How to Lift a Toyota Pickup

The Toyota pickup is known for its reliability and longevity, which makes it a vehicle widely seen on roads across the country. As a result, customizing the trucks by lifting them higher for off-roading purposes is pretty common. Installing a lift kit on a Toyota truck is not too labor-intensive but can take a few hours to do, depending on your skill level. In this case, the project vehicle is a 2001 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner model, but the process is similar for other Toyota trucks as well.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

things you'll need:

• Jack
• Jack stands
• Tire iron
• 1/2 inch ratchet and socket set
• 3/8 inch ratchet and socket set
• Front 2 inch lift spacer kit
• Rear 1.5 inch block kit

1. • 1

     Lift up your Toyota using the jack, and place the truck on jack stands. Make sure the vehicle is secure before you crawl underneath it, and that there are jack stands underneath the axle as well. Remove the tires with the tire iron, and place them to the side.

   • 2

     Unbolt the front strut from the frame, using the 3/8 inch ratchet and socket set. Then push down on the spindle to pop the strut out of the frame mount.

   • 3

     Place the front spacer kit on top of the factory strut, and slide the assembly in place. Bolt the spacer and strut to the frame, using the 3/8 inch ratchet and sockets and the hardware provided with the kit.

   • 4

     Unbolt the factory U-bolts that hold the rear leaf spring to the axle, using the 1/2 inch ratchet and socket. Place the U-bolts to the side, and jack up the axle using the jack. Once it's off the stands, lower the stands one click on the body, and place the axle down onto the stands.

   • 5

     Slide the lowering block between the leaf spring and the axle. There is a pin on the block, which must go in the hole on the axle. The pin on the leaf spring then goes in a hole on the block.

   • 6

     Attach the U-bolts provided with the block kit to the axle in the same manner as the factory U-bolts, and secure them with the hardware provided with the kit and the 1/2 inch ratchet and socket.

   • 7

     Reinstall the tires on the Toyota, using the tire iron, and then lift the truck off the jack stands.