Build Help.... Where To Start.

Hello, this Wrench here needs the Forum's help.

Let me set the scene. I am new to Tacomas, but as you can tell, I have a second-gen Tacoma. One with 4wd, dual cab, automatic, and a 5' bed. What I want is help, more importantly, I want input. My knowledge is rather limited, I can read for hours on how to make a build, but never end up doing it.

1. What types of builds are there available for a stock, 4wd, automatic, Tacoma?

Pretty simple answer, I mean all of you can sugest an idea, but you would ask what my goal is. So to clearify, I am considering either a prerunner or sometype of lowered build, but still be albe to drive to work and school. With that in mind I still have no idea what effects that would play, seeing as most types of these builds usally use the sock 2wd modles, but I thought, "Hey better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it," sort of mentality.
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2. What suspension is the brand that performs the best?

I know of King, Billstien, Old Man Emu, and all of the other well known brand names. (Mostly from watching others build out theres.) And I have read the other threads dedicated to suspenion, but seeing as I could not find any info for 4wd, relating to either of my build ideas, I could use you members as a backbone for my research.
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3. Wheels and tires, who makes the best, and trimming?

Listen I get it, a pleb asking the more expriniced member this question is simply ludrics. But, I did hear the Taco community to be the less toxic than others, and more warm and welcoming. That being said, who makes the best wheels? Who makes the best rubber compound? And is trimming really nessacry for which ever build I choose, if I can get away with an aftermarket bumper?
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4. Where, oh where, should I start?

Well the obisous answer is save up money by living of insta romen, or MREs. But to hit the nail on the head, I should really ask is, which part(s) should I invest in first? Go with the high end expensive stuff, that I know will require a shop to install? Go with the low end stuff, like interior and speakers, then work my way up from there? Ideally hearing form the forum members past mistakes will help gauge what I should do first.


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Thank you for making it this far, long read, and trust me when I say, "better to ask than to have never asked at all." Any information that you require I will add by replying to your comments below. So enjoy your morning, day, afternoon, evening, and/or sleep. This Wrench is out.

 

so....It's your 1st post and without doing any research or using the search function....you want spoon fed, is that about right?

 

Thank you for replying to my post, one Matic. While, “Spoon Fed”,may not be the words I choose, I am just having indecisiveness on what route I should take. That is why this post was created, by no means have I not researched the topics of interest, I found it easier to reach out to others and hear what they learned.

 

You are welcome.

Go 3rd gen D44 wide axles and 37's and you should be good.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Here’s my opinion. Me being a city dweller, I’d guess the majority of the 4wd vehicles I see live their entire life never being off the paved roads. A lowered and lifted build are different suspension wise. Improving engine performance and creature comforts are pretty universal.

I suggest you stick with basic maintenance, oil change and such. Perhaps audio upgrades. Then drive it for awhile. If you find yourself in the dirt often build in that direction. Driving paved roads wishing for better handling there, build in that direction.

It seems there’s lots of 4wd guys here. I’m at the other side with my xrunner, definitely not made to off-road.

You’ll find all the help you’ll need here. If you’re in the middle of some maintenance or repair and get stuck, you’ll find the answer searching or get a response quickly.

 

I can sorta chime on tires. BFG KO2’s seem to be a crowd favorite for tires and for pretty good reason. They are AT’s.

As for where to start, you’ll get mixed things. People will tell you to catch up on all maintenance before modding like that. I agree. From there, mod what will truly be useful for you specifically.

For example I wanted to drive in snow on occasion, so I upgraded my tires first. Then, I wanted to not worry about coming down off the mountains after sunset, so I did ditch lights. I thought we’ll I’ll be camping so I did the LED dome / map lights.

Then I went cosmetics. Wheels, my preferred grille, plasti dipped badges, etc.

 

I should add, as you already unfortunately saw, everything isn’t always positive. It’s a great forum, best I’ve been on so far. Don’t let the occasional negative post get under your skin.

 

Raise ya hand if ya saw it?

 

Thank you for replying to my post, one Waasheem. While yes I do not find myself in a position to go off-roading that often, I perhaps follow in line with the city slick. Now being in northern Nevada, I have options to go snowboarding in the winter, but that drys up quick as spring starts. As I see it, my fun either lies with the dragsters or the prerunners, during spring to fall. So as of right now I’m still deciding on a build, but I do know that new headlights are in order for my truck.

 

Thank you for replying to my post, one Spizike231. I’ll probably start with some better up to date creature comforts, but my truck did come with KO2s before I bought it, can’t remember the size of them. But the wheels I will definitely start to look into more, especially since the rear driver side wheel’s hub cap cam off somewhere.

 

No problem, and welcome.

Don’t forget - double check maintenance and do the “for my peace of mind” procedures like spark plugs. THEN begin modding for luxuries, and after that begin modding for cosmetics. In my humble opinion.

 

I suppose it had to happen, but it did finally. Something qualified to cause me to figure out how to use the ignore feature.

 

Welcome to the forum. Please overlook the ones who feel the need to be negative and just flat out rude. This is an open discussion forum where, yes, you can ask any question you please. Believe it or not, the search feature is NOT required prior to starting your own thread. Enjoy the forum. There are a ton of good people on here with a wealth of knowledge. Good luck with your build!

 

I’ve been on other forum’s where you would get wrist slapped for not searching for a question first. That’s not the case here.

In this situation, I don’t think it was wrong to post the question, even though the first response was negative. Also, the opportunity to introduce yourself is a plus, in my opinion.

You can look through the stickies up top, good stuff there.

 

If you want to go fast and have handling a 4wd truck is not were it is at. So with that being said some of the easy cheap things will make huge improvements such as speaker replacement, Interior lights, head lights. Being out in Nevada there is plenty of off-roading to be had even if you are not that serious about it. Its fun to get off road and to see what the truck can do and you can do in the truck. Asking people about tires and rims in general is like asking what type of soft drink is best. It would be better to find some that you like and pose a the question of out of tire a, b, c ect. is better. I would say if you do a search for tires on the forum Falken and BFG are probably two of the most popular. Wheels there are so many different brands its hard to say which one is best as long as they are round is really, other then that its a matter of aesthetics. Most people can get by with a leveling kit as far as suspension goes and be able to have more than what they will ever put the truck through. In my opinion you can't go wrong with Bilstein but really it just boils down to how much you have to spend. Good luck and welcome to the forum

 

I started will new wipers, then oil change, then i needed new tires not wheels but found these for a little over new tires,

 

Since you have a 2nd Gen truck, I'd highly recommend this:

The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID) | Tacoma World

 

@Classic_Wrench - welcome to TW. As others have said, some responses leave a bit to be desired and actually violate the code of conduct but we’ll leave that one alone. In response to you questions, I’d first suggest reviewing the Mods & Tutorials drop down at the top. Types of builds run the gamut. It all depends on how deep your pockets are. Typical mods/builds are 2-3” lift - usually Bilstein shocks with aftermarket springs. Wheels and tires are all over the place. Because fit varies based on backspacing, that topic has more variations. You can fit 265/75’s without trimming. 285’s need trimming and a cab mount chop (usually). 255/85R16’s fit depending on wheels. The headlight upgrade is good too.