Attention All Spacer Owners!!!

[TheBoro85]

I am going to purchase a 3" lift kit very soon. I have pretty much decided on the Cornfed Suspension. Can anyone give me the pros and cons of Cornfed as a company and the pros and cons of spacers and coils? I will be going on offroad trips about 8 to 12 times a year on VERY "easy" to "moderate" trails. And I want to purchase the kit before the spring, and spacers is all I will be able to afford by then. Late summer would be able to get me coils, wheels, and tires. That sucks. I guess I'll hope for a huge tax return.

[Jamier2]

I just ordered their 3" kit that's on sale (without shocks) and I got fast shipping and great service. They answered all my questions quickly. I haven't installed the kit yet, but the service was great so far.

[SteveO]

Put a post in the wanted section, I bet there are a bunch of guys with used kits you could get for cheap.

[Reckelhoff]

I have the cornfed lift on my truck and I have had 0 problems with them after one year. I upgraded my shocks to HD's in the front and 5100 in the rear. I had great customer service . I would advise anyone to get this kit expecially at the price.

Brian

[joeylead]

I ran the cornfed 2.5" spacers on my teuck for 60k with HD bilsteins with no problems. Mine did develop surface rust though, mostly because they really salt the roads in NY winters.

[Muffyh101]

I am going to purchase a 3" lift kit very soon. I have pretty much decided on the Cornfed Suspension. Can anyone give me the pros and cons of Cornfed as a company and the pros and cons of spacers and coils? I will be going on offroad trips about 8 to 12 times a year on VERY "easy" to "moderate" trails. And I want to purchase the kit before the spring, and spacers is all I will be able to afford by then. Late summer would be able to get me coils, wheels, and tires. That sucks. I guess I'll hope for a huge tax return.
Hey, where are you located? If your in the boro that I know of then you are right down the road from me and I have a used 3" Tuff Country lift I would let go cheap.

[hytenor]

I am going to purchase a 3" lift kit very soon. I have pretty much decided on the Cornfed Suspension. Can anyone give me the pros and cons of Cornfed as a company and the pros and cons of spacers and coils? I will be going on offroad trips about 8 to 12 times a year on VERY "easy" to "moderate" trails. And I want to purchase the kit before the spring, and spacers is all I will be able to afford by then. Late summer would be able to get me coils, wheels, and tires. That sucks. I guess I'll hope for a huge tax return.

if you are planning on getting coilovers anyway then save your $ and do it right the first time.

[Bear]

I am going to purchase a 3" lift kit very soon. I have pretty much decided on the Cornfed Suspension. Can anyone give me the pros and cons of Cornfed as a company and the pros and cons of spacers and coils? I will be going on offroad trips about 8 to 12 times a year on VERY "easy" to "moderate" trails. And I want to purchase the kit before the spring, and spacers is all I will be able to afford by then. Late summer would be able to get me coils, wheels, and tires. That sucks. I guess I'll hope for a huge tax return.

I have to kinda agree. I have a spacer lift (although it is not Cornfed) and I have liked it, without any trouble from it.

But if you are planning on going with a different type of lift, why start out getting something yet still plan to upgrade?

This is a common problem I see. I never could understand why people have gone to trail master 6" or fabtechs or whatever, only to run them a short period of time only to SAS. It just doesn't make sense to me to spend in the neighborhood of $1500+ and then spend another $3-5K doing a solid axle swap.

If you are planning coil overs, just wait, save that money you would be spending on the spacer lift, and do a first rate coil over lift.

I haven't looked lately at Cornfed's "kit" but does it come with something to lif the rear as well? If not, you not only need to spend money on the spacer, and tires. you also have the expense of getting the rear up, by either a add a leaf, new leaf pack or shackle, not to mention needing new shocks for the rear for after you lift that part as well.

Just my .02 worth, take it for what it is worth. after all I am a noobie again anyway!
:xcrybaby:

[lavaboy2]

i got awesome service from Cornfed. they were shipped right when he said they would be and he was very helpful with all my questions (and i'm sure some were stupid questions). later after i bought them i had more questions and he replied immediately. that to me says alot about his co. i hate that "i've already got your money so piss off" attitude.
couple of things. get your rear lifted an inch lower than the front as the coils will sag.
my rear leaf pack (stock) already ad a neg. arch so i wanted to fix that. a shackle lift would'nt help that at all so i went with an AAL.
get new shocks all around. i got the HD's and the 5100's. a lot of your ride quality will come from these. the stock shocks suck.
David is military. for all these guys do for us, the least we can do is throw em some biz. OMHO

[hytenor]

[QUOTE=Bear]I have to kinda agree. I have a spacer lift (although it is not Cornfed) and I have liked it, without any trouble from it.

But if you are planning on going with a different type of lift, why start out getting something yet still plan to upgrade?....

yup, well put ;)

If I had just listened to those that knew and gotten coilovers in the first place I would have spent about half the total cash outlay.

live and learn

[Bear]

[QUOTE=Bear]I have to kinda agree. I have a spacer lift (although it is not Cornfed) and I have liked it, without any trouble from it.

But if you are planning on going with a different type of lift, why start out getting something yet still plan to upgrade?....

yup, well put ;)

If I had just listened to those that knew and gotten coilovers in the first place I would have spent about half the total cash outlay.

live and learn

That's why I decided to go Solid axle instead of Trailmaster or FabTech. I figured why spend more money with a system that probably still wouldn't allow me to flex like I really wanted the truck to. The only reason I went with a spacer lift was because at the time, my wheeling experience was not advanced and I just wanted to be able to run 33"s now that I wheel harder and see the difference, I would probably never had done a "short"lift and gone straight to solid axle.

As you said "live and learn"

[equin]

I am going to purchase a 3" lift kit very soon. I have pretty much decided on the Cornfed Suspension. Can anyone give me the pros and cons of Cornfed as a company and the pros and cons of spacers and coils? I will be going on offroad trips about 8 to 12 times a year on VERY "easy" to "moderate" trails. And I want to purchase the kit before the spring, and spacers is all I will be able to afford by then. Late summer would be able to get me coils, wheels, and tires. That sucks. I guess I'll hope for a huge tax return.

Pros and Cons of Cornfed:

Don't have cornfed spacers and never did business with Cornfed (David), at least not yet, so I can't give ya any "pros and cons." But I can tell ya a little bit of history. The first commercially marketed spacers I can think of are the ones sold by Downey (1.5" lift, I believe). Downey was the only company that offered anything for the Tacoma when it first came out, by the way. Then came Dave. His spacers were first called "cornbred" spacers, or "CB's" for short. Don't know why they changed to "cornfed" later on, though, but the corn reference stems from David's home state of Nebraska and, I assume, his affection for the Nebraska Cornhuskers (who, incidentally, got beat several times by my favorite team and alma mater, Florida State - hehe). Anyway, David took the time to test out several sizes and versions of spacers on his own Tacoma. Thanks to his testing, he was one of the first to publicly disclose his findings on the internet that the cv axles AND the upper ball joints were prone to breaking past 3" of lift. He also used to frequent the TTORA chat and was generous enough to patiently take the time to educate and explain to me his findings and the geometric intricacies of Tacoma suspensions, which helped me when it came time to lift my Tacoma almost 5 years ago. He then decided to sell spacers part-time to TTORA members as a way for us to get a cheap 2" to 3" lift. He also took the time to figure out which length rear shocks should go for what specific amount of rear lift. A few years later, Revtek and Daystar came into the market.

Pros and Cons of spacers vs. coilovers:

Spacers and coilovers add lift in the same way, by pushing down on the control arm assembly, which in turn pushes the front of the truck upwards. A spacer sits on top of the stock strut/coil, which adds to its overall length, thereby pushing the lower control arm downward (and pushing the front of the truck upward). It adds no "performance" benefit as an aftermarket coilover should, which is one of the differences between the two. The other difference is that a spacer is usually much cheaper than a coilover, especially the high-end performance coilovers. If I remember correctly, there are two (maybe 3) different spacer designs. Unfortunately, I'm not sure about the difference in performance (if any), reliability or quality between them. I think one design helps prevent the upper balljoint from hitting the stock strut/coil spring during downtravel if no limit strap is in place, but I could be wrong about that.

A coilover includes a coil spring with a higher spring rate. The stock coil is about 420-480 lbs. per inch, while an aftermarket coil ranges between 500 to 700 lbs. per inch, depending on brand and option. A higher spring rate makes the ride stiffer and less likely to "flex", but it also helps prevent bottoming out on compression and less body lean while taking turns on road. A coilover also includes an improved shock when compared to the whimpy, skinny stock shock/strut. For instance, the King coilover includes a shock that is 3" in overall diameter (much bigger than a stock shock/strut) and uses desert-racing inspired technology in its internal parts. The bigger diameter allows the shock to take more abuse before it heats up (more volume - more time it takes to heat up), and heat is one of the biggest causes of shock fade. All of this translates to improved handling both on and off-road, which a spacer does not necessarily provide. Then again, the improved handling also results in a higher price than a spacer.

Hope this helps.

[Puckett]

Pros and Cons of Cornfed:

Don't have cornfed spacers ......


That reminded me of the layout of every documentery on the History channel! :lmao:

[jbstrd]

How much better do ther HD's ride in the front over the stock bils? I have 3" Revtek spacers and am thinking about running HD's. Worth it?

[99tacx]

I've had Cornfed 2.5" spacers on my truck since May of 1999... Never had a problem that they were a part of...

[hytenor]

I've had Cornfed 2.5" spacers on my truck since May of 1999... Never had a problem that they were a part of...

what truck? reg,excab? 3.4 or 2.7? trd? just curious.

[equin]

How much better do ther HD's ride in the front over the stock bils? I have 3" Revtek spacers and am thinking about running HD's. Worth it?

The "HD's", sometimes referred to as "heavy duty" for marketing purposes, are actually the 5100 series Bilstein shock. As to how much better they perform than the stock TRD Bils, I don't know since I never had TRD Bils. But I have the 5100 Bils that came with my 5 year old Downey coilover suspension, and the difference between the Downey/Bils and the whimpy stock strut/shocks is like night and day.

Even so, you can compare the size between the 5100 Bils and the TRD Bils and you can definitely see a difference between the two. The 5100 Bils are much bigger in diameter. As I explained in my previous post, the bigger the diameter, the more time it takes to heat up (more volume = more time it takes to heat up). The more time it takes to heat up, the less chance the shock will succumb to shock fade caused by too much heat. So theoretically, the 5100 Bils should perform much better as a "damper" (to "damp", as opposed to the other verb - to "dampen", is what a shock does) than the stock TRD Bils.

As to whether they're worth it, I guess that's something only you can answer. Maybe you can find someone with a Revtek spacer and 5100 Bils up front and ride in it to see compare the difference? If you value the higher damping performance that the 5100 Bil theoretically gives over the TRD Bil, and if the price is right for you, then go for it! If you think your ride is OK and would rather spend the money on something else for the truck, then go for that instead.

[Puckett]

How much better do ther HD's ride in the front over the stock bils? I have 3" Revtek spacers and am thinking about running HD's. Worth it?


I have a the 2.7, reg cab, no winch bumper, w/ 3" cornfed and 3" body lift.

I have the stock coils and Bilstein HD front shocks, I have a AAL and relocated shocks in back.

So far I love the Bilstein HD shocks. At first I thought they were too soft, but now they seem to be perfect for me. I went from horrible handling with the stocke shocks (not the TRDs). When my big tires would hit big bumps they would often leave the ground for a second, causing terrible steering control. I switched to the HDs soon after putting on my 35s and now it seems the tires are glued to the ground no matter what I am hitting. 35s don't ride great on an IFS truck overall, but without the bilsteins it would be unbearable!!

The back shocks are from Doetch Tech, and they are way longer than normal, and valved pretty hard. They give methe most trouble handling wise, but it's nothing I am concerned about. They are just not as smooth as the bilsteins, but I wanted a harder shock to keep the damn AAL in check (overly springy ride).

Overall, Bilstein HD shocks in front - WORTH IT!!

[tenntaco]

Hey, where are you located? If your in the boro that I know of then you are right down the road from me and I have a used 3" Tuff Country lift I would let go cheap.

Are you back in Nashville now? I'm moving to Murfreesboro next week :xcrybaby:

[99tacx]

what truck? reg,excab? 3.4 or 2.7? trd? just curious.

1999Xcab, 2.7... and WHITE if that helps... ;)

[akshunj]

1999Xcab, 2.7... and WHITE if that helps... ;)
Holy Crap! Look who it is. ;) Long time no see that name.

[jbstrd]

The "HD's", sometimes referred to as "heavy duty" for marketing purposes, are actually the 5100 series Bilstein shock. As to how much better they perform than the stock TRD Bils, I don't know since I never had TRD Bils. But I have the 5100 Bils that came with my 5 year old Downey coilover suspension, and the difference between the Downey/Bils and the whimpy stock strut/shocks is like night and day.

Even so, you can compare the size between the 5100 Bils and the TRD Bils and you can definitely see a difference between the two. The 5100 Bils are much bigger in diameter. As I explained in my previous post, the bigger the diameter, the more time it takes to heat up (more volume = more time it takes to heat up). The more time it takes to heat up, the less chance the shock will succumb to shock fade caused by too much heat. So theoretically, the 5100 Bils should perform much better as a "damper" (to "damp", as opposed to the other verb - to "dampen", is what a shock does) than the stock TRD Bils.

As to whether they're worth it, I guess that's something only you can answer. Maybe you can find someone with a Revtek spacer and 5100 Bils up front and ride in it to see compare the difference? If you value the higher damping performance that the 5100 Bil theoretically gives over the TRD Bil, and if the price is right for you, then go for it! If you think your ride is OK and would rather spend the money on something else for the truck, then go for that instead.

Thanks man

[CYi5]

My cornfed experience wasn't as smooth as everyone elses apparently.
I received poor customer service (rarely returned emails, even repeated ones; never returned any phone calls.)
There were problems in manufacturing, and in equipment failure. It took around 1.5 months for me to get the parts I ordered. Throughout these problems, I wasn't once notified of a delay by email or phone. As the promised ship dates and ETA's passed, I found myself constantly having to call them up and check to see what the problem was each time. I am also not the only individual who's encountered these problems, as i've also read similar experiences on other Tacoma forums.

From my experience, I would go with ToyTec. They are a new company, have great prices, and amazing customer service. I had all of my email questions answered usually within the hour, and when not, by the next morning. My order was shipped out the next day, versus one and a half months later.
Their new spacers are also made of T6 aluminum, same as Cornfed's, and are half the price. www.toyteclifts.com You won't be dissappointed.

[Icepuck72]

I've had mine for close to 80k miles now...no problems

[TQM3 (Last IFS in AZ)]

I am going to purchase a 3" lift kit very soon. I have pretty much decided on the Cornfed Suspension. Can anyone give me the pros and cons of Cornfed as a company and the pros and cons of spacers and coils? I will be going on offroad trips about 8 to 12 times a year on VERY "easy" to "moderate" trails. And I want to purchase the kit before the spring, and spacers is all I will be able to afford by then. Late summer would be able to get me coils, wheels, and tires. That sucks. I guess I'll hope for a huge tax return.


I have them and they are good (1" on OME 881s) They are not as good as other coil lifts but are a lot cheaper also. For your purposes they will be fine.
As always IMHO :soapbox:

[hytenor]

I have them and they are good (1" on OME 881s) They are not as good as other coil lifts but are a lot cheaper also. For your purposes they will be fine.
As always IMHO :soapbox:

just curious...did you notice much of a ride difference when you added the spacers to the 881s?

[Reckelhoff]

I have had the cornfed lift for a year now, and no problems, I had no problems with the customer service or anything. I am also using the Hd'd up front with the 5100 in the rear. I love the ride even with a spacer and an AAL in the rear. Just my .02

Brian

[alabamatacomaguy]

i have run the all pro 2in spacers on my last tacoma and the revtek 3in spacers, on my new one, i havent had any problems with spacer lifts and im poor so no coilovers for me

[equin]

I am also using the Hd'd up front with the 5100 in the rear.

Just to clarify for the sake of others who may be contemplating the same setup, the Bilstein "HD" shock is a 5100 series shock, although I realize they obviously have different part numbers between front and rear. I got Bils all around and have to agree with ya, the ride is much better than stock!

[TQM3 (Last IFS in AZ)]

just curious...did you notice much of a ride difference when you added the spacers to the 881s?


They ride about the same. I added a winch and winch bumper and the spacers brought the truck back up.

[imatt]

I have a the 2.7, reg cab, no winch bumper, w/ 3" cornfed and 3" body lift.

I have the stock coils and Bilstein HD front shocks, I have a AAL and relocated shocks in back.

So far I love the Bilstein HD shocks. At first I thought they were too soft, but now they seem to be perfect for me. I went from horrible handling with the stocke shocks (not the TRDs). When my big tires would hit big bumps they would often leave the ground for a second, causing terrible steering control. I switched to the HDs soon after putting on my 35s and now it seems the tires are glued to the ground no matter what I am hitting. 35s don't ride great on an IFS truck overall, but without the bilsteins it would be unbearable!!

The back shocks are from Doetch Tech, and they are way longer than normal, and valved pretty hard. They give methe most trouble handling wise, but it's nothing I am concerned about. They are just not as smooth as the bilsteins, but I wanted a harder shock to keep the damn AAL in check (overly springy ride).

Overall, Bilstein HD shocks in front - WORTH IT!!


So did the Bilstein HD shocks actually help soften the ride of the spacer lift? I have the stock shocks and the 3" cornfed on my 98. The rear's perfect, but the front's a bit jarring at the moment.

[Tankota]

Hey Ed:

The big diffrence that CB spacers came out with before anybody else is that his went inside the spring assembly, instead of ontop - maintaining the stock geometry of the shock, and avoiding any damage from overextending the suspension.. most of the others that came out simply bolted ontop of the shock and were the ones causing damage and breakage from the shocks being too long then.

[Puckett]

So did the Bilstein HD shocks actually help soften the ride of the spacer lift? I have the stock shocks and the 3" cornfed on my 98. The rear's perfect, but the front's a bit jarring at the moment.

I guess the ride is not so much softer, but is much smoother. I had the choppy, bouncy ride with my stock shocks and was used to it. When I switched to the Bilsteins I thought it was softer but actually it was absorbing so much more bumps without me realizing. I did test on some local speed bumps before switching the shocks justsee if they were worth it. I had me drive a few times to feel the difference and had a buddy drive so I could watch exactly what happened when the truck hit the bumps.

If I hit a speed bump going 15mph with my stock shocks, it was a bump sound of front the front tires hitting the bump, then a huge jarring motion of the tires traveling up into the wheel well, off the ground and "bottoming out". The bump stops would compress some but that impact made the whole front of the truck buck upwards. The front of the truck would pop up in the air, the tires would then "top out" (all the way at the end of downward travel) then land, making another jarring sound and shaking everything as the trucks body came back down. As weight of the truck came down, the suspension bottomed out once again!! Needless to say it was a shitty ass ride.

When I hit the same bump with my bilsteins, I heard the bump of the tires, but the tires would travel up over top of the speed bump but never bottomed out or came off the ground! And the truck body wouldn't move up much at all since there was no impact with the bump stops. The tires stay on the ground over the entire bump and the truck's body didn't pitch or buck like it used to since the suspension just soaked up the entire bump, like it's supposed to do!

From what I saw I can conclude is this. Since there is a spacer in the spring causing a higher spring rate overal, the stock shocks could not dampen the movement of the tires being pushed down by the spring so they would slam down if the weight of the truck was lifted suddenly. And since my tires are much heavier, the shocks couldn't dampen the upward movment of the heavier tires, even with the higher spring rate. Once I switched to the HD bilsteins (5100 bla bla bla ;) ) in front the shock does not allow the tires to pop up off the ground like they used to, and it keep the truck's weight from bottoming out the suspnon like it used to. I can;t say I'd ever put a different shock on the truck at this point. For awhile I was wanting to switch because I got used to the way the truck used to ride and thought it was normal. Now I love my bilsteins and can drive for hours and hours without my back hurting.

I recommend the bilstein HD shocks for the front no matter what spacer lift you might be using, I happen to support Cornfed Suspension.