Toyota leveling kit

D

D3nt

Member
Hi all. I'm a brand new Tacoma owner. I ordered a Dodge Challenger while deployed but it was delayed 3 weeks which is a life time here in AK when you want to get it before winter! My wife went to a dealership for a Corolla S and I couldn't help but gawk at the SR5 with the leveling kit and all sorts of body bells and whistles. I decided to cancel the Challenger and make a more AK friendly purchase. I ended up coming home with a '13 Tacoma Off-Road. No real bells and whistles (other than the chrome tube running boards, which look great.) I'm still VERY interested in the leveling kit but I'd like to run bigger tires. Of course, I can go with the wheel/tire combo from Toyota but I'd like to choose my own tire and I don't need to buy the best looking rims, only to scratch the hell out of them on a trail. My question is, has anyone tried Toyota's leveling kit, and if so what did you think? What's the best tire size to go along with the kit on the 16in rim? If I'm not mistaken the front will raise 1.25in and 2.5in in the rear.

This is my daily driver, so I need a well balance tire. Large, good off-road, but not too rough on-road. MPG is not an issue!
 
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After doing a lot of research this is the route I am taking that whipper speaks of. And yes his input did help with that decision, my rear sits about 3" higher than the front so to level the front, Bilstein 5100s adjustable should come close to that effect. My next set of tires will be a 265/75. Currently running 245/75. I'm not building a pure offroad vehicle since this is my DD just something I can go do some light offroading on occasion for fun and still drive to work daily without destroying my pocketbook. I will do all 4 shocks with Bilstein 5100s.
 
Byrd, did you bother with rear shocks? I'd like to lift the rear too, I like the look, but in the end I'm more concerned about functionality. I may not lift the rear if it won't help off-road.
 
I have yet to buy the new shocks, measuring from the ground to the fender well the rear sits at 37" the front is 34.5" with the factory shocks. I think you can flip the rear leafs to raise the rear differential up higher to give more clearance. There are other mods you can do to the front to raise the front differential for more clearance, but I'm not versed in the actual work involved. Whipper might know. I just bought this Tacoma in Jan prior to that I had a '00 PreRunner with factory Bilstein's and it did sit a little taller.
 
Sounds good. I'll probably grab the front shocks then and maybe even flip the leaf springs in the rear. Is it as easy as getting weight off the wheels and removing two bolts for the shocks?
 
Thanks, I appreciate the help. I'm gonna start with the Bilsteins up front. I may buy the 0-1.25 shocks in the rear if anyone thinks it's worth it. I don't know how good the stock shocks in the rear are, so maybe the Bilsteins are better? I don't mind the way the truck sits now, I can barely notice the difference in height so I won't mind lifting the rear up a bit. I've got that spring swap kit saved too for future reference. Thanks again!
 
No problem, good luck with your build. When you have time post up some pics of your truck. Bilsteins I do believe are a superior shock over the stock ones. I plan on getting front & rear when I get to that point in my build.
 
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