Suspension upgrade question

A little background first - I bought a 2014 DCLB from a buddy a few months ago. The deal was too good to pass up and with the current market I didn't have a problem selling my 2005 AC OR. The new to me truck is a bone stock SR5 4x4 with around 103k miles. There is around 250 lbs of constant weight on the rear end (camper shell and some stuff I always carry). I have not and do not plan on doing any serious off road driving. The truck spends most of it's time on pavement. I do use it daily in the fall and winter for hunting. So it gets driven on dirt and farm roads, fields, and forest service roads. Nothing crazy at all.
I took some measurements yesterday from the center of the hub to the fender. Both sides of the front are right around 19 3/4" and the both sides of the rear are around 21 1/8".
I am looking to upgrade the suspension for functionality but getting the truck to sit a little bit higher and level is a big reason as well. I started to look into a coil spacer in the front and a block in the rear. This was pretty appealing since I can do it for under $150. But, I know this isn't the proper way to go about doing things and I do want the upgrade to be fully functional as well. I plan on having this truck for a long time. I'm able to do the upgrades myself but it will be my first time doing suspension.
I'm currently planning on going with bilstein 5100s all the way around. Not looking to replace the coils unless absolutely necessary. I figure since the truck is 7 years old with over 100k it's a good idea to replace the shocks and struts anyway. The question I have is what to do about the stock (3+1) leaf springs. Most of the leaf packs that I have seen lift the rear at least 2". With the current measurements and the max lift of the 5100s in the front I think that this may be too much in the rear and the nose would still sit low. So I think I should just go with an AAL onto the stock leaf springs. Would this get the rear lifted enough to be level with the front with the new shocks? If anyone has any product recommendations for an AAL that would be greatly appreciated.
Last question - with this being a minimal lift, is it necessary to replace the UCAs? Some of the lift kits also recommend a diff drop for all 4x4 trucks, is that necessary?

 

-Bilstein 5100s are awesome, dont bother with the spacer lifts on front.
-AAL may not be ideal. but I dont have a whole lot of experience here.
-Pass on the diff drop for such a mild lift. You most likely wont need UCAs

-You are ripe for a 2021 tacoma take off "lift". All the main suspension components from the new trucks are the same as ours. I see these parts show up on craigslist and marketplace for a couple hundred dollars. Brand new Toyota suspensions (UCAs, shocks, coils, leaves)

 

Thanks for the info. I'd have to have a facebook to look at marketplace but I'll keep my eye on craigslist and the classifieds here. Maybe I can convince my wife to check marketplace, but then she'd know I was looking at lifting the truck.

 

Keep in mind the 3gt suspensions is not really a "lift" but its a cheap way to get new, low mileage Toyota OEM components. it's apparently good for an inch or so?

If you end up with an AAL, I would put it on a new leafpack.

 

I'm looking at the Toytec website now and they have a "lift kit" that includes all four 5100s and a 1" block for the rear. What are your thoughts on that? $580 for everything with new U bolts.
Unless I'm missing something it seems the only way to do an AAL would be a new stock leaf pack and then an AAL to that. All of the heavier leaf packs I've found would lift the rear too much for the 5100s in the front.

 

I'm not a fan of blocks, but for something that small, and your intended usage it's perfectly fine.

Toytec is local to me, they are a great bunch of folks. I've wheeled with them in Ouray.

 

The stock rear leaf springs are completely and totally TRASH and that's multiplied x100 with blocks.

 

So would you suggest a new leaf pack? If so, is there one that is better quality that the OEM with the amount of lift that I am looking for?

 

I went with Icon RXT, it has some various settings depending on load and desired height.
I avoided the OME leaves because everyone says they squeek, however they are much more heavy duty.
Deaver is cream of the crop, but they are expensive.
Alcan is custom, but you need to give them dimensions of exactly what you want, so it's not as straightforward of a process.

OEM with an add a leaf might work for your intentions, blocks are cheaper, but...

 

Question; did the 2014 already have the cap on it when you bought it? If not, the rear leaf packs might be ok. If they don't look to be flat I'd put on an AAL just to see if it works. If the rear leaf packs aren't trashed, this may be all you need. If you do order an AAL be sure to get longer U bolts.

I have a Leer cap on my truck full time along with several totes of stuff in the bed and the ride with an AAL (to me) is just fine. I've also installed some Sumo Springs for when I haul my dirt bike on a hitch carrier or pull my trailer with a couple of dirt bikes. Again, loaded or not the ride (to me) is just fine. I do need to add that I put on the AAL and SumoSprings right after the rear leaf springs were replaced due to the recall. I also put on some front coils and shocks from a 2019 that raised the front 2".

I put the ToyTec AAL and got a full 2" of lift. When looking at replacement rear shocks, I came across Torch products and saw that they have, what looks like to me the same AAL at a better price. I did buy a set of their extended rear shocks. Something else for you to think about.

Photo by the wife

 

Thanks for the idea, that's a nice looking truck! I'm jealous of those 3rd gen wheels. The truck has had a leer cap on it since it was new. Looking at the rear springs they're riding pretty flat at this point. So I think the only option is to replace the entire leaf pack. I found some new OEM ones on craigslist for $400 that are 4 hours away. Seems way high to me since I would still need an AAL. At that point I'm thinking I'll save a bit more and get a set of the Icon RXT springs and still go with 5100s all around.

Definitely getting more expensive that I was thinking, but I'm sure that's always the case with suspension upgrades.

 

Thanks! How long have the new OEM's been listed on CL? If it's been a while you could try low balling the price. If you're thinking about new leaf packs, there are plenty of threads on that subject here on TW you can check out.

Yeppers, always more expensive than what you'd figure. That goes for most projects.

 

Thats Bananas. There are usually a number of entire 2021 suspension takeoffs on the used areas for like $150-200 here. And thats everything... shocks, coilovers, UCAs, and leaves...

The Colorado front range does have a lot of Tacomas though.

 

They were posted at least a month ago. So there's definitely potential for negotiating the price. Either that or they forgot to take them down after selling them. Unfortunately I would have to drive a ways to get them, including going around Philly. Avoiding that alone makes the Icon RXTs more affordable.

 

I'm quite a ways from the front range. Although from being there a few times for work I am quite sure there's a lot of tacomas in that area.

 

+1 for the Icon RXT’s. I have 5100’s set at 2.5 up front with 5100’s in the rear with my leaf pack at stage 2 for 2.25 inches of rear lift. When you look at the truck it’s hard to tell that the rear is higher. The ride quality is night and day compared to stock.

 

Thank you for this, probably more than you know. There's been a lot of searching and reading and getting different opinions on the matter.

 

Keep looking through the for sale section for Deaver or icon leafs. World of difference. Just installed mine. I went stage 3. Shel, drawers, 2 dog kennels, misc equipment. Just finished a 7200 mile trip. Game changer.

 

Just ordered 5100s and a set of Icon RXT leaf packs. Hopefully the back orders aren’t too long. Some websites showed a 6 month wait for stuff. Thanks everyone for the advice, I’m hoping to get the install done this spring.

 

The leafs came from wheelers and the 5100s came from shockwarehouse.com. Both sites had good prices and more importantly had free shipping.