Help me plan some near term improvements

So far I've really been enjoying my truck. As a side note, I just received the title since I paid it off at the end of June.

I have noticed a few shortcomings that I would like to improve upon. I live in a hilly town surrounded by mountains. On the city streets going uphill around turns I can induce axle hop and wheel spin easily. There is also a lot of body roll. I know that this thing will never handle like my WRX does, but it does handle worse on pavement than my old 1998 Isuzu Rodeo, as I can get the front tires to squeal quite easily around corners. I also know that tires make probably the single greatest improvement to traction. I intend on getting a set of aftermarket rims with Bridgestone Revo2s next year, where I am running the stock Dunlop AT20s currently. I'm also planning on getting a dedicated set of studless ice/snow winter tires and rims when that time approaches.

What I am considering is a Hellwig rear swaybar to control the rear body roll, followed by a Budbuilt traction bar to solve the wheel hop. I don't want to go with helper springs. I don't plan on offroading that heavily besides occasionally maintained dirt county roads, despite the drooling over long travel setups. A decent mid travel setup is a definite possibility, though.

I do plan on either increasing the engine power through forced induction or beefing up the naturally aspirated side of things, and/or regearing as the truck drops to 4th gear on the mountain freeways outside of town. It seems way overgeared for mileage, and if I put larger tires on it will only exacerbate the issue. Please consider these plans in any opinions you might give.

To sum up:
1. Swaybar
2. Traction bar
3. Better tires

Any suggestions or opinions?

 

Get the front end aligned to 2.1 caster, 0 camber and toe. NOT to the factory "window" though. This will help with the handling and stability some, at least it did with mine. The tire upgrade will also help quite a bit. Can't comment on the sway/traction bars as I have thought about the sway bar, but have not pulled the trigger on it.

If you really want to increase the handling, may want to consider lowering it (lower the CG). Not sure if that fits into how you use the truck though.

 

You mean add some negative camber, correct? To tilt the tops of the tires inward.

I thought about doing the Tundra Racing lowering kit, but as you alluded to, I'm not sure I want to sacrifice that much ground clearance. When I go with aftermarket tires and wheels it will also widen the stance a bit which should help, but only marginally. The CG is still high.

 

Whoops, I typed that wrong, caster at 2.1, 0 for camber and toe. I edited my original post to reflect that.

 

Camber would help, too, but I'll probably just get it realigned when I get my winter tires bought and installed.