New to me 1999 tacoma

Hey everyone. Finally got another Tacoma after regrettably selling my last one a few years ago. It's a 1999 extra cab 4x4 with factory rear locker, and an automatic transmission. I plan on swapping to a 5 speed soon. It has 312k miles (I know, it's a lot), but it was about half the price of everything else I've found after searching for MONTHS. It does need quite a bit of work, basically the entire front suspension is shot. Lower control arms, steering rack bushings, ball joints and tie rods, front shocks/coils etc all need replaced. It has a very hard pull to the right when applying the brakes, I believe it's due to all of the worn front end components more so then just the brakes, but the brakes are getting replaced as well. I plan on using moog parts for ball joints and tie rods, and raybestos for brake parts. Those are the brands I used on my last '99 Tacoma and was happy with it. One of my main questions is, what shock/coil setup should I get while keeping it fairly budget friendly? On my last rig I used the Monroe quick struts, they took all the sage out of the front end, but the felt too soft for my taste. I don't want a huge lift or anything, basically close to factory height, but I'd be ok with 1-3 inches of lift, 3 being absolute max. This rig will be used mainly as a hunting rig, occasionally driving it to work during bad snow storms in the winter (roughly 90 miles round trip on two lane highway). Sorry for the long rant. Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

OME + BILSTEIN 5100s. Make sure you measure for the rear

 

That seems to be probably the most common setup I've seen. I should mention a lot of my hunting is done with hounds, so rear shocks don't seem to last very long due to there being anywhere from 3 to 6 full grown dogs in the back. Will the Bilstein shocks hold up good in the rear or should I go for a cheaper shock that doesn't hurt the wallet as much to replace? Thanks

 

As you can see in the picture I added, the front end is sagged pretty bad. The previous owner installed new strut assemblies (the brand is A-Premium), but I've never even heard of them before and I'm assuming they are just junk. The gap between each coil is very minimal, some of them nearly touching ..

 

Bilsteins don't really hurt to replace, but they have a much better rep than Monroe

 

They don't make some OEM suspension parts any more, best price on a 4 corner set you'll find, fully assembled. Everything else, OEM from Ourisiman Toyota (formerly McGeorge.) Price comparison for my 2003 from 2023 attached (prices don't appear to have changed a lot.)

 

People will tell you to use only genuine lower ball joints. They're not too expensive; better bet than aftermarket.

I put Monroe quick struts on my farm truck. They felt tight, lol. I like them now. I put billstein with moog coils from Suspentionlifts.com cited above on my good truck. They felt soft, no different than stock TRD set up I replaced. But if you're going 3" lift there are other options.

enjoy the process!