What lift should I put on my daily

After spending the past weekend on the trails in VT and bottoming out a few times, it's time to put a lift on my truck. I don't want to go crazy because it's still my daily, doing about 30k miles a year for work, but I want to be able to take it on some minor trails on the weekends to get to the campsites. Seeing what you all recommend for 2-3 inch lifts and whatnot.

 

I'm happy with my 2in front and rear lift from Dobinsons. They have full lift kits for around $1500 that include everything you need. I opted not to switch out control arms since it's not a severe lift either. Did the install myself over a weekend.

Went from bottoming out on trails to having a ton more confidence and clearance.

 

I have a $15,000 long travel suspension on my daily. It's a very personal choice.

How technical are the trails? What is your budget? How fast do you want to go? Do you want to run larger tires? Is important to you to run OEM?

If you want to run larger tires (like 33s), you really should be running an aftermarket UCA for caster correction. I'm partial to Accutune because shock valving is so important even for daily drivers. Their cheapest stage 1 kit is $3500 which seems expensive but not when you consider that it's front and rear suspension with upper control arms.

If you don't want to run larger tires, the world is your oyster.

If you want to run OEM, your only option is the TRD Pro lift kit which is probably fine for your use case. I think you can better bang for your buck in the aftermarket, personally, but that's the OEM option.

If you don't care about running OEM, you have a lot of options. Bilstein 5100's are a popular choice and because they utilize stock springs and mount. For a little bit more, you could grab the Old Man Emu (OME which is not OEM) . ICON have a bunch of options for e.g., or .

FWIW, the rear is equally as important as the front in maintaining ride quality on a Tacoma. Your profile says you have a bed cap and so looking at your rear leafs will be worthwhile IMO.

 

I’m running 3” in the front. And 2” on back Ready-lift with Bilstein 5100’s and 4WP UCA’s.
285/75r16 Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT /Method RW and couldn’t be happier . It’s a nice modest lift and still keeps all the factory specs for alignments.
Rides nice and plenty of clearance for
Modest off road trails and not to firm just right for me. Also everything can be put back to stock so no permanent modifications. It’s my daily also and I love it ! Gives me the best of both worlds , comfort yet very off road capable.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-tacoma-lift-guide.509171/

 

I got 6112/5160s from hotshot and added U402 deavers and JBA UCAs.

 

Was thinking of going with 2" Bilstein coilovers with an Icon AddALeaf in the rear. I'm assuming I'll have to do UCAs as well? Kinda teaching myself as I go here, not familiar with lifts. The guide posted above actually helped a lot.

This is what I'm looking at, just with AAL instead of blocks: https://www.suspensionlifts.com/sho...oilover-lift-kit-for-2016-2022-toyota-tacoma/

 

I'm on my 2nd 3rd gen DCLB that I've put 2888 springs & an AAL in the rear on Bilstein 5100s. End up with ~2-2.5" lift (also have a cap). Rides well and for my use, I don't need aftermarket UCAs

2017 before top & after bottom:


2021, not as easy to see difference in this one but also went from factory 16" to 17" wheels but it's there. With the small lift and increased offset of these wheels, I could have fit 285s but that'd have me on thr cuff of needing aftermarket UCAs.

 

Nice fishing car

 

The trails I'm doing aren't very technical at all, I just want to be able to get to campsites without bottoming out even if the trail gets washed out and pretty rutted up. Nothing crazy. I'm definitely going to be doing an AAL, as I have the Decked drawers in the bed, plus I'll be doing a roof tent soon as well. I just put on a new set of Nokian ATs so when these wear down I'll most likely be getting them in a bigger size, so I suppose I should add the UCAs to the cart too. I appreciate your in depth reply

 

I called @HeadStrong Off-Road , told them what I had, what I wanted to accomplish, very happy. 5100, OME coils, 3 leaf add-a-leaf. It’s my fishing car.

 

Yeah I think I'm gonna go with 2" 5100's + OME Coils, OME UCA for the front, and 5100's + ICON AAL for the rear

 

I have a topper, Decked, and sliders which add considerable rear weight, so I went straight to a new leaf pack, Icon and at that,,,, I went straight to stage #3 and glad I did.
post #1,807 https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/icon-rxt-leaf-pack.505580/page-91
I am not saying an AAL won't work, just adding this since we have similar specs.

 

I'm liking this here, for no other reason than it's marketed well. It's probably a good system. I don't think it's available for Tacoma right yet. No idea how good it is, and what impact salt will have over time.
https://arbusa.com/old-man-emu-4x4-suspension/mt64/

I like Bilstein for on the road ride and ease of care.

 

Sounds like your off roading is mostly pretty light weight. Why not install some armor and see if that works for you. That’s a lot cheaper option. If later you decide to lift it anyway you are going to want skid plates and then you’ll have them.

 

I'll most likely do a whole leaf pack in the future, after I recover from the roof tent and awning purchase, so I figure for now the AAL will suffice without killing the bank much. How much was your leaf pack?

 

Let's be honest, I love the look of the lift with larger tires. The lack of bottoming out is just an added bonus

 

Just so you all can see what I'm working with

 

Seems like a lot of rework to me, but that’s up to you. They’re about $700 for both side. I got them on sale from @memario1214 at Hotshot, he’s a good dude and will answer your questions.