131 0408 Susp 05 Z - Photo 8785100

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In addition to the rear crossmember being removed, a section of the driver-side rear support also needs to be cut away to clear the hydraulic lines for the rack-and-pinion steering. We actually had to cut more than the instructions said to, but since the new subframe is tied into the brackets at four places, we were not concerned.

We took our '01 Toyota Tacoma to Off Road Warehouse in El Cajon, California, and worked with their techs for two days to install the kit. It was the first 5-inch Tuff Country Tacoma kit they had installed, and one of the first built, so it took a little while longer than usual to get all the holes lined up and parts bolted together.

Though possible to install in a well-tooled home garage, we would recommend taking the kit to a qualified shop if you have any doubts. The disassembly of the IFS is not exactly hard, but having some airtools, a lift or quality jackstands, and a person or two to help is almost required.

With the front differential removed, a portion of the lower rear A-arm mount needs to be cut. There is a new lower subframe that will support the front differential, and to clear where the differential will sit, the old supporting crossmember must be trimmed as per the instructions.

In addition to the rear crossmember being removed, a section of the driver-side rear support also needs to be cut away to clear the hydraulic lines for the rack-and-pinion steering. We actually had to cut more than the instructions said to, but since the new subframe is tied into the brackets at four places, we were not concerned.

The new lower subframe was a tight fit, and possibly due to the abuse the truck received from the previous owner, we had to pry and pound on it to get all the bolt holes to line up. Remember not to torque all the bolts down until they are at least all started. Another thing to be careful of is which bolts go where-the instructions are very specific, and though some bolts are similar is size, the lengths may be different by 1/2 inch, or you'll have bolts bumping into an axleshaft.

The front suspension doesn't affect the stock ride quality, because rather than replace the coils and shocks, you simply add a spacer to lift up the truck, and longer spindles. Another benefit of the Tuff Country kit is that the factory-style ball joints come already pressed into the spindle.

The old standby lift block raised the rear suspension of the truck. We did notice some spring wrap from the stock, worn-out springs, and the block only added to that, though we feel it wouldn't have been so bad had the springs been in better shape.

With the kit installed, we mounted up a set of the new BFGoodrich LT285/55R20LRD All-Terrain TA tires on Ultra Wheel Stargazer 20x9 wheels that measure roughly 33 inches tall. When we went to put the tires on the truck we found that the tires rubbed the spindle and couldn't be completely mounted. We found that a minimum of 4 1/2 inches of backspacing is needed to clear.

We went with a set of 1-inch wheel spacers from Kartek to get the wheels and tires to clear on the front. Always be sure to retighten the spacers after your first 300 miles or first tank of gas.

We wanted to test the new 20-inch tires against some more common 33-inch tires on 16-inch rims, so we brought along an extra set of BFGoodrich All-Terrains on 16x8 Ultra Wheels for our dirt testing. We will eventually come back and re-examine this comparison in a few months, but our initial review of the tires, wheels, and suspension is as follows: The Tuff Country 5-inch kit is a solid kit, and after a small wrestling match to get it on, we found the ride quality did not diminish from stock. The 33-inch BFGoodrich tires did rub just a little on the back edge of the plastic fender liner, but this could have easily been fixed by installing some replacement factory springs in place of our tired front struts, or just trimming the plastic back an inch.

As for the 20-inch tires, some of the staff really like it, others don't. The 20s definitely weigh more than the 16s and also transmit more road surface feel to the driver seat, but also seem to corner as well if not better.