Removing Lift

I’m new to the Tacoma. Just bought my first one this week. It’s a 2018 Sport. My son has the exact same vehicle with the same size tires. Mine has been lifted. There are 2” blocks in the back but the front sits 3”higher. There is a leveling kit that is 1” but I can’t figure out how I got the other 2”. I want to remove the lift but keep the leveling kit. Where should I be looking for those other front 2”?

 

Pictures will help

 

Yes, pics of the front coilover assembly.

Could be any number of things.

 

Definitely need a more detailed description of your issue.

 

From what I've been told when you put in a 1" spacer, leveling kit, in the front you get 2" of lift. So maybe the front spacer it 1.5"? Check your shocks and see if they are stock or if they have been replaced with something that provides lift.

 

Here are three pics. Hope these will give you a better idea of where my lift is coming from.

 

Leveling kit. Stock suspension with block. That's it.

 

If that is the case, if I remove the rear 2” blocks and leave the leveling kit I’m afraid the rear will be too low. As I mentioned, my son has the exact Tacoma with same size tires. He is sitting at 35” from ground to fender, and I’m at 37 3/4” on the front. On the rear 36 1/4” and I’m at 38 1/4”.

 

I’m no expert, but it looks like you have spacers above the coils.

A stock front should have just a thin isolator between the spring and bucket.

 

That spacer is the leveling kit I believe.

 

The front it looks like you have a 1.5-2" spacer, which provides roughly 3" of lift.

- Rear lift the spacer size equals the lift amount.

- Front end is different. The spacer is compressing the coil spring, therefore the lift gets multiplied. (I was incorrect with this statement, see below)

 

If you take out both the blocks on the rear axle and the strut spacers on the front you will be at stock height minus any wear & tear on the leaf springs and coils. Sounds like you will end up very close to your son's ride height front and back.

 

So if I want to remove the lift but level it how do I proceed? Obviously remove the 2” blocks in the rear. Would I then need a 1” leveling kit?

 

You want it leveled but no lift? Remove current lift and install smaller spacer in the front I'd assume, or adjustable coilovers in the front and set to desired height.

 

You have a 3/2 leveling kit on your truck. The front has a 3 inch strut spacer and the rear has 2" blocks. If you wish to remove the lift, you pull the struts, remove the spacer and reinstall the struts. Then you will need to jack up the rear end, remove the blocks and probably have to put a standard length set of u bolts in the rear.

 

It’s your truck and your money, but I feel you’d be trading one p.o.s. for another. If your going to go to the trouble of yanking things apart to eliminate spacers, you may as well upgrade while you’re at it.

Why replace a spacer with another spacer? A set of Bilstein 5100’s is very affordable & would give you the look you’re after. Plus, your ride quality will drastically improve.

Another thing to consider if you level it completely is anytime you put any decent amount of weight in the back, you’ll be riding nose high. You’ll have that stupid “Carolina Squat” look.

 

Thanks. I just found an article that said that exact same thing. I appreciate your guys help.

 

A couple of things:

-The front spacers add no preload to the suspension.
-The front spacer lift is multiplied because the strut mount is about 1/3 of the way between the lower control arm pivot and the ball joint pivot. Total lift in the front is approx. 1.5x the spacer height.

 

So if I went with the Bilstein 5100, I would get the same effect of leveling and let’s say I want the truck slightly higher, (I think it’s too high for me) I could adjust all four. To level it just adjust the front a bit higher? Thanks again.