Higher Clearance for Mountain Trails

I'm just starting to hit some of the great trails here in Colorado. I've decided that I'd like to do a 4-inch height increase (thereabouts) to be able to hit some of the higher-clearance trails like Middle Saint Vrain outside of Ward, CO. Can't do it in my stock Taco, so I'm looking for suggestions.

I have the 2011 base, crew cab, v6, 4x4 with the shorter bed length. It seems like everyone here is against the simple sub-$200 kits that increase by about 3-inches. And... I probably need replace my suspension anyway. It has approx 100k on the engine (mostly highway, but yeah).

So, what should I be looking at? I'm not made of money. It's also my daily driver. So nothing crazy. I looked through the "Ongoing lift install price thread" - but I can't spend thousands of dollars, nor do I know exactly what I need.

I live in Denver, CO city limits if that makes any sort of a difference.

 

TO FELLOW POSTERS: CAUTION, THE FOLLOWING IS AN OPINION THEREFORE I CAN'T BE WRONG YOU CAN JUST DISAGREE.

just do 3", they are TRULY made for off road. don't get spacers, get full suspension. Coils, shocks, leafs. OME is Good and affordable. Icon and King are AWESOME but $$$. I have spent a lot of time on the ol' trail and have never thought "I wish I had a drop bracket lift"
Your spring selection should reflect what else your going to do to your truck. As an example, I am fully armored, winch, swing out, gear up the wazoo. I have 700lb coils with Icon Shocks in front and giant 11 leaf springs from Deaver and OME shocks in the rear. Buy once and save money ( I didn't ) You TRULY get what you pay for.

 

Skids would serve you better on MSV than a 4" lift. Ran it yesterday and still hit quite a few rocks, some pretty hard, but I have built my truck so that IDGAF about bouncing off rocks. That said, I ran it before on 265s and a 3" OME with just sliders, but took a lot longer with better line choice/spotting.

 

The only way to increase ground clearance is with larger tires, a suspension lift will raise the everything mounted to the frame higher but the axle will still stay the same distance above the ground. Bigger tires require a bigger lift and often UCAs which all cost $$$. The sub-$200 lifts are for looks only and you will more than likely break components if you take them to serious trails. A full OME lift with replacement spring pack will run around $1000 and do what you need but then you will also need to spend another $1000 on tires.

 

Do larger tires mess with gas/mph/reliability? This will still be my daily driver for a while. At least another few years.

 

I have the Toyota skid plate on the front end. Is there something else I should be looking at too?

 

If you really want to be playing in the rocks that most all of the CO trails have to offer, I would suggest a quality set of steel skids and some sliders. Check out RCI, a local CO company run by Josh, @Joshp767a great guy to deal with.

http://www.rcimetalworks.com/

 

Awesome. Maybe I could trade him a new website for some armor.

 

In short yes, bigger tires will weigh more and tires with more aggressive tread will have more rolling resistance which both decrease MPG. The different diameter tire will rotate at a different rate than the stock size affecting your speed sensor which governs your odometer and will make it seem like you are going slower, traveling less distance and therefore getting worse MPG. When I went from the stock size (265/70R16) to 285/75R16 mud tire I went from averaging above 16 to about 15. I don't drive much so I don't really mind.

That stock think on the from should be thought of as a splash plate, it will keep cool liquids from splashing up and hitting your hot engine and prevent rocks form bouncing into your engine fan. It crumples the minute you touch it to something. If you plan on wheeling with lots of rocks around invest in some sliders to protect your rocker panels and some heavier skids to protect the fragile guts underneath.

 

Bummer, really? Why even sell the damn thing then? Sigh. Thankfully I should be able to return mine since I ordered it after I bought my truck. I guess I should talk to @Joshp767

 

It looks cool, that covers the needs of most Tacoma owners.

 

I'm jumping into RCI's group buy discount that ends on monday. I'm gonna to a full set of skids instead of worrying about the lift right now. I went to an off road place that wanted almost $7k to do coil suspension, wheels and tires. Honestly, I don't want a monster truck. It's still my daily driver. What they suggested would have the cab 8-inches higher than it is now. Meh. Giant friggen wheels too.

I wish spacers weren't such a terrible option - they'd give me the lift I want without much work. What's the risk? That they'll break stuff? Or is it that the ride just gets rougher?

 

Just get some 31" offroad tires and you'll be good.

Spacers are fine as long as they aren't over 3". Everything you've heard about them is exaggerated. Granted they do decrease the stock suspension quality, it's by a negligible amount especially considering how burly these trucks are out of the box.

 

Keep it simple. It's your daily driver.

Advice is worth what you pay for it, and you're getting some highly varying advice in this thread. I'd be particularly suspect of the advice that says that a lift won't increase your off-road capability.

So, here's my minimum budget keep-it-simple suggestion for you:

A 3" Old Man Emu lift with 885 springs, shocks, and replacement leaf pack in the rear will meet your needs. If you really want to save some coin, get a 2" add a leaf in the rear instead of the replacement leaf pack. But the full replacement leaf pack is worth doing.

When you have the alignment done, have them give you the maximum caster possible, and zero out the camber. Since you have a V6 double cab, you should be able to get a passable amount of caster without having to install new upper control arms. But it won't be as much caster as your truck had stock. That's OK. Caster affects driveability, not tire wear.

You need a larger tire as well, but you want to keep it simple. So, upgrade to a 265/75R16 32" tire to gain a little bit of clearance and a tougher off road tire. Which AT tire to get is subject for another thread, but you don't want to skimp on tires when you're off-roading. You want a durable tough tire.

You should save money and increase reliability (less chance of balancing issues or vehicle stability control issues) by keeping your original factory rims.

These steps will greatly increase the offroad capability of your truck by increasing your approach angle, departure angle, breakover angle, and the distance that your vulnerable rocker panels are off the ground, with a minimum chance of "unintended consequences."

Good luck.

 

Sound advice!

 

Ride is harder, and you lose up travel. Essentially ever inch of lift costs an inch of travel. It also puts more stress on the shock (your bump stops are no longer in play, so the shock body has to do all the work), which can break things.

Good luck,
AE