Lift Questions

Hi everyone. Brand new to the forum. I'm not super mechanically inclined so apologies for my ignorance.

I purchased a used 07 tundra crewmax about 5 years ago. It came lifted when i bought it. I recently was on a camping trip and I had a strut break, to the point where the end of it was sitting inside the wheel well. I didn't have much choice of shops so I had it dropped at a local mechanic in the middle of nowhere who put new struts on both sides in the front only.

The issue now is that I'm pretty sure there is no more lift in the front. I don't really want to be driving around like my lowrider homies from down the block, so what are my options? Now that he put new struts on - is there any way to get the lift back or do I need to replace everything? I could always remove the lift completely but again, what would that entail?

Apologies that I'm not super mechanically inclined and so some of this may be obvious, I just don't 100% know what I'm doing.

 

Do you have pictures of what was in it and what is in it now? It sounds like it had height adjustable lift coilovers and they were replaced with OEM height replacements.

 

So unfortunately I don't have any before photos from the front end. I did go out and get the attached photos of the front vs the back right now. The back is still lifted and the front isn't. Only the front struts were replaced.

 

Also here's a before and after of the truck itself. A bit hard to tell in the before but you can see in the after (the photo with the shell) that I'm missing a few inches in front.

 

Looking at the photos, it has a 2 inch block in the rear. Now I'm wondering if it had a Readylift spacer kit in the front and the spacers were removed and not reinstalled after the front end was replaced. Option wise, it depends on what you want to do. If you plan to go bigger tires at some point, I would lift the front end again. If not and you want to level it back out which would drop the rear 2 inches, I would remove the rear blocks and brake line extension brackets, and replace the ubolts. Do not reuse the ubolts. A new set is about $40.00.

 

I've really enjoyed the clearance it has had as I take it on rough roads a lot. You think when the mechanic replaced the struts he had to remove the spacer and just didn't put it back in? Is that difficult to put back in at this point? Like how long would that take and roughly how much should I expect to pay? The shop that replaced the struts is a 2 hour drive from me so not a great option unless he'll fix it for free, and I can somehow take some work off to get down there for them to fix it same day.

 

If you look at the link referenced, the spacers bolt to the top of the strut. The strut would have to be removed, the spacer installed, and then put back in. An alignment will be needed as well. The spacer lift is the cheapest way to lift, and also the roughest riding. The better option would be to replace the struts with Bilstein 5100's which would give a max lift of 1.75 if I recall correctly. When you get a chance, look at your front sway bar and see if it has a spacer like this. That would confirm that it did in fact most likely have spacers that were never reinstalled on the top.

https://www.readylift.com/bv-feed/3...MIre2mu-7b-QIVEmSRCh3urgejEAQYASABEgIHOPD_BwE

 

Ok so here is what I think is the part on the sway bar that I'm supposed to be looking at. Doesn't look like it has a spacer but just wanted to confirm that I'm looking in the right place? This is both sides in the front.

 

Ok so there is no sway bar spacer but there is a differential drop down spacer kit installed. Now I'm really wondering what was in the front before the strut replacement.

 

Seems kinda weird for the mechanic to replace both shocks if only one was broken on a spacer lift (cuz they would use factory size shocks)... Unless they were taller shocks and he didn't want to leave you with 3" of lift on one side and none on the other. So I would have to guess there used to be taller or adjustable shock absorbers.

The mechanic might be able to answer all of these questions with a quick call. Might be able to snap some pics of the old parts as well.

 

So I called the shop and he said it had a 2" spacer in the front that he took out and the shocks that he put in it were 2" longer so he thought that would balance it out, which clearly isn't the case. He tried to put the spacers back on but it just was too long. This is out of my depth so I'm not really sure what to do at this point. Thoughts?

 

A leveling spacer is not a 1 to 1 ratio. A 2 inch spacer will lift the front more than 2 inches, but your truck looks like it is sitting at stock height in the front. I don't think the shocks that he put in are 2 inches longer in my opinion. See if he will give you the brand and part number so that we can look them up.

 

These would give you a total of 3" in the front for a lift/level which seems was on there "3+1"
If your looking to fix that issue. But I guess the question comes to
1.) budget and goal
2.) Strut spacer or coil over replacement
3.) get another 3" lift level or 4" lift ditching the rear block in favor of a lift shackle or springs for better offroad use.

 

Budget will be key, I can't really put any more money into it. The cheapest way to level would be the best option. Sounds like the spacer would be cheapest? I know spacers are rougher but that's what I had before it sounds like and it was fine. What options would I have, would it be a 1" spacer? How hard is that to put in?

Also what is the risk, if any, if I just leave it as-is uneven?

 

This spacer lift is for a 2.5" lift up front it might be the closest thing to level. For the same price theres a 2" if you want to leave a mild rake to it for rear weight compensation. I believe this style requires the strut to be taking out and inserted in with the coil underneath the top hat. If I'm looking at it correctly.... there other styles that bolt to top hat and to strut tower might be slightly by $10 cheaper but then you will be trusting it to hold your strut to vehicle.

but as for leaving it like is, I don't see any reason it would be a issue. I'm not a big geometry guy but I doubt even with the diff drop there will be any issue with the CV angles. but on the same note your diff will have less clearance than stock or while lifted.

 

Leaving like it is won't hurt a thing (and arguably will allow factory components to last longer). Just looks like it's ready for towing or a camper topper.

You could always remove the rear blocks if the look bothers you.

 

Thanks. I love the lift so I'd like to get back to it. My brother in law knows these trucks super well so maybe I'll see if I can get him to help me with the spacer. For now, good to know it won't hurt anything to drive on it.

 

Gonna have to install the spacer again or buy bilstein 5100 struts