Rancho 2.5" suspensions lift installed

Hello all, I have purchased and installed the Rancho 2.5" suspension lift on my 2013 TRD Offroad and thought I'd give some feedback on it since nobody seems to be running it. The kit comes with new coilovers (already assembled), new UCA's, differential drop spaces (front and rear), new rear shocks and 1 1/2" tapered blocks. Rancho says it gives a 2.5" lift and I'd say that's pretty accurate but I added a 1/2" top plate spacer to the driver side coilover and a 1/4" top plate spacer to the passenger side coilover so I got more then the 2.5"s. The shocks are Ransho's adjustable shocks and they are pretty nice, I can't compare the ride to any other of the lifts available (ULK, OME, Billies w/ Eibachs's, etc) because I've never ridden in a Taco with those lifts, all I've rode in is stop Tacos. I have my shocks in the middle range (5) and they are just as smooth and ride just as good as the stock suspension (maybe even a little better) so over all I am pretty happy with it. The only thing I will change is the rear blocks and that's only because the rear end is sitting a little lower then the front because of the top plate spacers, so I will probably put in a 2" block and then it will look better in my opinion. I did measure from ground to fender both before the lift and after the lift, the before the lift measurements are;

DF= 34 7/8
PF= 35 1/4
DR= 36 1/2
PR= 36 5/8


And the measurements after the lift;

DF= 38
PF= 38 1/2
DR= 37 3/4
PR= 38 1/8


I can't compare the Rancho UCA's with other after market ones either because again I have experience with them but these are built very well and the alignment guy said he had absolutely zero issues with aligning the truck after the lift was installed. Over all I think this is a very nice and comfortable lift for an everyday driver and it is half the price then the other lifts that are available with new UCA's. My only complaint is with Rancho's customer service, I had to call them and they were absolutely unconcerned about helping and making sure things were fixed, other then that I'm happy. Any questions and feedback are welcomed, thanks for your time.

 

Thanks for posting the review. I've been looking at the Rancho lift. Seems like you get a lot of bang for your buck. They've advertised that the lift will clear a 33" tire, is this true? what size are you running?

 

I'm running 265/75/16's but have had 285's (33's) on many vehicles and there's no doubt in my mind 285's (33's) will fit.

 

So the trim packer would have made the fronts match? I have studied and studied but have yet to pull the trigger on a lift.

 

Actually I didn't see you had added a spacer on top. Ima noob

 

How do the rancho shocks ride on the road and how do they do off road? Also what did they cost you?

 

I'm not an off-roader so I really can't testify to the ride of the shocks offroad but I can testify to road driving and this setup is every bit as nice (actually a little better depending on what setting the shocks are set to) as stock. My shocks are set on 5 all around and it's very comfortable. With the top plate spacers in I am actually getting around 3 1/4 inches of lift on both sides so I am going to keep a close eye on the ball joints to make sure they aren't at too steep of an angle. Worst case scenario I have to take the top plate spacer completely out of the passenger side and put the 1/4" spacer on the driver side but I'm hoping the coils will settle some so I don't have to.

As far as price, I bought this lift brand new from a member (Zeiden) for $975 shipped. I've priced the lift several place and the cheapest place I found online was here ;
http://www.pcscustom.com/searchresults.asp?cat=5337 Shipping was going to be $90 for my zipcode so it was going to be $1037 shipped for me.

All in all I am happy with it so far and since you get new fully assembled coilovers, new UCA's, diff drop spacers, carrier bearing spacers, all new hardware, etc. I definitely feel like you get a lot of bang for your buck. I would much rather have a new leaf pack for the rear then the blocks and will eventually go that route and even then I will have around $1500 in my setup so it'll be around $500-$600 cheaper then the Toytec ULK setup I was planning on getting (ULK w/ new leaf pack, and LR UCA's was going to run $2000-$2100)

 

You have now peaked my interest in this lift.

 

Plannerman99 has the same lift and has been running it for a little while now, check out his thread about the lift. I think it should definitely be looked at by many others.

 

Great write up! The Rancho shocks definitely run better than stock on dirt and I'd say no real difference on pavement. They certainly soak up washboard better than the stock OR suspension. Once I figured out the adjustability function, then I found the shocks performed great with heavy loads and in rougher terrain at higher speeds. Virtually eliminated bottoming out on my last trip.

I've got about 30k miles on them now and the front has only settled ~1/4 inch, leaving me with a solid 2.5 inch lift. The rear is another story. My crappy Toyota leafs have flattened out and need to be replaced.

 

Thanks guys I am now going to check these shocks out for my truck.

 

Remove the front diff drop if you go off road, otherwise this can happen: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/118545-remove-differential-drop-your-05-tacoma.html