First time Taco owner in WI

Hello all,

Happy to join the community with my new to me 2003 Tacoma! I have to be honest, I was never planning on getting a Tacoma ever in my life, (I always have wanted, and will eventually own a Cummins powered full size 4x4), but for my current living situation and for the near future, the Tacoma makes a lot of sense. I would like to modify my truck a bit, and my objective will be to build a truck with slightly increased off-road capability, with no degradation, and ideally an improvement in on-road performance/comfort. I rarely see anyone take this approach. I would only need it to be capable of light wheeling; no rock crawling or pre-running. Everyone seems to settle with the compromises that off road capable trucks come with, but i refuse (probably foolishly so) to believe that it has to be this way. I will also not make any modifications that will drastically reduce the life of any components i.e. no huge lift that will strain CV's or huge tires that will kill wheel bearings. My initial strategy to achieve this will be to install 2" lift/level extended travel coilovers+UCA's that have longer springs with a near stock spring rate. The shocks will ideally have digressive valving for superior on-road damping over stock units. The rear will ideally have a softer multi-leaf pack to improve on road ride coupled with air bags to preserve load carrying capacity. Air bags will use a cradle on one side to prevent them from tearing at full droop. I would like to upgrade to 265/75-16 Goodyear Silent Armor's on 16x8 KMC XD Enduro's. On-road ride and on-road snow performance are critical tire performance parameters for me.

Hell of a first post full of wishful thinking i know I better start buying lottery tickets... Having a new toy always gets the dreams flowing. Here are some pics (you may note the smaller than stock highway tires that came on the truck. Those have to go):




Let me know what you think of my plans

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome

 

Welcome, where are you from in WI. I am originally from West Bend. Plan on going back after the Army.

 

Raised in Osh Vegas, currently living/working in Mequon. Are you aware of any good spots to go wheeling near West Bend or elsewhere?

 

Nope, sorry. Joined Army at 19 and havent lived in WI for 21 years. When I retire I plan on moving back (9 yrs). Maybe by then u will find some and let me know. Lol.