So ... you wanna buy / just bought a 1st Gen Tundra, eh?

DocHolliday3841 · Apr 20, 2025

shifty`[OP] said: ↑

As long as you didn't get TRQ balljoints (upper or lower), or TRQ lower control arms, you should be alright. If you made the mistake of getting any of the items I just mentioned from TRQ, I'm telling you in advance, you will absolutely regret it. Return it.

Your other questions ... I believe it's covered in the Suspension wheel & tires section, red text is pertinent for the sway links question, and purple text pertinent to height question:

Extras... At 1.5" of lift or higher, you'll want extended swaybar links, Suspension Maxx sells, to avoid travel limitations. As you approach 2.5" of lift with 1GT trucks, you're closing in on thresholds of OEM travel and should consider extras to compensate. Examples: You'll want new upper control arms (UCA) to more easily hit alignment numbers. At 3" and beyond, you may need to snug up your OEM CV boots or get ORS extended boots or similar to avoid grease-sling or ripping, and probably add bumpstops, etc. There are a lot of considerations - think about it, or ask questions in the forum if you need a sanity check!

I understand, "as you approach 2.5 inches of lift" is maybe a bit vague, and that's intentional. The suspension on our DC trucks like yours, versus an AC truck like mine (RC and AC are fairly identical), they're two different beasts. When I originally talked with the couple of folks who helped us build out the suspension section, we actually hit the reply-to word/letter limit on the first post by identifying "AC / RC / DC" for everything. It was totally necessary to be vague and pitch numbers that would be true across all models. To that point, you need to understand 2" of lift is pretty substantial, but with a DC truck like yours, I wouldn't be jumping out the door to get aftermarket UCA or other aftermarket parts to compensate. But you can expect to be throwing grease from your CV axle boots, and may need to re-clamp them (there's a ton of clamp info on here, @ToyotaDude posted, look up "NORMA" in replies posted by him using Search, you'll find it fast).

Now ... if you're replacing the UCA anyway *OR* you're replacing the upper ball joints, *AND* especially if you're replacing the UCA and the upper ball joints, then I'd tell you, since you're lifting 2"+, go buy yourself some JBA upper control arms. They'll come with new balljoints, and they're a far superior arm, they'll help with alignment, ride quality, and wheel orientation/correction issues many people encounter while lifting, and they're really not that much more than what you'd pay for aftermarket parts, but they're waaaaay superior. The the bushings are going to last far longer than the "chubber" (chinese rubber) most aftermarket parts manufacturers - TRQ and Moog being a couple of the big ones - are using, chubber, as we've seen repeatedly on here, tends to start cracking up within 18-36 months, if not sooner.
Click to expand...

I bought upper and lower control arms from trq however I'm using Moog ball joints on the ucas and reusing the lower OEM ball joints as they are made to unbolt from the lca.
This is just temporary as I feel in a year+ I might pull the trigger on the SAS conversion I've been considering.

shifty` · Apr 20, 2025

DocHolliday3841 said: ↑

I bought upper and lower control arms from trq however I'm using Moog ball joints on the ucas and reusing the lower OEM ball joints as they are made to unbolt from the lca.
This is just temporary as I feel in a year+ I might pull the trigger on the SAS conversion I've been considering.
Click to expand...

If you really think you're likely going through with SAS conversion in 1-2 years, then that would settle it for me. Get extended links. Install the 6112s, noting the lift results others have gotten at misc notches versus what Bilstein tells you is fact (FYI: It's not fact), install the extended links, and call it a day.

At least one user, @KNABORES, found he was able to stick with the OEM Toyota links with his lift by using a stack of washers to lift the top "bushing sandwich" (as I'll call it) roughly an inch. He was still able to screw down the top nut, which IIRC is a nylock, enough to have 1-2 threads pop out the other end, even with that stack. That may be an option for you too.

I deleted my swaybar totally, and the only time I notice is when I'm hitting a 270° interstate offramp at 40mph+. That may also be an option for you.

Good luck with the TRQ parts. We'd love to have your feedback on their quality/longevity over here after 1-3 years: https://www.tundras.com/threads/1st-gen-parts-corner-of-shame-oem-minus-or-plus.122591/

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So ... you wanna buy / just bought a 1st Gen Tundra, eh?

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shifty` [OP] In South Dakota Trouble ain't hard to find

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So ... you wanna buy / just bought a 1st Gen Tundra, eh?

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DocHolliday3841 New Member

#212
shifty` [OP] In South Dakota Trouble ain't hard to find

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