Looking for some lift advice!

Hey everyone!

I got my 09 access cab almost a year ago and since then I've been saving up for some upgrades.

I've got a Pelfreybilt steel plate bumper and front skid ordered. With a winch, it's going to be a lot of weight on the front of the truck. So before the bumper gets here I'd like to figure out what I'm doing with the suspension. I don't have much experience with off road vehicles, I'm 23 and this is my first 4x4, so I'm looking for a little wisdom from fellow tacoma owners.

Living in Massachusetts I'm not looking to build a desert runner and go out jumping the truck in the dunes or anything. What I would like to work towards is an overland expedition style truck but still be half way decent on road as it's my daily driver.

After doing a lot of research I'm still very much undecided. I look into one thing and feel like that's what I want until I research something else and at this point I'm just driving myself crazy haha. I don't want to spend a ton of money on a suspension that ends up being more than what I need. I'm thinking 2.5 - 3 inches of lift, cab mount chop and 33's. A lot of people on here recommend an OME lift and that seems like it would be enough for me to hit the trails and get me back home without breaking the bank, but is it worth it to spend the extra money on a mid travel set up?

If I go mid travel, are the remote reservoirs with compression adjusters the way to go? I'm sure it's something that you wont regret having but if the suspension costs stay down, the money saved can go to more trail armor.

I don't have much of a set budget in mind but spending 3 - 4 thousand on mid travel seems like it might be more suspension than I need and have been leaning more and more towards OME. I'm just looking for something that would handle the trails and clear bigger tires without too much fender modification, a little trimming fine, not interested in fiberglass.

However if mid travel is the way to go then that's what I'll do and I'll just need to save up a little more for it. Could I run the steel bumper on stock suspension for a few months while I make some more money for the mid travel upgrade? I know its not ideal but I wouldn't be wheeling with the bumper until the suspension and tires are on and my commute to work is just 15 min across town.

It's a long post with a lot of questions but any advice or suggestions would be very much appreciated,

Thanks!

 

so... OME suspension??




Or.... mid travel kit, extended travel coilovers, UCA's, with a new leaf spring pack



part of me says to drain the bank accounts and go mid travel and the other part is saying that's more suspension than I need and the money saved with OME could go towards tires, rims, rock sliders, etc... list of other upgrades is nearly endless.

 

I just recently did mid travel on my 2011. I have TC UCA, 2.5 Fox with Res and 2.75 leaf with fox 2.0 rear shock. The ride is completely different. It didn't cost me as much as bundleing it all together. I parted it out separate and saved me about 600 bucks. I am leaning towards overland as well. But I figured oh well, I'll pull the trigger. Well worth it!