What's the Easiest way to add a few inches for off roading

so I'm trying to get a few more inches off the ground for off roading to my fishing spot, i do bottom out with the stock set up. i was thinking of a 3"front x 2"rear leveling kit and putting on either 275/65 r20 or 285/75 r18 tires. rather stick with stock 18s of possible. i don't want to have to do any trimming. Just need an extra 3 or 4 inches. what y'all think

 

this is the leveling kit from Amazon

Dynofit 3" Front Lift Spacer and 2" Rear

i have zero experience with lifting or oversize tires, i just don't wanna fubar my truck bottoming out. so any input is appreciated

 

Go to the suspension forum and start reading and you'll have your answer and then understand why you have that answer.

But don't do spacers

 

been reading this forum for hours, lots of conflicting information. just trying to find out if a leveling kit and some tires will give me another 3". why not spacers? i really don't know

 

It depends on budget, overall application, and the pay once, cry once rule.. I had to confirm your year tundy, 17', you didn't go cheap on that, why go cheap on a puck level that will be a rough ride....Plenty of Coilovers options out there, complete set-up to fit your budget... Eibach, Toytec, hate to say, even Rough Ctry have a entry level coilovers kits too.. thats affordable.. Good luck....pic of rig?

 

Not to mention a 3/2 lift is going to require a diff drop

 

I'll get a pic up later, just joined the forum. i didn't know about coilovers, thanks. The ride up is incredibly rough, i make the trip bout 3 times a week during the summer, i end up bottoming out almost every time, the mounts for my step rails are bent from it. However my wife doesn't want me spending to much on it. I'm gonna check out them coileovers though, thanks

 

worktruckwhite Tundratoofun
thanks guys I'll definitely not do the leveling. I need it to be practical for deep ruts, rocks, and huge potholes. also I've got a bum knee so i can't go to big.

 

Fake news according to total chaos.

 

Sure, just as SumoSprings don’t “require” you to replace the axle ubolts.
If you get under your 3/2 truck and look at the angle, you’d real quickly put a diff drop.

 

I think I'll have to talk to my tire guy on Monday, just talked the wife into letting me do something with it, gotta keep it around 1500-2k. what are shit brands to watch out for

 

I wonder what size tires you are running currently.
35's buys you about 1.5 inches of height over stock. (Cab chop probably required)

Bilstein 5100 (currently i'm neutral on that brand) at gets you a little height (1.5 " or so up front) with shackles in the rear.

But what are you hitting. Bumpers, Frame, bump stocks on the shocks and what's your budget.

6112/5160 combo and tires comes in at around $2k (plus installation). But is that really what you need?

 

Other option would be skid plates and let her scrap along?

 

really I'm just hitting the front skid plate a little and catching my step rails. currently running 275/65 18, lost my license plate mount once. the pits aren't too bad when they are dry, but they have snow/mud in them until late June

 

I'm thinking maybe adding an inch on the tires and taking the rails off for the summer, drive more careful especially coming back down. Mrs said i should find a different fishing spot

 

effin A cotton effin A, It's a great spot fun drive and very private.

 

I glad to hear your getting some use of the 4wd truck. Wish i had more areas accessible to me where i was comfortable getting the truck dirty.

Lots of great suggestions out there. Honestly before you buy anything you should consider calling toytec outa Colorado. Determine exactly what your doing and they can give you price points from there.

Its easy to get all in on something you might not need. having a desert racing long travel suspension may be the opposite of the slow rock crawling type things you need to get off the beaten rail.

Just a word of caution. If you get caught up here on this forum your might get in big trouble with the wife.

I like the idea of pulling the steps but don't like that you mentioned you have a knee issue. (AMP steps might be a solution but they are dam expensive and i don't if i could stomach rubbing them on the trail).

You can find steps that are attached better to frame and then not worry if they get rubbed (the factory ones are just steel brackets to a bolt).

Whatever you do post some pictures of the finished product and the truck in that fishing spot so us keyboard warriors can appreciate what its like out in those spots.

 

i live in small town Montana, ever since i bought this truck 2 years ago i love exploring the old logging trails and finding the hidden lakes and streams. I'm just worried about the stock equipment holding up to the task. I've got a sr5 trd about 70k miles on original everything.

 

that's fucked, use them syringes to blow up your worms. i literally have only 2 pics of my truck, and they aren't good

 

Tires lift up the truck, suspension work only raises up the body of the truck. 3 inch spacers suck. Just do bilstein shocks on the 1 inch lift setting and run those tires

 

As for the steps, you can replace with white knuckle sliders or do as I did and add iron under them and tie both sides together under the frame with cut/drilled/bolted/welded iron basically building a slider/transfer case/transmission/cat converters protection assembly all in one unit. Tires, yes 285/75 18 tires are the best way to lift because they actually lift the axles too. Other lifts offer no added rear axle clearance. For affordable 3" front Fat Bob's Garage Vated adjustable 3" coilovers, front diff drop spacer kit, mevotech adjustable upper control arms these are rebranded spc btw check partsgeek.com, 1 " ready lift sway bar drop spacers, BDS 1" bump stop extensions, and a 1.5" rear block set, new u bolts, OME rear brake line extension kit. Ironman carrier bearing drop spacer kit, drop it 3/8" or one spacer. All that will give you the most bang for your buck and keep your truck in alignment without problems. You want a front diff drop to keep your cv axle angles low for wear and function reasons. Upper control arms will keep the alignment adjustable after the lift. Nice spot btw! I have a few of those myself!

 

Hey, OP. Unfortunately I have nothing useful to add about lifting the truck as I am starting to research the same question on how to lift mine mildly. But the pics of that fishing spot.. That place looks amazing. Good luck with your lift decision.

 

Lies,
that second picture is great in my opinion.

 

Would you swap the upper ball joint out of these with OEM or would you trust the ball joints?

I'm running top setting 6112s but would like new upper control arms (i'm pretty good on alignment so not sure its needed?)

Thanks for posting the specifics, sure looks like you've done your research.

 

Seat jackers would be an easy install

 

could i get away with just lifting the front and putting 285/75 18 tires on? what is a diff drop, is that something i could do with a buddy

 

thorough advice, thanks for the info! new to aftermarket mods, nicest thing I've ever owned so if like to take care of it.

 

Dif drop is just spacers where the diff mounts to push it done. And yes, remove bolts, support, drop it slowly an inch (or so), slide in spacers reinstall bolts.

You'd have to research the tire forum and see what fits.

But tire would lift the truck not just the body.

 

The diff drop is ez it is just spacers to reduce the cv shaft angles to prevent excessive wear and to make them easier to rotate without breaking

 

To better help you understand the front differential drop, when you lift the front, the cv axles angle down further from the diff to the wheel hub, simple angle increase. To reverse that side effect, the spacers get installed at a couple of the mounting points. If you don't reduce the angle the shafts wear faster and the boots get torn easier. If the angles are too large, the shafts get compromised earlier and simply shear or snap. That can make for a bad day!