TSS and Lift

Alright... there is some good information about experiences people have had with mitigating TSS warning lights with washers, TRD Pro grille, etc... I am also aware that dealers may or may not calibrate the system after an after market lift is installed.

What is really want to know: If you keep factory rake with a 2" lift front and rear and never experience any warning lights or obvious issues from the TSS system, does the system work as intended? Based on other threads that I have read through, people are less concerned about keeping safety features functional and more concerned about just avoiding any warning lights. Anyway, I want my truck's safety features to work and don't want to dish out up to 1k more for the TRD lift kit vs. an aftermarket Bilstein 5100 that I install.

Appreciate your personal experiences and stories!

 

The idea behind the heritage grill is it move the radar lower, this compensates for the lift.

A 1-2" rake is ideal and some dealers will compensate for the new ride height, there's plenty of procedures for this.

Remember though, tacoma is a truck designed for load, so the TSS expects to have changes in angle, you're supposed to turn it off for towing and bad weather though.

The radar in the grill is for pre-collision and cruise, the camera in the windshield is pre-collision and lane departure. So when the truck is lifted the cameras can't quite see the lines as easily and the lane departure isn't as accurate.

From my experiences 1-2" doesn't affect the TSS that badly, the biggest hit is the lane departure.

That said, I'm a dealer tech and I would 100% have it calibrated to the new ride height.

 

Hi @Bishop84 , thanks a lot for this detail. Gives me confidence hearing it straight from a Toyota tech.

A couple of follow-up questions:
1) What is your experience with Toyota dealers calibrating TSS systems on trucks that have a lift installed? I seen that some dealers won't touch it and others are happy to.
2) Do you feel that the heritage grill is a requirement to account for the added height? The concept makes sense that you want the sensor as close to its original location as possible.
3) Are there any other implications with dealers/warranty ect... that you have seen at your dealer?

Thanks a ton!

 

1: We've never heard of a dealer refusing in my city. Toyota has updated methods to address lifted trucks and calibrations.
2: If you are concerned about TSS functionality being close to OEM as possible, the TRD grill is necessary.
3: The only implication of warranty is complaints about the TSS, so if it's causing errors while driving like false events they may dismiss it due to the lift. It won't cause any parts to fail.

 

I put a try pro grill on without the garnish just the piece that looked like the grill had no issues, I put the garnish I had a warning light on. I drove it for about 1500 miles and the warning light went off ands haven't had a issues since. I'm guessing it recalibrated its self or relearned, Im now lifted on a 3 inch lift and 34's still no warning lights. in my experience if you drive it enough it will relearn.

 

Awesome, this does make me feel a lot more confident. Thanks for your insight!

 

Apparently these trucks are pretty smart. Thanks for sharing your experience. I won't be going that high and am glad to hear that your issues have resolved. Thanks!

 

Following this as I am about to lift 2.5 and have the Pro Grille so the TSS is lower in my Grille already.

 

My take is that there are far more people worrying about it than people reporting problems with it. But that is not particularly scientific. They are complicated systems, and you would likely need to talk to a highly specialized engineer to get an real answer. Personally I’ve been driving a majority of my life without such systems, so I don’t lose any sleep over it.