...Need advice on budget suspension upgrade.

ok, so... i just found a descent tacoma for sale on cl and bought it. its a '95 4x4 with the 2.7l. its a good truck, runs strong, minor mechanical problems, but looks horrible. needless to say, i dont want a $5k supension, but i do live in the northwest . what i'm looking for is an almost bullet-proof suspension on a budget. i want to be able to beat this truck up and drive it home at the end of the day. a guy i know thats been working on jeeps all his life said to go with a solid axle in the front "cause that IFS will never hang with the big dogs!" lmao. any advice is appreciated, i'm new to toyota's.

 

well, everything except for mudding, i live in the mountains pretty much so there are all sorts of terrains. i'm new to it, but most of the guys i would be wheeling with have jeeps and solid axel trucks and do alot of rocky trails. i looked at the all-pro type setups with the lift shock and UCA, but that doesn't take care of the weak spots like ball joints and axels. have you heard anything good about those kits?

 

really depends on how much of a budget your on. lets us know how much $ you got to work with and then we can start spending it for ya. mine and my wifes definition of a truck modification budget vary greatly...

 

$2000. to start with. i know i'll want more eventually. but remember, i'm just starting to get into it.

 

a solid axle is very expensive and you have to really know what you are doin to not eff it up. yes, the ifs is weaker but if you are doing moderate trails you aught to be alright. ome coils have pretty good reputation, but you could go ahead and get a set of coilovers. used ones can be a good deal and be a lot cheaper. in the rear i would suggest a new leaf pack, which are not too expensive, but you could also get an aal for real cheap or just get your packs reformed.

There are really a lot of options out there. do a bit of searching and find out what you want to do and what would work best for you.

 

"bullet-proof suspension on a budget". its either 1 or the other. you will have to spend some cash to have bullet-proof

 

http://www.race-dezert.com/cgi-bin/trader/atl.cgi?ct=7&md=second&id=8770

call this guy up and see if these are still avail. great deal and good start. pair em up w/ some bili 5100 shocks out back and an AAL pack and your off to a good start.

otherwise check out here http://outlawoffroadstore.com/22078/72/223/3751/1999_TOYOTA_TACOMA_2.7_L4_GAS.html and get the ext travel coilovers and camburg UCA http://outlawoffroadstore.com/22078/72/224/3351/1999_TOYOTA_TACOMA_2.7_L4_GAS.html

 

how good would you say those icon coilovers are? i was actually gonna go with the camburg 2.5 set up with their uca's. i found their coilovers for $875 a pair. and i was advised to go with a shackle lift for travel reasons because the add a leaf decreases flex. sounds logical.....but then again so do alot of things. i'm not sure that the coilovers i'm looking at would be good in the rocks though, are they more for absorbing impact on jumps or will they work fine on trails?

 

dude, CO's are your best bet for any type off offroading before going SAS or LT (depending on your terrain). Icon's are prob the most popular CO but i've only heard good thing about the camburg's. i have icon CO's and camburg UCA's and love em both and know both are killer companys. your truck, your $, your choice but both are good choices.