Real Dirt on 2016 TRD OFF Road Suspension upgrades.

Hi all.

1st thread since intro. Looking to help my Son buy his first vehicle since finishing College and it looks like it's going to be a 3rd Gen Tacoma. To qualify why, he has his BS in Forestry with a Minor in Fire Management. He's always been an outdoors guy and made the grade summer break before last as Hot Shot level 2 Firefighter. Anyway...He tested out early last week and has already started working. So...on to the vehicle.

For this target vehicle the primary thing to address is the suspension. He will spend more time off road than most (even here), but is not a "racer". This will be his everyday vehicle, but must handle his career choice and lifestyle associated with it. I have read many threads and did most of the "blind" research. Without "totally" breaking the bank...what are the recommended suspension upgrades we're looking at on a possible 2016 4x4 Off Road.

Thanks.

 

...and while I'm at it, a rear disc brake conversion.

 

Why? Not needed. I used my Gen 1 on forest roads off-road for work (spotted owl survey crew) for three years, plus a lot of off-road miles for over 10-years in the desert doing bat mine and desert tortoise surveys and never had a problem with my rear drums. The type 3 engines he may be riding in have drums too, in fact, many FS vehicles have drums.

#1 the best upgrade is good tires. Lift is secondary to good tires, including a full-sized matching spare.

#2 as a hotshot, he wont be using his truck for work, but some of the stations they get stationed at are on long dirt forest roads so he will need to have some gear for changing tires, getting pulled out of mud, etc.

#3 put the money in a 4x4 double cab, he needs a good personal gear locker and may need to drive people sometimes.

4# consider a extended cab longbed and a shell- camping in it will be nice if he can take his truck wherever they are on a strike. I dont like long trucks though, the problem with a doublecab longbed is making u-turns on narrow forest roads.

I’m retired from all that now and am teaching, but would go back to FS work anytime if I could. As a FS employee, everyone who works in the field needs to be red carded and are called upon to help during fires. The few that I actually worked the lines on were some of the most rewarding times I had in my working career.

Congratulations on his career choice!

 

Thanks OnHartung'sRoad. Tires, tooling, storage and capacity are a given and handled. Lift is part of the request toward suspension. A rear disc conversion is about choice. To be clear, this vehicle has already been qualified in stock form to meet the duty cycle he requires. Just looking for experienced advise specific to said upgrades right now.

As to his career choice...he's happy...and we're proud of him for making a choice and finishing what he started.

 

Get a steel truck bed locker and solar battery keeper - he may be away from it for days, even weeks, and will appreciate a safe place for storing personal gear and a fresh battery!

Oh yeah, ceyenne pepper for wood rats.

As for suspension- I upgraded to Bilstein 5100 shocks in front and kept the original coils, set the shocks to the third height setting to get a 1.25 or higher lift in front, and put 5100’s in the rear with a single Deaver leaf - kept the overload leaf in too for a 1.25+ rear lift too. It rides very well both on and off road, loaded and empty.

The best source of information for you would be to call or PM a specialist with this such as @HeadStrong Off-Road for more questions about pricing and options, too.

 

Status update.

The truck will be a 2018 7568 OF/TP, hits port 07-09, delivery about 5 days later. Had preliminary discussions with Marie, but she's now out of pocket...until 07-09. For those of you in the DFW area...I also spoke in person with Barbara at TofD and Alex at Tandem. Additionally, I have done "a lot" of reading and "some" Bubba talk, but not a lot of Toyota 4X folks in my circles. So, while I'm close on the suspension choice...here's where I'm at on the rest.

J-pipe, CMC, A/C drain and rear diff vent mods are happening. Going with an ARE shell, probably the Z. Like the RCI skids but haven't decided AL or steel yet.

Sliders, and wheels is where I need the most help. I know factory specs, but going with 285/70/17's tires so that means a jump to a 17"x 7.5"-9.5" wheel...and "I was told" go with a 0 thru -10 offset. Sliders...there's a lot of choices so "best guess"...I'm leaning toward Mobtown with kickout for DCLB.

Any and all feedback, advice and critique accepted......for now at least.

Thanks.

 

I’ve had a full OME kit with 888 coils, soft ride struts and Dakar leaf packs and SPC Light Racing UCA’s on for two years now on mine and it’s been fantastic but didn’t break the bank. I hunt and fish and roam the forests a lot and it’s just what I needed. I also have a slimline winch bumper that he might find handy. My next thing will be getting rid of these damn predator steps and getting some sliders as I’ve nearly ripped the steps off about 50 times now. This is a freshly washed picture......gets pretty nasty come hunting season.

 

Check out SOS Offroad Concepts sliders, good price, super solid and bolt on. I’m running 285/70R17 on 17” wheels and with a -12 offset and 4.5” backspace I managed them with no rubbing or trimming necessary

 

Very nice.

You say no rub no trim? 1/4" spacer...for lean or lift? How high are you running over stock? I'm looking to keep it at 2" from suspension only, plus another inch from tires. Have stayed away from bumpers because of 2018 TSS, cost and I'm not outfitting him to climb cliffs. However...got a link for the slimeline "as you have it" and grill LED?

Thanks.

P.S. - Like your grill too, but already have the 2018 Pro grill with correct garnish and longer harness ordered.

 

The 1/4" spacers were to compensate for the weight of the bumper/winch so that I still had adequate clearance for the wheel/tire combo so they were for lift, the drivers side has the trim packer within the coilover. I'm getting around 3" of lift. My rear end sits at 24" hub to center for the drivers side and passenger is 24 1/4", my front end is 23 1/2" on both sides. I'm not getting any rubbing at all and did zero trimming, but that varies vehicle to vehicle and varies based on tires, etc.

Slimline bumper is from SOS Offroad Concepts and the 32" light bar is just a cheaper model made by NiLight that you can find on Amazon.

www.sosoffroadconcepts.com

 

You’re quite the dad! 25 years ago I got my Forestry degree with minor in fire management. Did my hotshot crew time in the 90’s and have been with the FS ever since (albeit more managerial now). Just curious, which crew is your son on?

As far as trucks, everything I owned fit in my vehicle for the first 4-5 years I worked fire as a seasonal, bouncing from job to school to job. Post graduation I was able to get a permanent appointment with the FS so was a little more stable but was working in a location I knew I didn’t want to remain long term, so I kept things bachelor-simple (lived in govt housing) and easily relocatable (everything I owned fit in the back of my truck). That meant a canopy was a must-have.

DCLB with canopy will come in very handy for your son as he enters the vagabound seasonal firefighter life. Tell him to stay safe.

 

I think if you are on a budget you go for the Bilstein 6112's with the 5160's in the rear (Bilstein markets these as their "Adventure" pack). I have the non adjustable version of this on my truck and love the ride. I would suggest doing a full leaf pack instead of an AAL. I did an AAL for the time being but am most likely going to switch over to a Dakar medium.

https://www.headstrongoffroad.com/store/p474/Performance_Bilstein_Kit_with_OME_Dakar_Leaf_Pack_(HS16BK-3).html

Outside of that I think most guys on here would recommend Kings, ADS or Fox. I believe all of those brands are rebuild-able for years of usage. The Bilstein's are not.

 

Just an opinion here, but I have an ARE Z Series shell and I’m not crazy about it. Looks great but the sloped rear window and heavy duty hinges that hang down into the window opening, really impact getting that last bit of cargo, or a long or tall load like a mountain bike, in the back. With a DCSB every inch counts. Otherwise, style and quality are fine, and access might be easier with windoors, which I don’t have, if those are available on the 5’ bed Z Series.

 

I just got the OME HD pack, added a leaf and love it. I thought it would ride rough but I actually love the ride. I'm running steel bumpers and a lot of extra weight in the bed. The progressive pack is great.

 

Just a quick heads up. Gave our Son his 2018 Cement DCLB OR yesterday. Will list the upgrades later. Thank you so much for all your help folks.

 

One proud father!!!

My girls got full ride (bank of dad) degrees but only a new Hyundai from me.

 

stock is fine. A tundra or Tacoma are made to last offroad. Basically anything but the sport is fine offroad.

 

Agree, but decided to take it to the next level. Image I posted on #15 is the result.

 

Now for the list of money...I mean...parts and mods to this Cement 2018 DCLB OR with Premium and Tech pkgs.

Toytec 2.5's with 650 springs in the front, 2.0's w/reservoirs in the rear with OME HD springs for a +2" lift. ECGS Clamshell, SPC UCAs, front diff drop, swap bar offset, carriage bearing drop, 5 each 17" SRS Ray 10s gun metal, 5 each Nitto Ridge Grapplers C-Load 285x70x17's, spare well modded to fit larger spare, front CMC, Total Chaos bed stiffeners, Factory TRD PRO Grill with factory correct garnish and longer harness, all 3 RCI bare aluminum skid plates, transfer case exhaust reroute for flush aft skid and better spare clearance, Toyota all weather mats, front tint, bed mat, mud guards (fronts now deleted) and A.R.E "Z" shell.

I thank all the vendors for their quality products and fast shipping, but would like to give a special thanks to the guys at Tandem Automotive in Haltom City TX for their excellent and knowledgeable work putting this together for me. My highest recommendation! https://www.tandemoffroad.com/

Anyway...the only thing left to install are SDHQ's DCLB Sliders when they are actually put into production.

P.S. In the moment I forgot to thank one other very skilled individual and shop. Rich @ http://richs-performance-mufflers.com/. in Wylie TX. There are a lot of shops that can barely tack on a new muffler, but not a lot of shops that can do quality SS custom exhaust work. He made the reroute/s look better than and the way it should have come from factory. Big Thumbs Up!

 

I think I am going to have Rich do an exhaust reroute for me. I have e-mailed him about it. Are you still happy with it? Any tips? Thanks.