Not posting for your evaluation, you already stated that your not an expert. Just posting information others may find helpful.
Here are the angles of the CVs on my 2007 4Runner with 76,000 miles on it, this has been lifted over 3" in the front since I bought it in 2008 with 20 something thousand miles on it. CV axles and boots are OE.
This is my new 2014 Trail with 1000 miles on it. It is just under 3" lift in the front, need to crank it up to 3.
Yeah, 3" of lift is about the max you can do on most Toyotas without having to replace other things like brake lines and doing a diff drop. I think the thing that always confuses me about people getting huge lifts is that they don't fit bigger tires. The whole point in getting a lift is to fit a bigger tire that'll raise the lowest point on the vehicle - the rear diff - to clear obstacles. Many have shown that you can easily clear 285s with 2.5" of lift, myself included. What's the point in going even higher than that unless you're going to fit 35s? Raising your CoG for no good reason so you can roll the truck on a sharp corner or not be able to handle as much off camber stuff on the trail? And if you do want to go higher and fit 35s you'll need to do other things like lowering your bumpstops and probably regearing. And really, what would be the point in having all that extra tire that compresses less and doesn't have any more droop, so you better at least go long travel to take full advantage. The dollars start adding up pretty quick and we haven't even touched on the parts that will no longer be under warranty plus the additional maintenance that aftermarket parts require and Toyota techs won't touch when you bring it in for regular service.
