Noob looking for some advice

Hey everyone,

I'm Ryan and currently own a 2009 Toyota Rav4 Sport. I'm starting school for Paramedic in August and have 13 months of hell in front of me. When I finish, I plan on trading in my Rav for a Tacoma. Here's my question:

I have plans to lift it, mods under the hood, and some bigger tires. I do plan on getting a Stick, but my biggest question that some of my friends who are more, knowledgeable with trucks, couldn't answer so they suggested I join a forum. Should I save money by getting a base model Taco or get one of the packages, Sport or Off-Road? Any help or opinions would be greatly appreciated!


-Ryan

 

If you know you are going to lift it, you don't need the suspension that comes with the TRD.

 

Trd offroad has the rear e-locker

 

TRD suspension isn't that different than SR5 suspension... The TRD Off-Road comes with a locker as mentioned above. Aftermarket lockers can be fairly expensive to do on your own. Go to Toyota's website and see what comes with the different packages. Plus, you're looking 2 years out, the packages may change significantly by then...

 

do you plan on off roading?

 

I plan on getting a 2011 since around my area not many people are buying trucks anymore. The dealership I've been dealing with since 2006 anticipates a high inventory left over from this year. But yes I do agree that packages may change. If I may inquire, what do you mean a locker? I'm not too familiar with trucks, just recently got into them.

 

The TRD Off Road comes with a button that allows you to 'lock' the rear axle meaning both rear wheels get equal power vs. an open differential or a limited slip. An open differential the power goes to the wheel with the least resistance and limited slip allows one tire to spin but tries to make the other one spin also, kind of a happy medium for arguments sake.

 

Maybe this will help a little.

My plan is to lift it about maybe 3 inches, I think 6 would be too much. Put some nice rims and bigger tires on. Supercharge it, throw a catback in it and do some other mods under the hood. That's why I'm inquiring if I should stick with a base since I'm gonna be dumping money into anyways

 

So after asking around a little, word seems to be just get the base SR5 model. Agree?

 

if you plan on offroading at all the trd offroad packeage also comes with A-Trac. the trd offroad model is far superior over a base model in stock configuration.

do you plan on 4wd or 2wd

 

4wd. I dont plan on doing any hardcore off roading. more so my every day vehicle

 

Most of the guys on here are mostly running there trucks on the street or light off-roading, there are some total off-road nuts fer sure here. Since you don't plan to go nuts with the off-road then you may be happier with a base model since you plan to lift it anyways. As with the locker and A-TRAC, there isn't much difference besides price of the truck. Oh I think the base model doesn't come with the hood scoop.

 

thank you for your in put. yea the hood scoop doesn't really phase me, its just cosmetic anyways. I do volunteer for a fire department, my plan when i first get the truck is to work on the sound system, black out the windows and go stealth with my lights. my rav4 looks like a slapper mo-bile lol the

 

Access cab or DC ?

Long or shortbox ?

 

Double cab short bed