Ok, so Ive been scoping out a few 3" lift kits with shocks for my 1995 pickup and have found them for a good price on Ebay. I've noticed some come with or without the differential drop spacers.

Is it really necessary to drop the diff for a 3" lift?? I put a 3" lift on my 1996 Tacoma without doing a diff drop and never had any issues at all.

 

If given the option of with the diff drop or with out the diff drop
You want the diff drop, less stress on the cv's especially if your actually wheeling

 

You say 1995 pickup, so I'm assuming not a Tacoma. Let me first say that any ad on ebay that claims 3" is false. Most of the time, in the fine print, it says you get 3" after torsion bar adjustment. It can be done, but I don't recommend tightening the torsion bars. It makes the suspension stiff and you lose travel.
I'm assuming you're looking at kits like these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/86-95-Toyota-IFS-Pickup-3-2-AAL-Lift-Kit-w-Shocks-Diff-Drop-4WD-PRO-/280946894036?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1995%7CMake%3AToyota&hash=item4169bd64d4&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-IFS-Pickup-2-5-Lift-Kit-w-AAL-Shocks-85-95-/250866784923?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1995%7CMake%3AToyota&hash=item3a68d35a9b&vxp=mtr
The spacers are only 1.5" thick and will net you 1.5" of lift. Back to the original question...as Stetson md said, if given the option, get the diff drop. You'll find that without it, your CVs might bind up, even with only 1.5" of lift. If you plan to crank the bars to net 2.5" or 3", they will definitely bind.

This is the kit that I used on my 93: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-IFS-Pickup-4Runner-2-5-Front-Lift-Kit-4WD-/270441652053?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1995%7CMake%3AToyota&hash=item3ef7941f55&vxp=mtr
It's the same thing as the second kit I posted above, just without the shocks or rear add a leafs. You could get just the ball joint spacers for upwards of $130. This has the ball joint spacers, diff drop and sway bar drop for only $80. Sweet deal and it includes high quality grade 14.9 hardware. You'd be stupid not to get the diff drop!

 

Thanks for the info and yes it is a Toyota Pickup, extended cab 4x4, 3.0.

Well I looked into these lifts a little more and they dont seem like a good idea. I thought they were similiar to my RevTek lift I put on my Tacoma where you have to compress the front spring and insert them there. These actually mount on top and seem to put alot of stress and excessive angles on your steering/cv axle components.

So my new question is what other lifts 3-4" are out there that people recommend? I would like to get a complete kit with shock and all. My buddy told me about a rough country lift with shocks for about $600. Gonna look into this one.

 

The only other options are body lifts , bracket lifts like you're talking about, long travel kits, or solid axle swaps. It all depends on how much you want to spend.

The front suspensions of the pickups are different than the Tacomas because Tacomas have coils while Pickups have torsion bars. There are less options with torsion bar suspension, IMO.

 

I have the rough country 4incj sus on my 93 with 33x12.5 Iike it I'm planning to go sas in about a year or so. But for now I can enjoy my pickup. Only thing I'd recommend is dont buy there shocks they're awful in my oponion

 

Thanks i will look into those!