What is this? and how do I return it back to stock?

best bet is to ask the owner even though it looks like you want to shoot him and see what he had done to it. that way he can recommend what it need to be put back to stock. we are just giving advice base on what we see and hear on here. it is lower, look kinda nice.

 

Thanks guys for giving me some very helpful tips. The original owner is not interested in providing any info. It has been over a year since I bought it. She seemed kinda messed up and never responded to my requests, so I need to just figure it out myself. She didn't take good care of it. In fact there were several rather strange things about the truck (one that I didn't notice until after I bought it) was that the carpet had been dyed... hmm lemme guess, probably heater core leaked??? and the stupid shits dumped crap in it to fix the leaks, which effed up the radiator, and instead of just steam cleaning the carpet, they paint it right? talk about stupidity!
Here are some photos I took this morning

 

Some people dye the carpet to change the color.

I know.. crazy.

 

Well I was under it most of this week-end. I replaced the struts, shocks and lower ball joints.
The shocks were blown out, so it rides smoother now but I'm disappointed that I didn't gain much lift at all.
I should have measured it properly from the beginning but I doubt I got half inch lift, but even that helps a little. The tires don't rub during normal driving, only in really tight turns or when it bounces.

I took it to get an alignment and the guy didn't really know why it is so low but he thought that there was possibly a spacer on the LCA by the lower ball joint. I don't know if that piece belongs there originally or not because I haven't seen what a stock Tacoma like this is supposed to look like.

 

Ummm which part did you replace with expectations of gaining lift? Nothing you did would lift the truck at all.

 

Well I thought that perhaps they put smaller springs, or maybe the springs were sagging. The shocks were total crap. they were shorter, and blown out. I did actually gain a small but noticeable amount of height, so maybe the springs were sagging a little.

 

Latest photos

 

Yeah the front still looks too low for stock.

Do you know if the spindles and the upper control arms (UCA) are original equipment manufacturer (OEM) from toyota? If the spindle is shorter than the oem length and the uca is meant for a lowered vehicle that may hinder the new struts....but I'm not sure if that's 100% correct...

 

I don't know what spindles are but this is one of the shocks I replaced. It was shorter total length than what I put inAnd this is what it looks like now

 

Balljoint flip lol. They flip the lower balljoint so the spindle sits higher(lowering the vehicle).

 

So you're saying that if I take those 4 bolts out that hold the thing that the ball joint goes into, and move it so it sits UNDER the LCA, and bolt it back up, that would raise it? I wish I could see a photo of what it is supposed to look like from the factory

 

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/54-1995-5-2004/126719-balljoint-flip.html

 

I've been hunting 5 lugger LCA pics for about an hour. But, my googlefu is slacking bad, I can't find any pre-flip.
Returning the lower ball joint mount to below the LCA will raise the front back up a bit. It would be a very good time to check your ball joints.

 

Any stock height 5 lugger guys, please get a picture of your lower control arm/lower ball joint.

 

Looks like the solution, nice catch guys
Learn something new once in a while.

 

Awesome, thank you so much. That last photo is what I needed. I should be able to do this asap. It will be pain to get those 4 bolts out cuz they r in bad shape but I can do this

 

If the bolts are in bad shape, replace them.

 

Here is my 96 5 lug.

 

And yes, I just replaced the ball joints recently on both sides. They were pretty bad, and I think this mod had something to do with them going out faster.