TRD lift kit w/1/4” top hat spacers

I’m going to install the TRD lift kit soon and was thinking about adding 1/4” top hat spacers up front to compensate for possibly sagging stock coils being that they have 70k miles on them. I want to achieve the full 2” lift. Any issues with that? 1/4” spacer would equal about 1/2” in extra lift. With such a small spacer I’m assuming there wouldn’t be much of a problem. Any feedback on this would be great.

 

Don’t assume your coil springs are “sagging”. Measure the distance between the center of your hub to your fender flare (both sides) and report back.

Do you have any significant permanent added weight?

 

I currently have 1” top hat spacers with stock everything, so wouldn’t be a good comparison measurement. Don’t plan on adding any weight.

 

Sure it would. You can simply subtract the effect of the spacer.

You need measure things, otherwise everyone can do nothing more than guess the answer to your question.

My guess is that your coil springs are just fine and that combining spacers with increased-preloaded shock is a bad idea.

 

Is a TRD front shock, (basically) a 5100 shock, actually preloaded on top clip? I’ve seen mixed opinions on this. There is no pre-load spacer, and coil is still full length?

 

A 1/4" top hat spacer is probably the only "safe" top hat spacer. Anything more and you're asking for trouble as your shock acts as the bump stop from full g-outs.

 

that was my thinking. It’s small enough to not cause problems, and get another 1/2” lift

 

Westcot designs uses a 1/4" top hat spacer with their TRD Pro shock kit and it hasn't caused issues for customers. You should be fine with a 1/4" but please don't go any bigger unless you drive your truck on pavement only and don't hit bumps hard (and what's the fun in that?).

 

Here’s the whole story. I currently have what actually measures 1 1/4” top hat spacers, so yielding about a 2 1/2” front lift. But, all the lift is from those spacers which I feel is not good. I am switching to the TRD lift kit which is a 2” lift. I don’t really want to go any lower than my current 2 1/2” lift I have now with the spacers. I could actually be fine with a full 2” lift if the TRD kit is accurate, but don’t want anything lower. I will keep my current 1.5” lift blocks in back, vs using the only 1” block that the TRD kit comes with. (I like a slight rake). So in a nutshell, I’m just getting rid of the larger top hat spacers and doing the TRD shocks all the way around.

I’ve watched a few videos of TRD off-road trucks with the factory TRD lift, and they are plenty capable off-road for my needs. I had 285/75/16 k02’s but I downsized to 265/75/16’s.

I like the “stock +” build/look.

 

I've been running a 1/4" spacer with this setup for 2+ years now with no issues. I did it to help with the heavier aftermarket front bumper that I have.

 

Can you confirm you are running that with the factory TRD lift kit? If yes, how happy overall are you with that setup now that you’ve been running it a while?

 

Where did you get that 1/4 spacer yields 1/2 lift. I have it on driver's side for imaginary taco lean. But my both sides are at the same ride hight. Just curious

 

It’s my understanding that a top hat spacer results in the spacer thickness X2. So basically a 1” spacer for example, will yield 2” in lift height.

 

That's the theory, but reality is totally different. I'm going 5th year on the lift and still scratching my head what da ef I put that spacer in for.
Your front lift is also affected by the rear lift. So tread tw carefully

 

Due to the IFS suspension the average motion ratio (aka the amount the wheel moves vertically compared to the shock length) of the Tacoma is approximately 0.5

Hence if you add 1/4” to the shock length via a spacer it will give you 1/2” lift if measuring fender to hub center.

here is some good info on the topic of spacers and preload

https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/spacer-lift-vs-preload-spacer-vs-coilover-preload/

 

OP, forget the TRD rebranded and overpriced system and just buy Bilstein with more settings and a better warranty. Set them on the top setting and it will look perfect with the 1.5 blocks. I use the 5100s with a 1/4 spacer on the driver's side for the Taco Lean and a 1-inch block and it sits almost level with an ever so slight rake.

 

Yes it is the TRD lift. It works as well as you could expect it too, save some money and just buy the 5100’s, same parts basically, different color and more adjustment options. The only reason I got these instead of 5100’s is because I have a friend that works at Toyota and they got them for me cheap.

 

I already bought the TRD lift kit. The lift parts only, not the grill. I debated hard on this or the 5100’s. I read a lot of people complaining about the stiff ride with the 5100”s set to top clip. I know TRD are supposed to be the same or a re-badged 5100, but if you look at side by side pictures they are different and possibly tuned differently. Who knows. Toyota had to have done atleast some testing and tuning with them. I also have a white TRD off-road truck with the red 4x4 off-road badging, and the TRD skid plate. The TRD shocks just match my truck color scheme perfectly. I know, who cares, but I like the looks of them, and they seem to perform really well off-road from a few videos I’ve seen.

 

Same, when I still had my 3rd gen. I had the TRD lift kit, with a 1/4" spacer on the passenger side and 3/8" spacer on the driver side, to offset the bumper/winch and Taco lean. The winch/bumper brought the nose down 1/2" on the passenger side and 3/4" on the driver side. The spacers restored that height. Ride quality was unaffected to me.

I also installed longer studs in the strut mounts when I added the spacers.

 

I don't use any spacers, and am perfectly level all around. Even with the extra weight of my rear steel bumper.