Taco Life continues! with a new family addition. Advice needed

Hey Tacoma World!!!
Im new to the website forums and I am pleased to be in good company haha. Lets get down to it, I have had a 98 tacoma 2.3 L for 4 years or so and am finishing up school here in CA and am moving to TN for a job. Anyways, I bought a 2005 4.0L v6 4x4 manual transmission TRD access cab tacoma.(Also have some pics) I have been dreaming of getting a v6 and a 4x4 for years and have finally gotten the chance to get one.. Very happy ..

SO, my question to the tacoma homies:
As someone moving to somewhere with occasional snow, wanting to do a little off-roading and handle different driving conditions as well as not kill the gas tank on the way there. What are some good tires to get??

Thinking about painting the stock rims black(Im broke right now)
-Hoping to in the future put a lift kit on it 3-6"
-cold air intake
-exhaust system
-headlights
Basically going for the storm trooper look, ANY ADVICE on what kind of mods an upgrades are good for increase performance/fuel efficiency and offroad potential with a budget in mind?...
THOUGHTS and IDEAS encouraged, these are all plans for the future but I love tinkering with the tacomas so hollar if you hear me. THANKS!

 

BFG K02's are pretty awesome tires.

 

Welcome to TW!Wheels and tire's is a good start!

 

Goodrich KO2s.

 

thanks for the input, how do you think they would be for long distance travel. And how do they compare to toyo open country's. I'm sure a lot of it is personal preference too

 

Drove from Southern Kentucky to Michigan in September on mine and they were fine. Not much noise, rode well, handled fine...

 

I drive Tn to Fl several times a year. They're not noise on the hwy, and they have a 60K tread life.

 

They look awesome, because of my budget I was looking at the TOYO open country A/T, dynapro AT-M, and the cooper Discoverers.
More I look into it gets complicated because people have good experiences with all of them. The K02's are around $230 on tirediscount.com

 

For 265/75/16 I paid $835 for 4, out the door tax included.

 

BF Goodrich All-terrains are always a nice choice. There is a new cooper SST pro out that many like...

 

I like my Firestone Destination AT's. Pretty quiet on the road, not a big hit in the gas tank and I like the way they look. I drive mostly farm and gravel roads if I'm going off the pavement and they do the job. My only complaint is that they tend to pickup gravel.

 

Ordering the toyo open country a/t 2, going to be driving across country hoping that they dont hurt my mileage too much, gonna get them in a couple weeks, the k02 a little expensive for me.
Thanks everybody!