Thoughts on this lift for towing?

I have a 05' DC TRD Off Road, i have a 26' travel trailer, weighs in at 3800 unloaded. I am not planning on wheeling this truck, i have a jeep for that, but i want it too look aggressive and function as a daily driver. I want to put 33" tires on too. I have been reading alot about theses trucks but cant find a topic on towing. The kit i have in mind is the bilstein coilover kit from toyotec. I was thinking of upgrading to full leaf packs instead of aal for towing purposes. Thoughts or suggestions?

 

AAL on stock leaf pack is useless for towing IMO, get Dakar leafs or All pro standards.

 

For towing a trailer that weighs 3800 lbs empty, I would think All Pro Expeditions would be a better choice. Think about the tongue load when that thing is loaded. Probably going to put the Jeep on it. Add to that the various wheeling accessories that will be in the bed and the All Pro Standards might sag a bit.

 

Ok thanks, those leafs look great, now what about the front, what i was refering to earlier it was a kit with leafs. So i would just buy shocks and coils seperate? Also is it better to go with coilovers or just new shocks and springs? Also i know on the jeep bilsteins are top of the line but what about the tacoma?

 

Also what about rear airbags that they sell on the toytec site? Not sure how these work. Would they go along with the expo springs?

 

Depends on your setup. Though it doesn't say, I'm assuming you have a 4X4 because you didn't say Prerunner. If it is a Prerunner the best lift for ride quality is a lift spindle. Maxtrac makes some reasonably priced ones and you can keep all of your stock suspension parts, even your wheels with a pair of 1.25" wheel spacers.

With a 4X4 a spindle lift isn't really an option. You will need a coilover setup. Kings or Icons would be the best out there. The economic choice, which might be best for you since you aren't planning on doing any serious wheeling, would be some height adjustable Bilstien 5100s. They are adjustable up to 2.75" of lift, but if you keep it at .85" or 1.75" your ride quality shouldn't be affected to much. Also, you will not need new UCAs. At 2.75" you might need aftermarket UCAs to get your alignment back in spec.

No matter which way you go, ride quality vs stock will be reduced.

A bonus to running the Billys at max(2.75") is that you can get away with running 275/75/16s with zero to only slight rubbing. My buddy ran that on his Prerunner TRD OR.

 

I think the standards are pretty stiff, stiffer than my dakars. I've had a 4k lb trailer and the dakars hardly sagged (if any). You could call up all pro and ask their advice.

 

Well if the Jeep weighs 200 lbs there should be no problem

Seriously though, there will probably be a lot of stuff in the bed of the truck at the same time as the trailer is there. If not and the tongue load is negligible, then the standards should be fine. I'm trying to think ahead here. If there will be constant towing with load, then the expos would be a good choice. They are designed to manage a constant load without sagging. If its a lighter once a month trip then they might not be necessary.

 

Yes it is the 4x4, sorry about that. I will be towing more than just the jeep, the wife wants a travel trailer too. I just want to do it right the first time and not look back. I made that mistake with my jeep at first and changed the entire setup. As for the setup, youre saying i dont NEED the coilovers, that just adjustable bilsteins will do the job? I dont mind dropping around 1500-2000 dollars on a quality setup. Sorry if i am asking alot of questions, i am extremely new to the toyota world. I built my jeep, more than once so thats really where all my knowledge is at. Alot older of a rig.

 

Ok, i am not set on tire size, that can change for me. I would go smaller if it meant a better ride. But thank you for the heads up.

 

DEAR OP:

assuming you did ZERO research on this topic, may wana start here.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/towing/

 

Billys should suit you perfectly for lift. What you want to do for tires is up to you. I think you should definitely take tongue load into consideration along with whether or not you will be loading the bed during the tow. It was mentioned before, but you may want to give All Pro a call and ask them what they think. It would be quite unfortunate to spend over $400 on a new leaf pack only to replace it with a stronger one six months later. As far as Need for coilovers, you can use your stocks coil springs mounted on the Billys at the height you want. That's what's great about them. You could go with Icons for around $1200 if you want top end stuff, but I don't think you need em if your not using this truck for more serious offroading. It's entirely up to you, though.

With regard to "bogging down", this is the first I've ever heard of it! I run 285/75/16s with stock TRD OR wheels and have never had my truck "bog down." Also, keep in mind that I have about 120k miles as well. A truck bogging down would probably be indicative of another underlying problem.

Honestly I think the 275s would be a good choice. Just big enough for the lift height you want and shouldn't have rubbing issues.

 

Im reading it now, thanks guys for the input, i suppose i should have read through it before asking.