TRD Off-Road Lift Kits

Hi everyone,

I just recently joined this community after trading in my AWD SUV for a new stock 2023 TRD OR 2 months ago. Inspiration came from a roadtrip to Southern Utah that gave me a better sense of the limitations of AWD and what I was missing without 4wd.

Since acquisition have been down some forest roads in NorCal and Oregon and recently completed a one day off-road driving course held at the Hollister SVRA. Learned a lot there that I found myself using the following weekend when I went back to Hollister on my own.

My overall purpose for this truck is to get into overlanding and camping in places not accessible to the average joe, aka dispersed camping. I don't see myself getting into off-roading for the sake of it, learning how to manage ever larger or complex obstacles. In other words, it's mostly off-roading to get somewhere. That said, you never know what you might run into and I can't help but think that a little more ground clearance could add some peace of mind.

For those of you who have lifted your Taco:

What lift kit did you use

What did it cost (incl installation)

Did you change tire size or wheel and tire size

What impact has it had on gas mileage

and would you do it again, if you were to start over?

Many thanks in advance for any experiences you can share!

 

Since you don't sound like you'll be doing anything extreme when it comes to offroading, the most I'd do is maybe up your tire size from your 265/70r16 to 265/75r16. This is the biggest tire size that reliably needs nothing else done to fit. These things are very capable off the shelf.

Once you start actually camping, you will see where your truck is lacking. The rear suspension is pretty light duty and will squat when loaded up if carrying much. You may want to upgrade to airbags or a custom leaf pack depending on how often you are loaded. You gonna do the whole RTT and bed rack sort of thing? More info could definitely help to find out your real use case.

Honestly, just use it stock til you find out your limits.

 

good info here!
The rear leaf packs are defiantly a pooper with added weight, but to have to only do it once, I would figure out your build and get the appropriate leaf pack or mods.
Try throwing 200-300 lbs (or whatever you think you will be hauling) in the back and see what it does, even better, take it out with that load and feel how it handles.

 

Big issue with this is that most people aren't running 2-300 pounds, haha. I regularly hauled 140lbs in JUST WATER when I go out. It adds up CRAZY fast. Airbags might be a good stop-gap. Cheap if you stick with just using a bicycle pump for inflation (but honestly he sounds like he could use an air compressor for in his truck anyhow). Once he figured out his real, long term weight, could invest in full leaf pack as needed.

 

As a bicycle and canoe camper who’s camping gear weighs under 20 lbs, I always get a chuckle out of these truck camping threads with a line of people recommending that the OP upgrade the leaf springs to handle the camping gear.

IMHO, if your truck can’t haul your camping gear, you should either bring less camping gear, spend more for lighter camping gear, or buy a full size truck.

In my experience, a taco does not even sweat with 3-400 lbs in the bed. Just because it sits slightly lower is nothing to be concerned about. It’s what pickups do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl1FNX08HFc

 

I did the 2" Bilstein 5100 Lift. No regrets! Even though it's not an expensive Lift, the Bilstein 5100 shocks are bigger and better the the OEM Off Road shocks. Furthermore Bilstein recommends you keep the stock coils, unless you are adding a lot of weight, such as a steel bumper, winch and or heavier skid plates. Still don't see a need to change out my OEM uca's.

Before I did the Lift, I upsized and upgraded my A/T tires from 265/70/16 to 265/75/16. Gave me a small Lift under the diffs., where it counts.

Obviously, minor gas mileage suffers, but I'd do it again.

My next move is 33" Pizza cutters to give me even more Lift under the diffs. 255/80/17. Cant' wait!

 

Thanks everyone for your responses. To add some detail, I definitely see a bed rack and RTT in the near future. Camping trips may include gear for 2 plus dogs.

The off-road course I did 10 days ago was very helpful, especially in light of my fairly limited off-road experience. The instructors mirrored some of the opinions here, endorsing that stock trucks can do plenty and many of the upgrades people do are not necessary. That said, after doing the course I went back last weekend by myself. Got to apply all I learned and felt a lot more confident in the terrain than I would have without the training. But when I went back to an obstacle course we worked our way through during the training, I found myself bottoming out on a deep rut and scratching the exhaust pipe a bit (around the middle of the truck, where the pipe goes from the engine to the muffler). To be sure, there was a major difference. The week before I had a spotter, this time I didn't and I didn't plan/consider my line enough to avoid this problem. It's nothing serious but got me thinking because I'm likely to be doing a good bit of my off-roading solo. But perhaps the first step might be skid plates? I'm based in California and see trips to Death Valley, Joshua Tree and Sierras in the future. Would hate to be way out there with a catastrophic failure, but perhaps I'm not thinking about this in the right way.

 

I think you should just get out there and do it. You will learn what you need with experience.

My general thought about what is most important in order of importance is 4wd, tires, sliders, skids, diff lockers and then suspension. It does depend a lot on how you drive your truck though.

 

The lowest part of the truck is the axle line. Only taller diameter tires lift that.

Suspension lifts move the frame up, giving more approach/departure angle.

You can run 33" tires with no lift, no rub, no cutting if you do the right tires on stock wheels, or ones that have the same specs as stock.

 

FWIW approach and departure angles still suck on a Tacoma even with a lift unless HC bumpers are involved.

33x10 is an awesome size!

 

That is FUD.

The entire warranty is not voided because of a modification. However, you do run the risk of some repairs not being covered depending on a lot of factors.

 

If you take your truck off-road and it’s obvious to them, chances are they will deny the warranty anyway.

 

If you take your truck off-road with dealer installed TRD lift and it’s obvious to them that you wheel your truck, chances are they will deny the warranty anyway.

Is that better?

 

This is only my personal experience. YMMV. My truck has multiple modifications, is scratched and dented, and generally covered in mud. I took it in for a squeaky clutch pedal and they replaced the entire clutch pedal and master cylinder assembly for free with no questions asked.

 

We offer suspension consultation and we have top quality solutions
https://archivegarage.com/shop-archive/ols/categories/tacoma-2005-all-parts

 

I did two things. First, I added and OME lift kit (OMETAC16HKSB2). New springs and shocks. 2.5" lift in front, and 2" in the back. The rear springs are now 650lb. These aren't fancy remote reservoir shocks since I don't plan on bombing around at speed for hours.

That gave me room to put 285/70/17 tires (KO2) on 17x8 zero-offset rims with no modifications like new UCAs, cab mount chop or anything else. That's where all the additional ground clearance comes from. Measured from the ground to the center of the wheel hubs, it gave me ~2" of extra clearance. OME kit and tires came out at $5300. Rims (FSW 158s) were $900.

 

300-400lbs wouldn't even cover a RTT setup if OP goes that way. It's completely different than bike camping, especially for extended stays where you need to bring your own potable water and have more than one person with you. Passengers count as payload.

 

I say the two activities were the same. On the contrary, I was pointing how different they are. On one side campers spend time and money on reducing cargo weight and on the side people spend time and money on increasing their cargo capacity.

Water is a big deal in hiking, bicycling, and canoeing as well. It’s heavy and you can’t live without it. A typical solution is to bring a water filter to filter the local water.

 

I went with the ICON stage 4 kit ($3200). Yielded 2" of lift on 2022 TRD OffRoad. Ride on pavement is greatly improved. Haven't been off road yet.

I will run 255/85/16 on factory wheels and add complete skids. Been in rocks pre lift and have plenty to show for it underneath.