What lift do I need for my daily rough ride?

I just bought my first ever brand new truck. 2018 crewmax TRD off-road. I need a lift. It's not for looks. It's for work. I drive 1.5 hrs to the mountains in WV up/down hills and winding roads. When I get to work I am up and down Jeep trails, dirt paths, rock construction entrances, deep powder dust, over 2' tall water bars...all day. 6 days a week.
I have literally zero experience with offroading, or trail riding and I sure as hell don't have any experience or even the tools necessary to install a lift on my vehicle.
I just want someone on here to tell me what to get based off of what I just told you it is I do all day long everyday. I'm putting about 125 miles a day on my truck. 50 of that is easily off road. I don't care what it looks like I just want it to help me and protect my 50k investment!
I have 3-4k available to spend. Rocks are an issue too. I'm worrying I'll beat the hell out of my paint job

 

Welcome from Texas, let's see your ride, check out @Toytec Lifts

 

Welcome from CO. Look @Toytec Lifts. Might wanna get some sliders and better skid plate to protect your truck.

 

Welcome from NC!

 

Look into RCI metalworks for underside protection

 

Welcome from Ohio!

 

Well. A lift won't save your paint. Look up the NorCal BASTRD's including @joonbug , @831Tun , and @dcsleeper408 for insight about how to (not) avoid pinstriping.

If you can afford it, sounds like you best go ahead and do it right with Fox or Icon for 3" lift with external reservoirs. Probably the best alternates for serious off-roading may be ADS but there have been problems with these rotating or something. Cheaper alternatives include Bilstein. You can contact Toytech, a vendor on this site (associated with at least one of the forum moderators) and, by all accounts, they'll hold your hand and give you a bunch of options with explanations.

RCI, SDHQ, and several others provide armour. My best advice to avoid rock damage is to avoid following other vehicle off-road at speed. I've had no damage from rocks I kick up with my truck; but I do have dings on the front and hood from rocks kicked up by others.

We need pics of your truck (that's the price of admission on here), and I hope it's silver sky (because that seems to hide pinstriping best).

You've definitely come to the right place!

 

I just edited my post with a pic

 

Man I was going to get the cement colored one but they sold it before I could get in I work long hours 6 days a week and the Toyota dealership isn't open on Sundays here in BFE. So I went with black

 

Ooh, black. Sexy when it's clean and polished... but definitely not gonna hide or recover from pinstripes. Good luck, new Tundra homie!

 

I would think bilstein 6112 front and 5160 rear would be sufficient. Run fronts at highest setting and a 1” shackle lift in the rear.

If you stick with stock wheels you might be able to run 35”s and still keep your mud flaps which will help your paint a lot. Someone else who knows that for sure will likely chime in. And if not you can just step down to 34”s.

 

Hmmm, Welcome BTW, if you're offroad a lot you should probably have a few things with you all the time. First, if you change your tires be sure to carry AT LEAST 1 full size spare. Keep a shovel in the truck and maybe recovery boards. Get a good kinetic rope or strap, shackles and a hitch like this

Seize or mouse the pin to the shackle with stainless wire or a zip tie at least.
I always air down to about 20 psi offroad so I have a compressor for inflation.
Keep an eye out for some used TRD PRO shocks and Rock Warrior wheels. Then you can run some larger tires.
You might want to have portions of the truck wrapped to protect the paint and/or the lower rocker panels can be sprayed with bed liner.
Just my

 

Welcome from AZ

 

Where are you reading ADS are rotating? Thinking of getting a pair.

 

Shoot, now I gotta find it. It was a feisty back-and-forth between some of the SGU guys or associates. I'll look to find it. Unless maybe @KevinK or @n2deep or someone over there chimes in to remind us who it is that's outspoken about ADS failures.

FWIW, a bunch of guys on here have and love 'em (are you runnin' ADS @831Tun ?) and they're more affordable than Fox or Icon. And an all-race performance (no lessor street version). I definitely have them at the top of my list... but decided to find out more once I read some seriously challenge-high members on here discussing failures.

When I find it, I'll edit this post to add a link.

Here it is, @alpinepro4:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/exp...id-travel-suspension.27853/page-2#post-681251

I think @dragos28 is the guy they're talking about.

I'm not saying there's any more problems with ADS than others, just that some have apparently had problems. I plan to find out more, and learn what customer service is like, before choosing. But I'm on no hurry. Just giving you a heads up to check it out.

 

No problems with the ADS. I do know of several ICON Omega bypass issues, like 6 trucks.

 

That would be great. They are at the top of my suspension list as well. Most of the guys who have them say they are bullet proof and ride nice as well.

 

I've been super impressed with the ADS bypass shocks, whether crawling over rocks, flying through whoop in the desert or street driving the shocks have made a very noticeable difference in the ride.

 

Not gonna hash it out again. But ADS will rotate due to the design. You need to make sure the top nut is tighten up correctly to minimize the rotation. They will get scratched when flexing and rub against the leafs. If you want them to stay all pretty then don't off-road or go with something else. They won't "fail" as one did with Dragos due to the rotation. His was a different issue that I believe was due to a manufacturer error when they were built. Which could happen to any brand.

 

So the rear shocks rotate then? Wonder why no one has mentioned it.

 

As stated above, the top nut has to be tightened properly to keep 'em from rotating. I noticed this when installing and tightened 'em enough so that they don't rotate yet the rubber bushing isn't completely distorted.

 

Here it is, @alpinepro4:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/exp...id-travel-suspension.27853/page-2#post-681251
[/QUOTE]
This way, you can read what's already been shared about this.

 

Welcome from Arizona.

 

After re-install, I had one rotate. After torquing everything back down tight, I haven't noticed movement. Just make sure the top nut is real tight.

 

Honestly if you are going to be spending 40% of your time off-road with the truck. I would go with a higher end suspension kit. Fox or Icon shocks/lift. Then I would put some sort of slider for the rocker panels. Then I would install a better skid plate. I would also upgrade the tires to some larger BFGoodrich tires.

 

Welcome from MT.
Any of the big name suspension companies would be good. I have King's and love them but everyone has their preference.
Kings, Icon, Fox, Bilstein, etc.
Just find the ones that fit your budget and give you the lift/performance you are looking for.
If you are spending that much time off road something with remote reservoirs and RCI skids for sure.
There are half a dozen rock sliders that would be a good investment as well.

Don't worry the fools on this site are good at giving people ideas on how to spend money they don't have.

 

Icon fixed the problem! ADS’s solution is to tighten the bolt tighter.

 

Welcome from CO. See ToyTec for 2.5" OME setup with DAKAR rear leafs. Won't break the bank and more than sufficient for what your doing. ToyTec's Eibach setup is good too.

 

With a $4k budget, if I were you I would start with a lift and some armor.

$1500 on the lift (OME, Toytec, or Bilstein 6112)
$500 for install
$1200 on sliders
$800 full skid plates

Then when you come across a little more or can up the budget, get some wheels or at least some bigger tires.