Help removing my 6” Lift

I recently purchased a 2011 Tacoma with a 6” Zone Offroad lift kit on it. Biggest reason I bought the truck was for the low miles, I was iffy about the lift kit and decided I don’t like it. What would the process be of returning the truck back to stock ride height? I need new tires anyways so now would be a good time to look into taking it off because I drop 2k+ on another set of 35s. Worst comes to worst I could keep it but I want my truck to last a long long time, and I don’t want things like a lift to affect that longevity. I’m having trouble keeping my alignment in check, and I’m thinking the lift and tires is causing it. I’m mostly wondering what OEM parts I would have to purchase. By the looks of it it came with new cross members and spindles, so would I need to go back to OEM, or could I keep those and just get rid of the pucks and blocks, and keep the rest? I’m assuming I’ll need a new crossmember at the very least. I can give pictures of the shocks/ springs I’m running if needed as they aren’t the ones that came in the kit, but I’m assuming I won’t need to worry about changing those since it looks to be a body lift. Thank you!!

 

Post some pictures here, of the front cross member, lower control arms, etc.
We need to see what you have.

 

Rear suspension, cross member, and front suspension pictured!

 

Frame's been cut, won't be an easy fix. Some states won't pass that for inspection. You might be screwed.

 

So it is smarter to just keep it on there? I just wanna keep my truck in good shape. If the lift isn’t really affecting anything then I’m okay keeping it on. Just want my truck to run for many more miles!

 

The lift won't affect the reliability of the drivetrain but it will ride like ass and wear out suspension and steering components

Might take some looking but I'll bet you could find a welder who could fab up something to repair/replace the cut section of frame. One of my regular customers got his repaired and it looks decent.

 

You'd have to check with your state. If you have inspections as a part of registration, that will fail. DOT frowns on frame welding...especially if a chunk is missing. If you live in a state that doesn't do inspections, you may be able to have someone plate the chunk that's been cut out. I doubt it will be cheap.

Otherwise, you're stuck with the lift. This is one reason why we tell people to get the frame inspected when buying a truck.

 

This post shows a repaired crossmember: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ruggedts-build.225147/page-3#post-5530328 As many have said a legitimate fabricator could do the work to repair it. But a 6" lift with a DB can maintain an alignment. There are probably 1,000's of Tacoma's with 6" kits that don't have any issues, or problems with longevity. Now getting rid of the spacer on top of the strut would probably help. Along with maybe an upgraded UCA that allows for more adjustments. But money wise, if you aren't doing the work, labor to completely remove the lift and go back to stock won't be cheap. But the stock components if you get them used would save you some decent coin. Though the custom fab work needed to repair the crossmember is kind of an unknown, and you'd need to know the fabricator actually knows what they are doing. I've run a 6" kit without issue. So I think changing out the components would probably be the easiest and fastest route.

Front:
https://accutuneoffroad.com/product...qsXNkq11AKMPzjp4AJ1enmHePNj8up40tUL9MIgZtzW8e
https://bds-suspension.com/products...-inch-lift-factory-series-toyota-tacoma-05-23
https://bds-suspension.com/products...-inch-lift-factory-series-toyota-tacoma-05-22

Rear:
https://iconvehicledynamics.com/acc...0cH110xqBSOuQeafoEoSwD8a2DKLGGylQnLkpJuAVg22Y

or

Front:
https://www.roughcountry.com/product/toyota-tacoma-vertex-coilovers-689014

Rear:
https://www.roughcountry.com/product/toyota-vertex-shocks-699014?gQT=2

or

Front:
https://metaltech4x4.com/icon-2005-...front-coil-over-shock-kit-w-remote-reservoir/

or

Front:
https://radfloshocks.com/product/ra...stock-for-6-fabtech-procomp-6-lift-kit/?gQT=2

Any of the above "used" would obviously save you some money vs brand new.

 

You have "Regear" listed on your profile... If that is the case (your truck is regeared for the 35" tires), then that would be another modification you would need to undo as well (however you might get lucky and find someone willing to trade you a set of stock axles/3rds for your regeared units).

If it were me, I'd probably just leave well-enough alone... I agree, the lift itself shouldn't be detrimental to your truck, the regear also eliminates many of the impacts the bigger tires would otherwise have.
What I probably would suggest though is find a 4x4 shop or someplace that regularly works with modified suspensions, have them do your wheel alignment and to also give it a once-over. Your chances of getting a good alignment are likely better there than at some chain-store alignment place.
I see clips missing from the brackets that hold your brake line, for example... If that was deliberately left like that because the brake hose is too short, you'll definitely want to put a proper set of hoses on there.

I also see non-factory UCAs on there (SPC maybe?).

Yeah there has been exactly one single report of this happening on here (from a guy who couldn't be bothered to come back and provide an update either). If this was a widespread issue, I think we'd be hearing about it more often.
I think it may be safe to assume the dude had a rookie inspector that failed him, and he got it passed simply by going to a different inspection station (I want to say it was in Vermont where this happened).
If anyone else has had this happen though, then please post up.

 

Vermont is currently an automatic fail for alterations to crossmembers on the frame - including the factory spare holder - or any repairs not completed according to "manufacturer specification", and there is no such spec for Tacomas. A lot of places will look the other way if the repair is clean (like a professionally installed Saf-T-Cap with pretty welds).

 

Earlier this year I removed the 6" DB lift that was on my truck when I bought it. I spent about a year researching, laying under the truck figuring out what all I'd need, and collecting parts. It was pretty pricey to collect all the parts to return it to stock-ish form but you can save a bit of money if you're patient. I found a local fabricator who rebuilt the crossmember, can send pictures of the repair if you want. He also built a tab on the new crossmember section for the front diff's rear mount to bolt to.

Here's the list of OEM or OEM equivalent parts needed to go back to stock:

• Coilovers
• Spindles (very expensive from Toyota, recommend getting these from a junkyard or on TW)
• Front diff mounts (very expensive from Toyota, recommend getting these from a junkyard or on TW) and bolts
• LCA to Spindle brackets and bolts
• UCA's
• Misc bolts (I probably spent $100-$200 at Fastenal and lots of time figuring out thread pitches and bolt lengths)

If you want a swaybar you'll need:

• Swaybar
• Swaybar to frame brackets and bolts
• Swaybar endlinks

We pulled the hubs from the aftermarket spindles and put them on the OEM spindles since they were both good.

There's not much info about reversing these lifts online. I can answer any questions you have if you're wanting to move forward with reversing it.

 

@11_Taco depending on where you’re located and how serious you are about going back to stock I’d be interested in swapping you OEM parts for the 6” lift

 

Hey dude, apologies for the late reply. I’ve been doing a ton of research and I found a dude who’s willing to sell me pretty much everything I need for $200. All stock suspension components more or less. I did have a couple questions though. Did you end up doing to work yourself or did you have a shop do it? Were you able to drive on the cut crossmember until it go welded or was it stuck in your driveway until you got it fixed? Do you regret taking your lift off at all? Or was it totally worth it? I’m mostly just looking for a dependable truck I can build to OEM+, but if you have major regrets regarding taking your lift off I may reconsider. Thanks dude!!

 

I think youre going to open a can of worms if you try and deconstruct your lifted truck back to Oem.... At that point you might want to just sell it and get a different truck with no modifications.