Caution lifting your 3rd Gen tundra

The problem with a cheap spacer lift is now your suspension can droop out more than it did before (you just changed the mounting location) which does not make CVs happy at all. The Westcott lift does not change the mounting locations so droop is the same as stock, you're just riding higher in the travel of the shock. Westcott is much better than a spacer lift in that respect.

What I am more shocked about is how far down the sway bar hangs on that baby blue Tundra. Certainly not off-road friendly. Dude seems to be kind of a bro with a cheap lift and soon to be shitty-ass drop bracket lift and 20" wheels.

 

I thought Westcott did both a spacer and a spring preload collar to get to 3"

 

I think its just a new lower shock perch that is thicker than stock? If there is a piece that goes up top then its a combination preload collar and spacer lift which isn't good but certainly less than a full 2" spacer sitting above the shock.

 

They do. It's either a .5" or a 1" spacer at the top and then the rest is achieved through preloading the spring.

So...in the end...the Westcott does push your suspension down as well. Just not as much as a pure spacer lift.

 

I agree. I didn’t watch the videos, but reading these comments makes it sound like the YouTubers just put a spacer on and nothing else including larger bump stops. It confirms what people are saying - that it’s not a pattern and just a couple of people wanting clicks.

I initially had a spacer lift on my 2010 and I didnt change the bump stops. I didn’t do any reaearch and was looking for a cheap lift. I’d guess most people that get spacer lifts and looking for something cheap and don’t want to spend extra.

 

It's inherently dangerous. Go check out the poster's Instagram; he is doing some fairly serious offroading.

Spacers are probably OK for the pavement. They're not meant to be worked hard.

 

Yep

 

This guy is pushing his 3rd gen tundra offroad. What do guys think at 2:37min mark ? Lol

https://youtu.be/KFzR-RAbBos

 

Enjoy the ride guy…he has certainly come a long way since getting stuck in the mud/sand in his earlier videos when the truck was brand new…but still ways to go it seems.

 

Unless he's installed his new coilovers from Carbon (he was posting about them 5 days ago on his IG)...then he's running the same spacer lift in this video as the Brodozer Dude is on his truck.

Southern Style Offroad slapped in that 3.5" Rough Country spacer lift on his rig awhile ago to allow it EnjoyTheRideDude's truck to run 37's. Makes you wonder if he's torn up his CV boots or not. lol. I'm guessing he's still running the Rough Country kit because the articulation on his rig in this video is pretty minimal.

Side note: I can't listen with sound. I'm at work and left my headphones at home today. haha. Does he mention running a new suspension setup in the video?

 

2:37 is why I no longer have the OEM running boards on my truck lol. They were bent into the same profile as a hill just like that.

 

Are any of these guys swapping gears for 35's and 37's? Or is there nothing available yet? Even though the 1st gear is pretty short on the 10 speed, with the 3.21's the overall crawl ratio is about the same as my 6 speed/3.73 F150. I have 35's on my F150 but if I went any bigger I would be looking at regearing to at least 4.10's.

Trying to turn 37's with that .61:1 10th gear and 3.21's is asking a LOT.

 

I haven't heard anything yet. I doubt it's needed for 35's. I'm running about a 1/4" smaller than 35's and I don't feel the need to regear.

37's might be a different story, but I've only seen 2-3 trucks running 37's. Jury's still out on that, I suppose.

 

I asked westcott if any of his customer had regeared and he said no. Also said not necessary for 35s but definitely for 37s

 

That would make total sense.

Just my opinion: 37's seem like overkill in my books, but I know tire sizes are a little like an "arms race" to some folks. They won't stop until they're running the biggest tires they can possibly run. I'm sure someone is going to cram 40's in the wheel wells before too long.

Unless you're trying to build a rock crawler (not sure why you would with a full size truck, but ok) or a long travel kit...I don't think 37's are going to gain you much over 35's. I'm not sure the juice is worth the squeeze, ya know?

 

For the type of trails the guy in the video was doing a few posts up, 37's are overkill. They could do that on 33's without much issue. he has sliders but I didnt see anything in the video showing him being even close to using them even in a truck with a 145" wheelbase other than the one spot he high centered. But he would have needed a 6" lift to clear that with or without 37's.

I will say though, I went from 33x10.5's to 37x12.5's on my 4Runner and I was really worried about gearing. The truck already had 5.29's and there was a few times where it struggled to get up and over some rock steps down in southern UT. The poor 22RE just doesnt have the torque to roll the thing up and over. When I put the 37's on, even though the gearing was the same, I actually found the truck was better. I think the tires being so much larger just helped it roll up and over things much easier without it binding up. I had actually ordered dual transfer cases before I bought the 37's in preparation, but now that I have wheeled the 37's with the stock case, I probably wouldnt have ordered the dual case setup in retrospect.

 

You learn not to lift your truck with spacers in your early 20's, just because it has a reputable brand behind doesn't make it better.
Truck is probably just for mall crawling, then the guy got an itch for dirt.

Preloading springs will always be better, safer and unlikely to damage anything... except for ride quality if, but then most of the time it wont.

 

I think the only preload kit I ran for a lift was Bilstein 5125s on my 2001 Tacoma and they rode great but the shocks were tuned and engineered to operate at any position you put the lower spring collar. Never never never did spacers on any truck I've owned