Coilover Spacers for Tundra?

[RHEES]

I recently purchased a Tundra and have looked into leveling the front end. Even though the truck is too soft in the front, It rides real nice and it will be kept a street truck. I wanted to know if anyone has experience with the cheap lift spacers. There are some that mount the entire coilover down verticaly away from the frame which would cause more droop=more cv bind, ball joint bind and I am also concerned that under full compression the shock would bottom before the bumpstop hit. The other type sits inside the coilover and provide additional preload to the spring=stiffer ride.

In either case the spring would compress over what was intended, not to bind, but possibly cause spring fatigue? Also, I have read earlier posts where some have broke axles, balljoints, and have worn cv boots after short periods of time with ANY kind of coilover lift on the Tundra. I know an aftermarket shock would be the best(King,SAW,Donahoe,etc.) and the TC arm kit would be great if I had the money.

For those of you who have worked with the Tundras, what are the reasonable limits with the stock suspension and drivetrain? Has anyone found a long term solution for lifting a 4wd Tundra 2-3" in the front?

[elcaprerunner]

I have a 4WD Tundra with Donahoe coilovers. My lift is slightly higher than it should be and my inner CV boots have opened at the retaining clip just a little because of the angle of the axle and it was spitting grease as I went down the road (my fault for having them set too high and not doing anything about it), so my CV joints will probably be worn out pretty soon. A couple of things if this happens, you can get a 1" drop spacer from Total Choas for your front differential and it will decrease the angle your axles would be at, or as suggested to me, get better retaining clips for the inner CV joints to keep the grease in. I have had these coilovers on since April and so far my CV's have not gone out. If you get coilovers and have them set around 2-2.25" of lift (forgot what they are set to out of the box) I don't think you will have a problem. My truck is about 2.5".

[motoxscott]

On a stock 4wd you dont want to setup the suspension with more than 2" of lift or you can run into CV problems. Unless you do something to address that problem (ala drop spacers,etc)

If you're looking to just do a spacer lift go with Donahoe's version. Their are probably a million different ones out there but I'd rather funnel the $$$ into our industry.

The next step would be getting Sway-Aways 2.0 bolt-in coilovers. Then you're getting the lift you're after and a much higher quality spring and shock. Remember, factories but the least amount of $$$ into their springs and shocks. Priced around $675

If you are looking for more, than that's where Camburg's and Donahoe's 2.5 coilovers come into play. With the use of an aftermarket arm you gain both strength and more travel. Short of a long-travel kit this is an awesome setup. Priced around $950 + $499 for a-arms

- Scott @ Camburg Engineering

[CHASE550]

Here Is the dr spacer cnc & black anodized

[Donahoe]

I recently purchased a Tundra and have looked into leveling the front end. Even though the truck is too soft in the front, It rides real nice and it will be kept a street truck. I wanted to know if anyone has experience with the cheap lift spacers. There are some that mount the entire coilover down verticaly away from the frame which would cause more droop=more cv bind, ball joint bind and I am also concerned that under full compression the shock would bottom before the bumpstop hit. The other type sits inside the coilover and provide additional preload to the spring=stiffer ride.

In either case the spring would compress over what was intended, not to bind, but possibly cause spring fatigue? Also, I have read earlier posts where some have broke axles, balljoints, and have worn cv boots after short periods of time with ANY kind of coilover lift on the Tundra. I know an aftermarket shock would be the best(King,SAW,Donahoe,etc.) and the TC arm kit would be great if I had the money.

For those of you who have worked with the Tundras, what are the reasonable limits with the stock suspension and drivetrain? Has anyone found a long term solution for lifting a 4wd Tundra 2-3" in the front?


Our little Spacer was built for for guys just like you. Looking for a little lift for not alot of money. Its like 150.00 for the kit. The spacer only preloads the coil. it does not change shock location so there is no worry about over extending the ball joints or tie rod end. The ride is actually better in my opinion only because it gets ride of all that body roll the Tundras have. The highway ride as far as being harsh isnt noticeable. Anytime you Lift a Tundra with just spring rate you have a good chance of spitting cv grease out of the inner cv. Kartek has a great cv boot that will be happier at the steeper angle. Another help is a diff drop spacer. Once you fix the cv issue I dont see any long term issues at all with either the spacer or the coil-overs as long as it dosnt droop out further then stock.

Hope that helps

[azfabguy]

we put the cheap poly spacers in the front of my 03. it took less than a hour since we have the proper tools and a lift

[RHEES]

Thanks for the help.

I will look into the Donahoe setup and the diff spacer. I wouldnt have known Donahoe sold those if I hadnt of asked here, ive checked the dr website before and didnt see them! Eventually, when I find some money, its getting spent on coilovers and upper arms. Was also wondering if anyone here has used the Total Chaos steering rack bushings and noticed improvement over stock.

Thanks again, this site is awesome...

[RHEES]

Kreg, how much droop do your shocks allow over stock?

[Donahoe]

Its not much. Its like 3/4" with stock arms. You cant go too much or you start blowing out ball joints and tie rod ends. But it does have the most overall travel avalible from any coil-over for that application. The key thing the shocks do is really improve performance. It makes the wheel travel you do have seem like ALOT more. Does that make sence? hope that helps. If you have any other questions give us a call and we can arrange a test drive for you with both applications.