Lift & leveling kit options

I have looked at all of the pics on this site an can not meaningfully see a difference between the vehicles with the level kits and stock. I am sure they make a difference when going big on tires but for those of us upsizing tires for looks and not function (i.e. 31s vs 35s) is this upgrade meaningful? Not about cost but purely changing the stance of the vehicle.
 
I'm hoping to gain a little to not drag/scrape on modest obstacles offroad. Just a little bit would help.

Ground clearance is not a strength of this thing out of the box.

Link is to a moment in video that highlights the problem.


OK. That’s where I was going. Makes sense. The highest point in Louisiana is Driskell mountain at a whopping 853 feet so my use case is way different.
 
They engineering into the land cruiser starting with I believe first generation 20-series the ability to drive straight over, in stock form without difficulty, both state lines and I believe international boundaries as well. ;)
 
Rough Country has one out. Total Chaos is about $3,500 for kings up front and $5,300 with rear kings. They won’t be out until mid Oct. Westcot, I was on the list and paid for one and still waiting. So I went with Rough Country. I was able to get 35x12.5 / 18. With a 25 offset.
View attachment 11036
Which lift kit did you go w from rough country.

2 inch lift kit

Or

3.5 inch lift kit


Can anyone comment of how rough country compares to westcott or other lifts currently on the market for LC?

 
I just did Westcott on my 1958. In person it looks a lot better and feels higher than a picture can convey. I really like this kit for what it is. Putting 285's on it now to complete my overlanding vehicle goal. I do a lot of So Cal desert trips and mountain camping. My goal was to get more clearance and I'm almost there. I can also live with this as a daily driver. Fun stuff.
 
I just did Westcott on my 1958. In person it looks a lot better and feels higher than a picture can convey. I really like this kit for what it is. Putting 285's on it now to complete my overlanding vehicle goal. I do a lot of So Cal desert trips and mountain camping. My goal was to get more clearance and I'm almost there. I can also live with this as a daily driver. Fun stuff.
Are you referring to the Westcott Preload collars? If so, How is the ride? Have you noticed a difference from it completely stock?
 
Are you referring to the Westcott Preload collars? If so, How is the ride? Have you noticed a difference from it completely stock?
Yes. Ride is a little stiffer as expected but im good with it. I don't regret this preload kit. I knew what it was before I invested in it.
 
Getting our Dobinson's IMS Kit installed along with the ARB rear diff breather kit tomorrow at 4x4 Colorado.

Options I chose are:
Front:
C59-818 Red Springs (will be 2.5" after we install a C4 overland bumper + winch)
IMS59-60440 Struts

Rear:
C59-819V Red Springs (definitely going to need with current setup + rear bumper/ spare 35" tire, rear storage box, etc)
We got all the suspension parts for the rear except the 1/2" spacer.

Front UCA is the Icon Billet Aluminum UCA
Icon Diff drop kit as well

For now I'm going to stay on the 295/65R-18s till I get the new wheels in. Grabbed a set of the Icon Recon SLX in Charcoal with that 40mm offset for full articulation and that's what I'll put the 35's on. I'll update with mid progress and after pics!

Here's the before.
 

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Ended up with about a 3" lift, will lower to about 2.5" once front and rear bumpers are on it! Ride on the way home was excellent. Gonna take it out onto the trail near here over the weekend just to test everything out before I take it back to 4 x 4 Colorado for the 500 mile check up. While I was there, they let me know that they had a solar panel available that would fit on top of my roof tent. 290 W, and it fit perfect.
 

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While they will 'fit', the compression and coils arent optimized for th weight of the LC, so it certainly wont ride as designed.
 
While they will 'fit', the compression and coils arent optimized for th weight of the LC, so it certainly wont ride as designed.
Given how close the weights and capacity between the Land Cruiser and the Tacoma I would be surprised to see any difference in ride quality and performance. The Tacoma has greater difference within its model range.

Gross Vehicle Weight kg (lbs.)
Land Cruiser: 3100.00 (6834.3)
Tacoma (hybrid): 3054.95 (6735.0)

Base Curb Weight kg (lbs.)
Land Cruiser: 2460.00 (5423.4)
Tacoma (hybrid): 2345.00 (5169.8)

Payload(GVWR-curb weight) kg (lbs.)
Land Cruiser: 640 (1411)
Tacoma (hybrid): 710 (1565)
 
Given how close the weights and capacity between the Land Cruiser and the Tacoma I would be surprised to see any difference in ride quality and performance. The Tacoma has greater difference within its model range.

Gross Vehicle Weight kg (lbs.)
Land Cruiser: 3100.00 (6834.3)
Tacoma (hybrid): 3054.95 (6735.0)

Base Curb Weight kg (lbs.)
Land Cruiser: 2460.00 (5423.4)
Tacoma (hybrid): 2345.00 (5169.8)

Payload(GVWR-curb weight) kg (lbs.)
Land Cruiser: 640 (1411)
Tacoma (hybrid): 710 (1565)

I would also be prepared to maybe add bump stop extensions to the front (since the land cruiser has bumpstops and the taco doesnt) and possibly a rear spacer as this is about a 1.75" lift. When some people were putting the ReadyLIFT 1.5 Tacoma level kit instead of the 1" kit designed for the Landcruiser - that already sat pretty nose high for my liking when unloaded.

I'm actually considering doing this Falcon kit and building it properly with the extra components from the Readylift 2.5" (Unless a LC specific kit comes out which I believe is already in the works at ReadyLIFT)

I work in sales for both these brands, so just saying might be worth waiting just a bit longer.
 
I had inquired with teraflex about a specific LC application to which they responded with:

“We don't have any current plans to work on the Land Cruiser at this time but I will pass it along to my engineers that there are some questions regarding that model!”

And follow-up from their engineering department…

“The valve tuning in the rear would most likely need to be different between the two models but the front could stay very similar.“

Would seem to be a worth while investment in developing a LC kit given most of the engineering as has already been done.
 
I had inquired with teraflex about a specific LC application to which they responded with:

“We don't have any current plans to work on the Land Cruiser at this time but I will pass it along to my engineers that there are some questions regarding that model!”

And follow-up from their engineering department…

“The valve tuning in the rear would most likely need to be different between the two models but the front could stay very similar.“

Would seem to be a worth while investment in developing a LC kit given most of the engineering as has already been done.
Yeah I got the same response a few months ago when I reached out. There is a whole lot of development going on right now between Falcon/RL if you check out some of the new Tacoma kits with more to come. I believe suspension engineers are working further on the LC as we speak.
 
I have been checking out these mods at the SEMA show via YouTube and it appears there is a lot of focus on the 250 LC. Cannot help but think it is best to wait a bit longer to see what comes out. I think we are in the very early stages of mods for suspension as well as other cool things.
 
From the Westcott video it sounds like the LC200 rear coils fit (He used the OME 722 for 0.75" lift) with older gen Tundra rear shocks.. but fronts required a bunch of custom work to fit.

The Westcott front porch with OME 722 could be a good cheaper fix. (Think that's what's on the Blue one)

I can confirm 80/100/200 series rear coils and spacers fit. I was looking for a small lift in the rear, about 10-15mm, and couldn’t find any options for 250. Wescott wasn’t willing to just sell the rear, and Peak only had 25mm+.

I had some 200 series spacers laying around and decided to try. Surprised that stock 250 springs are progressive, and they’re much wider than prior 120/150 series. Fit was perfect, install was easy, and now I got the rake look that I wanted.
 
I have Dobinson's kit, and have been fairly happy with it... 2.5" in the front and 2" springs with a .75" spacer in the back with medium duty (175-330lb) springs. Have been somewhat disappointed with the squat. Have the Trail Swing, full size (295/70 18) spare, and some misc items (nothing very heavy) in the back, and I'm sitting with just under .5" rake. When I sit the in back to mimic the ADGU drawer system coming in on Tuesday, it squats another .25"... I assumed the 175-330lb springs would be slightly heavier duty.
 
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