If you could do it over again, would you still have lifted your truck?

This is a great thread for me to read. I have a truck with the largest tires for stock and some armor/bumpers and have been thinking about doing the suspension for a while now, but the biggest hold up for me is the cost because I really know I want this:

best quality suspension lift (around 2.5-3 inches) with the lowest maintenance. i'm not trying to race and i really just want to drive my truck not work on it all the time or have high maintenance parts. so I think I would want (based on the advice of others) an OME BP51 with low maintenance UCA...and I would also want to spend the money on anything else that helps improve the longevity of the parts given the different angles presented by a 2.5 inch lift over a stock one.

I don't know 1/2 as much as most of you, but I do know that I don't know shit about lifting a truck...so I would have the work done by someone else who has experience doing it the right way and has all the tools to ensure the job was done within all specs of each part put on. Maybe you know enough to do a lift in your driveway, but I don't.

In the end what I want isn't cheap....like 5-6K if you include labor and all the parts necessary. I could get a fishing boat for that kind of money.

 

What is this truck's curb weight and GVWR? 4,425# weight and 5,600# GVWR and it can tow up to 6,800#. Toyota designs this truck to work constantly at 5,600# with a 6,800# trailer. Any engineering group is going to derate their actual specs maybe 20-30%, so say ALL of the truck's parts are all built for a GVWR of 6600# and 7,800# towing. This is how the truck was designed for longevity - not for the least possible usage (1 passenger, unloaded), but the worst possible usage. They always have to design for the worst case usage being the normal and not assuming anything or they will have broken trucks for those people that use them as rated constantly.

Most of us get to benefit from this 'overengineering'. Now, does a slightly different suspension geometry, increase in scrub radius and added tire and armor weight add up? Yup. Do these things stress the components to the level beyond what it was designed for continued maximum usage? Based on the huge amount of 1st gen lifted Tacomas I see on the road and 2nd gens (3" and 33s are like OEM), I believe these vehicles are empirically very reliable long term with lifts, tires, bumpers, armor, etc.

A big missing part in this conversation is usage.

Driving on the road with light offroading to the campsite is a completely different animal than recreational 4-wheeling where there is the potential for different situations loading components because the offroad situations are corner cases beyond the trucks' design. How do you design for the .001% of guys that are going to crawl up mountains? You can't. The dynamic unloading/loading of parts, lateral loads, etc. are examples of this.

If I did light offroading and spend 99% of my time onroad like 99% of us, I feel 3" and 33s would not compromise the truck's longevity. If I did moderate to advanced recreational offroading and fell into the minority, I think keeping it stock would allow the overdesign margin to better support dynamic situations the truck wasn't designed for.

 

As far as tires i noticed going to 265/70 16's a/t tires from the stock 245/75 firestone all season ones, i lost 1/2 a mpg. When these tires need replacing i may go back to an all-season tire...there isn't that much difference except on dirt roads.

 

I wish I had left mine stock. Just don't need all this stuff for dirt roads.

 

Here’s a pic of a Tacoma on stock tires coming down from top of the world in Moab.

 

Great thread. Definitely on the fence with lifting my truck right now. Maybe some new wheels and 265/75/16 tires will be good for now.

 

Yes.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/real-dirt-on-2016-trd-off-road-suspension-upgrades.548028/

 

Nice looking Sport. What brand/size tires and wheels are you running?

 

I would. I just don’t like how expensive it is.

 

Into the sig it goes

 

The COOL thing is what one person likes another can't stand. While any vehicle can be customized the Tacoma certainly has a ton of aftermarket partners making it easier than most. I HATE the color black and love chrome, I love how stock trucks look, etc. I'm 58 - not sure it is an age thing. It's like a preference in music or women...I like country in both...though in my youth I preferred classic soul/East Coast Beach, rock and roll, and as far as women - I liked city, country, whatever as long as they were pretty, not an issue anymore - LOL (I've been faithfully/happily married - to a hot blonde since 1992). My son can not stand the look of my truck - he would lift it, put on bigger tires, ARB Bumper with Warn winch, etc...he has those on his 2002 TRD OR...but mine - it'll stay stock - till he buys it.

 

The only lift/mod I regretted were the pricey Icons on my FJ. They wore out and leaked and I am far from a hardcore off-roader. Being rebuildable is no good reason for downtime in my daily driver. I swapped back to 5100's and Tundra front springs (from Sonoran Steel) and never had another issue....until the frame rusted out.
No other mod-related issues for over 100K miles.
My 5th gen 4Runner has the same setup, no issues but still under 100K miles.
Both were/are just about 3" lifts with no armor and 265/76 16's and Camburg UCA's.

I am looking at the Dobinsons & SPC's for the Tacoma and hope to be able to get the same reliability from them.

 

I mean, that is what i'm thinking every time I do anything to my truck. "here i go fucking up a perfectly good almost brand new 40K truck"

 

Just think how this guy feels!!

 

I bought my truck with only front spacers installed. Idk what they were thinking. Fixing the squat hopefully tomorrow.

 

Maybe true for most but consider @qnyla has 430k on the rig he gave his son. It’s lifted and has been romped properly like a modified taco should be.

 

I have a dual cab long bed. I think 33's and a 3" are a requirement to make it look right proportionately. I wish I would have done long travel though and maybe 35's or larger. I don't regret the suspension because it's a badass Accutune remote reservoir whatever BS Fox suspension and it rides way better than stock. At the very least I couldn't stand the brake dive. I just got a travel trailer though which will let me travel more often and hit more trails. Bone-stock would have destroyed the underside on some of the trails I've been on.

TL;DR: Yes even on the street it's more comfortable, and smiles per gallon matter.

 

It took me a year to do the lift,

I started with 6112 to level the front to fit bigger tires. Summer 2019 rolls around and I've found the need to lift the rear. Rear was squatting hard and I've dragged hitch too many time(you can also tell by how I'm missing a bumper cap).

2" front and rear.

First picture is before lift, second is after.

 

I like the first for sure too, what’s the offset and tire spec?

and good lord do you ever beat the living piss out of your truck haha

 

Glad some guys are getting some good info out of this thread.

I think my plan is to go with 265/70/17 Duratracs or Cooper Maxx’s with 17 inch -38 offset SCS gunmetal F5’s or matte black Ray10’s. Cannot decide. Therefore feel free to post your SCS wheels with -38 offset in amongst all the lift talk

Once I surpass 100k I might look into lifting with BS 6112/5160s, a wheelers AAL and Light Racing control arms.

That said I love how you’re guys tacos look with a 3”