Lift kit options need help!!!!!

From what I have read on here, it seems to be a bit of a gamble. Some people are able to achieve alignment within specs, others are not. Personally, I did not order UCAs with my kit. I am going to have my lift installed and see how it turns out. Chances are, I will need to get the UCAs, in which case I will buy them without hesitation. Some people get aligned just fine and don't seem to have any problems.

If you are fine with risking A week or two of driving out of alignment plus the added cost/time of a separate installation don't get them. You might not have any issues, but you might end up unable to get a proper alignment which could ruin your tires amongst other things.

 

Hmm okay this is very helpful. Now, you're suppose to get an alignment after any lift that's installed, so how will I know if I'm out of alignment and am in need of new UCA's? Will the mechanic that aligns my wheels just say it won't work because of my UCA's or what haha?

 

Yes, a place like les schwab or something should be able to tell you when they do the alignment.

 

Hi there, all good stuff here, looking to do the same. Would like to add leveling kit while keeping factory ride. A lot of people asking the same questions and I'm trying to absorb all of this info. I'm not very mechanically inclined but my buddy is and is willing to help me put in a leveling kit. Just don't know where to begin, was looking to just do spacers but was curious as to why you cannot stand them? Like others, would like an inexpensive mod, but then again I don't want to get junk if it's not going to ride comfortable either?

 

Well, to start (I currently have spacers but am upgrading to an old man emu lift for better performance), spacers are fine if your just looking to have a better stance to your truck, and trust me that's completely fine, a lot of people seem to think it's stupid to lift your truck just so it looks good, but I mean, why wouldn't you want a good looking truck to look even better? right? Now when you go off road with a spacer, it tends to put more stress on other components because it simply adds space above your coil on your strut to add lift to your truck. If you plan on doing grid roads every once and a while but mainly city driving, a spacer will work just fine.

Now the benefits of going with a kit that both levels your truck and adds better suspension is that it will ride more comfortably (for a lifted truck that is, nothing compares to stock) and less stress is put on your vehicle depending on what kind of driving you're doing and what you change out. Upgrading your suspension will give you the look your after while also giving you better suspension components on your vehicle, upgrading your stock shocks and coils allows you to go off roading with less of a chance of harming other components on your vehicle essentially.

It sounds like you're probably just doing city and a bit of country? If so spacers should work fine but I'd also get a rear add-a-leaf to lift the rear. The pictures in my gallery and in my build are with a 2.5" spacer and 2.0" AAL. The spacer ends of lifting to 2 inches after you get an alignment (which you NEED to do after any lift). The AAL will lift the rear 2 inches as well and ultimately giving you the same rake as you have now but 2 inches higher. If you want to invest a bit more money to get a better set up, doing an OME lift will be around $800-$1000 depending on where you live (shipping) and what you choose for the lift. You can also choose another very popular option and go with bilstein shocks in the front and rear which can be adjusted up to 2 inches I believe and then you don't need to upgrade your coils. I believe bilsteins are like $100-$150 each I believe. Lift can be obtained via spacers, coils, or adjustable shocks. It's good that you have a buddy willing to help out, most shops charge around $100 per hour and you'll get some solid hands on experience, I love working on my truck which is nice considering how much dealers and even independent mechanics charge.

Feel free to ask questions, I seem to have gone on rambling haha. Also as n.gardner put it, you're putting a $200 lift on $30,000 truck haha. http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/359482-strut-spacers-who-started-them.html

 

Don't spacers make the ride more harsh even when just on paved roads?

 

They're a little bit rougher but so is any lift you put on your truck, spacers are the cheapest way to lift your truck so expect the "cheapest" ride while driving. I haven't noticed anything significant with ride quality after the spacers and I also put on 33's

 

I doubt a nice Icon/King/Fox suspension lift is going to ride rougher than stock.

 

That would be completely dependent upon the characteristics of the coils and shocks, no? Just because they are nice/expensive doesn't necessarily mean smoother ride.

 

Yes, if you have that set up with new coils it will be pretty damn comfortable

 

Thank you for the nice recommendations, I like the "middle of the road" idea, where you stated:
You can also choose another very popular option and go with bilstein shocks in the front and rear which can be adjusted up to 2 inches I believe and then you don't need to upgrade your coils. I believe bilsteins are like $100-$150 each I believe. Lift can be obtained via spacers, coils, or adjustable shocks.
If I were to with purchasing just the upgraded Bilstein shocks, I could get insurance of not having a spacers in place which in my eyes is not a natural component. Is there additional hardware that is needed to get this and/or do you know of a site that sells everything I would need? I see a ton of options when you type in google "leveling kit tacoma".

Would like to stay below 500 for parts + front end alignment and in the near future upgrade tires and rims.

 

Headstrong Offroad, Wheelers Offroad, Toytech, Downsouth Motorsports, lots of places have what you want. Those are the places I checked out when I was shopping, went with Headstrong. They were very helpful and had the lowest prices on what I was looking for (it was a group buy on here). If you email any of those folks from their website, or pm them on here I am sure they will help you out.

 

You can buy Bilstein's for all 4 corners well under $500. Front pair should be $200 or so shipped, rears a bit cheaper. Should be under $400 for sure for a full set. I think someone was selling all 4 for $305 or something like that? Check around. I think it was DSM.

I'm under $500 and I have $150 in rear AALs as well as 4 corners of Bilstein's. Alignment might be $60, I went to the dealership and paid $89. Figured they would know how to align a Tacoma properly.

 

Here's what the Headstrong Off-Road Bilstein kit looks like. Stock tires and wheels 265/65r17, Struts at .85, OME 884 coils yielded a 3/2 level:

 

not to Jack the thread,,,, does the 884 ride better than the 885? Just curious cause they recommend the 885 for the 4×4s and whatnot....

 

Same spring rate