Agree with the above. Could be a great purchase.
I do not and have not owned a Tundra but have linstalled lifts on several Tacomas and older pickups. Small 2-3 inch suspension lifts are very common place and usually dont cause too much havoc on the truck's suspension or driveline, actually the opposite is usually true in that you may notice a great improvement in handling and capability - most stock suspensions are complete crap.
There are quite a few members here running between a 2 and 3 inch lift. It is important to note that Toyota dealers are actually selling lifted veicles now out of their new car lots - you can get a new Tacoma with several different lift options installed by the dealer - the do offer a spacer kit for the new Tacomas and will install it for you (not sure about thenew Tundras as I have not seen them for sale liifted new on the lot). It is very common practice. that said, spacers simply just re-use the same stock crappy stock suspension parts and space it out to add lift - you really can do better than spacers for a pretty low budget and replace the front struts and rear shocks. If you buy the truck you may want to look into replacing the strut spacer with a Billy 5100 strut setup and the rear block withe a wheelers progressive rate AAL and billy 5100 (or any similar combo of better parts). Generally, spacers provide added height for bigger tires but are seemingly almost frowned upon as a cheap way of getting some lift with no performance benefit aside from higher ride height. If you do lift it, slap some 285/70/17s on there
Front strut spacers look like a hockey puck and are made from either steel, alluminum, or some poly based rubber material. You may check with the owner and see what the spacers are made from, avoid the rubber ones they bulge out and crack over time and eventually fail. Lifting the front causes the front suspension to operate at the bottom of the working range and can cause premature wear on the upper control arm ball joint, can cuase premature wear on the cv joint and boot, can cause premature wear on the steering rack and associated linkage. It is unlikely that is will cause catastrophic failure, it typically just causes these items to wear faster due to the higher operational angles.
Rear blocks are pretty standard and commonly used even in vehicles sold by car manufacturers off the lot as new cars. The problem with adding block spacers after the fact is they can agitate axle wrap and cause premature wear of the rear Univeral Joint. Whenever you step on the gas, the torque is tranferred to the axles and then the wheels. The block causes the axle to be lower than the the original spring seat and adds a lever effect to the torque transfer from the axle to the wheels and causes the leaf springs to wrap and the differential yoke to surge/rotate upwards adding stress to the rear driveshaft universal joint. there are easy sollutions for this such as an anti-wrap add-a-leaf, spring clamps, torque bars, etc.
If you are putting a pop-top camper on the back you may also want to look into airbags regardless of what truck you get and regardless of if it has a lift. Airbags will improve your ride fully loaded on a trip and are a HUGE safety improvement.
Regardless of if the truck is lifted with spacers or a spring lift, it will drive differently and will lower the MPG's (slightly - vehicle dependent and more related to the size tire you add and how much weight you push - the camper on the back is likely to eat more MPGs than tires or a lift). With more suspension travel you may notice it in the cornering although this varies depending on what lift setup you used.
If the truck is clean probably not an issue. Check CV joints for wear. Check upper control arm balljoint for wear. Ask for allignment record and check caster and camber. On the rear look at the driveline angle and if they used blocks check for axle wrap on rakeoff. Drive the truck carefully and deliberately with the windows down and feel for any vibes at different speeds. Drive it with the windows up at high speeds and feel for vibes at different speeds. Check tires for uneven wear. If it has new tires ask why (I am always suspicious of vehicles for sale with new tires as it could cover up a tire wear problem). Check brake lines to see if they are long enough at full travel/articulation.
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If I were you and the truck was clean, I would negotiate a price with the seller to get the price lowered to take off the spacers/blocks and have the following added:
**Weblinks added below are for reference only and not intended to endorse or otherwise promote these businesses - no affiliation just know they sell the product.
My brother has an 04' Tundra and we have settled on the following upgrade after lots of debate.
Front:
Billstein 5100s -
http://www.toyteclifts.com/index.ph...rt&page=shop.browse&category_id=136&Itemid=72
Sway bar bushing kit (
http://www.wheelersoffroad.com/tundraswaykit.htm )
Rear:
5100s (
http://www.wheelersoffroad.com/tundraadjbils.htm or
http://www.toyteclifts.com/index.ph...rt&page=shop.browse&category_id=136&Itemid=72 )
Progressive Rate Add-a-Leaf and U-bolt kit (
http://www.wheelersoffroad.com/tundraaal.htm )
Probably need four (4) of these as well for the Add-a-Leaf setup:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=RPDYTs6lIKOUiQLBy9HYCQ&ved=0CFIQ8wIwAA#
Rear leaf airbags (
http://www.wheelersoffroad.com/tundraairlift.htm)