Help Me Get A Lift

Need to check with the shop doing the work to see if they're familiar with front axel needle bearing replacement. Plenty of people on TW have tools to loan, if you were close to VA you could borrow mine.

If you're close to Raliegh NC you could have ECGS do it themselves.

 

Unfortunately I'm in CT. So its not the type of thing I can just take anywhere?

 

Yes, that and the diff drop are both super easy to install. The diff drop may eliminate the need for an ecgs bearing. In talking to my dealer, they've done one and they factory lift probably 1/3 of the tacomas they sell.

It's not as big of deal as the internet lets on.

 

Seems MANY around here say don't install the diff drop. Same goes for the carrier bearing drop kit? Man this s#$t is so confusing and nerve racking. Some say don't do diff drops, some say do it, some say ECGS bushing. Wish there were concrete answers.

 

Ask for recommendations of shops in the NE regional forum, I know when I lived in Southern Maine there were quite a few Offroad shops in the area.

I believe @Marcoc lives in CT and did his bushing, he may have a recommendation for you.

It's not as bad as it seems but then again it's your truck. Diff Drop will help with shaft angles so if that's the route you want to go instead, go for it. It can be easily reversed if you change your mind.

 

I did both, (carrier bearing drop and diffdrop) no issues with mine at 7k miles on the lift, super simple to install. I'd hold on the ECGS until you confirm that you actually need it, you'll know quickly if you do.

You can end up way down the rabbit hole if you read to much.

 

So maybe just do the included carrier bearing drop and skip the diff drop? I'm saying that because the kit i think just comes with the former. Also, I'm getting conflicting info with what you said on the shops having difficulties aligning the SPC LR UCAs. What kind (other than the ones you mentioned) of UCAs am I looking for that will not give alignment shops anxiety?

 

*this is based off my personal experience only**

Any fixed UCA like the JBA or Icon Delta joint. I'm just giving you my personal experience with getting multiple alignments. My local les schwab (large tire store) won't touch it, My dealership fucked it up and I had to get it redone, last time I spent 2 hours with the alignment tech getting it done marginally.

As for the diff drop, super simple to do. Most of the guys bitching about them were referring to second gen issues, a lot of the reasoning behind it is that is lowers the diff a little bit losing a bit of ground clearance for rock crawling, I don't rock crawl so I don't care. 40.00 and 15 minutes vs 3 hours and a shit load of work was a no brainer for me. My TRD pro skid fits just fine with it installed. Carrier bearing is the same deal, super easy to install yourself, so why not.

 

To give you a better idea what it looks like....the needles inside you see tend to break, the ecgs is smoothed out. Toyota knows this is a faulty part which is the reason why there is a TSB out on them when they break. Toyota redesigned it but still has needles in them. The TSB bushing and diff drop is all bandaids, the true fix is the ECGS bushing.

Up to you if you wish to get it done. People either plan ahead of time to avoid the issues and others fix things when shit happens. Which one are you....


Obviously there is better setups than 6112s I just assumed Your on a budget. If you can afford fox, kings etc go for it.

 

Thanks. Well the fox ones i linked to aren't too much more... so thats why i was asking. But it says they only give a 1" lift on third gens so I'm concerned with that.

 

Those are preset setting your reading. That what they come out of the box if you installed them like that. You can increase lift by giving more preload or in other words showing my threads.

Last year you could find the 6112/5160 for under 900 bucks which was a steal. Up to you if you wanna spend the extra coin on fox. But as other have said if you live around SALT...I would never buy Kings, fox or icons. They will rust. Bilstein and ADS are the ONLY 2 that can survive the elements. I live on the east coast so salted roads suck....

 

Yeah I'm in CT... so prob will stick with bilsteins. Looks like HS off road has what i want for $1,655.99. Thats with the Dakars and little accessories they throw in. I'd still need to get UCAs. Guess the JBA's are the best choice if I want to take it anywhere for alignments?

To quote my buddy "just look at BDS suspension. You can get a 4" lift kit with fox stuff for the same price... all that money for a 2" lift?!". I said IDK man, the guys at TW seem to know quality and their s@#t!

 

Sounds like a good kit for what you say you need and well within your budget of $3K.

 

From the title, I thought this was gonna have a link to a go fund me page.

 

Am I the only one who gets anxiety with this ish? Never concrete answers (at least with the bushing/diff drop stuff) and with something on your daily driver... you NEED concrete answers you know? I love learning about everything but would be nice if there was a "get this and this and this, get it installed and thats all you need, homeboy"

 

Good luck with finding that.

It's only how much do you want to spend and where do you want to go..

 

Yeah. I'll prob pull the trigger tonight.

 

Bushing change out wont hurt anything, it's up to you but to do it later means ripping the front end apart and aligning it again if vibrations do show up. Pain in the ass if you're doing all the work yourself to redo, expensive if you're paying for it as you end up paying twice for the front suspension install and two alignments.

Like I did in my build thread, I had it changed as a preventive measure as everything was apart and now I never worry about it.

 

Guess its a question of how likely is it that I'll get the vibes with my setup? I totally agree with being proactive about it... but it is another $300ish with parts and install and IDK if I trust any shop to do it, making it harder to find a good install.

 

What will you do if you get vibrations then?

Need that contingency plan just in case. Calling around to find a shop in your area familiar with the procedure is free. Might be good information to have on hand just un case.