Best 1st gen leveling kit for on/off road?

Since this thread originally surfaced, we've collaborated to compile a slew of lift info in the "Suspension, wheel and tires ..." section of THIS THREAD. It may help you to give it a read if you haven't already seen it. Tons of collective knowledge went into it, to help newbies evaluate their truck for problems, make good decisions on how to decide what you want, then execute.

@cameron92 hasn't logged in for almost 18 months. No clue where he may be...

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Awesome, I read through everything and picked up a lot more that will be helpful for other ideas I have, it’s incredible you put all of that together! Really appreciate it! More or less was just looking for most recommended combinations that would result in a decent level with a little bit of lift that is fairly easy to install, and well-balanced to not cause issues with the suspension.

 

I only co-compiled and posted it. It was a community effort, and it's a living document, people pass stuff over for me to add/update in that thread regularly! Just one of those things that really makes this community shine. Lots of good folks here.

Any lift you add outside the OEM range of motion will have side effects. Be it simple stuff like rubbing, or geometry changes (like lifting as little as an inch) causing your CV axles to sling all their grease out and prematurely fail. The higher you go, the worse the side effects get.

If you want something that's going to give you extra lift, with offroad appearance, and a bit of extra functionality, something as simple as jumping up one tire size (if 17" that'd be going 265/70r17 for 1" - 1½" more tire height if you go with a meaty all-terrain) and adding in 1"-1½" lift would do the job, wouldn't kill your MPG too bad, won't overstress anything, won't require new upper/lower control arms, but will definitely make your truck look notably beefier.

It's all about what you realistically, honestly intend to do with the truck, and what look you're going for. I wish we had more examples of "mild" suspension on here that are similar to what I just outlined. I believe others would be very surprised by how much adding 1.25" of all-terrain tire with 1.25" of lift will do!

 

Sorry for the long pauses between posts lol… This is what I’m thinking of going with:

front:
Bilstein 5100’s front (24-261425)
OME 2887 springs

$31 KYB SM5442 - Mount and Insulator

KYB SM5442 strut plates
Camburg UCA’s (CAM-310006)
OEM ball joints/LCA’s/sway end links

rear:
Bilstein 5100’s rear (

$106 24-100144 5100 Series Shock Absorber

24-100144)
ATS HD leafs kit (BT90221HCK)

Is there a better thread to get feedback on this combo? Again I’m not looking to go crazy, but if I’m going to go aftermarket to level the front and back, I wanna do it right and might as well pick up 1-2 more inches in the process. I’d definitely be curious to see if there are more affordable UCA’s and leafs that will still be quality for what I’m trying to do.

 

“Might as well pick up 1-2in more in the process” … sure, as long as you’re OK with the fact you’re pushing well into the territory of “collateral damage from lifting higher gonna fuck shit up faster”, I guess? As long as you’re accounting for that, I’d say “go for it”.

But it’s been a minute since I last saw what direction/intent you had so maybe I need to read back on your stuff. Hard to keep up with time gaps. The tl;dr on it is, once you start exceeding 3” - 3.5” up front, you should probably move to bracket lift. But over 2.5-3” you need to expect wearing out of stuff faster. Sure extended links will help, and there are expensive CVs you can buy to deal with the added axle issue, you may need new wheels with less backspace to avoid suspension rub, etc… dunno what wheels and tires you’re planning, larger tires come with their own subset of problems on these trucks.

Also curious how/why you settled on Camburgs, and you’re cool with the added maintenance?

 

Camburgs were one of the recommendations from that post. If 1-2” extra is pushing in the territory of accelerated wear and tear, I’d rather stick with getting the front and back level.

 

To clarify, with the extra lift, I read that after market UCA’s would be necessary.

I think I’d be happy with just leveling the front to the back if it’s going to be more headache to go higher.

 

I’ve been leveled (2.25” lift in the front with billie 5100s on the forbidden 4th notch with OEM TRD coils) for about 15 years now. Stock UCAs. Haven’t had any issues.

 

What strut plates did you use? I wonder how doing that on my double cab would differ from your access cab.

 

I may need to re-read that thread, I just compiled it, I didn’t write everything in it. But I swear it says something along the lines of, “over 2.5” is getting into range of considering UCA, over 3” you need UCA to help with alignment”

If you’re not willing to do the extra maintenance involved with uniballs, get the JBA uppers. Sealed balljoint. Correction. Solid design. Half as much as Camburgs, roughly.

 

used the factory ones. Still on the originals. May swap out for new ones at the next shock change out.

 

It’s not about the extra maintenance, it’s the extra damage you mentioned above from going to a greater lift. My main goal is to get the front level with the back, if I am also able to pick up additional lift above that (front and back) without significantly increasing wear and tear, and without having to go with maintenance-intensive UCA’s like Camburgs, that would be my preference.

So with your recommendation of JBA uppers instead of Camburgs, does the combo seem pretty solid? Am I overdoing it if my main goal is to level the front with the back? Can I safely gain additional lift on top of leveling with this kit without significantly increasing wear and tear?

 

Just saying. When you start getting up there, your CV are sitting at steeper angles, and you’re definitely outside the range of geometry Toyota engineered into your trucks. Your truck is basically pushing 20 years old. Those old factory rubber bushings that probably would last another 5-10 years will probably fail in short order, uppers, lowers, rack, sway bar.

If you truly just want to level, you won’t do anything out back, aim for 1.5 - 1.75” of lift up front. For that you don’t need UCA. Just new struts, and you should drop in extended links up front. You can get there on a 4WD double cab with 5100s and 2885 OME springs on the bottom notch, re-use your OEM top hats/isolators or use the KYB kit if you want plug and play, you can preload. Or get the 5100s and tinker with your OEM springs and cranking them up to 3rd or 4th notch, but when you consider it’s like $200 or something to get fresh lifted springs, I think now is the time to update yknow?

Heed what @KNABORES is saying. Different cab, but he’s running like that and his truck looks awesome and he likes how it handles. It’ll handle better with the new springs IMHO, but generally speaking, his is another voice of reason and wisdom.

 

@wezzzzer heew is the lift matrix for OEM springs for 5100 - but you may want to read this thread elsewhere for more DC with OEM spring info: https://www.tundras.com/threads/5100’s-885’s-on-2nd-notch.115782/#post-2978075

 

I do like the look of his truck!

regardless of what I do, I was planning on replacing most of the suspension due to age/wear (really don’t feel like tearing into it again in the near future because I only did struts). I guess what it boils down to is where I want to go aftermarket to get the level and possibly a little extra lift if I’m not jeopardizing too much. I was planning on replacing: UCA’s/LCA’s, ball joints, struts, wheel bearings, end links, tie rods, rear shocks, leafs (unless this is ill-advised at 150k miles). From where this thread has gone, seems my best bet is to go with Bilstein 5100’s up front with OME springs, extended links, then go OEM everywhere else. Thoughts?