What is the recommended tire and suspension upgrade?

Howdy all! First time poster on this forum.

Now, I know that was a pretty generic question and I expect to see a very broad bunch of answers, given everyone's different needs and tastes, even when I narrow it down some.

So, to narrow it down some, my truck is a 2015, V6, dbl. cab, SR5, manual trans.

My tastes are:

• I'm putting a Cruisin Offroad front bumper on with a 9500lb. Smittybuilt winch.
• Changing the 4 ply stock P245/75R16 tires (already got three flats in 6 months) to 10 ply larger tires.
• Changing the stock alloy rims to some kind of black rims.

My needs are:

• Tires that would be good for roughly 75% city and 25% offroad use. I use my truck as daily driver in the city for work. Don't want excessive road noise. Looking for good performance, reliability, strength, tread wear, medium load capacity.
• Good quality suspension that would suit and perform well with the added weight of the bumper and winch. Probably need a 2 1/2 - 3 inch lift to support some increased tire size.

Any and all suggestions/recommendations/helpful tips around tires and suspension kits are very much appreciated. Looking forward to the resulting research I will have to do.

PS - any LED light add on opinions would be useful too. Thanks, cannedtaco (Todd)

 

Posting a budget would narrow it down

 

There are SO many variables for this subject it isn't even funny.

Since you stated 75% city driving you might consider the Michelin LTX AT/2 or LTX M/S2 tires as they both seem to attain long term mileage tread life, good fuel efficiency, and seem to be well respected on surfaces outside of pavement. However, neither are mudding, off-road, sand, or rock crawling tires.

Considering your desire to mount a bumper and winch on the front end you'll want to make sure you get heavier duty coils for your front suspension. I put an Old Man Emu (OME) suspension on my truck. I did 887 coils to get a 3" lift. However, the 886 coils are generally recommended for those adding weigh to the front end. You could see around 2.5" of lift up front with those (depending on weight).

Keep in mind you can do really cheap spacer lifts for less than $500. Mid range OME complete lift systems for around $2,200 (installed) or go crazy with Fox, Icon, or other high end systems.

Search the forums. There are a load of threads with LOTS of details on all kinds of options.

 

Here's where to look for Suspension information:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/suspension.18/

Wheels and Tires:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/wheels-tires.15/

Lighting:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/lighting.60/

 

Budget is less important than quality and performance for me. Best bang for the buck is my usual compromise.

 

But budget tells us if you want good or great

 

Thanks Kyitty, for both posts. I haven't figured out yet how to search out specific subjects. I'll spend more time on that this weekend.

 

Probably around $1000 - $1500, but I don't know yet what that will get me, so I'm shooting in the dark with that. I may increase that some if I feel I need more than that would get me.

 

At this point I just still don't know what I don't know.

 

Ok, I got the tires figured out. I'm going with Cooper Disco AT3 285 75R16 126R 10 ply(E). I'll go with 8 ply (D rating) if they have it, but I've not seen it listed anywhere. Not as cool looking as the ST MAXX, but I believe they're just right for my needs, good off road abilities without sacrificing asphalt performance.
Now to the suspension and a 2 - 2.5" lift. The only thing I know about this is that I know nothing about this. I don't even understand half the acronyms and lingo people are using to describe it. Will take considerably more reading. But first, I have two days of volunteering at the Great Canadian Beer Fest then back to research.

 

Sorry, I was just thinking about suspension when I threw that number out.

 

Speed Demon 6 pack LED floods in the bumper as fogs. More to come.

 

$1500 will limit you to Bilstein or OME struts and rear shocks, 886 coils, add a leaf, and some upper control arms. You'll find fans of either shock brand, both are very capable. At some point you will get tired of reading all the brands and combinations people run and have to pull the trigger yourself. I went through Headstrong Offroad for the same setup you're going for. They are reasonable price wise and can answer all your questions once you are ready to buy.

 

Actually, I just tried to update my first post with the things I did just get completed, but I did it wrong so you have to "click to expand" on my quote to see what I wrote in blue font.

 

See it now. Most posters will say no to the diff drop, no experience, everything else looks good.