Front Suspension
In June 2007 I finally rid myself of the front Daystar spacer lift described below. I went with a lift rom Sonoran Steel in
Tempe AZ. This lift is simply the use of Tundra coils and a 1/4 inch top out spacer. This lift is much more flexible, similar in
feel to the costly coilovers, without the high price and maintenance. The height is about the same as the old setup.
Here is the old coil and shock on the left, Tundra coil on the right.
Here is th new setup installed, with the tire about to go back on.
Daystar Lift (No longer on the truck)
To fit the larger tires, a lift in the front was needed. The most inexpensive lift for the front of a Tacoma is a spacer lift, and that is
what I went with. The front is lifted about 2.5 inches with a Daystar spacer kit. The kits includes a spacer for inside the
coil as well as on top of the coil. It takes special tools to disassemble the front coil an then reassemble with the spacers. I
ended up buying a set of used coils with the spacers in already for a very good price froma friend.
The problem with this setup is that is restricted upward travel because the coil is now pre-loaded.
Later down the road, I added another 1/4 inch aluminum spacer that my friend Jayson fabrticated. The Tacomas have a
noticed driver's side lean, so I added the extra spacer to the passenger side and it did level things out pretty well.
When I get the money, I will be upgrading this setup to a set of Donohoe coilovers.
Here are a couple of pictures.
The front lift changed the CV joint angles slightly. To try to put the angles back near stock, I got a 1 inch front diff drop
kit from Sonoran Steel, based out of Tempe, AZ. This kit consists of two tapered cylindrical blocks that are installed
between the front differental mounts and the frame. This does not require a new skid plate and does not affect ground
clearance, it simply puts the CV angles into a more natural position, reducing the chance of snapping an axle.
Here are a few pictures.
