What off-road mods to be done first?

What are the most needed off-road mods and in what order should they be done?. I’m a blue collar guy so will have to build up the truck over time. I just picked up a 2022 tacoma OR. It already has a front locker, fox 2.5 shocks, Icon upper control arms, Icon pro wheels, KO2 tires, arb compressor. Has a tiny little front skid plate.
I’ve never built a truck for trails, i’m coming from dirt bikes. The most important thing with a new bike is protection.

 

You're already set, find a buddy and go check out some trails and see how it does.

The only thing you need is some basic tools to make switching out a tire easier, I bring a bottle jack with me and a few pieces of wood.

That and a static tow strap rated for 30,000lbs +

 

Gasoline and window washer fluid.

 

Common sense and practice driving it. Your truck is already more capable than you probably need.

 

Awesome. I’ve been hitting the trails every weekend since I got it. Totally love it. Would full skid plates be something worth getting?

 

Excellent question!

You should drive your truck offroad. It's perfectly capable as it's built. If you're driving offroad where your truck isn't meeting your demands, then you should look at upgrading specific things to suit your goals.

Your tacoma is never going to do half the things your dirt bikes do.

 

Welcome!
Solid advice so far. As stated your truck sounds pretty well equipped. Smart to consider protection, a lot of guys don’t.
A good set of skids and sliders, will help protect your investment

 

The ORs are pretty set right out of the box. All i did was add mudflaps cause i got tired of flinging rocks everywhere when i got back to pavement

 

A good engine skid would be worth it. If it is the default "thin flimsy warpable" that the factory installs, two piece ... replace with a good TRD Pro one or RCI steel. But that may not be necessary if a one-piece already covers back to cover the oil drain.

Get a

$100 NOCO GB40 1000A UltraSafe Car Battery Jump Starter, 12V Jump Starter Battery Pack, Battery Booster, Jump Box, Portable Charger and Jumper Cables for 6.0L Gasoline and 3.0L Diesel Engines

NOCO GB40 battery boost block. You do not want a dead battery with no recovery option when you are in the a$$-end of nowhere.

I have a Garmin InReach Mini2 ... satellite communication to contact people when you need help in the aforementioned middle of nowhere. But newer iPhones can use satellites as well ... ask at the Apple Store if you are due for an upgrade.

 

Thanks for all the wisdom. The truck definitely feels really good already. I have been looking to maybe get high clearance bumpers, rock sliders and skid plates that go front to back.

 

I'm in the process of doing all that for my truck, and it's going to be over $12k by the time I'm done with it. Tacos aren't like jeeps or dirtbikes where you spend a little money on some armor or suspension and just bolt it on and run 35's.

My bumper was $1300 and I have to chop off all of the plastic below the headlights to install it. + the winch. And I'm losing my factory foglights, so now those are aftermarket.
I'm getting ready to spend $7k on suspension to get a 2" lift. On a jeep, 7k would get you long arms, tires, and armor.

Building a tacoma is an expensive venture.

 

RCI sells catalytic converter guards as "wings" for its transmission skid plate, but sever companies sell catalytic converter guards that do not need the skid plate.

Some do not buy rear-differential skid plate or transfer case skid plate. If you are going to buy a transfer case skid plate, first reroute the exhaust pipe that hangs down. This is photo of the re-routes exhaust ($100 at a recommended local shop). Factory exhaust dives below the transfer case. Re-routes need about 8 inches of clearance behind the transfer case to protect the electronics ... you can also wrap the new-flat exhaust pipe in heat-control tape.

 

For sure I’ve been seeing that it gets expensive fast. I got lucky with buying the one i did. He did a lot of the heavy lifting. I got it from the dealer and they didn’t raise the price at all with all that he did. Still got it for under blue book.

 

I have been reading and guys say that the exhaust is one of only flaws of the design.

 

Post in your regional forum to ask for a recommendation of a good shop: https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/regions.36/

 

sliders are good as mentioned

 

Can’t loose on 42”s

 

Get some JIS-standard screwdrivers. Japanese vehicles use screws that have different indentations on screwheads ...standard phillips strip those JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) heads quickly.

 

You won’t need a winch and all that other stuff, just pick a good line to drive on and avoid deep mud unless you like that stuff. Get a shovel, and a tire plug kit to go with your compressor. Most of the flats you get off road will hopefully be from nails and road junk, don’t even have to take the tire off or lift it to fix those!

 

Traction boards and recovery ropes.

Then I would say sliders and winch. Winch usually requires a front bumper or a winch mounted under the oem front bumper

I have been really happy with a high clearance rear bumper. So that would probably be the next on my list.