Lift kit horror

I am looking into a 3" lift for my '13. Of course I am doing all of the research I can. I read nothing but horror stories about them. They cause vibrations, diff drop bracket is junk, cv angles cause cv boot to fail, improper drive shaft angles,premature tire wear, etc.Has anyone installed a kit and not have any issues?

 

Yup..I installed a baja suspension kit on my base 2012 AC....zero issues...It was designed by toyota ...maybe thats why.

 

How many inches? Did you install it yourself?Do you any pics?

 

I've installed prob 10 lifts, the only outcome is vibes including my own. Best of both worlds would be get the lift you want, get a trac bar and a 1 piece drive shaft.

 

I have 3'' on my 2013 and i have no issues from the lift, installed at dealership (where i work)

 

This is why I bought a Baja.

 

I've had a two different 3 inch lifts and now a 6 inch lift. Never had a problem with anyone of them.

If you're so scared about the small stuff. Might as well keep it stock

 

If you have 2wd get Maxtrac spindles. You'll get about 4" of lift and keep your stock suspension geometry. I actually have about 6" of lift and no problems. Of course I had to add a couple other things to prevent vibs, etc. Like drive shaft spacer and cb drop. Those are both really cheap and extremely easy to install (under 20 min each).

 

I was worried when I installed a lift on my 2013 as well, but I was pleased with the results. I did a full OME lift with 885x Coils and Dakars in the rear. The only issue I have is a small and I mean small vibration when I hit 5 mph while I accelerate. It took me a while to notice it and I have to really be paying attention to feel it. It only last a split second. Once I’m past 5mph it is gone. I didn’t install the carrier bearing drop kit, which is sitting in my garage. That my take it away, but it’s not bad enough for me to spend 20 minutes under my truck. People complain about the Dakars being squeaky, but mine are quite. Maybe I was lucky, but I had good results.

I'm not even sure I have felt the vib after I put my wrangler authorities on (very similar to the duratrac pattern). Maybe the rougher tread covers it up??

 

I have a 3 inch lift done by the dealer with no problems.

 

I have a 3" OME full lift with Dakars and don't have any of those problems.

 

Most (90%) of people say they have no problems, which the majority of the time it's a slight vibe that drives people nuts. Some people don't even notice them and others can't stop noticing them. I didn't mind the vibes personally, I got used to them a long time ago but it got rid of 99% of the vibes when I went to a 1 piece drive shaft.

 

I just went through all of this. I originally wanted a 6 inch lift and all I read about was problems. Sure, there's always someone who says they're fine and frankly people don't usually complain if there's no problem. There's a good chance if you get a good lift, you won't have problems.

In my case, I decided to take the money I would have spent on a 6" lift and went with a 3" of much better quality. I ended up with an ICON stage 4. And I put it on a brand new 2014 with less than 500 miles on it. I could not be happier. I have 33" Mickey Thompson ATZ P3s on it too so they give a bit of an extra lift just because of their size.

The ride is definitely a little different than stock, but it feels like an off road truck. I don't personally mind that at all.



Bob

 

My 1st gen is on a 3 inch lift, and I have had no real issues with it's handling or performance. A lot has to do with getting the right kit, and having it INSTALLED right. A GREAT kit can be a nightmare if the install was done wrong.

 

3" Skyjacker and only issue I had was I needed UCA's to get a good alignment which is not an issue really just part of getting a 3" lift.

 

This guy knows what he's talking about. Too many installers, professional and amateur alike, do not take the time to prepare to do the installation.

If you don't do all of these things before you put your truck up on stands, you're opening yourself up to have a Bad Time:

1. Measure Angles of CV, Drive Shaft joints
   
2. Checking to make sure your lift kit is complete.
   
3. Checking to make sure all of the extra spacers and bump stops and brake lines you bought In Addition To The kit Itself are present and ready to install.
   
4. Assembling the parts of the lift kit that need to be assembled prior to installation.
   
5. Checking to make sure they're all lubed up properly before installation (I guarantee you that this is the most-often-skipped step next to driveline angles)
   
6. Measuring your stock height on all four corners of the truck.
   
7. Make sure you know ALL of your Torque Specs. Put it on a sheet of paper that you can easily read and refer to. (Have your girlfriend laminate it for you with some of that clear plastic shit from her Scrapbooking supplies)

The guys who get the vibes, 9 times out of 10, skipped one or more of these steps and then they come here all prideful and shit. "Hey I followed every step I could remember from BJMoose's writeups and I still got them vibes. What gives? Why did Obama ruin my Truck?" And they're ALWAYS Met with the Baja guys saying "Haha! I told you so! This justifies my $40k Tacoma Purchase! I knew I was getting a great deal from that Car Salesman!"

Then everyone circle-jerks the topic into the dirt and we have yet another shit-thread where nobody comes out and says "You did it wrong. Here is how you can do it less wrong in the future: <Actual Advice>"

PS. Buy yourself some upper control arms. Don't cut that corner. It's arguably the worst corner to cut, but often is cut because quality upper control arms make up a third of the cost of your lift.

 

I had a 3' Pro Comp lift that the dealer had installed and it was nothing but problems. I finally nutted up and bought an Icon kit, installed it myself. And I couldn't be happier with the results. The difference between the two systems quality is comparing apples to oranges on all levels. The install was straight forward without any surprises. And installing myself gave me a better perspective of what's going on under my truck. Having a lifted truck requires some extra attention to detail, re-torquing fasteners and frequent inspection of components can help prevent problems. The icon's ride like a dream

 

Word!

 

Thanks for all of info gentlemen.My main concern is the angles of the CV and driveshaft. Is it worth it to just install the diff drop and carrier bearing drop when installing the kit?or wait to see if the angles are a lot different then the stock set up?

 

Carrier drop yes, front diff drop no. Front doesn't do anything on 2nd gen.