Best 3" lift kit for 2013 Tacoma

I'm getting ready to purchase my first Tacoma and was wanting to plan all the upgrades I want to add to it to make it a trail machine. The first thing I want to put on it is a lift kit, I've been researching different lift kits available and want some input from people that have lift kits on their Tacomas. I'll probably use this thread to branch into other upgrades so feel free to add any other mods I'll need, it will be a daily driver for now but eventually will be mainly for trails.

 

@HeadStrong Off-Road

 

While a lot of people purchase "kits" there are usually options within the advertised kits. Everyone says I want a 3" lift until they learn that upper control arms are needed which adds another $500 minimum. Another decision is whether you will be adding a lot of weight like bumpers, skid plates, or a cap. That will determine what springs are necessary front and rear to prevent sagging, ride quality, too much rake or bro lean. Next, once you lift it are your tires gonna look too small? It's a big can of worms you're about to open, be prepared to spend a lot all at once. With all that, what is your budget? That will get people started on what type of advice to give you.

 

I plan on putting 15 grand into the truck, which is why I bought an older Tacoma instead of a new one. I'll be adding a lot of weight especially to the front with a bumper/winch and skid plates. I planned on putting 33's on it haven't decided on tire width yet though.

 

Like #coma mentioned- you're opening a big can of worms. A lot of people when they first start out assume that they are just putting in a lift and give no afterthought to new tire sizes, armor, ect.
My advice would be to plan it all out before you pull trigger on a lift, or else you'll have blowback costs when you inevitably decide to change components later. If you're going to add armor, (skids, rear/front steel bumpers) I'd suggest using heavier set coils (700lb+) on your coilover shocks, and in the rear I would go with something like the expedition leaf pack from All Pro in the back (good for loads of 400-500lbs).

When you pick get into a bigger tire size (your 33" + sizes) you will run into power loss issues, that you may or may not be happy with, also the crawl speed offroading is definitely effected. So you need to consider new 3rd member and rear diff gears (ECGS is a good buy). The new gears will put you back to stock or better and your crawl speed will greatly improve.

Without going into great detail I'm running iron extended travel coil covers with heavier coils in the front (700lb), with icon tubular UCA, with total chaos LCA. In the back I have icon extended travel (28") icon RR's, with the expedition leaf pack and U-bolt flip kit (extended SS brake lines front and rear for extended travel). Front and rear steel bumpers (ARB front, and All Pro rear with full-size tire mount) are the reasons for consideration to extra weight compensation. I have 33" MT's, and put in 4.56 gears for more low end torque and lower crawl speeds. The set-up works for me where I'm 50:50 offroad/daily driver.

Hope this helps- best of luck

 

PM sent!

 

Bought it yesterday 2013 I've decided on the Icon extended travel coilovers with the 700lb coils and the All Pro expedition springs so far haven't decided on control arms yet.