2019 TRD Pro with 4" ReadyLift: to keep or not to keep the lift

Hey all, just bought a new-to-me 2019 TRD Pro. Got it from a dealership in Houston. It's immaculate with tons of maintenance records attached. I doubt this thing was ever taken offroad - it looks like a garage queen! Paint still has incredible sparkle.

The previous owner installed a 4" ReadyLift on 35/12.5/20's. They installed Fuel rims, but I don't have the specs on those rims just yet.

I plan to take it offroad - not rock crawling in particular but I gave my '13 Taco a good run for the money.

I'm a wee curious/concerned about having the 4" spacers up front. Is this potentially going to be an issue for the suspension? Thinking about reversing this as the Pro comes with a factory 2" lift to begin with.

In addition, if I lost the 4" lift, would I then have issues with the 35/12.5/20's rubbing? I guess some of that would depend on the offset, but I'd love to hear from some TRD Pro owners what they're using and what works/doesn't work.

 

The offset will be stamped on the back side of the wheel, usually on one of the spokes. Can you post pics of the front suspension? I want to see what Readylift kit is installed. The 35s will rub if you drop back down to a 2 inch lift.

 

Great looking truck! You asked some good questions. Sounds like you want to use the truck similiar to the way I use mine. I do lots of off road trail stuff - no rock crawling.

Spacer lifts can work for people who just drive on pavement and want the "look". That said, spacer lifts make the ride comfort suffer and dont provide proper geometry for true off road use. First, if you remove the spacers and go back to stock height, you will have rubbing issues. Most likely on the body mount and front fender.

If I were you, I would aim to achieve 2.5-3" lift up front at a maximum. I'd suggest changing to coilovers up front using a product like this: In the rear, it would be best to use schackles and you can keep your stock leaf springs. Would need to upgrade the rear shocks in this scenario. You may also want to upgrade your UCAs to achieve proper alignment. Dont know if that answers your questions but its a start...

I have 37" tires on about 3" of lift (the toytec coilovers listed above) with rear shackles, RAS in the rear to help with sag, and bilstein 5100 rear shocks. Also have SPC UCAs in the front.

 

Please post a side picture of the wheels as well. They look like the Fuel Hardline series.

 

I fully agree with everything you said, except I would use the add a leaf instead of the shackles. I'm a big fan of the Toytec stuff (I've had them on 3 trucks over the last 10 years.) With the add a leaf you won't get sag in the rear like the lift shackle.

 

Good comment. I'm wanting to get all new heavy duty leaf packs in the future. Next on the mod list

 

Crawled under there and couldn't make out anything other than J20x9, which doesn't tell me the offset. I'll have to remove a wheel for that in a bit.

Here are pics of the front suspension.

 

They are indeed the Fuel Hardline D621's I believe. Something like this: https://www.onlinetires.com/wheels-fuel-d621-hardline-20x9-d62120902650.html

Here is a side pic:

 

No worries on the offset. It will be something like ET18 for example. With that particular bracket lift, the center crossmember is cut out if I recall correctly. I believe a new one would have to be welded in to remove the current setup.

 

Thanks for the input! Probably not what I wanted to hear, but it's mine now and I guess I have to deal with whatever came with it. I did watch a youtube video on the installation and noticed the guy had a sawzall on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtO-Mx8PfD0

Wondering if just removing the top spacer is an option? Welding a new center crossmember sounds pricey.

 

@colenation has this same kit I believe. Charles @texasrho83 isn't yours a Readylift?

 

How bout ditch the ridonkulous spacer and go full legnth coilover

 

Yep I have a 6" RL. I kicked the spacers to the curb soon after.

 

This.

 

If that's an option, that's my preference. And yes, the spacer is absolutely ridonkulous.

So to be clear, it's an option to keep everything like it is with the ReadyLift, but remove the spacer up front and add coilovers? (here are the ones @Boisefly recommended: ).

Not exactly clear what's going on the rear and if I have anything there that needs to be either undone or redone in order to make things 'safe' for offroading.

 

$100 there’s a block back there. Better solution would be shackles or Leafs or a combo of both.

 

It probably has a block under the leaf pack

 

You just won $100. Add it to my tab. Here's the stupid block:

 

If it were me, I would ditch that. You can run 35s with a proper lift that doesn't have a massive spacer and have both on road comfort and off-road performance. I would call readylift and see if its possible to return the truck to stock trd pro form, then do a coachbuilder shackle in the rear, and the new Eibach coils up front. I just did that and its money. Ill have a thread made this weekend about it. Best part about it is all in the springs are 225, shackle is 340, so at 565 bucks you can get a TRD pro to sit 3" up from a regular Tundra while still keeping the ride characteristics of a TRD Pro. I do have UCAs as well but if you are going to off-road they make a difference and you should get them. Dirt King ball join UCAs are 600 bucks. So 1165 for everything I have in parts. I wonder if you could sell your Readylift and recoup a good chunk of that.

 

@ATX_TRD_PRO your fog light on the driver side looks like its popped out of the retaining cage thing it has built into it. Theres a little plastic blue tab thing that keeps the light in place, you should fix that so it doesn't rattle like crazy on you. I could be seeing it wrong but it looks canted up in your top picture?

 

Good score! hope you received a decent deal.

do away with those spacers,, if it were mine they would be gone.

 

Next question:

Can the front and rear blocks simply be removed, all else staying the same? As in, I leave the new ReadyLift crossmember there and don't have to weld in a new one. Just remove the blocks for now and look into adding coilovers up front and rear shackles later?

 

Likely nope. The lower bracket part of the lift is there to increase the distance between the upper and lower A rms of the suspension. That means you have a longer spindle as well. You need a longer coil over to fill that space. If you pull the block in the back you’ll get instant Carolina Lean.

 

Returning it to its stock form will involve finding/purchasing a new crossmember (I don't have the one that was cut out) and getting that welded back in. I may be able to get something for the lift kit if the shop keeps all the necessary parts and resell on here. Gonna be pricey and now i'd like to return it and get my money back. =)

What's the difference in the Eibach coils ($225) and the Toyotec coilovers ($1,450)? Obviously I like the $225 number a lot better. And where do you get them? Because a quick interwebs search turns up wayyy too many options for me.

 

I hesitate to recommend anything RC but something like these extended length coilovers would replace those spacers and you could sell your TRD Pro setup. Doesn’t have to be these RC, just the idea of them.

https://www.roughcountry.com/premium-n3-lifted-struts-500017.html

 

I would say mine is similar but not quite the 4” lift. I have the RL 4/2 SST kit, which only added spacers on front, blocks in rear and UCAs (no cutting involved). Of course mine is TRD Sport and not PRO. I’m also running 35x12.5x20 on Fuel 20x9s with +20 offset. Currently I have slight rub at full lock but I’m not an off-roader, unless the pasture or farm counts.

like @Boisefly mentioned, I too plan to convert over to the TT coilovers and the CB +3 shackles in rear. I installed the Firestone Riderite bags as well to help with sag when I haul loads.