2004 Toyota Tundra Lift potential

Hey guys, I have a 2004 TRD off-road Tundra. I'm doing a full restoration right now. I will be doing a custom audio system, lift kit, wheels & tires, etc. What lifts can you do on these trucks? It has 150K miles so I want to replace the shocks with the lift. I want to do minimum 5" lift to run wide offset 33's. I have only been able to find the TUFF country kit which uses a massive spacer. Honestly it looks worse than a Rough country kit while managing to be more expensive. What do you recommend? If i go with Tuff country I want to replace the stock shocks with new stock shocks.

 

What happened to the back to the future V6 Tundra?

 

Still got it! Only changes so far is a side decal for my truck club and a bed audio system. I do my best to add modifications when I can afford it. I want to get rid of the Rock warriors for something with higher offset but I haven't gotten there yet. The 2004 is our next build we've had it a while in the family. Put in around 5K in repairs (Oil leaks, paint, etc.) in the last month.

 

Good luck. Adventurous crowd here, this just isn't the truck (or gen) for that. Might want to consider another automotive brand with wider availability.

Rough country is hot garbage, avoid, skip. I think we have at least one member here running the TC kit. Another member who ripped theirs out after and replaced everything.

@Hooptytrix had on one of his 1GT: https://www.tundras.com/threads/first-gen-on-34-8s.112206/#post-2895174

Oh and -- https://www.tundras.com/threads/tuff-country-5”-lift-for-06-tundra.88195/#post-2218776

Read more on this thread, pay attn to Darkness' comment. He's specifically talking about avoiding this spacer.

A bit more info on one of their kits: https://www.tundras.com/threads/1st-gen-new-truck-suspension-advice.79219/#post-2007407

Have you talked to Toytec yet? They sell the kit and can probably give good advice.

I personally wouldn't do it, but I may not have the same goals as you. Plenty of guys on here are running 33s without 5" of lift, without tubbing fenders and minimal hammering/cutting of pinch welds. But maybe you're going for a different street-fabulous or monster truck look.

 

All I can imagine from his first post:

 

Yeah, I'm the wrong person to comment. This yee-yee suburb-teen style of pavement princess with skinny tires, crazy offset wheels and obnoxious lift is super popular in my area with the sub-20yo crowd, and people who are much older but looking to mingle with teens still. It's usually rich high school kids driving them, and most people laugh when they drive by. I don't judge, everyone has their thing. But I sure as hell don't get it. Serves zero function or purpose other than flossing.

I'm sure there's some logic behind it, but maybe it's just a fetish thing and I'm too old to get it.

 

I’m younger than you but older than the typical individual with this “style”. I have no reason but to negatively affect a trucks purpose. But like you said, to each their own. There’s a few around my neck of the woods and the drivers are high school “hillbillies” and most are diesels. I did see quite a few more in atl!

 

Thank you for taking the time to respond this is alot of helpful info. I am running RC coilovers on my truck they were good for the first year. They are pretty bad now but I'm not ready to swap yet have other expenses to take care of. It's decent on a budget though. The 2004 will be a street truck. More of a show truck because that's what we do. I've done plenty off-roading but im holding off until I get a dedicated vehicle in that aspect. We wanted to do something that was relatively affordable but good quality. I don't like the massive strut spacers it comes with. I also don't need a full travel kit but I would prefer something better than stock that will be relatively adequate for the kit. I haven't spoken with Toytec didn't know they carried a kit

 

If it’s 4x2 you can get some lift spindles for the front and a matching block for the rear.

 

The look you posted is a bit similar, we aren't gonna do chrome wheels nor such a big wheel. Gonna stick to an 18-20" wheel probably not as high of an offset but something aggressive. Here in Miami most of the trucks are built this way although the obnoxious rich kids usually drive on 26" wheels. We still off-road but in SFL there is not much for trails. Even then a big rig won't do much in the mud down here. Generally the trucks are built based off the taste of the person, its pretty hard to find the right wheels for Toyotas usually I find the right design in the wrong offset or way too big of a wheel diameter. As for the lift a level kit is just too low on these old tundra's. I did a 4" on the 2012 and it feels like the sweet spot for me but it was pretty high/good on ground clearance from factory. I would love to have retro 17's on my tundra but it simply does not exist for the 2012. For the 2004 we want to go with something a little more modern but the lift comes first.

 

I like the look but I want more sidewall in general. I think rubber band tires look stupid. But I do like myself a deep chrome wheel with a meaty all terrain.

 

It's a 2wd, has anybody done this before? I think I would do the leaf spring lift though, I don't want to go through the axle wrap

 

How deep are your pockets? Run solo 3” spindles and some adjustable co’s.
https://solomotorsports.com/shop/pa...oyota-parts/fully-fabricated-toyota-spindles/

edit: never mind, 04 requires the uniball lbj conversion.

 

I'm glad you threw that word in quotes. I always do get a chuckle, if I ever got stranded in the woods with one of those kids, they'd fold in a heartbeat. And yeah, the style is prevalent all over the SE USA. It's wild, but again, I'm not judging. Might be poking a little fun, throwing a little shade, only b/c it just isn't for me.

Yup. Give 'em a ring. There's a 5" and 4.5", here's the 5" for 1st Gens: Here are more pics of @Hooptytrix truck that had the kit and 3" body lift: https://www.tundras.com/threads/how-big-is-yours-measure-up.46186/#post-1191440

He's actually not far from you...

but @Hi06silver would probably also have some choice input, possibly against it. I swear one of our west coast guys with a black truck also has this lift, and one other with a silver truck but maybe I'm nuts. I remember pictures and numbers, but have LD when it comes to names.

Spent half my life down there. It's either swamp or sugar sand. I usually hung out in swamps.

There just aren't a lot of elegant options to get a 6"+ wheel-to-fender gap on the 1st gens. There's no shortage of people popping in looking for it though

Again, I think it's just the wrong model of truck. The 1st gens were sort of a transition year, it seems. They hit that sweet spot of not being obnoxiously sized, having a V8, but still having the look/feel/front view of a smaller pickup. I can't stress enough, it really seems like they're not meant for 4"+

Someone has, certainly, or they wouldn't have mentioned needing a spindle/knuckle. I didn't dig too hard though. Hopefully someone sees this at the top of the forum and responds.

 

Is this an Access Cab or Double Cab? I have an 05 DC with SCS 17x9, -38 offset, with 33x10.5 tires. It fits perfectly with the Toytec 3/1 lift. I just replaced a set of 34x11.6 wheels with -18 offset because of rubbing issues on the frame, and some on the corner of the fenders/bumpers. The ACs seem to have more turning ability with the same setup though. I feel like it's because the DC is a Sequoia compared to the AC.

 

3 inches and 33's is about it, unless you have great fab skills and no longer want your tundra to be a tundra.

No frills and 300k miles is what these first gens are great for not that that is a bad thing though.

 

He's actually not far from you...

but @Hi06silver would probably also have some choice input, possibly against it. I swear one of our west coast guys with a black truck also has this lift, and one other with a silver truck but maybe I'm nuts. I remember pictures and numbers, but have LD when it comes to names.

There's all the links in this thread to help make your decision. I know nothing about rough country but you'll likely not find anything good on here lol. If I had to do it all over again I'd probably have paid someone to weld the cross member back in and just do a "lift" with only suspension. Seems they are way more capable. I don't dislike the looks of my truck other than the wheel to tire gap. I am not a fan of the paper thin sidewall either. I bought the truck for the truck and it's reputation not the lift. Just took me a while to find a good one. Also I knew very little about the different good/bad ways to lift when I bought it. I sure as hell didn't know about the knuckle / spindle spacer..that's why I ripped it out. Disaster waiting to happen.
Feels way more safe now, I don't off-road. So I probably get thrown into the mall crawling category but I do know I'm not gonna get stuck in that parking lot in 6" of snow like the Chevy pictured above!

Do you're research and make you're decision from there. Tons of good capable builds on here. Just depends what you're looking for and capabilities you want. My 2¢

yup! screwed up the quotey dealio on phone again....fat fingers

 

5" kit doesn't come with the spacer for 05-06, it comes with new spindles. Yours, 04 may be different. The 4.5" comes with that stupid hazard.

 

Ah! I finally remembered. @Brown Bear is running the 6" RCD lift kit, maybe it's interesting for you?

Pics and info: https://www.tundras.com/threads/my-03-build.16259/#post-347113

I think BB may also have some input on the 5" kit Tuff Country kit, but ... dunno!

Tagging in hopes of input.

 

He’s probably out fishing

 

Man, I wish I was ...

I didn't have any of my gear with me over the weekend, just hiking/foraging. A lot of my tackle is packed right now thanks to remodel.

 

They’ve be stocking some Utah hogs at the “local” lakes, but word gets out so fast due to social media and they get fished out within a week or so. I’d like to get up to my spot before it closes for the winter but I’m not sure that will happen