How to Lift the Rear of Your Tacoma the right Way
When trying to find the right lift and suspension upgrade for your Toyota Tacoma, there are multiple ways to do it, but doing it the right way the first time will save you a lot of money and headaches. Take it from me, after switching my rear suspension multiple times, I’ve finally found the right ride for my Tacoma and compiled some of the things I’ve learned in this article to save you some of the trouble.
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Rear Lift Options
Tacoma’s rear suspension is pretty simple as it uses leaf springs. While some people hate leaf spring vehicles, they are often great for offroading and overlanding because they are simple and affordable compared to coil-overs. If you’re looking at lifting the rear of your Tacoma, every option will have to do with the leaf springs. While it does use rear shocks, shocks alone do not provide any lift. With that being cleared up, here are your options and a little about each:
Add-A-Leaf
An Add-a-Leaf (AAL for short) is exactly as the name implies. They are commonly a single leaf or 3 leaf pack meant to be added to the leaf pack that’s already in your Tacoma. Add-a-Leafs, out of the other two options, are the middle ground cost wise as they aren’t as cheap as blocks, but not nearly expensive as new leaf packs. AAL are commonly used to increase spring rate with your current leaf pack if you decide to carry more weight in the rear and since they do this, they will lift the rear but also make it more stiff to accommodate the additional weight. One common issue with this, is if you don’t plan on carrying weight in the rear, it can make for a stiff ride which can be uncomfortable for some people. As mentioned earlier, AAL’s typically come in a single leaf or 3 leaf. Single’s cost a lot less, but typically increase the spring rate a lot more. 3 leafs are typically made to replace your overload leaf and actually can make the ride a lot smoother but decrease your weight carrying and towing capabilities as the overland is in place to ensure your springs don’t arch too much resulting in completely inverting. 3 Leaf AALs can be used with the overload leaf, but this will increase spring rate a lot as well which will increase your load carrying weight but again result in a stiffer ride. AALs are great if you carry a lot of weight but they are typically seen as “bandaids” as they kind of just cover up sagging instead of fixing the issue with new leaf springs. I actually used a 1.5” single AAL from Wheelers Offroad, and while it was stiff because I don’t carry much weight in the rear at the moment, it worked great to level out my 2” lift from my Eibach lift kit.
Blocks
Blocks are the cheapest option for lifting the rear of your Tacoma. They are simply rectangular “blocks” that are Made to be put in your leaf pack that will raise the rear depending on how big of a block you decide to go with. While these are pretty cheap, they can have some major downsides. Blocks, since they are really doing much to your leaf springs, just adding height, won’t improve your ride quality, but can actually make it worse since you are decreasing the space between your bump stops and frame of your truck. This can lead to bottoming out and hitting your bump stops over smaller bumps which you will definitely feel as it’s a pretty jarring feeling. The larger the block can also increase the chance of axle wrap which can cause take off shudders as it changes the angle of your rear driveline which can be a major headache down the road.
New Leaf Spring Packs
The most expensive option out of the three are buying new leaf packs, but is probably the best option as it truly is “upgrading” your trucks off-road capabilities. There are tons of options out there such as Dobinsins, Icon, AllPro, and more but they are very different and the best one just depends on things like constant weight in the bed, how much travel you want, and how you want your ride to feel. A new leaf pack can give your truck more rear wheel travel resulting in more flex and traction while offroad and typically give better ride quality than other options.
Common Problems
While lifting the rear of your Tacoma is a lot easier than lifting the front, it can also lead to more problems down the road such as driveline vibrations and decreased ride quality due to changing the geometry of your driveline and increased spring rates with no weight.
One of the most common issues as mentioned, are driveline vibrations. Lifting the rear changes the rear driveline angle, and since a Tacoma uses a two-piece driveshaft, can cause a major headache. Utilizing things like axle shims, carrier bearing drop kit, or even a single piece driveshaft, you can troubleshoot the vibrations. This isn’t a one size fits all scenario so it may require measure your driveshaft angles and finding the right degree of shims and a carrier bearing drop to find what works for your truck. Smaller rear lifts typically don’t have as many problems but things like 2” and above can take some sort of the fixes to make your truck ride like it should.
A good rule of thumb when trying to find a shim size without dealing with measuring your driveshaft angles is typically 1 degree per inch of lift. This isn’t always perfect but is something to keep in the back of your mind.
Which is Best?
So which rear lift option is actually the best? Well, that’s a hard question to answer because it all depends on how you use your truck. All in all, if you can avoid it and afford other options, I would suggest steering away from rear blocks if you off-road your vehicle just to avoid problems. The best option would be new leaf packs 9 times out of 10 and use an AAL if you have too much weight in the rear.
Recommendations
There are tons of options out there but some standard recommendations I have are:
Wheelers 1.5” Single Add-a-Leaf
I ran the Wheelers 1.5” Single AAL for a while with my stock leaf springs and no weight. While it was pretty stiff I could still stand it for a while. If you want a cheap way to add 1.5” of lift in the rear to level out a 2” or 2.5” lift in the front it’s a great option, especially if you throw some sand bags or weight in the rear.
Icon RXT Multi-Rate Leaf Springs Kit
If you’re in the market for new brand new leaf springs, the Icon RXT Multi-Rate Leaf Springs are great because they can be configured in 3 different options anytime you want to accommodate more weight or lift heights.
Headstrong 1.5” 3 Piece AAL
If you don’t tow or carry a lot of weight, the headstrong 3 leaf AAL is a great way to improve ride quality and off-road performance and is still relatively cheap compared to new leaf springs.
Dobinsons Leaf Springs
