Why We don't Like Cheap Lift Kits.
So you just picked up a nice Toyota truck and you are looking to lift it. We spend an exorbitant amount of time at the shop making sure people don't buy cheap lift kits. We believe its a safety issue and a dis-service to your nice Toyota to go too cheap on lift kits. Above you can find the reasons why not to purchase a spacer lift, that has been discussed at exhaustion, yet there is still that guy or Gal on the Forum or Facebook Group that posts up "been running that spacer lift for years and not had problems" and for some reason people listen to them! Sure, you can run those kits with out issues, but the science about what they do to your truck upon install and over time is still true.
I am going to qualify first a cheap lift kit, when I mean cheap, I'm not talking about the over all price. I'm talking about how the quality of the product is. And when you compare $450 bucks for what I consider bottom of the barrel acceptable verses $300 - $350 for one of the kits we will talk about below, well, we just sit back and scratch our heads.
We want to focus on not buying cheap lift kits. So don't buy a spacer lift, that's a given, but what about a kit from the likes of Rough Country, Rancho, or Boss? These are not spacer lifts, so they must be ok to run on my truck right? The answer is no. Every Rough Country, Rancho, or Boss kit that we have come across has had something rusted out, broken or failed on the owner. This is not a general statement, its literally EVERY ONE of them. We really don't want to have you back in our shop from a suspension failure, we would rather have you back for more mods to make your truck even more awesome! I also want to point out that its not limited to just these brands either im sure there are other brands that fit in this bracket as well, we just don't see them in the shop on Toyota trucks. Some of the Fabtech product, Jackit, Tough Country, Ready Lift, BDS, Superlift, maxtrax and even Eibach seem to have the build quality that we are talking about here.
A minimum suspension lift in our opinion should be the Bilstein 5100 lifts. If you want to go with heavier springs or hold more weight, don't dress up the 5100.. Just don't do it! It was designed to be used with the Original Equipment Springs and its valving is based on that spring rate. The next step up is the 6112 kits that have 600lb springs to support the weight of bumpers, sliders and mods. The other option under is the Old Man Emu lift from ARB. These are the step up kits to use. Do not put OME springs on a 5100 strut. Do not buy the Toytech dressed up 5100 kit that adds more cost than the better 6112 kit would. 5100 kits have their place. Use them on stock trucks that want just a lift / wheels / Tire upgrade. yes you can off road them. Yes they work great on the street. Yes they hold up to real world conditions. Yes, they drive and handle great for their intended purpose.
Now, here is a list of pictures to show why you don't cheap out.... and i literally mean by saving $50 ... Hope this helped everyone out.
I am going to qualify first a cheap lift kit, when I mean cheap, I'm not talking about the over all price. I'm talking about how the quality of the product is. And when you compare $450 bucks for what I consider bottom of the barrel acceptable verses $300 - $350 for one of the kits we will talk about below, well, we just sit back and scratch our heads.
We want to focus on not buying cheap lift kits. So don't buy a spacer lift, that's a given, but what about a kit from the likes of Rough Country, Rancho, or Boss? These are not spacer lifts, so they must be ok to run on my truck right? The answer is no. Every Rough Country, Rancho, or Boss kit that we have come across has had something rusted out, broken or failed on the owner. This is not a general statement, its literally EVERY ONE of them. We really don't want to have you back in our shop from a suspension failure, we would rather have you back for more mods to make your truck even more awesome! I also want to point out that its not limited to just these brands either im sure there are other brands that fit in this bracket as well, we just don't see them in the shop on Toyota trucks. Some of the Fabtech product, Jackit, Tough Country, Ready Lift, BDS, Superlift, maxtrax and even Eibach seem to have the build quality that we are talking about here.
A minimum suspension lift in our opinion should be the Bilstein 5100 lifts. If you want to go with heavier springs or hold more weight, don't dress up the 5100.. Just don't do it! It was designed to be used with the Original Equipment Springs and its valving is based on that spring rate. The next step up is the 6112 kits that have 600lb springs to support the weight of bumpers, sliders and mods. The other option under is the Old Man Emu lift from ARB. These are the step up kits to use. Do not put OME springs on a 5100 strut. Do not buy the Toytech dressed up 5100 kit that adds more cost than the better 6112 kit would. 5100 kits have their place. Use them on stock trucks that want just a lift / wheels / Tire upgrade. yes you can off road them. Yes they work great on the street. Yes they hold up to real world conditions. Yes, they drive and handle great for their intended purpose.
Now, here is a list of pictures to show why you don't cheap out.... and i literally mean by saving $50 ... Hope this helped everyone out.
