Questions as a new Taco owner here

Looking into lifts and have a couple questions after reading some posts in this thread. Why is 3” lifts the standard as it seems? Is going higher than that inefficient or problematic? I’m looking into 5” or 6” lift by Fox Racing but am totally open to to more knowledge on the matter.

Also, can you put a leveling kit on WITH a lift? Why would it a lift give you more clearance in the front than the back?

Any and all suggestions and knowledge is helpful and appreciated, would like to build a real off-roading monster over the years.

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld
Lifts over 3" increase Ujoint and CV angles causing drastically accelerated wear and vibration. Stock suspension is higher in rear to accommodate load weight in bed, thus the leveling.
Also 3" lifts are much less expensive than all the modifications needed for drivetrain alignment.

 

Welcome to TW, O!

 

Above 2 inches and you go down the rabbit hole.

 

The biggest reason, not even considering performance, is that the 5 and 6 inch lifts involve cutting and modifying the frame. They're nearly irreversible and when considering performance they decrease your truck's offroad performance.

 

Awesome, that’s good to know thank you!

 

Good to know before I go dumping a bunch of money into a lift that will exponentially cost me more than the purchase!

 

This is a good starting point.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-tacoma-lift-guide.509171/

 

I’m skeptical the popularity of the 3” lift is due to cv angles. I think that gets regurgitated a lot on here. First I think most lifts that are labeled 3” are actually closer to 2” lifts when installed on a 3rd gen and 3” on a 2nd gen, however I’ve never fully fact checked this. I think the main reason for this size is that the Tacoma front IFS comes with about 3” of down travel from the factory and that is the extreme limit you can change the ride height. For best performance you want to leave some down travel, thus the popularity of 2”.

You can go beyond 2” by using a drop bracket lift, but that gets very expensive. Also for 2wd spindle lifts are an option.

 

So I’d likely be safer and smarter to go with a 2” and possibly put bigger tires on it just to add clearance without compromising ?

 

But putting bigger tires also costs more.money like 33s or taller, you have to trim and cut a bunch of stuff up front, re gear the differentials if you go 34s or 35s.

 

33 is my limit or 33 is where I’ll have to make alterations?

 

With my truck and 33a since I wheel it I hadto do a cab mount chop trim plastic an puund my pinch weld down. I'm not re geared but I should be, but that's because my truck is a heavy mofo