6" lift on Tacoma?? For serious use...

[TheGreatWhiteBuffalo]

Hey guys. I’ve owned a 2016 taco for a few years, finally got it all decked it out with armor, tires, etc. I had full BP-51 setup on it and loved it. Loved off roading it and actually took it on some pretty rough stuff. I had all steel armor below, slid down rocks, got a little flexy with a tire in the air and locked diffs on a few occasions. I’m not a rock crawler but any stretch, definitely more overland stuff, I just ask a lot of my vehicle. I also pretty consistently fly down CA trails going 45+ when others are stuck going 15 on less modded vehicles.
Unfortunately, I recently just bent the frame and the truck is totaled. :/

My dilemma is this...
I just bought another taco that already has a 6” BDS kit. I stupidly thought I could just remove it and swap for my full BP-51 setup and all my armor. Well come to find out they cut out the rear crossmember to do it, basically making it impossible to take off. (I understand it’s possible, but quite frankly way too much work compared to just selling the truck)

I know a lot of guys do the 6” lift and are happy with it, but most of the guys I’ve heard from going that high aren’t seriously off-roading or overlanding.

I don’t want to pour a bunch more money into this truck doing gears, etc. if I’m going to regret the 6” lift and wishing I had my 2.5” back.
If I opt for some Fox adjustable dampening 6” coilovers, and maybe do some custom work to fit skids around the dropped differential, how well will this handle trails and all the added weight?

Is there anything else that should be on my radar suspension-wise that I’m not thinking about that I should do or would drastically improve this?
6” kits are totally out of my wheelhouse so I appreciate your guys opinions. If that opinion is “lift is shit for real off-roading and sell the truck” then you know - it is what it is...

Thanks guys!

 

[iLikeDonuts]

I get cold sweats when I see 6" lifts on a truck. Take my opinion with a grain of salt, because I've never done any in-depth research beyond reading other people's experience and questions surrounding 6" lifts, but my takeaway is that they're absolutely shift for off-roading. Their primary use is looks. I think they look silly, others love it.

It's also possible to reverse it, but a huge PITA. So if you're crawling the mall, all the power to ya. If you want to take it down some forest roads and go off-roading, you might want to explore other options.

 

[Boostpowered]

Yeah if your gonna go past 4" and want real offroad ablility, 4 links and solid axle or long travel ifs are the only race proven ways, talking about going fast down forrest service roads youll probably be wanting the long travel, they arent the best in the rocks but not as bad as the lift kit would be.

If you keep it the dropped diff brace will hit rocks no doubt, id worry more about the cv joints/axles , control arm bushings, hub bearings and tie rods thats what tends to break when over lifting a truck with a kit like that.

Take it out and wheel it though before you decide, it may work fine or may not only you will know for sure.

 

[Lindenwood]

Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with the higher bracket lifts on IFS rigs. If the setup is well designed, all it does is essentially raise the frame relative to the suspension mounts.

Now, some of them are more prone to tweaking if you beat on the rig really hard--and it sounds like you beat on your rigs way harder than most--like desert racing kind of stuff. But the well-built setups are not fundamentally weaker or more prone to other issues.

Two caveats:
1) These types of lifts do not actually increase total suspension travel. The only way to actually increase total travel is with a long-travel setup, which is likely 3-4x as much money all said and done.

2) They do raise the center of gravity a good bit without an accompanying increase in track width (i.e. what would come with a long-travel setup).

Bottom line, on long-wheelbase trucks, bracket lifts can provide a sometimes-desireable increase center in center clearance. If you got a good kit--i.e. with custom extended-length shocks instead of shock extension brackets, etc--you will likely be perfectly happy with the lift.