Intro and pic request: 10-13 with 2" lift on TRD wheels with spacers (9 Viewers)

[LexusFanMD]

Hello all. After having a GX470 and now a GX460 I wanted to introduce myself and also have a pic request. This is my 10 with ~126k miles. Bought it June 2022 and previous owner did a lot to get it up to date, all new fluids, TRD wheels with WildPeaks, grom vline2, alternator/radiator/valley plate leak repair, along with multi terrain+crawl control and some other minor things. Truck had some suspension noise so I have since put on a 2" Dobinsons IMS lift and new oem lower control arms and upsized the spare to the same rolling size 265/70/17's. Added some diode dynamics fogs and Osram night breaker laser HID bulbs, tint, chrome delete, etc. Also removed the droney magnaflow catback. If i'm being honest. I've been disappointed by the dobinsons IMS as I was told by a few they would be smoother than OEM and it's not. I am pretty sure my blown shocks were more comfortable but the truck does handle better and has less roll and brake dive. Other than that, the truck is great and the grom works well 98% of the time. After having previous 15-20 black interiors the sepia was a nice change too.

Long story short, I want a slightly more aggressive look and am looking to add some wheel spacers, or worst case to go 275 or 285 tires. I didn't immediately want to add the larger tires as I like having same size spare with the hitch but I'm thinking the larger tires could also be more comfortable.

Looking to see if anyone has a 10-13 with 2" lift + TRD 265/70's, + wheel spacers and how much I'd need to cut/shave. Or should I just go ahead and do the 275 or 285's and take the 5th wheel with me on trips, if it is in fact more comfortable?

 

[TahoeLX450]

Love the grille and LRD badging!

 

[GrizzlyClint]

Just came in to say as a fellow 2010 owner I like your rig.

 

[r2m]

Regarding your suspension issues, looking at your rig, perhaps you don't have enough weight for what springs you have?
I have the heavy springs on mine, but my GX is very loaded and it rides as smooth as can be!

 

[LexusFanMD]

Regarding your suspension issues, looking at your rig, perhaps you don't have enough weight for what springs you have?
I have the heavy springs on mine, but my GX is very loaded and it rides as smooth as can be!

Perhaps, there was actually a weird issue when the suspension with comfort springs came in, the shop told me they arrived with the wrong springs, but checking the supplier they were simply mismarked and confirmed to be correct. I only received the truck after all was said and done and checking underneath I couldn't see any markings at all so I have no idea what the truth is. I haven't ridden in another lifted truck and I don't have anything I keep inside other than a toolbox. I wouldn't say it rides terrible, but compared to my pops 2019 mine is noticeably stiffer.

 

[Banandalorian]

I feel like the only complaints I see for the IMS are either people who have the totally wrong springs, or people who have the "stock weight" springs with no extra weight. Totally wrong springs is user error but it kind of sounds like the "stock weight" IMS are some combo of overdamped/oversprung with no extra weight. I would be curious to see if you added some sliders or a beefier front skid if it would improve the ride quality.

 

[r2m]

Perhaps, there was actually a weird issue when the suspension with comfort springs came in, the shop told me they arrived with the wrong springs, but checking the supplier they were simply mismarked and confirmed to be correct. I only received the truck after all was said and done and checking underneath I couldn't see any markings at all so I have no idea what the truth is. I haven't ridden in another lifted truck and I don't have anything I keep inside other than a toolbox. I wouldn't say it rides terrible, but compared to my pops 2019 mine is noticeably stiffer.

This may sound stupid, but see if you can get a few (3 or 4) BIG friends to hop in for a short ride and see how it rides then.
Or get a bunch of sand bags and throw them in the back, then go for a ride.
Either of those should tell you real quick if your ride improves.

 

[LexusFanMD]

This may sound stupid, but see if you can get a few (3 or 4) BIG friends to hop in for a short ride and see how it rides then.
Or get a bunch of sand bags and throw them in the back, then go for a ride.
Either of those should tell you real quick if your ride improves.

I had a steel bathtub and some other stuff in the back and it did ride better, is there nothing more I can do other than keep the truck packed? Funny enough the summer before I had a 230k mile GX470 and was doing a work concrete project. I put about 25 60 lb bags of concrete in the back and the truck rode amazing all the way to work, until I unloaded it and the rear sat 5" higher than usual and my rear shocks blew. Good times.

 

[Banandalorian]

I would look into sliders and a full length fuel tank skid. That's a pretty easy way to add 150-200lbs of static weight which is probably enough to take the edge off the shocks and it improves some GX offroad weak points.

 

[r2m]

A full length steel rack like the Gamiviti also. They are great racks and very purposeful.

Roof Racks — Gamiviti

the original Gamivti Expo rack.

www.gamiviti.com

Or see if you can sell your springs and get lighter weight ones?

 

[JDUB fab]

Bump for a 10’
I’d say get different wheels, spacers are a stop gap. Then bigger tires

 

[JZGarage]

+1 on spring rate/load config = bad ride comments.

I have a white '13 on an IMS set up with the same lift/tire size specs as you and they were a considerable (sportier) upgrade to the OEM system, both on and off road. My rig sits flat on sweeping highway bends at 90mph, handling like a heavy RX350. On the trails it is excellent with washboard (aired down).

Something is amiss with your set up.

 

[JZGarage]

Perhaps, there was actually a weird issue when the suspension with comfort springs came in, the shop told me they arrived with the wrong springs, but checking the supplier they were simply mismarked and confirmed to be correct. I only received the truck after all was said and done and checking underneath I couldn't see any markings at all so I have no idea what the truth is. I haven't ridden in another lifted truck and I don't have anything I keep inside other than a toolbox. I wouldn't say it rides terrible, but compared to my pops 2019 mine is noticeably stiffer.

The ride should be noticeably stiffer, albeit not uncomfortably so. OEM GX suspension is tuned for suburban housewives...

 

[Banandalorian]

@JZGarage you also have some extra weight on your truck with sliders/roof rack/etc so that might be enough to smooth out on-road bumps VS OP. It also could be personal preference.

FWIW I just installed Dobinson MRA with medium weight springs all around and Dob's baseline shock settings for "constant load" were a little on the stiff side. That may be because I am on the low end of extra weight to need the "constant load" compensation or it could be Dob's preference is for a stiffer ride.

 

[thunderklees]

oops.

 

[LexusFanMD]

+1 on spring rate/load config = bad ride comments.

I have a white '13 on an IMS set up with the same lift/tire size specs as you and they were a considerable (sportier) upgrade to the OEM system, both on and off road. My rig sits flat on sweeping highway bends at 90mph, handling like a heavy RX350. On the trails it is excellent with washboard (aired down).

Something is amiss with your set up.

My truck handles sportier like yours, as I mentioned it has less roll and less brake dive, and on washboard roads the suspension does work better than my previous stock GX470. My issue is around town comfort, especially railroads crossings or rough DC/Baltimore roads. Coming from a lowered on HKS coils ISF I just assumed it would be worlds softer and it's not. All in all it's not a horrible ride, my comment was more towards the people who told me or are told that IMS is as soft or softer than stock. I notice you have sliders and stuff on the roof so I assume a few hundred pounds extra would help. I think I will try 285/70's to add some more sidewall.

 

[LexusFanMD]

So, an update. Rather than play with springs, or change shocks again:
-I upsized to 285/70/17 wild peaks, a lightly used set off a new gladiator. I understand this is slightly wide for the 17x7" TRD wheels, but the 4runner pages and Jeeps seem to run the same with no issues.
-Upgraded the upper control arms to freedom offroad. Not sure if I needed them for the tires, but my OEM ones were dated and I figured may as well.
-New alignment and mild cutting of the sidestep and heat gunning of the front fender liner. No issues with rubbing, but haven't gone offroad yet.
-Pros are that it finally looks like it should, beefy tires, slightly more poke, raised about an inch, kind of a planted heavier ride.
-Cons are that it's not any softer ride with more sidewall, if anything it's stiffer and I'm at 35 psi, already lower than most seem to run. It's also noticeably louder on the highway, not annoyingly so, but loud enough for my better half to notice immediately lol. Another con is of course now I need to upsize the spare and it will no longer fit in the spare location. Not a huge concern as 95% of my driving is within 20 min of home, and I can throw it in the trunk for longer trips. Just a little disappointed with the ride quality. I probably should have stuck with refreshed OEM shocks instead but can't deny it looks great. Guess I'll juts have to go to the beach more this year

 

[r2m]

Looks great!
Also regarding your concern about the width of the rims, in general you want as narrow a rim as possible for off roading. Toyota knows enough about off roading that they purposefully spec out narrow rims for their TRD's. The reason is when you air down (10 to 12 psi), the bead will not be as likely to blow off the rim when crawling with narrower rims.
The stupid mall cruisers that have 10"+ rims? Those are the guys on the trail with the tire blown off the rim and no way to fix it.
Anyways, the black rims are killing it on your rig!

 

[LexusFanMD]

Looks great!
Also regarding your concern about the width of the rims, in general you want as narrow a rim as possible for off roading. Toyota knows enough about off roading that they purposefully spec out narrow rims for their TRD's. The reason is when you air down (10 to 12 psi), the bead will not be as likely to blow off the rim when crawling with narrower rims.
The stupid mall cruisers that have 10"+ rims? Those are the guys on the trail with the tire blown off the rim and no way to fix it.
Anyways, the black rims are killing it on your rig!

Thanks! Funny enough my next step was going to be to paint the wheels gunmetal lol.

 

[LexusFanMD]

Slight update, played with the PSI some and dropped to 30 cold, about 32-33 warmed up. No TPMS lights on, and the ride has noticably improved. Next step I'll just throw in a few sandbags or weights and all will be right with the world. Maybe add a shelf or rack in the future.