OME & Wheeler's Lift Install
So I purchased my lift from Wheeler's Offroad. Decent company. Great customer service. Very very strange payment methods. I was charged $72 shipping after I paid. You wont know this unless you read the fine-print. I was rather put off by this but decided to move forward with the purchase. Delivery was also frustrating as only one box required a signature. I had to reroute this one to the depot due to being offsite most of the day. Whatever - it arrived in good form and the parts went on easily. I'll call it a slightly expensive success.
I went back and forth on this part. I've been mulling how to approach a lift since before even buying the truck. The
internet says any number of lift heights will be possible, and, to make it even more complex, the aftermarket supplies nearly limitless different ways to lift a Tacoma.
After weeks and weeks of racking my brain, I decided on the OME 885x front lift coils and the Wheeler's Offroad progressive 3-leaf AAL system for the rear. Let's break this down...
I have an access cab with ARB bumper and Warn VR10k winch up front. That's basically 200lbs of extra weight way out past the axle (leverage). OME says 886 coils are for double cabs with bumper and winch. Internet says 886 for anything with bumper and winch. I found a few reports of guys with access cabs saying 885 is the highest they would go. I was confused. Further investigation resulting in finding 884 coils and 887 coils also being viable options. And, don't forget all the coilover systems and Eibach springs.
I didn't want a lot of lift. I wanted a nice 2" bump after settling. I threw the dice and finally decided on 885 coils with my Bilsteins set at 0". I felt this would net me 2-2.5" lift when all said and done.
The rear was also challenging. During the week I run around with the truck bed empty but I do have a Leer camper shell. I do have the towing package with the upgraded hitch on the rear and will probably put a rear bumper and tire carrier on the back end eventually. During overlanding trips I install my bed platform and load the truck down with all our gear. Plan is to add a roof rack system and roof top tent, too. That's a lot of variable weight!
My heart wanted the OME Dakar springs but my brain said wait it out to see how the front worked out. I know from friends that the Dakar is advertised as a mild 1.5-3" lift (depending on vehicle specifics), but I knew from real world that they give 3-4". With no way of knowing how high the front end would be I didn't want to blow $600 on a sick muscle-car rake.
I decided on the very budget friendly wheeler's offroad 3-leaf progressive AAL system. They're advertised as giving 1.5" of lift on a stock rig with overload spring removed and 2.25" with the overload spring. Ha. I elected to keep my overload spring due to all the weight and towing I will be doing. It landed me quite a bit over that after installed with my camper shell and empty bed. I fully expect this to settle down over the next few weeks as I drive around. We'll see where it ends up.
The entire lift took about 4 hours to install in a garage with airtools and multiple tool boxes full of fun specialty hand tools. The worst part was fitting the OME coils into the system with their stiffness. If I had to do it over again I'd get my local 4x4 shop to build the coil/strut assembly in a safer manner.
Now, the business! Why you're here. Final numbers a day after install:
Front OME 885x lift w/ 5100 @ 0": 2.9"
Rear 3-leaf AAL lift w/ overload: 3.4"
