Kind of a list for me so I don't have to keep finding these things
(Links attached in most)
Exterior Lighting:
- 3rd Brake Light (
Lifestyle)
Body Work:
- Lift kit (Looking for 3" maybe, would do
roughcountry.com)
If anybody has any better recommendations or reviews on products I listed please do let me know!
Interesting. Go inactive on the forums a little and I miss out on something new. First time seeing the 3rd brake light.
A couple things, I'd avoid CaliRaised, Rough Country and Pro Series. I'm also weary of Alpharex. CaliRaised and Rough Country commonly slightly modifies then rebrands the cheaper almost mid-grade stuff from China. Then mark it up.
Pro Series is just an inferior bumper. Lower and thinner grade steel, bad coating and fitment issues. It'll wear and rust out over time. Morimoto > Alpharex. Prices are competitive to each other. Morimoto just has better quality. There have been reports of Alpharex housing melting. Unsure if it's just the outside elements or electronics heating up. Morimoto has reputation and more experience in the industry.
I've become a huge advocate for buy once, cry once. Optimize value for your money. Go for quality. There have been multiple times I'd get something because it was good enough. But I wasn't satisfied. So I'd buy something nicer that I considered an upgrade. Sold the first thing at a loss. Shortly later only found out there's better, repeat. Buy, sell at loss, buy again for more, sell at a loss. Get something good. Doesn't have to be the best. But so your research. Get good advice. Know who gives good info.
Lift.
Just an opinion of mine, spacers should only be used for small lifts (1"-2.5") or leveling out.
Tacomas lean to the driver side due to having more weight on that side, driver and gas tank. So it's basically common practice to run a 1/4" or 1/2" spacer on the driver side front. I forget if the spacer size equates to the height being doubled or halved.
I would completely avoid the rubber gasket spacer if you just wanted a little lift. Explanation on your other thread. If you're doing it yourself and don't have a spring compressor, it's not even worth it. Compressing the spring was probably the worst part. The clamps and even the full compressor stands that can be rented and even bought on Amazon were not capable of compressing mine. It bent the Amazon stand one. The ones from the auto parts stores just made me nervous. I've done a lot of dumb unsafe things, but this one made me tap out. It scuffed up the coating on the springs and I ended up getting them powdercoated.
Just top hat strut spacers. You just drop out the shock assembly, set it on top of the top hat and reinstall. So much easier and cost effective for a baby lift.
Next option. Bilstein 5100's and a AAL + driver side front spacer. (OME Spring) - This is pretty much a starting standard with Tacomas.
I feel the Bilsteins improve the ride quality of the truck. Looks like you have an OR and I believe they are 4600/4700 shocks. So it is an upgrade. I've never tried them with the factory springs, so I can't give you feedback on that. 5100's have a collar that you can set the front ride height. You would disassemble your factory shock and use the spring. Raising it does compress the spring a little, so it does become stiffer. But it will be smoother and a much better option over just spacers. For AAL, any general 1.5" AAL will do for the rear.
To improve on this, you could grab new springs for the 5100. OME makes a bunch for different ride heights. Benefit of an OME spring is that it's designed to be compatible with the Bilstein 5100 shock without raising the collar for height. It's designed to give the lift and retain the ride quality.
If using an OME spring, don't raise the collar. I feel the 887 will level it out. Some have gone with the 888. Always consider the vehicle settling over time. So you could lose up to .5" in the long run. Also depends on how much weight is added to the vehicle. I added a front bumper and it did weigh down the front about .5" with the 887. 888 springs have a higher compression, so that would be the option if you're adding a bumper.
After that, you're looking at Bilstein 6112's, Kings or Icon. I believe this would be the best progression lift wise. From eh (spacers) to good.
I did the 5100 front and rear/887/Icon AAL. Added some weight. Wanted more. Settled on the 6112 front, upgraded Bilstein springs, 5160 rear and kept the Icon 1.5" AAL. I went with the Bilsteins again because they were the compromise between value, dependability and performance. It appears one side of the truck is lower than the other and I'm seeing that to be common. Some leaf packs take that in consideration and have side specific packs. So that's what I want to do next.