Opinion on a truck lifted with King 2.5 coilovers and 35s

I'm looking at a 2017 Tundra CrewMax that has been lifted with King 2.5 coilovers with reservoirs and has 35" Nitto Grappler tires and am hesitating because I typically lean towards stock vehicles. If you look at my other thread I'm searching for a 6-seater truck that will be used for my work and my 4-piece family to pull enclosed trailers and a 21-23' camper, go on roadtrips, and get us up NFS roads, access roads, and the like. Will I wish I'd bought a truck with stock suspension if I get one that's been lifted like this with oversize tires?

 

Towing with 35s will not be fun unless it has been regeared.

 

Your use case, family hauler and tow rig leans towards the factory setup, not some lifted brodozer. All of those suspensions and wheel and tire “upgrades” will fight you when loading and unloading the truck and even more so when towing.

cue the 2nd gen family hauler that tows a double horse trailer daily on 35s crowd to refute this info…..

 

Different kind of horses for me…

I’ll regear eventually and possibly to the RAS for the rear, but it works for now. To @KNABORES point, everything a stock truck does, a lifted truck does worse except looks better when doing it. My 2014 has been lifted for five years and I have no regrets.

 

There's an honest answer!

 

I’d do it if it’s maintained well. King 2.5s valved correctly will have a much better ride, towing or not, on street and fireroads.

You’re going to need airbags either way if you’re towing. So doesn’t matter if it’s stock or lifted.

You can just swap the 35s to 33s and don’t need a regear. But even towing on 33s, I’d go 5.29s if you’re in a hilly area.

My lifted truck does everything a stock truck does but way, way better.

 

You do not need airbags to tow

 

Probably a small detail, and maybe one you've already considered, but at some point the King Shocks will need to be rebuilt. Might ask the current owner the last time they were rebuilt or how many miles they have on them.

At some point during ownership, you'll either need to have a second set of suspension ready to swap out if you need to keep using the truck while the Kings are rebuilt, or plan for a few days of downtime with your truck on jack stands or in a shop while the kings are rebuilt.

Dealing with the logistics of getting mine rebuilt now, bought the truck (2016 SR5 Crewmax) with the kings installed previously. My rebuild quote is $600.

 

I'm hearing diverse opinions. Might this be because each owner has different expectations? Such as towing speed. I'm not looking to tow 6,000lbs at 80mph regularly. The trailers I'd tow a few times a month and would be no more than 4,500lbs, with a once a year tow of maybe more.

Knabores - your suggestion is perhaps the most sensible approach for me to take. I'd just have to wait and keep spending a half hour-hour a day searching.

This wouldn't be a question except front bench Tundras don't come up often, much less with good miles for a good price.

 

Hook up 4,500lbs on stock springs, that drives so poorly.

 

Just buy it. Worse case you put it back to stock and get a new alignment. You’ll make money selling the shocks.

I have Kings and love it. No way would I ever go back to stock, yet drive a stock truck. It’s night and day better. You’ll get diverse opinions from the “must stay stock” people and the “must modify” crowd.

That being said, a 4 door Tundra isn’t a rare combination with a bench seat. If you believe stock is better than find a nice stock one or increase the search radius.

 

came here to say this. The fact I have to have them rebuilt and off the truck for awhile or buy backup shocks is what really stopped me from buying rebuildable shocks

 

5,500 lbs. on stock springs w/WDH hitch tows beautifully.

4,500 lbs. ain't that much, if it drives poorly, there's something else going on.

 

Stock springs with no airbags? I’m impressed, my truck sagged like crazy with stock springs

Edit: WDH, read over that part

 

Yeah, that makes all the difference. Behaves SOOO much better.