Needing lift assistance

Im a proud new 2014 TRD off road owner and have decide she needs a lift, I'm looking to go to a 4 inch lift and don't want to break the bank, I have looked at rough country and toytec but have no experience with the ride on either, I off road about 2 weekends out of the month in the mountains and was hoping some of y'all could point me in the right direction.
Thanks

 

Everyone up here is going to steer you away from anything over 3 inches. Most will recommend the OME set-up from toytec. I run the bilstein 5100s with AAL in the back. All on what you want. Anything over 3" will require a drop-bracket kit which actually lowers your ground clearance (not good for offroading).

 

Do you have a smooth ride out of the bilstein 5100's?

 

I have nothing to compare against but I don't think it's a bad ride. It's much stiffer than stock but I prefer that over a spongy ride any day.

 

its true what this guy said about them trying to steer you away from anything over 3". i personally will never drive my truck over a rock in my entire life beings that i live in the swamps of south louisiana. so i went with a 6" lift and 35" tires and i play in the mud often in my 2015. havent had an issue so far. i love my 6" lift. i guess guys who are into rock crawling dont much care for drop bracket lift kits. i personally dont have a problem with them.
welcome to Tacoma World by the way!

 

First off, congratulations on your new truck! You've picked a great one.

If you preload your coils with the front adjustable Bilstein 5100s your ride will be noticeably stiffer and under damped. (same premise as running a spacer lift between the coil and top-plate)

You're essentially making a 400mm coil a 350mm coil by squeezing it into a smaller vertical space. This preloads the coil and reduces its progressive spring rate considerably. (harsher response) At the same time the shock that was valved for the 103N/mm spring rate, at its neutral setting, is now dealing with an increased spring rate and can't keep up like it once could. Will it destroy your truck and ruin your back? No, not even close. It's not that bad. But, if you're looking to keep a nice smooth and well damped ride then you'll want a lift coil that's designed for the job at hand and will let you leave the strut in it's zero-lift (neutral) position.

Additionally, anything past 3" will start to significantly wear your front suspension components; control arm bushings, ball joints, CV-axles. You'll also push the factory alignment system past its point of being correctable. You'll need aftermarket control arms to bring things like castor and camber back into spec. Most vendors recommend a 2.5-3" lift at most. Also, know that the 2nd gen Tacoma has a hard time fitting any tires larger than 32"-33" in it's wheel wells without modification to body parts and/or wheel backspacing.

All of that being said....

The Bilsteins have a terrific ride when coupled with a margin lift. I run them on my truck and really enjoy how their increased damping ability smooths out both daily tarmac duty and off-road terrain. You'll also enjoy their lifetime warranty! I had one start seeping oil on me due to my day in a Moab River and Bilstein had a new unit to my door in a few days - no questions asked. You'll be hard pressed to find that kind of service from any of the other guys. Remember, when you buy a premium product you're getting a premium product. Stay away from the china.com stuff if you want a truly decent ride.

Hope this helps.

 

Agree with @K.Ray

5100's are basically stock replacements with adjustable perches. Using adjustable perches to create lift is creating spring pre-load, thus the 'stiffer' ride folks think is better. It's ok to be stiffer, but not at the risk of coil bind (for me)

You're better off to select a spring rate/length to accomplish the lift/ride you want, then match a damper that works with that spring rate.

Staying under a certain level will prevent the need for new UCAs, alignment issues and other wear loads.

 

This is exactly the kind of info that I was looking for with all the info I've got now I'm leaning towards a toytec 3 inch with billistein coil overs and AAL rears as I have not found very much good on the rough country 4 inch. I play in the mountains of north Georgia a lot and hope this lift will be sufficient for my ride I'm planning on pairing it with a set of 33 inch KO2's and and hopefully won't have a problem going anywhere.

K.Ray and Clearwater Bill y'all are awesome with all the info.
Thanks!

 

Call Marie at headstrong offroad before you make a final decision. I've not bought from them, but lots of folks here recommend them, so I might as well pass it along.

 

+1 what everybody else said.

If you absolutely must have that extra inch use a body lift. There will be a 1" gap at the rear bumper and they are a serious pain in the ass to install, but it'll get you there.

 

She's out of office until July 5th, orders, emails, messages will be returned in order they're received.