1st gen lift advice, wanting quality ride

So this is my first post. Had my Tundra for maybe a year now. 100% stock suspension. I came from a lifted 2nd gen dodge ram, rode like an amish buggy on steel wheels. I love the IFS in these 1st gen tundras, honestly I love the entire truck. Been searching this forum for well over a month reading up on all I can. I follow the "what have you done to your tundra today" thread pretty religiously!

So I really want a lift, preferably 3" with a close to level look (a slight rake doesn't bug me). I honestly wouldn't mind lifting the rear a bit since I am going to be building a new bed for the truck. Flatbed style with metal tubular bedsides. Full custom that will hopefully look great. My bed is more rust than paint, so it's a need. Plus my Father in law owns a fab shop, so I can do it there. My reason for stating all of that is if I have a rake I won't mind because I'll bet the heavier bed I build will make it more level with a 3" front lift.

So I have searched for at least a month and many hours of different lifts. I want something that rides nice on the road, this truck is my daily. I rarely go offroad, maybe 5 times a year and it's nothing to write home about. More like trails, basic simple stuff. However I want a quality set-up and I don't mind paying more money for it. I live in NE Indiana, so I think uni-balls are a no go with all the road salt, snow and crap we get. So I'm leaning towards the SPC UCA's with the grease-able UBJ's.

So I know that Icon, King, toytec boss are all good coilover options but do they require more maintenance? Will they look like crap with my weather conditions up here? I have read all I can on the MOE nitrocharger set-ups with coils, billy 5100's with all different kinds of coilovers (Dobinsons, eibach, ome), but I want something that is quality and will yield a nice ride. If I wanted a crap ride with a lift I would just do spacers and call it good, but that's not what I'm after.

What would everyone recommend? Preferably some of you guys will chime in that have or have had lifts and can give me insight.

I plan on doing my front diff drop and replacing my LBJ'c with MOOG grease-able ones. I just did a new steering rack and pinion, the poly bushings for that, new inner and outer TRE's, and the big brake upgrade kit. I don't want to skimp on anything since I plan to drive this truck for a long long time.

**Sorry for the novel here everyone, if you read this far I appreciate you and any help you can give!

 

Go OEM for the lbj’s.

 

Definitely. Well I mean I was planning on MOOG OEM replacements. Same thing right?

 

No, he means OEM Toyota as in these...

https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-lower-ball-joint-4333039466/?c=YT10b3lvdGE=

https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-lower-ball-joint-4334039356/?c=YT10b3lvdGE=

 

Ah, understood. I have always used MOOG for everything and they seem to be great. Glad you guys chimed in, I would have just went with MOOG not knowing any better.

Thanks!

 

Oem lbj’s, toytec Boss kit and SPC uppers.

 

That's where I'm heavily leaning. Wish I could get all the Icon goodies like you have but I don't think that is in my budget! I don't know, maybe if I hold off on my gun purchases for a couple months! All my hobbies are expensive!

I really appreciate you chiming in. I am reading all of your build thread so I can learn more!

 

My 2002 has the ome front coilover lift with spc uppers and I definitely got 3 inches out of it. It was exactly the look I wanted. I like it, it rides good. It uses 885x coils with ome struts. Every lift, no matter what is going to be a good bit stiffer then stock. Also, I would not recommend running 5100’s with ome coils. It probably is a fine combo on second gen Tacoma’s but those Billy’s have a longer travel length. Just use stock coil with 5100.

 

awesome. Thank you for the response and confirming that! I am considering OME Nitros with their coil of course, maybe the eibach pro truck set. Idk!
The only billy I think I would go with is the higher end 6112 I believe it is. I really want a good ride!

Thanks for helping me out revtune!

 

If you want a lift then do what they say up above. They are the experts.

If you want ride quality on the the road as you stated in your opening, then keep it stock. Get some Billy 5100’s and keep the shock height stock or just plus one on the front. Get a front sway (not sure if yours has one OEM stock) and for sure buy a

$564 Hellwig 7700 Solid, Heat Treated Chromoly, 1-1/8" Rear Sway Bar

Hellwig 7700 Rear Sway Bar.

Trust me on this. Your truck will handle like a sports car. It will tow and haul nicely as well. Off road its rear molar chattering, but thats off road and you want on road.

 

Wait....what? Front Sway bars were not stock?

 

They’re on every tundra I’ve ever worked on.. these things would feel like rolling over every time you touched the wheel with stock suspension

 

Some didn't come with the front sway bar. I think it was only standard on the TRD package buy may be wrong.

 

To the OP question: Get some sway bar(s) if you do not have them. Yours (per the experts here) should have one as mine did when purchased new. The links rusted off a few years ago and the sway bar was just hanging there rendered useless. During the 2018 front end rebuild, they reattached it and the trucks handling improved dramatically!

I read about the

$564 Hellwig 7700 Solid, Heat Treated Chromoly, 1-1/8" Rear Sway Bar

Hellwig 7700 on this site and gave it a go. Another huge on road improvement on top of the front sway bar being reattached. The slight rear wheel spinning going from a stop to a 90° right turn and acceleration has been eliminated with the rear sway. The bar keeps the rear planted on the road.

 

Our in house Certified Toyota Mechanic says they all come with one. I’m not arguing with him.

 

I'm going with this setup, I have most of these parts waiting to go my truck, upgrading from what was on there when I bought it. Went with toytec because they are somewhat local.

 

can verify that they all come with them. My dad's non-TRD 4x4 has a front swaybar.

 

I do have the front sway bar. Now the links are hanging on by hopes and dreams it would appear. Those will be revamped here soon as well as all new bushings anyway I can find'em!

Thank you for the input everyone. I really want a lift, but I don't want to rush it. I don't think I can handle the stock height much longer. This truck is paid off and I sold my 'toy' car to be more responsible, so I think I deserve a lift! I mean c'mon!

 

I used stock coils on my 5100s.....
And no front sway bar

 

That makes me nervous with my ol’ Tundy. My truck has 218,875 on it. I can only imagine how tired the factory springs must be! More power to you though. If I felt like my springs could handle it I’d reuse them!

Thanks for chiming in!!!!

 

112K miles on mine
Feels fine

 

Awesome. I wouldn’t be afraid to do that with an 05 as clean as that with as low of miles as you have! Nice truck man!

 

If you get your lift coilovers from toytec you really can’t go wrong with the eibach, ome or boss options.

 

I had a similar goal in mind as the OP for my '06 DC Tundra (48k miles). Coming from the 4Runner world, I have a some experience with Bilstein 5100's and 6112's. I would call them "good" and "better", accordingly. This past year I outfitted my Tundra with Icon coilovers (adjustable by turning instead of click positions), Deaver mini stack to go under the stock springs, rebuilt the entire front end, Hellwig sway bars front and rear, Fuel wheels and Michelin tires. The Deavers will raise the back end a little, and you can match it with the front coilovers so you have a somewhat level stance. Cost some money, but hoping to have this truck for many years. Bottom line: rides and handles like a dream! The difference is profound.

Good luck with the build out!

 

Sounds like you’ve done good with your Tundra. The thing I never realized when reinvesting back into mine was our options are extremely limited for shocks. You get crap shocks for $300. You get decent/great value (my opinion) Bilsteins for just a bit more. Then those Icons! For thousands! I believe they are a great shock from guys here that have them, but do they really ride better (on road NOT off road) to justify cost?

 

Yes.

 

Based on my prior experiences with 6112s/5160s I think the 6112s/5160s are hard to beat for $/performance. Approximately $1200 for all 4 corners gets you a significant improvement in on/off road performance and a small lift (or stock/level if you want to save $150 and not lift anything).

 

My experience is similar to spedtre regarding Bilsteins—quality product and big improvement for the money. The 6112's are a world of difference better than the 5100's and something to strongly consider.

Are Fox/King/Icon worth it for what you get? It's all what you prefer. Is a set of Icon 2.5 coilovers for $1100 that much better than 6112's for $700? They are to me. The on-road ride quality (95% of my driving) is noticeably different. I wore my 6112's out after three years and they are not rebuildable, so back to another $700 for a new pair. Which led me to Icons, which can be rebuilt very inexpensively.

 

ok that makes sense. Thanks for all the in-depth info, that is exactly what I am looking for. I am heavily leaning towards toytec boss front coilovers and the 5160's for the rear. The rear boss shocks appear to basically be billy 5100's. the toytecs seem to be a good middle ground between the 6112's and the icons. Maybe I should just jump for the icons. Buy once, cry once. I'll be doing Wheeler's Progressive AAL's in the rear likely as well. My needs basically are mall crawler as much as I hate to admit it, but would like to change that as I have a few Jeep buddies who want to see my little 'Yota in some dirt!

Thanks again everyone for your great input, means a lot since I'm going to be investing easily $3k with my suspension and tires! I'm still weighing my options!