We finally reached the fabled Desert Bar after an hour of ripping through the dirt. The place was packed. Check out the solar power cells on the roof. This place really is in the middle of nowhere.
Destination: Found!
In the world of lifted trucks, we've come to expect a few things. Usually, our truck won't handle as well, ride as well, and the parts don't always fit or work the way we'd like them to after installing a lift kit. We weren't expecting factory-quality parts; however, that's what we received from Pro Comp. everything fit the way it was designed to. With the exception of a few bolt holes that had to be enlarged, the entire kit bolted in place. The new coilovers were tuned almost perfectly to provide a cushy highway ride and plenty of suspension to soak up moderately rough off-road sections. Make no mistake: This is not just a lift kit. But, don't also make the mistake of thinking this or any other bolt-on suspension will turn your Tundra into a Trophy Truck. We don't recommend jumping your rig unless you want to test the strength of the factory chassis.
With our truck freshly lifted and the bed filled with our gear, we hit the road for Arizona. Once across the state line, we veered off the highway and into the dirt, following an old map to what we thought was a shortcut to the Desert Bar. The shortcut took us 5 miles out of the way to a dead end marked with a skull and crossbones.
Prior to the lift, we averaged 16 to 19 mpg in fuel economy on the highway and 14 to 16 around town. The switch to 35-inch tires dropped our cruising rpm by several hundred revolutions per minute and threw off the speedometer by 3.3 mph. The additional weight of the new rolling stock hurt the acceleration of the truck. We are now averaging about 13 to 15 mpg on the highway and 10 to 12 mpg around town. Towing a car hauler strapped with a 3,600-pound truck brought the gas mileage down to 9 mpg. Still, that's not too shabby considering our truck is still rockin' the factory rear-axle ring-and-pinion gears. A quick switch to a higher ratio will help restore some of the fuel economy.
Behind the wheel, we noticed our steering radius decreased slightly, but this truck had a great turning radius to begin with, so navigating parking lots is still easy. The truck definitely feels top-heavy due to its size, but the steering response and smooth on-road manners really give the truck a good balance, even in high-wind situations.
The Xtreme A/Ts offered a generous footprint that was wide enough to float over the loose gravel and silt that we encountered when climbing the mountainous terrain. | 
Not only is our truck more capable off the road, but it still tows like a champ. Stay tuned for the next round of modifications. | 
After our detour, we found the right trail. We knew we were headed in the right direction when we passed this old, abandoned workhorse. Anyone want to guess what it is? We'll send a free T-shirt to the first person to give us the right answer. Go to www.sporttruck.com and start a thread in the forums with your answer |
We feel this is as close to a stock ride as you can get with a lift kit of this type. Our only gripe is that after towing with the truck the rear suspension sacked out and lost about an inch and a half of ride height, which pointed the headlights toward the sky, making them virtually useless at night. Adjusting the lights or adding a taller block or another leaf spring to the rear suspension should fix that problem. Overall, we dig our Tundra with this group of parts, and the loss of fuel economy is more than made up for with off-road prowess and style.