ome with 5100

"Max on a suspension lift" is a little misleading. The Tacoma has about 8" of front suspension travle. It sits in the middle of this range stock, yielding 4" of upward travel, and 4" downward travel. When lifting, and not changeing annything else other than springs, or useing spacers, you can go to 3". HOWEVER, You will now only have about 1" of downward travel in your suspension. Any more, and you WILL destroy the ball joints. Prerunners can have a "Lift spindle" installed, giveing 4" +/- lift, yet still maintain the stock travel. OR, You can replace the Upper Control Arms with ones that have a Uniball, which will give more down travel. Doing that and adding a 3" lift, will still give you 2" of downward travel. ALSO, You can do a Drop Bracket lift (Pro Comp, Fabtec, etc..), which will give up to 6" lift, and does so by dropping the OEM locations of the suspension, thus raiseing the truck.

 

The rear is much more simple, as you dont have any geometry issues..
An Add A Leaf, wich can be 1 leaf or more.
A new Lef Pack
Blocks.
An AAL is a cost effective way of gaining lift, and can be had in 1.5" TO 2.75" heights..
A Block is usually less expensive, but you need longer U bolts, and that generally adds to the price. Blocks can amplify or induce axel wrap, and can cause premature wear to the leaf springs. They have been known to break more frequently than AAL's when used off road.
A new spring pack is the most expensive way, but its a whole new leaf spring pack, and usually gives a better ride. They have been known to sag prematurely.

 

Longer shackles can only be used to lift on the first gen trucks. You need to use a shackle thats 2 times longer than the lift you require. Ie. If you need 3" lift, you need a sackle 6" longer. A couple of things I dont like about them. First, They decrease departure angle, and can hang up on something when off road. Second, when driving on the street, they can "unload" when brakeing causeing the rear to lift more than normal. This increases weight transfer to the front, wearing the front brakes a bit more, and in an emergency situation, could be dangerous.

 

A 1.5" shackle will only give .75" lift. Im just pointing out the "Cons" of the lifts. A buddy of mine used to run 4" longer shackles, and he hung up a few times. The terra flex ones are HORRIBLE for unloading under braking. BUT, they DO give much more articulation off road.

 

Keep in mind, Smaller lift shackles will not have as dramatic of an affect. Im just giveing you an idea of some issues I have encountered in the past.
PrezidentRedz is useing 1.5" shackles, and they are a good way to get 3/4" of lift, and keep good off road flex. Every lift is gonna have different quirks to some degree, so you just need to think of every thing, then make an educated decision based on what your needs/wants are.

 

LMAO!! Ok...I thought they looked about that in the pic, but I figured you know your truck better than me.