2002 Toyota Tacoma trd

I have a 2002 Tacoma 4dr 5 speed auto 3.4L V6 and I want to start modifying it towards a rockcrawling vehicle. I am new to having a truck and I don't know where to start. If I could get some advice I'd appreciate it!!

 

You have a 4 speed auto fyi. Just passing along the knowledge. 5 speed auto wasn't until the 2005+.

If you are going to use it for actual wheeling spend your money wisely on suspension. NO SPACER LIFTS! You are going to want a true lift. A good place to look is Toytec lifts. They have lots of choices. You'll probably want a full replacement leaf pack too, no blocks or add a leafs. Another solid investment is rock sliders. You can get away without front and rear bumpers for a little bit. Same with skid plates. The stock ones up front and over the gas tank will be ok for starting out, but they wont take the hard hits.

You can get away with a lot of stuff, but if you want this to be a good rig for what you mention, the bottom line is going to be directly related to "you get what you pay for".

 

start with the Grey wire mod (It is stickied on the top section of the 1st gen page). way to easy not to do, takes a whooping 5 minutes start to finish.

265/75/16 tires will fit on the truck bone stock, minor rubbing up front under compression. This is what i currently run and was cruising around moab with no issues, pick your trail and pick your line and stock is plenty for a while since you are just getting into this type of activity.

but that said, even before a lift i would invest in a good set of full skid plates (make sure they can work with a diff drop spacer as it may be needed once lifted to keep CV's at a good angle) and a set of sliders. this way, you can use them to help get up and over obstacles when you reach the limits of stock IFS suspension.

and going this route lets you learn how your truck reacts off road, and will give you a better idea of what you need modification wise.

my personal truck will be super basic but ill take it on all sorts of trails and obstacles, Bilstien 5100s up front, toytec 620lb coils for around 2.5-3" lift up front, and a 3 leaf progressive aal out back with custom length shocks to get full articulation out of the leaf pack. Also will have a rear traction bar to help keep axle wrap and wheel hop under control. So you dont need much at all to be capable.