Mid Travel 1st gen prerunner setup - help

Hey! First post on here (kinda nervous lol) but I always checkout this site whenever I have new projects in mind but I think its about time I made an account and joined the crew

So I have been contemplating putting a solid mid travel lift on my 2003 Prerunner. I somewhat know where to start but at the same time its all new to me I have read ALOT of forums because I originally wanted to start with a LT kit but I started seeing 5 or 6 grand being thrown around and realized I cant afford that on a college student budget haha idk where to start so lets start with this...


My budget is roughly $2000-2500 but can be stretched to possibly 3k if its worth it (ill just eat top ramen all school year) but I want to do this RIGHT from the get go, not just stuff to get me by until I want the better stuff. I may not be able to afford everything I want but that's why I also have questions for down the road.



I guess lets start with the basic. I was looking at buying UCA, coilovers w/ reservoir, smooth-body shocks for the rear. That would be considered a mid travel lift correct? do I need more on the rear end? I really want to get good parts as far as performance goes I don't know if I should/can beef up the front with really good stuff drive it (without doing harm) then save money and come back to the rear. obviously there is ALOT going on please help

 

Im looking at going mid travel also, the front would be a new UCA such as camburg, total Chaos, light racing and a extended travel coilover (king, fox, saw, icon) then the rear could be a new leaf pack if you have the money like a j59 deaver pack or all-pro standard pack with shocks, you can look into the OMD spring mod thats what i did on my truck its in my build thread. hope that helps getting you started im sure more experienced guys will chime in

 

thanks! yeah I have been looking into all of those brands what I am unsure of is if I am in the right price range for this lift?

sweet ill go check out that mod. hopefully I don't regret this next question but...would be able to set up the front and if my money runs low let the back ride stock or do something to get buy until I have the rest of the money for the back? I believe when I came across those rear springs they were roughly $6-700?


on another note...if I do all of this to my truck will it make a noticeable difference visually? I know they say it can make up to a 3" difference but is that going to be noticeable difference from what I have now? because ( I don't want to sound ignorant but) if I am spending the dough I would like something to show

 

i just called all pro and said i wanted a full mid travel set up.


and yes it will look different.

 

Front: King Coilovers with resi matched with total chaos UCA.
Rear: King 2.5 resi shocks matched with icon AAL

This will run you just under 3k and you will be a boss.

(Its what i plan on doing )

 

how much did they say that would be?

 

most coil overs are adjustable...If you run just the front you can choose to adjust however you want and won't have "bro lean" if you dont want it.

You can always run just the front and hold off on the rear if you choose

 

your defiantly in the ball park for a good MT set-up, id also get smoothies with resi's in the rear rather than just smoothies

 

My pricing was done through DownSouth Motorsports. they are a very well known vendor on tacomaworld, and always give Forum member discounts. contact them and im sure theyll give you a quote asap. However, that setup would run me like i said, just under 3k.
keep in mind i am a second gen. I believe first gens have it a little cheaper

 

definitely resi's with the back smoothies! I was reading up on them and they sound like they are worth the extra penny

yeah ill have to give them a call and see what they have to offer. hopefully I can stick around the 2500 range but that's a good idea for the rear if I fall short.

I was also reading about the lift spindles that solo has to offer and from what I can tell they basically get you as close to a LT as you can get because they lift you 3", give you more travel, and give you another 1.5" width per side. but I am guessing I should wait on those until I can get my basics covered

 

Any input on the big differences between the TC and the Camburg UCA's? there isroughly a $200 difference at their site for them

 

the size of the uniball.

 

the benefit of having a larger uniball is?

sorry if I am asking dumb stuff I am learning through these forums

 

Well if I go with what I think I should go with the website estimates $3100 but ill give em a call and say I was referred from TW. Anyone know if they give military discount?

 

2.5 king OE replacement coilovers (non resi)
2.5 King OE rear replacement shocks (resi)
leaf pack
bigger tires
total chaos spindle gusstes
total chaos steering rack bushings

i'd start with that... non need for front resi CO's except for bling factor. the saved money will be better off spent out back... 2.5 body King shock over the average 2.0 and leaf pack. keep front lift around 2" and no need for front UCA. 265 tires will keep your MPG and power closer to stock, plus save you money and seeing that you're 2WD no need to worry about clearance for crawling purposes

 

Ill definitely look into that thanks! Iv seen you post in a lot of these mid travel forums lol ...its a little difficult to run 265s...because I am running a brand new pair of 285/75s haha looks like ill take the hit to the MPG but I am not sure what the spindle gusstes and steering rack bushings are ill look those up though

looks like the king 2.5s in the rear are what I should shoot for

 

def stick with the 285's then...

my old truck with mid travel and 285/75...



rack bushings

http://www.polyperformance.com/shop...ra-Sequoia-Urethane-Steering-Rack-p-2199.html

gussets

http://www.polyperformance.com/shop...-06-Tundra-Weld-On-Spindle-Gusset-p-2574.html

 

That's a nice beefy yet simple tacoma! Was that running this same set up? And if so how did it handle on stuff like open desert / sand I don't really to much rock crawling but even if you have any info on that

 

it was a great set up, especially considering the simplicity of just bolting on new parts into the stock location. the performance gained over the stock suspension is impressive

icon 2.5 coilovers
icon 2.0 rear resi shocks
camburg UCA
deaver J 59 leaf packs

 

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