Lift with VSC answer.....

I have 149k miles on my 4Runner with only one change of shocks. I was shocked (LOL) that Icon said I'd be looking at frequent rebuilds (my suspension shop was too, actually). I'm not hammering it out there, racing or rock crawling...but doing serious off roading. My local shop says they can do the rebuilds. Just an irritating expense and downtime for the vehicle. But more importantly, can these coilovers suddenly "blow up" while offroad, or do they just start slowly leaking?

Staying stock just seems so much more RELIABLE. Repeating my question from above: can I go from 265/70R16 to 285/70R17 (to gain a little clearance) with the factory TRD Off Road suspension? The Sport has 265/70R17...can I go that one step wider? Or does that also screw up the nanny systems?

Building a 2012 dbl cab TRD OR six speed PROPERLY is harder than remodeling a house...

 

Perhaps someone can point me towards a REALLY GOOD suspension shop specializing in Tacomas that is familiar with resolving these issues? A shop in the San Jose/Salinas area? I was planning on using Lavender Brothers here in Seaside.

I have next to zero mechanical aptitude with vehicles and will not be doing any mods/servicing on the truck myself. I barely know what questions to ask/terms to use...very happy to have found you guys here, thanks.

 

My 09 started to have the sensitive VSC issue after installing 265/70/17 MT's on stock suspension .

It's a bit of a crap shoot as to whether or not you will be affected by this problem .

 

I'm not sure if this is the place to ask this but I'll give it a shot, what would it take to my my 6" lift from my non vsc 08 to work on a 10 that has vsc?

 

Yes, that's a big part of the frustration. Everyone is doing so many different things differently that it is difficult to pinpoint a single root cause.

The master mechanic thinks it is a result of the wheel offset (with aftermarket rims?) not being the same as factory specs. Can someone explain to me what that means (again, this is NOT my area of expertise) and if they think that is a likely explanation?

 

Oh wow.

My theory was the stiffer aftermarket suspension was allowing wheel hop through corners... For you to have only replaced tires and you experiencing the VSC issue blows that theory out of the water.

<-- 2.5" lift with 265/75/r16 with no VSC issues.

 

Mine was stock alloys .

I do believe part of the problem is changing tire size ( which was the only change from stock for me ) , the yaw sensors also become more active as you raise the centre of gravity with a lift .

 

they start slowly leaking, nothing to worry about. they have nearly the same life span as normal shocks but a rebuildable. so they should last as long a good set of shocks... people are getting 60k easily out of a rebuild.

you can not go to 285/70R16 on a stock suspension. You can go up in diameter like a 265/75R16. or 255/85R16. But 285/75R16s will require 2"+ lift and aftermarket wheels or less backspacing (which means the wheels stick out further to push the tire away from the suspension to gain clearance of a wider tire)

And the system can be touchy but your the one being a nanny about it. Acting like its going to send you careening off the road or something. Maybe a member in your area can take you for a ride in their truck to reassure you.

 

In my humble opinion it is absolutely one of the stupidest things you can do to drive out into the wilderness for "serious offroading" with 0 mechanical aptitude. You need to be able to fix your shit on the side of the trail (reseat a bead, change a tire, change a CV axle, etc)

 

I was like you; I was a little worried about how common this was, because I went into 4 Wheel Part$ and at first, they refused to lift my truck because they'd had to reverse a lift on a different 2011 Tacoma.

That was actually a good thing in the end, because it sent me to do more research on what I really needed, and reading here gave me the confidence to do it myself, instead of having some "pro" do it.

The first thing I did was start a poll to see how common the VSC problem was:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/112351-vsc-lift-interaction-how-common.html

Answer: about 4 out of 5 report no problems.

I did a little soul searching and realized I've owned a *bunch* of cars that never had VSC, and so I'd rather have a more capable off road truck than a VSC truck, and so if I did draw the unlucky card, I was ready and willing to disable the VSC system.

Finally, as Yoytoda says, if you're out in the stix of East Bumfuckistan, you want to be able to fix your junk. AAA doesn't go there. So getting the knowledge of building and fixing it at home in your driveway, goes a long way to develop the confidence and knowledge you'll need to fix something when that untoward rock leaps into your path.

As far a "pro" installation goes - the pros tend to bill to "install aftermarket equipment as requested." Then they pretty much usually wash their hands of it. If they do something stupid, like a spring perch upside down, well they'll take care of that.

But if you get "unintended consequences" like VSC, driveline vibrations, or whatever - they're most likely to tell you "that just goes with the lift" or send you off to talk to the lift manufacturer. You're pretty much on your own at that point, whether you had the "pros" install it or did it in your driveway or at a TW mod day.

Food for thought.

 

No chance are you running a 33 1/4" 255/85/16 on stock suspension

 

to reiterate, if you do the work yourself and your on the trail, you can prevent a failure by knowing what everything is supposed to look like and feel like.

Case in point, I was on a 4 day trip in Death valley and started to hear a clunk. Someone with 0 aptitude is going to say, hmmm ill have to get that checked out when i get back. Me, on the other hand, pulled over and started trouble shooting and found my Upper Control Arm bolt was loose and the nut was about 2 threads from falling off. I would probably have never made it home...

 

no but Ninorth my buddy did for a while on his taco before we lifted it

EDit: i also didnt say it didnt rub lol

 

This is helpful, thanks.

I've been going into remote areas (San Rafael Swell, Henry Mountains, etc) for 20 years. The entire point of a new vehicle for me is having something super reliable for the next 20 years...and other than changing a tire or tightening some bolts, I'm not going to be servicing it in the field. Yes, it can be a $2000 tow bill...that's exactly why I'm getting the new Tacoma; far less chance of problems. So I'm keenly interested in *not* doing any mods that make it less reliable/safe or require hacks...and it's neither practical nor possible for me to do a suspension lift in my driveway. If there was a simple, effective solution (or strategy for lifting) I'd very happily pay for it; no way I'm doing it myself.

Sounds like I might be able to put 265/75R16 wheels on the 16" factory rims/suspension and gain 1/2" of height...at least that's something. If there's a good way to get another inch (with factory everything still) I'd love to hear it.

The master mechanic at my dealership doesn't seem to think the VSC problem is a minor issue; he's frustrated as hell with his own truck. I think I'll buy him lunch and get a lift in his to see for myself how much fun it is...

 

Get the new Baja limited edition.

Suspension 1.5" higher from the factory, and AT tires, and call it good. No tweaking required. Any issues handled under warranty.

 

I wonder if they have different VSC parameters in the computer on those trucks

 

The guy wants a bulletproof factory truck with no modifications and no problems.

Some of us like to tweak our own stuff, and turn a wrench for fun and to save a buck.

Not everyone is like that, and that's OK.

Has anyone seen real pricing yet? The rumor mill has been creating some pretty wild guesses.

 

No way of knowing, but my personal guess is that they tweaked the suspension until the VSC was happy, rather than the other way round.

 

You seem to have your own ideas in your head and dont want to take advice from others with 09+ lifted trucks so have fun with what ever you do.

Ive logged 60k on my 2010 tacoma so far and a lot of those are offroad miles. The VSC kicks in occasionally with no detrimental issues in handling or loss of control. It is annoying at times (mainly because of the beeping) but far from preventing most people from lifting their trucks. You can always just turn VSC off when you start the truck but it's not necessary. Mostly i just yell at the truck and say "shut up, Im not even doing anything" and it stops...

When it kicks in around a corner it will usually just go "beep beep beep" and you here it grunt and it stops. You cant actually feel it do anything 90% of the time.

Were all here trying to help but you arent seeming to take our advice and are listening to your "master mechanic". So why even bother asking us?

 

Also, for maximum offroad capability, "out of the box" with no mods or upgrades, consider an FJ cruiser.

The approach, departure, and breakover angles on that thing stock are probably better than a 3" lifted double cab with trailer hitch and factory bumper... At least the departure angle...