Best complete lift for desert running?

Saintnick

New member
Hey guys how's it going?

I'm looking at finally upgrading my suspension now that I got the tires out of the way, and I was hoping to get some guidance on what would be best for desert running? I'm a complete noob on suspension but I'm reading and researching to try and find the right option for me.

Any ideas on kits or setups?

Thanks!
 
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"Desert Running" to me means you want to go fast over bumps. I'd look at King, ICON, and RaceRunner (swayaway).

What's your budget?

I have ICON's stage 5 and it's pretty sweet.
[MENTION=30949]SIKHILUXSURF[/MENTION] has a "sik" setup from King (see what I did there?)
[MENTION=64995]Patio Burrito[/MENTION] has a delicious King setup (I did it again) if you've got that kinda cash.
[MENTION=74071]Brilliant[/MENTION]'s setup is nothing short of genius (someone stop me)...
 
"Desert Running" to me means you want to go fast over bumps. I'd look at King, ICON, and RaceRunner (swayaway).

What's your budget?

I have ICON's stage 5 and it's pretty sweet.
[MENTION=30949]SIKHILUXSURF[/MENTION] has a "sik" setup from King (see what I did there?)
[MENTION=64995]Patio Burrito[/MENTION] has a delicious King setup (I did it again) if you've got that kinda cash.
[MENTION=74071]Brilliant[/MENTION]'s setup is nothing short of genius (someone stop me)...

Desert running to me means driving quickly over bumps and whoops, yeah. I'm looking at spending in the ballpark of $1100-$1200 tops, but preferably less. So I can rule out any long travel godly King or Icon shocks.
Is a kit like the toytec OME complete lift good enough for mild desert running?

I'm not just looking for a lift, I'm searching for something I can drive on a daily basis and hop off road once in a while.

Thanks everyone for your help!

and the Icon stage 5 makes me drool btw.
 
1k will get you the uniball uppers. That's about it man.

If you're wanting to go fast over some stuff, you're going to need to pony up a lot more dough.

Unless you get lucky and find a Taco or a Runner being parted out, and manage to get the suspension for cheap.
 
1k will get you the uniball uppers. That's about it man.

If you're wanting to go fast over some stuff, you're going to need to pony up a lot more dough.

Unless you get lucky and find a Taco or a Runner being parted out, and manage to get the suspension for cheap.

So the complete suspension kits on toytec won't do it for what I'm looking for? Even the boss suspension kit was $1300, and I could afford that with a few more weeks.
Problem is I'm on a high school budget working at in n out, so I can't drop too much on the truck :/ even though I really want to
 
So the complete suspension kits on toytec won't do it for what I'm looking for? Even the boss suspension kit was $1300, and I could afford that with a few more weeks.
Problem is I'm on a high school budget working at in n out, so I can't drop too much on the truck :/ even though I really want to

In order to pull a Ricky Bobby and go fast through the desert, you're going to need some serious suspension upgrades.

The ToyTech kit won't hold up to what you want to do with it. That kit is made to lift the truck, give more ground clearance, and for rocks.

You that kit and go jumping around in the desert, I'm willing to bet that set of shocks won't even make it past the first hit.
 
Hey guys how's it going?

I'm looking at finally upgrading my suspension now that I got the tires out of the way, and I was hoping to get some guidance on what would be best for desert running? I'm a complete noob on suspension but I'm reading and researching to try and find the right option for me.

Any ideas on kits or setups?

Thanks!

Baja running or desert dune jumping requires some good shocks. Mostly external res shocks.

So you pretty much need to do a king, icon or some other type of coil over shock setup with ext res shocks.
 
In order to pull a Ricky Bobby and go fast through the desert, you're going to need some serious suspension upgrades.

The ToyTech kit won't hold up to what you want to do with it. That kit is made to lift the truck, give more ground clearance, and for rocks.

You that kit and go jumping around in the desert, I'm willing to bet that set of shocks won't even make it past the first hit.

Well that's depressing..... :faint:
 
Baja running or desert dune jumping requires some good shocks. Mostly external res shocks.

So you pretty much need to do a king, icon or some other type of coil over shock setup with ext res shocks.

Aren't ext res like at least 3k for just the shocks? No coils? I was just on the ICON website and I'm about to check out King and cry some more....
 
Aren't ext res like at least 3k for just the shocks? No coils? I was just on the ICON website and I'm about to check out King and cry some more....

Sounds like you need to get your self a mid 98-2002 ford ranger. you can build one of those for under 10K and have all the fun you want.

Here is mine
2000 2.5L 5spd 4.10 rear camburg up front fox reservoirs in the rear

 
for your budget, how long do you want the suspension to last???

IMO, a cheap 'desert' run setup in your price range...

new bilstein 5100 for tundra (adjustable)
new 2005 tundra coils
rear 906 OME coils (2inch ish rear lift, you might want to consider a 3inch maybe) but remember you want no rake or nose up for best performance
rear bilstein 5100 shocks for 2005 tundra (needs lower bushings swapped out)

this will 'perform' "okay" these shocks were used on TRD tundra's so they should 'hold' better than other kits...

and should be cheaper in the long run...

don't forget to air down to ~20psi and bring air pump to air back up when done (viair makes a great pump), this will help with longevity on the setup.

also you can go bigger tires to help the ride and speed.

learn how to drive a dirt road... you use both feet at same time, brake and gas cause you feather the brake to help with the whoops and keep your nose up.


that's all I can think of... the rest if up to you.
 
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for your budget, how long do you want the suspension to last???

IMO, a cheap 'desert' run setup in your price range...

new bilstein 5100 for tundra (adjustable)
new 2005 tundra coils
rear 906 OME coils (2inch ish rear lift, you might want to consider a 3inch maybe)
rear bilstein 5100 shocks for 2005 tundra (needs lower bushings swapped out)

this will 'perform' "okay" these shocks were used on TRD tundra's so they should 'hold' better than other kits...

and should be cheaper in the long run...

don't forget to air down to ~20psi and bring air pump to air back up when done (viair makes a great pump), this will help with longevity on the setup.

also you can go bigger tires to help the ride and speed.

learn how to drive a dirt road... you use both feet at same time, brake and gas cause you feather the brake to help with the whoops and keep your nose up.


that's all I can think of... the rest if up to you.

That's some badass advice! Thank you so much.
I've been working on using both feet on the whoops, I read that too on the forum.
I might just put together that kit you suggested,
thanks again!

Nick
 
Don't forget ADS, Connor has been running those and nothing but good words. All the tundra guys say that ADS is as good as King and holds up better to the elements. Same price ish.
 
That's some badass advice! Thank you so much.
I've been working on using both feet on the whoops, I read that too on the forum.
I might just put together that kit you suggested,
thanks again!

Nick
don't miss understand me... this won't perform as good as king or icon...

this 'should' be better than some of the kits you can throw on there for what 'you want to do' at your price range...
 
That's some badass advice! Thank you so much.
I've been working on using both feet on the whoops, I read that too on the forum.
I might just put together that kit you suggested,
thanks again!

Nick

Same lift I'm running love it.
think I'm into it about $963.00 using Wheelers-offroad.com and 1sttoyotaparts.com for Toyota OEM parts. tundra Coils were 171.00 each from 1sttoyota and about 600 for the bilsteins and 906.
 
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