🛠️ Member Build 2024 LC (LC trim) on 34's/2.5 inch factory warranty westcott lift

This unit was built in Japan in July, delivered late August. From day one the accessory department here in Bountiful UT was telling me about the westcott 2.5 inch lift built FOR the land cruiser (I guess the lead guy was a toyota engineer?). Anyway they said if they installed it they would honor full factory warranty in any case. Between this and a 3.5 inch RC lift this was the obvious choice. I put 285/75R17 on their recommendation. I know theres a youtube video by 12degnorth where he shows an LC with 34's clearing with no rubbing because of a +40mm offset. I then figured I would be okay buying everything and trying it out. My rims are a +25mm offset and there IS a slight bit of rubbing, kinda bummed. I will be getting it "OEM" trimmed, where this shop keeps the look and feel of OEM by simply moving the mounting brackets or reshaping the plastic. My tire only needs like .25 inches to clear no problems, big o' bummer but we're gonna see how that OEM trim turns out.

If yall have any advice on maybe trimming myself with a heat gun or something I'd love to hear it, I'm not big on 'editing' a 75k car with 800 miles on it but the tires belong here. I love the burnt bronze color, its a very understated bronze, almost looks black in low light, pictures are in direct sun obviously but it's pretty lowkey on the yellow tones. Black Rhino diamond backs.

Yes the Westcott drives harsher, that and my C load Falkens make it pretty different from stock riding comfort. I've decided at 60k miles I'm going to try on 33 Wildpeaks and see if I can live with the smaller look of the tires, (and gain back MPG, Power, and take out the lift for more comfort). You win some you lose some, sometimes you spend 5k to learn you didn't quite need it all haha! I have no regrets, everything is reversible after all. Lost 2-3 mpg or so, not crazy terrible, still torquey down low.

My thought... its your wheel and tire choice that is causing your issues. Lower offset wheels would have allowed that tire to fit, and smaller tire would have ridden a lot better. (and not rubbed) I would do both of those before taking out the suspension.
Did you actually get a full 2.5" up front with Westcott?

Im currently on stock wheels/tires and the westcott llevel kit, and havent noticed any difference with the ride. I did only get 1.5/1.65" up front and 1" in the rear, so perhaps there is some difference. I am currently weighing out the tire specs for the spring, as snow will fall in the next month here and not worth rushing in. Have a set of 18x8.5" 25et wheels sitting at home taking up space, but likely going 275 /70/17 to ensure no rubbing and lighter weight tires.

mkg said:

My thought... its your wheel and tire choice that is causing your issues. Lower offset wheels would have allowed that tire to fit, and smaller tire would have ridden a lot better. (and not rubbed) I would do both of those before taking out the suspension.
Did you actually get a full 2.5" up front with Westcott?

Im currently on stock wheels/tires and the westcott llevel kit, and havent noticed any difference with the ride. I did only get 1.5/1.65" up front and 1" in the rear, so perhaps there is some difference. I am currently weighing out the tire specs for the spring, as snow will fall in the next month here and not worth rushing in. Have a set of 18x8.5" 25et wheels sitting at home taking up space, but likely going 275 /70/17 to ensure no rubbing and lighter weight tires.

Click to expand...

You think the large-diameter tire is affecting the ride? I would (more than) guess that the lift is responsible for the worse ride. Agreed that the wheel (and less so, the tire) choice is what is causing the problem(s).

285/70r18 don't rub on +45 offset wheels; yes, a bit apples and oranges here, but people seem to be falling all over themselves trying to get bigger tires with more poke to fit. I suppose if all this is being done for the looks none of it really matters, as spacer lifts won't negatively affect the on-road ride significantly, at least as compared to the ride difference off-road.

I recently had the Westcott level kit installed, and not sure I noticed any difference riding on the stock 20s. If it was stiffer, the difference to me was negligible.

Going to a wider and significantly heavier load and heavier weight tires will always make your vehicle ride worse. The heavier load means stiffer and thicker sidewalls which can cause you to feel the road a lot more. Especially if filled to a higher psi.
I know there is a certain look some people want to achieve, but getting a larger tire and wheels that poke will require cutting and cause your vehicle to ride worse. To some it's worth it, but also why in the tire thread people are searching for tires that are bigger, but with as close to stock load rating so their ride quality doesn't change much. 275s seem to be the sweet spot with that offering (Few SLs) .. maybe a few C rated 285s being close behind.

That look is so on. Little too much offset for my taste, but close. Great looking LC. Congrats. If I could get that look without sacrificing off-road and on road performance I would have done it already.

One thing I think is counter intuitive to people is how more negative the offset is the more likely it is to rub with a bigger tire. At face value it may look like having the wheel farther away from the body of the vehicle will cause less rubbing. The physics of it all is that negative offset (pushing the wheel away from the body of the vehicle) creates in most cases more potential for rubbing in all turning and articulating movements. Not a perfect analogy, but imagine the wheel and axle as a ball on a string attached to the body of the truck. The longer the string (more negative the offset) the more likelihood full motion of the ball will hit somewhere.