I need lift/spacer advice

I bought my 2002 Tacoma double cab with aftermarket Ultra Motorsports 16x8 with 265/75R/16 tires. It is on stock suspension. The tires rub on the mudflaps when I turn the wheel almost all the way but it might be because the mud flap mounting hole is broken in one spot. Anyways, that’s not my problem. I’m wondering what my options for lifting my truck is. Something like 2-4 inches. I want to do it the right way without sacrificing ride quality or anything. I don’t want to empty my bank account but I don’t want to cheap out. I’ve read good things about Bilstein 5100s. They aren’t very expensive so I like that of course. I know those won’t lift it very much so what about a new spring setup with those? Should I look at aftermarket springs or something like heavy duty OEM spring springs. As much as I’d like to get an OME setup or something like it, that’s pretty expensive. Also, I’m wondering about spacers and I’ve read that Spidertrax are quality spacers and highly recommended. I’d probably rather spend that money on the suspension though. Thanks for the help

 

good looking truck.

Personally I have an old man emu lift with the single aal from toytec, I like it and it performs well off-road but the ride isn't too great, specifically the rear perhaps due to the single aal, or might be because my truck is very light but just speaking from my own experience. Ive heard that Icon has very good ride quality and performs great offroad, but their prices are pretty steep. I was looking at bilsteins when I was looking for a lift too but decided to just save my pennies and go old man emu. Id say if you plan on wheeling it do it proper the first time, save up and look at all the options, there are tons of threads on almost every lift option out there.

As far as spacers, Ive been running spidertrax 1.25" for about 6 months now I believe, no complaints, just torque them properly and use loctite and you should be good, Id recommend looking for a used set, there are good deals popping up pretty often on here.

You got a budget in mind for the lift?

 

Well I know it might sound disappointing but I’m not going to be off-roading too much aside from some rough dirt roads. Not that I won’t take my truck off-road, I just want a really nice daily driver for now and I haven’t done much off-roading at all yet. I would like to in the future though. It might sound stupid but the lift is mainly for looks. That’s why I don’t want to spend more money than I need to. But at the same time like I said I don’t want to put a cheap system in my truck. If I could get a decent lift for less than $1000 all said and done, I’d be more willing to pull the trigger. The reason I’m posting this though is because I’m not too sure how much something like this will cost so that $1000 might not be realistic enough. Sorry for being so uneducated on this.

 

I have nothing against people who don't wheel their trucks lol, we all have different tastes and we all like different things. But since you are looking at suspension lifts and comfort in a daily Id avoid blocks or body lifts.

$1000 is enough for an old man emu kit or a bilstein kit with 620 eibach coils from toytec, which are both pretty good in my opinion. If you do choose to go old man emu, Id recommend the 881 coils unless you plan on getting a plate bumper and winch in the near future, in which case go for 883's. Id also highly recommend skipping the single aal and looking for either a new leaf pack or a progressive aal (Icon has nice ones for $215). imo most single aal's will have a pretty harsh ride. If you do choose to do this you may have to piece together your own kit.

Id say to get upper control arms as well but since you're on a budget and aren't gonna be wheeling it they aren't entirely necessary but they would help correct all the geometry.

Diff drops are a heavily debated topic around here so do your own research and make your own conclusion on whether its worth it to even install it. I never put mine on but I've blown 2 drivers side CVs already, thats not to say the diff drop would have changed anything .

You are going to want to purchase new u-bolts as well. Start browsing or toytec and do some research on all the lift options, there is plenty of information on all kinds of setups on here. btw Ive embedded some links to help you out.

 

This helps a lot. Thank you. I’ll have to study up a bit on this. I’m wondering how difficult it is to install all of this myself. I’m sure I could do it although this is my daily driver and I don’t exactly have a garage to do it in. Maybe I’ll have to factor in the cost of having someone do it for me just because of that reason.. so maybe $1000 would end up being more.

 

5100's on stock coils and leafs. 265/70r16

 

I guess that depends on your tolerance for the cold lol, I did mine myself in nice weather, took me 2 days because of all the rusted bolts I had to cut off. If you plan on doing it yourself consider getting the coils assembled with the shocks, thats what I did, $100 is a bit steep just to have them assembled (imo) but I didnt wanna have to go to a shop to get them put together. Everything is pretty straight forward but you may have trouble with, specifically, the nuts on top of the coil bucket, all of mine were seized and I needed to cut a couple off, since you live in vermont you may have to as well, just make sure you have an angle grinder. the rear wasn't as bad, just make sure you replace the U-bolts and make sure you've got a new center pin for the leaf pack when you put the add a leaf in there (most lifts come with this I believe).

 

I would've went 265/75r16, but it too close to upper control arms. Also I pulled my front mud flaps cause one was ripped when I bought the truck.there a pain in the ass to fine cheaply.might have to make my own.

 

Yes I think I would get the coils assembled. My truck doesn’t really have any rust which is very rare for a vehicle in Vermont lol. That’s not to say I wouldn’t still have trouble getting bolts out. I do have an angle grinder on hand if I decide to do this myself though. I guess I’ll see what my local shop will charge and see if it’s worth it. I know they do mostly BDS lift kits and they do a good job but I’d rather do it myself. I think I could take my dads garage hostage for the weekend and get it done. I’m curious if it’s worth doing the add a leaf. I like the idea of replacing the pack instead but it’s another thing I’ll have to price out along with all the little things like u bolts. Again, thanks for all the good info.

 

Tell me about it. I’ve been on the search for mud flaps. Seems like they’re the first to go when others are getting rid of them on here. Nice setup by the way! How’s the ride quality after just replacing the shocks? How many miles on the truck?

 

Rides nice, even with the topper. It won't dive under hard braking now.162,000 and change on the o.d.. on the mudflaps, I'm probably going to take some off a work truck and trace and cut them out.they'll be a lot thicker and more flexible.

 

I was thinking about doing the same thing before the salt war begins.

 

Getting springs that are designed from the ground up to have a certain ride height, rather than taking old springs and shoving spacers or an aal, will offer the best ride. Doing a block lift in the back technically won’t change the ride, but blocks do alter the axle geometry and can cause other problems like worse axle wrap, so I wouldn’t go that route.

I really liked the ride I got from my 5100s with my stock springs. I set the front on the middle setting, and the rear I used shackles to raise it about an inch. I had about 1”-1.5” lift overall. My 275/75s still rubbed a tiny bit at full lock (on the frame behind the front tires).

I ran this setup for 6 years as a daily driver. I’m sure if I had new springs front and rear, it would have been better. It didn’t ride like a caddy, but, it’s a truck, it’s not supposed to, lol.

Diff drop: if you get 3” of lift, get one. There is a decent debate on diff drops for the 2nd gens, but for 1st gens it’s pretty universally accepted that the $20 or $30 for a diff drop kit is easily worth it.

Upper control arms: do your lift without them, then get it aligned. If the alignment shop has trouble getting the alignment in spec, go back for the upper control arms.

Lux gives a lot of great advice and good links. Cruise throuh those, and check out the threads here with all the pictures of people’s trucks with various lifts and see if there’s a look you’re going for you could emulate.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

I've got about 4000 miles on the shocks, I really like them. Doesn't try to change lanes when you hit bumps, railroad crossings aren't awful anymore.just feels solid.

 

If you're willing to save some pennies id 100% do the whole leaf pack, Im looking at getting the dakars with possibly b110s and a shock relocate and u-bolt flip. There are a couple options out there, , , , , and a couple others, Im still doing my own research, gonna try to redo my whole rear end

 

Since you are not wheeling or building a trail rig or pre-runner, just put bilstein 5100s on and a add-a-leaf and call it a day...

The wheel spacers will make your tires rub more, imo. I would avoid them.

 

The support here is awesome. Thanks guys. I have some studying to do. Hopefully this will help others too

 

So on the rear leafs, are there any where we don't have to move the mounts? Wouldn't mine a lil more load carrying back there for camping gear.

 

what do you mean by move the mounts?

 

I like this option as well if I decide everything else is too expensive and not worth it since I’m not exactly wheeling and I could just get 5100’s and achieve the same goal.