Coils and UCAs

[skre0860]

Hello first time posting here and have been doing a bunch of reading on lifts and what not. I have 03 sr5 v6 with 300,000 miles and just got BFg ko2 265/70/17 a little larger than the stock size and want/need to at least level. The original owners took amazing care of the car.

Was originally going to just do the cheap option and put the dawn star spacers to level the front. But my friend who has an fj and does a bunch of 4wheeling recommended putting the total chaos UCAs. Was looking in to the ome 883 to level the front and then doing the ucas. Looking to do some light to moderate off roading.

Would this be a good cheap option to improve 4x4 capabilities?

Can you do the coils first then ucas?

Would I need to do anything to the rear right away?

Any other suggestions for my mileage are welcome


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[Inv4drZm]

Hello first time posting here and have been doing a bunch of reading on lifts and what not. I have 03 sr5 v6 with 300,000 miles and just got BFg ko2 265/70/17 a little larger than the stock size and want/need to at least level. The original owners took amazing care of the car.

Was originally going to just do the cheap option and put the dawn star spacers to level the front. But my friend who has an fj and does a bunch of 4wheeling recommended putting the total chaos UCAs. Was looking in to the ome 883 to level the front and then doing the ucas. Looking to do some light to moderate off roading.

Would this be a good cheap option to improve 4x4 capabilities?

Can you do the coils first then ucas?

Would I need to do anything to the rear right away?

Any other suggestions for my mileage are welcome


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You really don't need an aftermarket UCA if you are only leveling the truck or keeping minimal front lift. An aftermarket UCA will help correct the alignment with larger lifts.

 

[hetzler_l33]

You really don't need an aftermarket UCA if you are only leveling the truck or keeping minimal front lift. An aftermarket UCA will help correct the alignment with larger lifts.

I guess it varies, but in my case I had to get UCAs to correct my caster and I’m only leveled with 2.5”

 

[skre0860]

You really don't need an aftermarket UCA if you are only leveling the truck or keeping minimal front lift. An aftermarket UCA will help correct the alignment with larger lifts.

So what sort of lift would you recommend with my miles?


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[Inv4drZm]

I guess it varies, but in my case I had to get UCAs to correct my caster and I’m only leveled with 2.5”

I don't see how you can be leveled with 2.5" inches in the front

So what sort of lift would you recommend with my miles?


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Anything that replaces the old shocks you have will help.

 

[hetzler_l33]

I don't see how you can be leveled with 2.5" inches in front

It’s leveled if you measure from ground to wheel well. Idk how either but that’s what it took to level the front with the rear

 

[Drift Monkey]

It’s leveled if you measure from ground to wheel well. Idk how either but that’s what it took to level the front with the rear

You squattin' son.

 

[hetzler_l33]

You squattin' son.

No sir, I don’t like that look. I’m getting T12 springs here soon to help with towing

 

[P_nlsn]

Hello first time posting here and have been doing a bunch of reading on lifts and what not. I have 03 sr5 v6 with 300,000 miles and just got BFg ko2 265/70/17 a little larger than the stock size and want/need to at least level. The original owners took amazing care of the car.

Was originally going to just do the cheap option and put the dawn star spacers to level the front. But my friend who has an fj and does a bunch of 4wheeling recommended putting the total chaos UCAs. Was looking in to the ome 883 to level the front and then doing the ucas. Looking to do some light to moderate off roading.

Would this be a good cheap option to improve 4x4 capabilities?

Can you do the coils first then ucas?

Would I need to do anything to the rear right away?

Any other suggestions for my mileage are welcome

First off, welcome the the forum! Congrats and welcome to the "'03 with +300k miles" club!

P.S. - Nice choice with the KO2's, they're excellent tires

"Would this be a good cheap option to improve 4x4 capabilities?" - That's debatable. To me, just leveling the front doesn't improve wheeling abilities too much, but for just "some light to moderate off roading", the stock height ought to get you by just fine.

For a leveling kit, you don't really need high caster UCA's as they're for correcting alignment on taller lifts. I guess you could get beefier ones with stock caster if you want, but you don't have to.

The rear will be ok with stock parts if you're just leveling the front. But with 300k miles, I would check the the rear shocks and springs to see if they need to be replaced or anything. The bushings/shocks could be bad, springs could be collapsed, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to check.

Aside from the lift, you ask for any other suggestion for a vehicle with you mileage. Since you mention the PO took great care of the car, I'm assuming it's had the appropriate fluid changes at the appropriate times, had wheel bearings replaced, etc., so I'm guessing all that is not an issue. You're already looking to replace springs, so those will be fine too. It probably wouldn't hurt to replace the shocks, since you're already doing springs, so I would recommend that, but that's just IMO. Other than that, just take a good look around it, check for any fluid leaks, and listen for noises that shouldn't be there.

 

[MrSeth]

A very affordable and easy option here is to run FJC springs in the rear on OEM or Bilstein 5100's and OEM springs on adjustable Bilstein 5100's up front.

Bilsteins and new coils on all 4 corners may actually end up costing you about (or even less) what a set of aftermarket UCA's will. Save your money and stick to shocks/springs. (my 2 cents) Heck! Even buy replacement OEM UCA's and LCA's with that money and totally renew her suspension.

 

[Bluesky 07]

Hello first time posting here and have been doing a bunch of reading on lifts and what not. I have 03 sr5 v6 with 300,000 miles and just got BFg ko2 265/70/17 a little larger than the stock size and want/need to at least level. The original owners took amazing care of the car.

Was originally going to just do the cheap option and put the dawn star spacers to level the front. But my friend who has an fj and does a bunch of 4wheeling recommended putting the total chaos UCAs. Was looking in to the ome 883 to level the front and then doing the ucas. Looking to do some light to moderate off roading.

Would this be a good cheap option to improve 4x4 capabilities?

Can you do the coils first then ucas?

Would I need to do anything to the rear right away?

Any other suggestions for my mileage are welcome


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Welcome. A stock 4R is very capable off the pavement and ride/handling is so subjective that I took a very conservative route, the Tacoma swap. See the “X-REAS delete...” post linked in my sig for my reasoning & more on the swap but the bottom line is my ‘07 now rides on a 2015 TRD Offroad suspension for a grand total of $200 & a day of my time.

Check out my YT vids (also linked, especially recommend one from the 2019 Kentucky Toyota Trail Ride) to see whether the kind of wheeling I’m doing is what you have in mind. If so, it’s an approach to consider & I would be happy to answer any questions.

Good luck & let us know what you go with.