Toyota: Lift Kits For 98 Tacoma, tacomaterritory, prerunner

Question
I have a 2WD SR5 98' Tacoma.  I am in desperate need for a lift kit of some kind.  I would like to put 33" tires on the truck, but am unsure what to do with my truck, a body lift or a suspention lift.  What's the difference anyways?  I would greatly appreciate any info anf knowledge you could provide.  Thanks.
                                    Aqeel

Answer
Hi Aqeel,

Is your Tacoma a Prerunner or just the basic 2WD?  If its a PreRunner, most of the lift kits for a 4WD will fit yours.  If its a regular 2WD, called a "mini", then its going to be much harder to get it up onto 33s.  In fact, its probably more economical to trade the mini for a used PreRunner.  Here is a good website to see what others are using to lift Tacomas: http://forums.delphiforums.com/tacomaterritory/ .  And there is a good lift FAQ here: http://www.tacomaterritory.com/

A suspension lift is a new set of springs, shocks, and all the components necessary to move the axles farther away from the rest of the frame.  A body lift is a set of spacers which lift the body off the frame.  

A body lift has the advantage of leaving the heavier frame down low so that your center of gravity is a little lower and your risk of rollover is a little lower.  But it has the disadvantage of having to relocate/extend your shifter, bumpers, and anything else which depends on the body being mounted directly to the frame.  And depending on how large the body lift kit is - the frame shows from the outside.  Body lift is usually cheap, because the parts are just little plastic disks and long bolts.

A suspension lift has the advantage of increasing your articulation (amount of vertical movement possible for the wheels).  Since keeping the tires in contact with the uneven ground gives the most traction, good articulation is desirable especially if you don't have differential lockers.  Disadvantage is its usually expensive, especially for late-model IFS vehicles, a lot of relocation of the front drivetrain is usually necessary to preserve the CV angles.  The parts are lots of big pieces of heavy steel and welding is sometimes necessary to install.

There is a good paper catalog available from http://www.performanceparts.com which has pictures of the various lift kits on Toyotas.  Worth having even if you don't order from them. ;-)

Hope this helps,
SherryB