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Upper control arm

1

18TacoTRDSport

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I recently installed a 2” leveling kit with a 2” rear block. I didn’t take before pictures, but I noticed the upper control arm sits very close to the inside of the front tire. If I try to put my hand between the tire and control arm I can only get to my knuckles before I can go any further.

Is the control arm supposed to sit that close? Or is there something going that shouldn’t? Everything I’ve read about the 2” kit is that no extra modifications should need to happen. If anyone has any insight on this very much appreciated. Thanks in advanced
 
This happens with factory control arms and high offset wheels. Not a great combo but if you're not rubbing and you are able to realign in spec (with higher caster settings to avoid rubbing on the cab) then you should be fine.
 
So I’m currently running my factory wheels. Also, I’ve heard different answers to this, but does the rear shock need to be replaced with a longer one with this 2” leveling kit with the 2” block in the rear?
 
1) If it's a 'leveling kit' it won't be 2" front AND 2" rear lift. That would just be a spacer lift kit. Leveling would bring the front up more than the rear (usually around 2"F / 1"R).
2) A 2" static lift with factory rear shocks is going to tax them pretty hard and really won't leave you with any room for uptravel, but if you're just going to cruise around you might be fine if the truck still rides okay to you. Spacer lifts don't add any travel, so it seems weird it would be a 2" rear block without a 2" spacer for the shock as well to move them down. If you can find a shock spacer that might be the best route for you to keep everything even without having to buy extended travel shocks that won't be utilized. If you only have a 1" rear block, then you will be much better off with the stock shocks, but they're still fairly short when paired with any spacer lift.

With that said, I can't imagine the truck riding very nicely with a 2" spacer front and rear. But it's hard to make these calls for someone else, it really depends on what you want the truck to do and how you want it to ride. I can talk about suspension all day, but most changes worth doing are $$$.
 
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drizzoh said:
1) If it's a 'leveling kit' it won't be 2" front AND 2" rear lift. That would just be a spacer lift kit. Leveling would bring the front up more than the rear (usually around 2"F / 1"R).
2) A 2" static lift with factory rear shocks is going to tax them pretty hard and really won't leave you with any room for uptravel, but if you're just going to cruise around you might be fine if the truck still rides okay to you. Spacer lifts don't add any travel, so it seems weird it would be a 2" rear block without a 2" spacer for the shock as well to move them down. If you can find a shock spacer that might be the best route for you to keep everything even without having to buy extended travel shocks that won't be utilized. If you only have a 1" rear block, then you will be much better off with the stock shocks, but they're still fairly short when paired with any spacer lift.

With that said, I can't imagine the truck riding very nicely with a 2" spacer front and rear. But it's hard to make these calls for someone else, it really depends on what you want the truck to do and how you want it to ride. I can talk about suspension all day, but most changes worth doing are $$$.
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Thanks for all the feedback. So attached is what I have installed on my Tacoma
 

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Here are some pictures where I have questions.
 

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Based on those pics you have tons of clearance. All the components move together so you should not rub if you stay with this setup. If you do end up going with wider or taller tires on the factory wheels it would be a good idea to get wheel spacers. 1-1.5" is a popular choice.

That kit also looks like a 2"F/1"R spacer setup which puts you in a much better place in the rear. If you measure the height of the rear block that will tell you how much lift exactly it got. The rear lift is 1:1 unlike the front setup which is witchcraft to figure out (something around 2-2.5:1).

Those look like Sport shocks too, so if you swap out the rears with a +1" Bilstein 5100 or 5160 back there you'd probably notice a ride quality increase as the Sport shocks are valved pretty stiff.
 
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drizzoh said:
Based on those pics you have tons of clearance. All the components move together so you should not rub if you stay with this setup. If you do end up going with wider or taller tires on the factory wheels it would be a good idea to get wheel spacers. 1-1.5" is a popular choice.

That kit also looks like a 2"F/1"R spacer setup which puts you in a much better place in the rear. If you measure the height of the rear block that will tell you how much lift exactly it got. The rear lift is 1:1 unlike the front setup which is witchcraft to figure out (something around 2-2.5:1).

Those look like Sport shocks too, so if you swap out the rears with a +1" Bilstein 5100 or 5160 back there you'd probably notice a ride quality increase as the Sport shocks are valved pretty stiff.
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These are the shocks I had purchased, but hadn’t installed yet
 

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If you have them already, definitely throw em on.

I hate the Sport shocks lol.
 
There are always trade-off's when altering suspension on anything. On these trucks you mostly sacrifice ride comfort and if you lift more than about 1.7" up front (without going LT) you start to lose down travel and cause premature wear on your CV boots/axles. I was not happy at all with my lift when I first installed it but after some fine tuning of the shock valving, a second different set of leaf packs and swapping out the OEM hangers with the Hammer Hangers, the truck rides pretty damn spectacular and is more capable than stock.
 
drizzoh said:
There are always trade-off's when altering suspension on anything. On these trucks you mostly sacrifice ride comfort and if you lift more than about 1.7" up front (without going LT) you start to lose down travel and cause premature wear on your CV boots/axles. I was not happy at all with my lift when I first installed it but after some fine tuning of the shock valving, a second different set of leaf packs and swapping out the OEM hangers with the Hammer Hangers, the truck rides pretty damn spectacular and is more capable than stock.i
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I see your response and very thankful for the feedback. With the 2” spacer and 2” rear block anything I should be concerned about?

I’ve debated o uninstalling the lift bc the comfort of the ride has beeen changed some, but I really like how the truck looks now. Talking to a buddy who has a SR5 that he put the 2” ebiach spring/strut and he was saying his stabilizer bar was rubbing and had to modify. I didn’t have to modify anything on mine
 
Yup that happened to a friend of mine when we installed the Eibach Stage 2 on her Tacoma as well. Ended up removing the sway because we couldn't get it to not rub in the time we had, later found out her sway was bent. Oh well, I don't have my sway either. If you beef up the suspension at all on these trucks you don't need em 💪🏻
 
drizzoh said:
Yup that happened to a friend of mine when we installed the Eibach Stage 2 on her Tacoma as well. Ended up removing the sway because we couldn't get it to not rub in the time we had, later found out her sway was bent. Oh well, I don't have my sway either. If you beef up the suspension at all on these trucks you don't need em 💪🏻
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Can you send a picture of what you just described. I think I’m good, but just wanted to make sure
 
18TacoTRDSport said:
Can you send a picture of what you just described. I think I’m good, but just wanted to make sure
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Or another question is why Didn’t I have this issue on my TRD sport with my 2” lift?

My buddies Tacoma is a SR5. Not sure if that has anything to do with it? He’s running the same size tire with his 2” lift as I’m running with my factory tire
 
18TacoTRDSport said:
Can you send a picture of what you just described. I think I’m good, but just wanted to make sure
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Don't have any pics.

A lift doesn't necessarily cause the issue. It's a completely different spring configuration that fills up spaces that were empty before and somehow common specifically with the Eibach kit. Haven't been able to see the truck again to rehome my OR sway bar onto it to try and see if we can get it to not rub on the springs this time.
 
Np d00d. These trucks aren't as cut and dry as you'd expect either. The IFS is a different animal when it comes to suspension changes.

I think that endlink issue with the Eibachs only effects the the Stage 2. The Stage 1 I'm 99% sure is just Bilstein 5100's paired with WAY too stiff of springs (rides like crap). The Eibach S2 kit does ride pretty nice for the money though.
 
drizzoh said:
Np d00d. These trucks aren't as cut and dry as you'd expect either. The IFS is a different animal when it comes to suspension changes.

I think that endlink issue with the Eibachs only effects the the Stage 2. The Stage 1 I'm 99% sure is just Bilstein 5100's paired with WAY too stiff of springs (rides like crap). The Eibach S2 kit does ride pretty nice for the money though.
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I just realized that the 2” front spacer is really giving me a 3” lift with the combination of all the only factory hard ware. That a true statement?
I’m also curious why my kit didn’t come with spacers to lower the differential?

eBay I don’t want is I got this really cool looking truck or at least to me it is, and I’m wearing out the component quicker than normal. Hence the thought of taking the truck back to factory and that would allow me to run a 265/70/17
 
I don't know what it's doing on your truck. Sorry this is the first time I've seen that kit. Looks like a typical spacer kit though, IMO they're all about the same unless you go with a Westcott setup. If the front spacers are 2" tall, then they will lift the truck more than 2". Diff drops are generally not a great idea on these trucks because it changes how the front diff sees oil. There's a whole rabbit hole on that you can look into if you want to search.

Best thing to do is measure before and after from center of wheel to bottom of fender to see how much lift it added. If you don't like it, take it off and get something better. I wouldn't run more than 1.5" total lift out of a spacer on these trucks with the rest of the stock equipment.
 
Yea that’s a good point, and great feedback. Leaning more to putting back to stock factory and then save I’m to install a nice suspension. This was a inexpensive fix to lift the truck
 
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