[cauch235]

i have been looking to raise my '04 dcab for about two months now and i have gone through all of the different lift choices. i have come down to either a spacer lift or a coilover/rear leaf pack/bilstein kit.... the spacer lift with either shackles or aal will be a LOT less expensive then the coilover lift and i like that but i am not sure if i will still have a quality ride with the spacers... i am not a serious offroader and i will probably be on pavement 95% of the time.... which do you suggest? also if i get the spacers which brand and what do you suggest to lift the rear so that it sits level.... thanks

 

[calamaridog]

My truck rides and handles much better than stock and I am running KING coilovers. I would always prefer suspension over a coil spacer for ride quality and performance. With that being said, lots of people run the spacers and they can be purchased from reputable shops such as Cornfed.

For the rear, you can get away with an AAL (add a leaf) or shackles and longer shocks. Decide on a budget and go from there.

 

[rojodiablo]

Look back in time on the 4x4 tech board.. previous pages. Also, do the same with the suspension pages. Your plate is very full, with more options than you care to think about. Camburg has a full set, wheels, tires, coilovers for sale rightr now. Used, excellent shape. Great price. Calamari is right, save your money up, and get a suspension upgrade, not just a lift. Especially on the street, you will notice a much better ride quality, more feel for the road. Also, from the fabtech performance and the Downey coilover, which are the lower cost on the spectrum, to the best, the camburg, donahoe, the increased spring rate will be a welcome bonus. For the rear, I would suggest a shackle for a while, so you can save a few dollars, then get a new leaf pack, wether it be the 3 leaf kit from deaver, or the full pack from deaver or alcan. You will be happy with any of them. I have the deaver add on pack, and it is great. Have fun reading the last 2 weeks posts. Maybe take a no doz.... it's gonna be a long night....

 

[hytenor]

i have been looking to raise my '04 dcab for about two months now and i have gone through all of the different lift choices. i have come down to either a spacer lift or a coilover/rear leaf pack/bilstein kit.... the spacer lift with either shackles or aal will be a LOT less expensive then the coilover lift and i like that but i am not sure if i will still have a quality ride with the spacers... i am not a serious offroader and i will probably be on pavement 95% of the time.... which do you suggest? also if i get the spacers which brand and what do you suggest to lift the rear so that it sits level.... thanks

there is absolutely NO comparison between the two when it comes to ride and handling on or off road. If you have the $, get the coilovers, hands down.

 

[dougtrd]

there is absolutely NO comparison between the two when it comes to ride and handling on or off road. If you have the $, get the coilovers, hands down.

yup, what he said...I have a spacer lift on my truck right now, and after a year of bouncing and jolting I am gettin ready to go with some coilovers, probably SAWs. I should have just saved the $$$ and got the coilovers in the first place...

As for the rear, I split the difference with a 1.5" AAL and a 1" shackle...not too bouncy, increased the load capacity a bit and clears the 33s

Doug

 

[ARB1977]

i have been looking to raise my '04 dcab for about two months now and i have gone through all of the different lift choices. i have come down to either a spacer lift or a coilover/rear leaf pack/bilstein kit.... the spacer lift with either shackles or aal will be a LOT less expensive then the coilover lift and i like that but i am not sure if i will still have a quality ride with the spacers... i am not a serious offroader and i will probably be on pavement 95% of the time.... which do you suggest? also if i get the spacers which brand and what do you suggest to lift the rear so that it sits level.... thanks

If money isnt tight do it right the first time and get coilovers. My truck is 99.9% street queen and i went ahead and bought donahoes for my 2002 V6. All i have to say is those things kickass. Im waiting to get the rear finished hopfully sometime in 2005 but just with the donahoes my truck rides better than it did stock. Remember it all comes down to what you can afford.

 

[TMS2U]

diddo to the coilovers, plus the install is easier (no spring compressors!)

 

[Toyo4x4]

i have been looking to raise my '04 dcab for about two months now and i have gone through all of the different lift choices. i have come down to either a spacer lift or a coilover/rear leaf pack/bilstein kit.... the spacer lift with either shackles or aal will be a LOT less expensive then the coilover lift and i like that but i am not sure if i will still have a quality ride with the spacers... i am not a serious offroader and i will probably be on pavement 95% of the time.... which do you suggest? also if i get the spacers which brand and what do you suggest to lift the rear so that it sits level.... thanks

Like everyone said, an adjustable coilover will give you a much better ride as well as offer some adjustability/compensation if you were to ever add a bumper and/or winch. When deciding to lift my truck I tossed back and forth the options of spacer vs. coilover, and I'm glad I went with coilovers.

In the end, it does come down to what you can afford. Remember, you have options if going the coilover route as well. Although donahoes are great, you will still have a better setup going with a cheaper coilover (Saws, doetsch) than a spacer lift. Shop around, and evaluate what you want out of your truck. It's easier to make the right choice now, which may involve spending more money, and be happy in the long run than to regret getting something a year later, only to spend more money to buy something better.

If you do decide to go the spacer, route, check out www.cornfedsuspension.com

 

[04RedLobster]

personal choice and the money you got in ur bank account lol....i would get the coilovers but didn't have the money and got the 3" toytec spacers on TRD springs and they aren't that bad...i think it's actually better than when it was stock...it rides better on pavement....but i haven't gone off-road yet...so we'll see....

FYI i didn't install the shackles from cornfed yet since my friend is busy..and the bilstein 5150...so i'm hoping the ride would be better later..

they look kinda level...

 

[Tacoma4Life06]

Can I put the SAWs in stock?

I was thinking about buying the SAWs right now and deciding on a rear lift while I have them on the truck. I didn't know if you could put them on and just adjust them later. I'm very leaning more towards the coilover setup now that I have looked into it more. I was having trouble deciding myself.

Now thanks to all the people on the board and reading up. You have helped me decide to spend more money on a better setup. Thank You. LOL.

 

[synovus]

I was thinking about buying the SAWs right now and deciding on a rear lift while I have them on the truck. I didn't know if you could put them on and just adjust them later.

The SAW's, like most coilovers, are adjustable. You can install them without having a rear lift, although at the factory setting (2", I think) you'll be riding a little nose-high. You can lessen the preload on them (crank them down) some, which will lower the ride height up front to better match the stock-height rear, and then crank them back up to your preferred height whenever you get the rear lift.

I just replied to you in another thread where you said you were looking at the SAW/Downey AAL kit from Extreme. I would definitely recommend that kit. Mike at Extreme is very friendly and willing to answer any questions you may have.

 

[Jay04Taco]

I had the revtec 3.5" spacer kit, and aal.................Rode like shit.......Do not do spacer lift unless you like bouncing and hitting your head on the roof, and feeling every little bump in the road.

I installed the fabtech 3.5" Coil over kit, got it from summit on thursday, came with all 4 New shocks and adjustable coil over in the front, aal in the back. Unbeleiveable the ride quality compared to the spacer lift. Goin on a trail run tomorrow to see how well they work on some rugged stuff. We just finished a 4" lift on my buddies Pathfinder tonight, so tommorrow its all about testing shit!

The fabtech kit ran 550 bucks, with free shipping from summit racing.!

Next i think i will get a 2" shackle kit, to lift the back about 1.25", to help with rear tire rub, and do the Uniball a arm, not sure which brand yet though.

 

[cvajs]

those who said they have spacers never said if they got new shocks. i'm about to swap out my non-trd front oem coilovers for some trd springs with bilstein F4-B46-2284-H0 shocks and a 2" poly spacer (on my 02 tacoma 4x).

adjustable coilovers are nice, but indeed pricey.

any opinions on my setup i'm about to do?

 

[synovus]

those who said they have spacers never said if they got new shocks. i'm about to swap out my non-trd front oem coilovers for some trd springs with bilstein F4-B46-2284-H0 shocks and a 2" poly spacer (on my 02 tacoma 4x). adjustable coilovers are nice, but indeed pricey. any opinions on my setup i'm about to do?

My opinion is that you should stick with non-TRD coils for any spacer lift. They ride much better than the TRD ones, due to the progressive rate of the TRD coils.

 

[calamaridog]

those who said they have spacers never said if they got new shocks. i'm about to swap out my non-trd front oem coilovers for some trd springs with bilstein F4-B46-2284-H0 shocks and a 2" poly spacer (on my 02 tacoma 4x).

adjustable coilovers are nice, but indeed pricey.

any opinions on my setup i'm about to do?

Agreed. The TRD coils are progressive coils and SHOULD NOT be used with a spacer lift. This would be the worst combination possible.

OME springs are cheap and I'd much rather have them than a spacer lift...

 

[cvajs]

Agreed. The TRD coils are progressive coils and SHOULD NOT be used with a spacer lift. This would be the worst combination possible.

OME springs are cheap and I'd much rather have them than a spacer lift...

ok.

OME 880 springs lift 1.25-1.5 on v6 extra cab. i have I4 xtra cab so what should i expect for lift?

my original idea for a 2" lift eas to extend the bottom shock eyelet by 2" and keep oem spring, this would in effect preload the spring slightly more.

thanks for all the info...

 

[cvajs]

well, the spacers i got from a off-road.com member is a Daystar 2" coil spacer red poly kit (along with the shock tower mounts).

i modified the tower mount so that bolt heads can no longer spin. i also got new bolt hardware.

if anyone wants them they are for "free" (there's a $8 FedEx ship fee).

i have pics, just email me.

cheers

 

[Tacoma4Life06]

Yeah I wrote to him the other day about the lift and he replied to me the next day. I think that he seems nice to deal with and wouldn't steer me wrong. I just want my money so I can go ahead and buy my lift!!!!!

 

[hytenor]

ok.

OME 880 springs lift 1.25-1.5 on v6 extra cab. i have I4 xtra cab so what should i expect for lift?

my original idea for a 2" lift eas to extend the bottom shock eyelet by 2" and keep oem spring, this would in effect preload the spring slightly more.

thanks for all the info...

880s won't give you that much lift. 881s are rated for 1.5" after settling on a v6 excab and the 880s are good for about 1" less than that on the same rig. On a 2.7 excab you can expect about 1" with 880s and about 2" with 881s.

you cannot just 'extend the bottom shock eyelet' on the Taco; it doesn't work that way. Doing so completly screws up the suspension geometry and you you won't go anywhere...been tried...doesn't work. At most you can use a 1/2" top plate spacer that will move the coil/shock assembly down (top-load spacer) but this gets you into possible trouble with the inner axle joint hyperextending and popping right out of its casing. And, you can't just install longer CV axles to compensate for that w/o going full LT (long travel) with longer upper and lower A-arms.

 

[04RedLobster]

Agreed. The TRD coils are progressive coils and SHOULD NOT be used with a spacer lift. This would be the worst combination possible.

OME springs are cheap and I'd much rather have them than a spacer lift...

everybody says that...but i'm still having a hard time why eveyone says that...i put it in the TRD coils and i haven't seen any stiffness on the road/off-road, speed bumps...pothoes...etc...

i think they are better than when it was stock...
yeah...it was a pain it the ass to put the spacer in...broke tire kingdoms coil compressor...
but i got it in at NTB put them in and noticed a difference right all way...
but i guess majority rules...so go with everyone elses...i'm sure i'll be like them in about a month or so...lol

FYI it's a toytec 3" spacer stock bilsteins and TRD springs..