Drop bracket mid travel

OH..... well well well what do we have here....do I sense a thread full of bull shit with unsubstantiated claims ? why yes yes I do.

where oh where do we start... well first and foremost @osidepunker is 100% correct.

secondly whatever this assumed magic that a BDS kit will provide some newfound abilities is a load of horse crap. A bracket lift is nothing more than an oversized spacer lift.

Pro's of a bracket lift is a higher truck, all this nonsense about approach and departure angles is hooey, you may gain an inch or two of hight but your cross member is actually lower than stock so is that hight as beneficial, no it's not. What it does do for you on clearance is nothing more than false hope. Your cross members hang lower than stock, and your lower control arms are still in the same place. That's the issue. Sure you can run 37's (which you can do on MT) and larger. At what cost, weight, having to re-gear, adding hundreds of lbs of unsprung and sprung weight to your suspension, decreasing performance and braking capabilities. Increased stress on steering, suspension components, and driveline. Yes, you can overcome all these factors with the added cost of power adder's, bigger or better brakes, and more maintenance and complications.

But let's get to the heart of the issue. Bracket lifts are bolt on, made of mild steel (for the spindles, already pointed out by Alex) and the rest is not nearly as strong as parts made by other manufacturers and/or Toyota. I owned a BDS kit this comes from experience. It's a nice kit, works really well and is good. I have one for sale speak of... but don't think somehow a BDS and some coil overs will be better than a full MT setup. It won't. Let me know when you constantly have alignment problems and bent spindles along with the myriad of issues I've already discussed.

Now if you want to go with a BDS kit or the likes, by all means, go for it, your money and time. Not a single person will stop you. But trying to pass it off as some magic formula no one has thought about or done is bull crap. Not to mention saying it will outperform because of misunderstood benefits is also crap. There is a reason every rock crawler, ultra4, trophy truck etc doesn't run bracket lifts or the like, they run low CoG, high travel #s with lots of flex. None of those can be achieved with a bracket lift.

I think this sums it up..

 

sounds like you answered your own question..if youre not going to really wheel it...get coilovers and UCA because then itll ride like a cadddy not a lifted jeep and youll gain some offroadability(my word dont take it) and build a jeep or w.e to crawl with

 

I'm not attempting to build a trophy truck that is not what I want. I see your point of the front x-member being lower now I hadn't thought of that. Solid axles are my stuff, not ifs. Anyway I'm not claiming this is some magic combo no one has ever thought of I started out by asking why no one was doing it. Also this wasn't about just the bds lift it was the bds plus custom coilovers and uca's. The thought process was a taller mid travel

 

When I first bought the truck I said I wasnt going to wheel it, I thought it was obvious that my plans to wheel it changed when I said I wanted to wheel with rubuicons

 

Not directed at you specifically, so don't think I was coming down on you. I get it, I ran a BDS kit w 37's and 2.5 coil overs and UCA's. It was ok, I went for rides in full MT setups and LT trucks and it is night and day better than the BDS setup, hence me ditching it for LT. I've done far more in my LT and I've seen guys do in full MT than I would have done in the BDS setup. The risk was way too high of breaking something (which I did) or outright crashing...

 

If you are trying to wheel like the jeeps, SAS with coil overs and be done, it will ride great if done correctly and outperform any IFS truck for that purpose. If that's not an option start with MT setup and go from there

 

also pretty sure doing a full SAS swap on a tundra is going to run the cost of a full LT build

 

yeah it would, but for rock crawling it would be better.

 

Dont have the time or money currently to sas I suppose at the moment m/t is the route to start at and see how I like it

 

Nah with the low price of super duty axles I'm sure I could do it for 5-6k

 

I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said, except to point out that OP has a regular cab short bed according to his profile - which is an excellent platform contender for rock crawling as far as Tundras go.

We're lifted 2/1 with 37s on mid travel (stock front and rear bumpers even, with just a little trim on the front to clear the 37s). We're one of the ones @osidepunker mentioned he wheels with that's MT.


Here is a local AZ first gen tundra illustrating how to rock crawl in a low-slung, big tire rig. To be fair, his frame is shortened and he choaded the bed.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnPO87FH9Mc/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=16e5ehj1o5iye


And here's us on a 2" front lift and 1" rear on 37s, doing what I consider pretty technical stuff. I'm not sure exactly what your terrain is like, but if it's similar to this, skip the bracket. You could do even more than us if you went 3.5" front and 2-3" rear and 37s.

Oh, and we're still open/open. No lockers yet.

https://youtu.be/y_IgGOXngZo

not even aired down here

https://youtu.be/ga7uss_2Rkc

shortened for the IG format

https://instagram.com/p/BmpUP6inCcF/

and we can still go pretty fast

https://youtu.be/2jL6UfNdF7Y

https://youtu.be/_iIDwC8c3Vk

 

The axles are not the expensive part, the coilovers are whats gonna get you...

 

You're telling me! I always look at my pics/vids and they pale in comparison to how the trail actually was

Especially with your shorter wheelbase, get some quality MT coilovers and progressive leaf packs, high clearance bumpers, sliders, skids, and 37s. You will be amazed at the type of trails you can tackle

 

would you be doing your own fab work with this budget?
coils will run up the that bill real fast. also T case/gears and lockers. I got quoted for my 1st gen tacoma was 10k and me sourcing my own axles.

 

Ok!

https://youtu.be/mM6bzFPQTHI

https://youtu.be/I6G6iG2Dijg

https://youtu.be/0tDTOgEFrG0

https://youtu.be/FRJXabbuv9s

https://youtu.be/Jmkrhh5oTrQ

https://youtu.be/jaA68U1WvuI

https://youtu.be/lk9g1NoMqmo

https://youtu.be/ZY9XCUmI91s

 

Leaf springs look better everyday haha

 

that'll save you some coin especially if you run blocks. Custom packs front and rear will be pricey-ish depending where you go.

 

Yes all my own fab work, timing is bad because I recently (this semester) enrolled in college full time again to try and get into a better career.

End of last year I wanted to build a 1st gen sas tundra truggy and had most of it planned out and that budget was around 10k so yea I'm probably a little light on 5-6 probably 8 at cheapest

 

Nah no blocks in the front and vs coilovers I could have custom front and rear leafs vs just the coilovers for the front.

But even still sas is not in the plans currently though it would be awesome

 

To be honest - a proper MT build will do everything you have the balls and ability to do - even Rock crawling. It will do everything that a BDS drop bracket equipped truck can do and almost everything a LT truck can do - well you will still be able to do it but it would just be slower I really don't See a SAS on the Tundra making a huge difference in wheeling it. Length -break over point is a bigger problem. I got stuck once due to that as I was sitting on the frame and bracket lift would not have helped because the suspension droop was more than any extra height of a drop bracket. Only thing that would have helped would have been the angle at which I took the hill - Low COG comes into play at that point.

 

Yeah SAS tundra isn't ideal, I'd rather invest that money into something else. 1st gen tacoma/4runner or solid MT setup for the tundra.

 

Dood, you got almost the whole speed glampers group here, take their advice. I have kings, simple MT setup and I can go fast off-road which is really fun(I bent one cheap ass pro comp wheel now I’m back to stocks). Wheel travel matters, not the height of the lift. As mentioned before you can stuff 37’s with no lift, but some trimming is required, then it’s up to you if you want to re-gear or not. Some have, some didn’t even with 37’s. Be real about your needs and most importantly your budget, your credit card balance is not money you have....that’s borrowed

 

lol wasn't out here to stir up the "glampers" I hear ya on fast offroading I just don't have many places to go fast. least invasive first probably start with a mt on 35s or so see how it goes.

 

Your RCSB with MT and 35's and maybe a rear locker will be a pretty capable crawler.

 

not sure what will be first MT or a rear locker. locker will be cheaper.

 

Bracket lifts can be beneficial, depending on what the person is trying to do. Some of the washed out roads and tank traps where I like to take my truck hunting would need a lifted vehicle to get to, if not the front end of the truck would be driven into the ground and good luck backing out after the front end is in, especially with open diffs.

 

Been wheeling the Tundra for 8yrs without a locker and have only had to take the strap once when I high centered. Your brain is the best tool off-road and lose the ego before you go. That will keep ya out of a lot of issues. My vote is lift/tires before locker

 

what oside wont tell is all those videos of him going fast are because he's rushing to go post on forums about bracket lifts..the laptop is outside the frame of the camera

 

Interesting thread. I say do an 8” bracket lift on 47” tires or something and show all the morons in here chiming in what’s up

 

finally some encouragement! thanks lol