Serious Offroaders on 35's or bigger

completely depends on the offloading your talking about doing. If you are out west and want to do long overland trips i'd suggest modding your tacoma to 35's and decking it out with overland gear. If your more interested in hard core wheeling and rock crawling sell it and pick up a new(er) jeep JK with the new motor.

2012 JK rubicon (2 or 4 door) 4.5 rubicon express long arm lift, high clearance fenders/bumpers, rock rails, regear, hardened axle shafts, and 40's with some beadlocks. incredible.

 

I Decided I am going to pursue The JK Option. I'm certainly not in any rush to sell which will allow me the ability to find the right deal, and maybe start picking up some parts before she is even in the driveway

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacoma-marketplace/249161-2011-tacoma-trd-offroad-sale.html

I will probably keep this thread going to sort of chronicle my decision. Perhaps it will be of use to others who are in similar shoes. Please feel free to offer up opinions either way.

 

I thought that the Newer JK's had more HP but I couldn't find it anywhere.

Yes, I agree that there is a to each their own factor in this. Thats why I stated the JK is a very good platform, Actually the best right out of the box for wheeling.

However, No JK is going to follow my truck at a 1/3 of the improvement cost. I've wheeled with some JK's that have invested twice the money I have in my Tacoma and those are some very capable rigs. Extremely capable rigs. And they have tackled some wicked trails. But those are JK's with extended wheel base's, Dana 60's front and rear, locked with selectable lockers, 4 speed Atlas transfer case's, 40+ inch tires, extensive body modifications, and more. They are very nice trucks and have put every bit the money i have into my truck. But a JK running on just dana 60's isn't going to cut it.

I love the new JK and applaud Jeep for Finally getting it right. Your approach to it is exactly the approach I would take as well. I have a very good friend who sold his Tacoma, a very nice sased Tacoma and got a JK and it's very nice. And your right, this wasn't a thread to see which is better. If it were the JK would win the off road portion hands down stock to stock. Lets face it, it's hard to beat stock solid axle's with lockers, 285 hp and a stock 4 to 1 transfer case. That just isn't going to happen.

Don't be bothered by those who are blinded by the brand. If I were in your shoes I would travel the same road. But lets not over look physics and cost when it comes to comparing either. Theres a reason I have a wheel base of 130 inches, the truck is wider than it is tall and my center of gravity is just an inch higher than stock. A ton of behind the scenes planning went into this truck. That included some help from a physics department.

I like your choice.

 

Thats an awesome choice. I'd like to see where you take this.

 

I keep thinking the Taco is probably staying where it is now for me. Next project is an FJ80 on 37s.

I can respect the choice to go with another rig.

 

I've always wanted to do an FJ80 but just never have pulled the trigger on one. When I went to Australia I saw tons of those things that were really built. There are some very nice FJ 80's and 70's over there.

 

The Taco has my vote for stability for sure I have seen it numerous times on the trail where my buddies in Jeeps are getting a little sketched out on a side hill and I drive right through like its a normal trail. I do love that about the tacoma.

I have been pricing out jeeps, got a few decent dealer quotes looks like a 4 door rubi is gonna run me around 34k which is far better than the 39-40 sticker price but still a little pricey.

I can get a Sport for around 8-10k less.

The big issue I'm struggling with is wether in the long run I'm going to be any farther ahead going with the sport and building it.

I'm on several jeep forums as I have been for years and the axle debate is never ending. The problem is there are just so many variable which can never be quantified to get a clear answer. There are dudes that run 40's on their dana 30 with no issues and there are dudes who grenade them on 33's.

And you get the same experience all the way up to 44's 60's etc..

So I could put a minimal amount of money into the front 30 and the rear 44 which I'm sure will be fine for a while, while I save for 60's or maybe a 609 in the front or By a 60 front right off the bat and improve the rear 44 until money is available for the rear 60. Or since the plan is to stick with 37's for quite a while if not forever perhaps a prorock 44 in the front will be more than adequate I have not heard any stories of those being broke yet and if they are breaking its not very prolific.

I can also just spend the money know on the Rubi and build it from stock. On 37's I may never break the stock dana 44's and if that does become a problem I can deal with it then. It also gives me a pretty capable rig right out of the box which will give me more time to save for other mods.

Still researching my build this is just some things i'm thinking about for now. Appreciate all the comments feel free to weigh on on my build thoughts.

 

from what I found, the electronic say bar disconnect that comes with the rubi breaks a lot.
I'd go with a sport and build it up. you can get air lockers for a hell of a lot less than 8-9 grand.

 

The issue is not just slapping some lockers in the D30/44 combo of the sport. They would need to be built up for the 37's and even then its a coin toss on wether they last or not. If they do last I saved myself a ton of money if they dont last and I need to upgrade to 60's well I'm really only out about 1500ish per axle and the 44 will probably be fine in the rear.

But there is a bit more leeway in running the Rubi 44's right out of the gate. Still I lean towards going sport, saving the cash and just upgrading as stuff breaks. As for the Electronic disco's I could care less but you do get a better transfer case with the Rubi in addtion to the better axles and lockers.

Can you provide some details on your choice/build?

 

It might be helpful to do a side by side comparison showing the pros and cons and price between the JK vs Rubicon. Sometimes that can really help...

Rubicon $35k Non Rubi $27k
4-1 transfer $0. Atlas transfer $3k
Lockers $0. Lockers $2k
Etc...


When your done tally and compare the totals.

 

Went to jeep dealership...sticker prices shocked me at 34k+

 

I did that last night, didn't finish though.

From a pure dollar for dollar price, you really need to ask what is the finished product going to be?

If its a Jeep on 60's well then it makes no sense to pay more for a Rubicon because your going to ax the Rubi 44's and the electronic disco anyway so why buy it?

However, since this will be a build over time its more a matter of maximizing the dollars spent and being able to have fun on the trail during that time which means there is going to be some wasted money in the form of temporary upgrades for the sake of getting it on the trail.

I think its probably a wash in reality to either buy the Rubi or Buy the sport and put enough into it to make it perform as well as the Rubi. Ultimately though I want to end up with something that will out perform them both.

It comes down to in what order I want to make what upgrades and if I want to try and build it with as little waste as possible that would mean just buying the sport and saving money.

 

Those are all questions we all have when we build. For me I knew what the outcome was going to be and went for it. Even though there has been changes to it along the way. I've changed my front suspension, t case, the rear axle the rear suspension, front breaks and there are still things I want to change or add. They are never ending projects.

If it were me I'd get the sport and build it. You can wheel it while it's not built. I did mine for a week or two., before I cut it up. The hit you'll take on used parts selling them will be bigger on the Rubi than they will be on the sport. That is unless you find someone who has a project and wants those axle's, and such. Thats what I would do but thats just me. I got the sport in the Tacoma because I knew i was not going to need the locker. That made it easy for me.

But again it's one of those to each his own.

 

Thats basically my thought as well. I'm sure as with anything like this things change. But I think if you know going in you are the type of person who is going to be cutting, grinding, welding and swapping, buying the top of the line Rubicon is probably a waste.

I read through your build before but dont recall, what axles did you end up with?

 

Rock Jocks IIRC

 

I had an idea to go SAS a while back but I just don't do those types of trails with this truck. So a +2" LT with 35's and 4.88's is more than enough for me. If I wanted to do harder trails then a dedicated trail rig would be needed. For now I am loving every bit of this truck. Still have ALOT of plans in store for it though.

 

Thanks, I was looking at the curries and dynatrac. Been seeing lots of positives about solid axle though but not sure on their pricing.

I was looking at the +2 kit, that was/is one of my options. Thats not completely off the table yet since my truck is still in the driveway haha I just don't know if I would stop there though and thats why I'm looking at the jeep since I think its an easier more expandable platform to build from. What other plans do you have for your rig?

 

I was in the same crossroads as the OP. But I made my choice to stick with the Tacoma. I plan to regear soon to 4.56 and go 35s. And eventually get the TC +2 LT kit for the front & FJ Xfer Case too.

I debated going SAC, but for what I do it wouldn't be worth it. My truck is my DD. I want to be able to hit decent trails but still drive across country if I want.

They're all never ending projects, always something.

Good luck OP in whatever you choose.

 

Currie Rock Jocks front and rear. They are stuffed with 5.38 reverse cut gears, ARB lockers, 35 spline chromoly axle shafts, Warn premium hubs for the front, The big JK disc brakes up front on Ford F 350 knuckles and Wilwood disc brakes out back.

 

If you build them right you can daily drive them. If I went back down to 40's I could and have daily driven my truck and have driven it from Huntington Beach to Tahoe, ran the Rubicon and drove it back.

This 4Runner drove from Georgia to the rubicon, ran it, Then drove the Mojave Trail to L.A. then all the way back to Georgia. It is now driven daily in Arizona. It's sitting on 37's



This Tacoma is daily driven as well. In Fact the owners wife drives it from time to time. He's sitting on 36's.



This FJ Cruiser is daily driven as well.



Here is another 4Runner that is three linked front and rear that is daily driven.


So you see, it's just a matter of how you build them. We like to build our trucks so that they can be daily driven and then go hit some killer trails while getting us back home safe. The technology is there to do and if built right they actually handle just as good if not better than some of the 2 and 3 inch lift kits out there. Especially if you go with a coilover system.