Leveling Kit Advice

Hi all, I'm new to the Tacoma Community and have a question. I'm looking to have a leveling kit installed soon. I was recently quoted about $400 from a local shop for parts and install. Their kit was about $190 in price, and I keep seeing the Rough Country kit for $70. Am I sacrificing quality to go with the Rough Country? I don't do a lot of off-roading, mainly just some easy dirt trails with my family. The kit will mostly be for looks and to get a more aggressive stance.

Thank you!

 

For this price it sounds like a spacer/block lift. Hard pass.

Looking around on TW and learn enough to go looking at what you want/need. And stay away from 3"+ lifts unless you need it and know why you need it and everything that you have to do in order to do it right.

 

Thank you, but can you explain why it's a hard pass on a spacer kit? That's my question. And I'm not looking at a lift kit, as I mentioned I'm just looking to level the front. I understand enough about what I want and need, I just can't find much information about the different type of leveling kits and the pros and cons of them.

 

Rough Country has the spacer kit for around $70. They also offer a pair of leveling struts which are coil over struts for $329 that directly replace the oem shocks. I had the leveling struts installed a little over a year ago and have been very happy with them. My sport rides and drives nice and straight with no vibration issues. Cost me $400 installed. Spacer lift should cost around $160 installed but won't ride near as well.

 

Welcome to the forum.
A spacer lift/level is less desirable than a proper coilover/leaf pack lift because a top hat spacer on your front shock spaces the entire shock assy down whatever distance your spacer is, without changing the stroke of the shock. Your shock could fully collapse before hitting your bump stop, potentially causing damage. A better solution is a longer shock assembly/coilover. If you are only leveling, you shouldn't need more than a 3/4" top hat spacer in the front (which translates to 1-1/2" lift at the wheel). You can extend your front bump stop to compensate.
A lift block between the rear leafs and the axle provides lift without reinforcing the leaf pack, potentially causing axle wrap. Again, smaller lifts have less issues.

 

This is a decent place to start your journey, but don’t rely on it alone.

https://www.tacomahq.com/66/tacoma-leveling-lift-kit/

I’ve no experience with spacers as I went with an expensive option, but I think that rejecting them outright is probably short sighted. Read up and make an educated decision based on your own criteria.

Note that there isn’t really a difference between a lift kit and a leveling kit. A leveling kit is a type of lift kit that results in the front and rear of the truck appearing to be at the same height (e.g. reducing the rake). Keep in mind that if you do that to your truck, it will likely squat when you put a heavy payload in the back. I have to assume the Toyota engineers sent it from the factory with a rake for reasons related to performance when hauling a load and/or towing a load as opposed to looks. Or it might have been for aerodynamics? I’m not sure. Be sure you know what you are doing to your truck and how it might affect how you use your truck.

 

You can (when they're back in stock) get an Eibach Pro Lift Kit for $600. I know spacer/block kits are a couple of hundred dollars, but for only a bit more you can get a much better lift and simply not have to worry about running spacers and blocks.