my issue right now is finding stock spindles to lower front to 3in. New factory spindles are high. Was gonna do the boss coilovers in front once I find stock spindles or if worse comes to worse, I will just stick with the current spindles and upgrade suspension. Any advice would be great.

 

I would do it all at once. For the front, you could buy these and sell your lift spindles to offset the cost. Or see if there's a local 2wd who just wants to trade with you.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/total-chaos-gusseted-spindles.379567/

Also do you have any pics? If it's a spindle lift, the cross member shouldn't be touched that I'm aware of.

 

why not just leave the spindles and drop in some quality shocks set at zero for the height on the coils? Spindles are 4" and keep the stock geometry and no preload necessary.

 

That was my original plan but I’m
Not sure where to find leaf springs that are 4-5 in. Also the shocks that are in are the rough country 6 inch shocks. What front coilovers would work with a spindle lift?

 

It looks like you just have a regular rough country drop bracket lift, not a spindle lift.

 

Lift blocks don’t change the way the rear of the truck rides, except maybe increasing axle wrap. Unless there is an AAL or something in the pack, it’ll likely ride a little rougher when you switch to Dakar’s or another leaf pack meant to carry weight.

 

The spindles that are on there are definitely not stock. Much more beefier. I was hoping to just put a set of boss coilovers on there with the current setup. I like the 3 inch look much more than what’s on there.

 

The leafs with the block on there now are sitting almost flat. Stock rear leafs with 4 inch block. From my experience in the past a better leaf pack rides better than a block.

 

The kit does provide new spindles but I don't think they provide any lift at all. The roughcountry website doesn't mention it. I'm sure they would've mentioned it if it did. Looks like the lift is coming from the drop bracket as well as the coils.

Some quick googling mentions that the existing crossbar has to be cut off. I wonder if that's only for 4x or also for 2x

 

The crossmember has not been cut but with the spindles on there now I’m not sure I could remove the dropped crossmember on there and go to stock location. 2wd is weird because I’ve had nothing but 4wd in the past.

 

Junk yard time? I see spindles on eBay all the time.

 

Tacoma leafs from the factory are pretty flat to start with.

A “better” leaf pack will ride better than a “worse” leaf pack with a block, sure. But a block doesn’t change the spring rate of the leaf pack, therefore doesn’t make the leaf pack ride any “worse”.

It all depends how you define “better” and what you plan to do with the truck.

You are also going to have to pull out the crossmember that lowers the LCAs before you can use a 3” lift coilover, unless you put a spacer on top of it (which would be silly).

 

Drop bracket lifts come with new spindles but those are different from lift spindles.

 

I very much disagree with this. When I first bought my truck it was stock and rode fine, I then did a spacer lift first up front with 2" blocks in the back and the back rode TERRIBLE. You could feel every bump and crevice in the road from the back forward. I have since switched to a full OME kit with medium duty dakars and the truck rides like it did stock again

 

Going from a rear block to Medium Dakar’s will improve the ride, but there were likely other factors at play.

Was weight added to the rear of the truck between the lift block and the Dakar’s? Did you change shocks when you made the switch?

I’m not saying I’m pro lift blocks here, just trying to be realistic with the use and needs of OPs truck. Don’t have to drop the money on a leaf pack if you aren’t wheeling or carrying weight.

 

Post a pic of a knuckle near the lower ball joint.

 

Get some maxtrac 4" spindles for the front and a new leafpack or aal for the rear.