Penny Wise Pound Foolish

Need help!

In an attempt to save money - I've made some modifications that have affected the ride both on and off road.

Current set-up...

2012 Tacoma 4x4 regular cab with 4 cylinder

front - bilsteins with stock springs adjusted all the way up

rear - homemade add-a-leafs (made from chevy springs), stock shocks, flipped u bolts / plates (ordered from a speed shop)

I did some mild trail riding yesterday and long story short it was a pretty awful experience. Front end felt very loose and rear end would slam down very hard.

In the bed I carry -a leer cab / two big dogs / a yeti cooler / some tools and gear. I'm debating whether or not to get a roof top tent. But generally I like to travel pretty light.

My ideal set-up - a rig that can drive 70 mph to the trails and once there can crawl super slow and absorb the terrain like my grandmothers Cadillac.

I like the look of stripped down rock crawlers (see attached photo) - so I like the idea of removing fender flares and cutting metal. I want the truck to sit low but have big tires.

Questions:

What lift would you do?
Worth doing a solid axle conversion ( I do very minor trails - I just love the look)
Tires, gears, lockers?
I want it to be able crawl super slow - crawlbox? or some other set-up?

I know its asking a lot but I just can't make up my mind and also when left on my own I usually make the wrong choice.

Thanks for any help!

 

I've had an '01, and a '09 & '13 TRD (auto and manual respectively). The 1st gen I built into a nice mid-travel, locked go-getter then eventually SAS'd. and the 2nd gens just did some minor lifts and tire upgrades.

I have plans to turn my current 2nd gen into a DD with long-travel. These are my opinions only wrt my personal experiences.



SAS isn't worth it if you DO go SAS actually go all-in; to get the break-over angles you'll want you're gonna need lift and the factory track width will be a limiting factor, you need to hunt some wider axles. 1-tons I think are overkill it'll never be a DD but you def need something wider than stock (don't do spacers, you want as close to neutral BS for stability in off-camber, wheels-turned situations). SAS can ride just fine but it's never gonna be as tight as IFS on the road, the truck will wander and you're basically gonna have to babysit it ALL THE TIME. It won't seem like much at first but overtime being "always on" all the time will wear you out. You don't realize how nice your nicely aligned, TIGHT IFS setup is on the road until you go back to it someday. Really consider how much you're gonna be on-road or on-fire-road compared to OFF ROAD.

The 2nd gens leave a lot to be desired off road. They're low, longer, ad have worse approach and departure angles. But they ride and drive much better on-road.

Overall I think for cross-over duty a 1st gen with a nice mid-travel or LT KIT, locked, trimmed to fit 33" or maybe 35" is a perfect truck to have a good foot in both camps. Sadly I also tow firewood and I don't want a truck JUST for that (plus I off road in the hills to GO to the firewood so I wanna play too) so I'm sticking with a 2nd gen. Looking to swap out to an automatic again since they're better off-road and in pretty much most situations save for coming down a hill with a loaded trailer. Also dump the TRD OR model for a standard sr5 and lock it F&R and put on a 2" LT kit. W/ 33" as I don't want to trim much or slice the frame up.

I'm looking for similar to you with slightly different concessions! Since I really need to stick with a 2nd gen for the towing and other comforts, I think this will be best for me. A similar setup on the 1st gens is even better off road, you just make more concessions on-road. You really gotta examine what parts are most important. You're GOING to give something up. The more OR you get, the less "nice" it will be on-road. That's the reality.

I often find myself wishing I'd have kept my '01 as a nice, locked-front-and-rear mid-travel overlander. It was THIS CLOSE to perfect for me.

These are, again, my opinions based off my experiences with all these setups. YMMV.

 

Those Bilsteins and add-a-leafs are a lot of your issue. If you're happy with the amount of lift you have, I'd just get some springs for the front so you can get rid of the preload on the Bilsteins. Then for the rear, either a progressive AAL to replace your homemade one or remove it and go with a block instead. Finally, throw some decent tires on there and prepare to lower the psi on them down to 15-20 psi for trail work. This helps the ride tremendously.

From what you do, SAS, lockers, etc all seem overkill. Maybe just research and do the yellow wire mod and you'll have a reasonably capable, much better riding truck. Good luck!

 

Thank you both for taking the time to respond! Great insight / info. You both just saved me a ton of money!