Just got a 96 Taco as my first vehicle and I want to learn!

Hey everyone. I just got my first vehicle, which happens to be a 1996 2wd Tacoma l4 2.4 liter.



I've never been much into cars, so I don't know much about them, but I want to learn!

Ever since I've got it, I've been reading up on everything I can. I even took my truck up to my uncles shop, put it on the lift, and asked him questions about everything.

Currently, I'm trying to learn about the suspension, and how to raise it about 2 inches so it can look a little more like a 4wd model.
I'd appreciate if anyone could tell me where to start with lifting it up. I've googled and crawled forums looking for it, but everyone that talks about lifts seem to be experienced vets throwing around part names. I need basic teaching on how to approach these, like do I need coil spacers? or can I just adjust the torsion bar?

If I can't get these answers here, I'll be happy to ask in an appropriate forum section.

Looking forward to being part of the Taco culture!

Here is a picture.

 

Welcome! I am 100% sure you can find any question answered on this forum, just go to the right section! Go to first generation forum, and look up lift in the search tool. You will get hundreds if not thousands of posts about lifts. That's the best site I can recommend personally.

 

Welcome to TW!

Everything you can think of, someone here has done it!

Just look in the 1st gen section.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/4-cylinder/

 

Thats awesome man! Body looks clean, paint looks clean....Good first truck! Have fun with it and take care of it!

 

Welcome!

 

Thank you guys for the tips! Very friendly group so far

I'm going to go prowl those links you posted and hopefully I'll find what I'm looking for!

Cheers!

 

Welcome! There are a lot of guys on here who are very knowledgable on pretty much anything you wanna know!

 

Welcome and congrats! Looks like a great truck!

 

welcome!

 

Welcome from Canada

The truck looks good!

 

if I were you i'd slam it! i don't think you'll get much lift. since you have the base suspension and the i4.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-builds/71521-mowtacos-mini-build.html

you can do this though.^^

 

Welcome and nice truck. You definitely got one of my favorite model years for the Tacoma

 

welcome from happy valley

 

Nice lookin truck! Welcome to TW!

 

What exactly do you mean by "slam it" ?

I'm not looking to get much lift. Maybe 2 inches so I can put some 15s or 16s on there.

 

he means to lower the truck. IMO i wouldn't never do that to a truck... yeah, it's not a 4x4 but, a little lift wil look good. good luck

 

This would be slammed. Lots of fabrication work went into this one, I'm sure.



Mild kits are good too, and no need for major frame and air bag modifications.



If I had a 2wd I would have lowered it.

You could possibly long travel it as well, if you want to go the other direction. Most of those Cali guys have long travel suspension setups. They do require a lot of fabrication work, however. If you don't live by the desert, then I wouldn't go this route.



Just some inspiration maybe. Welcome to Tacoma World.

 

Dude, I'll be honest with you, not trying to be rude, a 2" lift won't make it look like a 4x4......a 2'' lift with big tires won't make it look like a 4x4. What it will look like is a 4x2 trying to look like a 4x4 ! Trust me on this.

 

Could you post a picture of what you think it will look like? The 96 4x4 sits at 66 inches. Mine sits are 61 inches, so a 2 inch lift and an inch or two bigger tires would make it pretty close.