Start off slow, or go all in on suspension?

Went ahead and read through the forums to see if this had been answered in a way that would not only help myself, but others as well and didn't see too much on it.

Before I got my '22 ORP, I was set on getting a Westcott Designs spacer lift for the stock suspension as it is only ~$400 and wouldn't be hard to upgrade later down the road.

Now, after 1,000 miles and going on some trails I'm thinking otherwise. I feel like it's a waste of labor expenses and just time in general to get a spacer lift that doesn't add any real functionality besides looks and the ability to clear 285's if I'm just going to replace the suspension in general to something better in the future.

To everybody on the forum: For somebody who daily drives their truck, but takes it off the beaten path on weekends, what're you running? I'm leaning towards grabbing the King 2.5 and whatever UCA's I need, but the problem is I'm not sure what I need. I want to be able to take the truck to places like Moab, the Ozarks, Death Valley etc. as well but want to keep the drivability of a daily driver.

To my Texas neighbors: I took the truck to Hidden falls and did the outer "loop" of trails, plus Wildcat mountain the first time I went out there. Scraped a little here and there, but not like I frame banged at all for obvious reasons. What're you guys running that you take to say Big Bend, BMRA, Hidden Falls, etc.?

For my daily driving tendencies: All the highways around are 70-80MPH zones, so say 75-90 are my typical highway speeds. Some back roads, some downtown driving, etc. Not sure if this matters between suspension setups, but just thought I'd throw it in incase it did.

I'm also looking to get a RTT at some point, so there will be some weight on top of the truck during season but not year round (if I can help it).

I'm also all ears to what tires you're running and why for that matter. Given that I'm going to be driving at higher speeds for 90% of my commutes, something on the lighter end of the scale that's rated more for this kind of driving but is still very capable would be my ideal solution.

Thanks in advance!

 

That is what I did. I put in spacers, then 9 mos later put in a Dobi lift. Wasted time and effort and the cost of the spacers. Nominal cost, but $50 is $50. Save your pennies and do the work one time.

To quote my Dad, "If it's worth havin', it's worth waitin' for."

 

I daily my 4Runner, and do trails on weekends whenever I can. I have a cheap setup, 5100’s in the front with 3” lift coils, SPC UCA’s, fox shocks in the rear with a 2” icon lift coil. Gets the job done. They’re almost at 50k miles of use and no complaints, but my tires will need to be replaced by next year so I’ll probably swap to a better setup. For the money, it’s been 100% effective at what I use my rig for.

Keep in mind coilovers will need to be rebuilt, mileage will vary on your use but heavy use seems to warrant a rebuild at 30k-40k and then it goes from there. My local shop charges sbout $600-$700 for everything, so it can be a big expense if you don’t need them.

 

What's your budget? I just bought the Eibach Pro Truck lift kit (haven't installed yet) after much back and forth over the numerous options. To me, it hits the sweet spot of improving ride and capability without being overly expensive.

 

Buy once cry once.

 

Ideally, I'd like to have everything (keeping stock wheels but including tires) for less than 6-7K including labor.

 

I agree, if you already know that you're going to want to upgrade, don't even waste your time with the spacers. Like you said, it's just money out the window and labor cost.

I don't know that I would go Kings though, even if I did want to spend that much money. I realize everybody says they're the best, but they're not the best for everybody's application. Personally, I do not want my shocks to be a maintenance item, I do not want to have to be rebuilding them every 30k, which is basically every year for me.

I was looking at the Bilstein 6112s, but I'm also considering the Fox 2.0 and 2.5. I don't get to do a lot of off-roading, and when I do it's nothing crazy. I primarily want something that's going to be comfy on the street and give me some extra clearance off-road.

I'd also check out the offerings from Dobinson as well.

 

I was in the same boat as you a couple years ago. 95% on-road and 5% off-road. Mostly freeway driving in SoCal. I definitely got hooked going off-roading and wanted to be able to tackle more technical trails the more I went. Lift kits can range from a $1000 to $5000, so I set my budget to $2500 because I knew I also wanted to add sliders and a low-profile front bumper. It’s hard being reasonable when spending money on modding our trucks. I ended up going with the Ironman stage 2 kit. It’s definitely capable of taking me off the beaten path, but I do wish I would’ve spent the extra money with the higher end kit to give me a ride that’s a bit more plush while driving on-road. When these are worn out, I’ll be looking to replace it with Kings, Fox or Elkas.

 

Yes I have spent lot of money from the cheapest Readylift spacer kit to ELKA 2.5DC which is more expensive than Kings.

My thought process is if anyone has a spacer lift understand its limitations and drive accordingly. I'm no expert by any means but I only noticed with spacers the rear wheel articulation is limited. But with ATrac & rear locker (if available) it should help to get traction and move forward.

Since I wheel with my family friends we are very comfortable turning back if anyone of us can't make it forward. We have made few stupid decisions to move forward on hard obstacles and so far just one time we made intelligent decision to reverse and turn back avoiding sliding in snow and failing off the trail and the next day see a post from CO4x4Recovery page recovering a Jeep slid.


Here are 2 of my friends 4Runners (pointed with arrows) with Readylift spacer lift-

 

Looks like fun! What's your YT channel, btw? I want to check it out.

 

I don't have offroading clips on my Youtube @Trail Runnah . Recording on trails are too much work. Even taking pics are hard with impatient family members..

I just have simple mod videos on my Youtube that would help beginners for light upgrades, dashcams, simple stuff like that.
www.YouTube.com/LionRunner

 

Unfortunately, clearance is always going to suck with these trucks. You can do things like high clearance cut on front bumper, remove your spare tire, etc.

kings are a great choice. Only downfall with them is the 50k service intervals. Not a big deal.
Another great option is the newer bilstein 8112 series.

I run fox 2.5 and love em.

Any of these will treat you fine in big bend and hidden falls.

 

That's kind of my thought process. I've been looking at the Billstein 8112's too since they seem to warrant less (or no) maintenance. It's so tough to know what the right path to take is without being able to test each set out.

 

I saw the 8112's. That seems to be a really good choice as well.

How many miles do you have on your fox 2.5's/Have you had to rebuild em yet?

 

I agree about skipping the spacer lift.

I drive about 25K miles/year with mine. Lots of highway, but I get off-road 2-3 times per month during spring/summer/fall. I have a Bilstein 6112/5100 combo, and I'm pretty happy with it. I do sometimes wish they had rear shocks that were more comparable to the 6112's, though.

For tires, an SL rated All terrain would be ideal. I have Toyo Open Country AT3's and they're pretty nice all around. There are a couple of other really good AT options as well.

 

i probably only have 5k on them right now

 

Figure out what you want and buy em quick before your choice is made for you by limited availability.

 

that’s been the case for awhile. Kings are 6mo out unless you find a dealer who got a few in. Bilstein’s were 8mo out last year. My fox took 2mo

 

Yep! I figured it is getting worse. I found Ironmans, Elkas (both out of my price range) and 5100s available about 6 weeks ago, ended up with 5100s. I like the ride so far but haven’t been off pavement driving much yet, just dragging logs out of the woods.

 

Who’d you go through for yours? Seen a couple local shops but have only had one recommendation in the area.

 

One of your friends with the silver 4R and spacer lift has the TSS in the photo. Do they have any problem with the TSS and lift? I think I recall a post you made that you were concerned about leveling/lifting a 4R with TSS.

Looks like all your friends like the OEM OR wheels. They have the right offset that's hard to find in aftermarket wheels.

 

That is correct the silver 4R in pic 2 & 3 has TSS-P and we installed ReadyLift leveling spacer. Even my 4x4 shop recommends to have factory rake when lifting 4R with TSS-P. But he wanted to keep the cost down for now and when he is ready he will think about a suspension lift. So far did not face any issues but keep in mind we work from home so we don't drive daily.

He could have searched for a different spacer kit to keep the factory rake to be safe but since I started with this ReadyLift kit and later my other buddy on black SR5 also got the same kit he wanted to get the same.

 

don’t trust anyone but round 2 offroad. Coming from experience.

Trevor Mills at battle born in Vegas is who I get my parts from, though.

 

This kinda concerns me a bit about reducing the rake by half but then again what happens when you have a full load or a trailer and the back squats to level or a negative rake? I wonder if the TSS goes nuts then? You would think Toyota would have that figured into the equation.

Is the other silver 4R in the photo yours?

 

I don't know honestly. I think it doesn't have to be perfect. I think I saw one member did a re calibration after lift. May be that would help to have a peace of mind.

When I looked at the 2022 Tundra it had a headlight level adjustment switch, so I think Toyota is expecting these vehicles to squat when towing. So TSS-P might be ready for that. Again I don't know.

 

Hey you brought up another good point! If you lift or do a level do you end up getting flashed a lot at night by oncoming traffic that thinks you have high beam on and is there a way to adjust the headlight aim on these cars?

 

Yes sir, easy peasy lemon squeezy. This 8mm nut is used to adjust the level. I was using stock 4R level to match in this example.

 

Cool, thanks!!

 

Good info. Seems like a lot of places around town are trying to snag up some extra cash

 

amateur pro tip: Use a regular old phillips screwdriver. Pop the hood, Stick it down the hole until it engages the little gear teeth, and make adjustments in seconds!