New! and in need of advice. 2008 TRD, new tire input, new suspension? wear pattern and fixes for it

Hi all,

New to this forum, new to Tacoma's, and new to truck ownership. I am pretty unexperienced in truck maintenance and looking to learn some new things here, but I am very green! This will be a bit of a long thread with some newbie questions in the end. Thanks for the help!

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I purchased this 2008 Tacoma (TRD offroad 4x4) @ 77k last July at a good price.


The dealer (small and scrappy) put on some new tires when I purchased it (linglong 265/70r16 112h crosswind 4x4 hp). I put 15k (92) on it this year, with 2 long road trips to Ohio and 1 to DC making up a large percentage of the total milage (approx 5k). I know I got the tires rotated and aligned about 6 months ago (about 7k in of the total 15 this year). As I have since learned, the tires are on the low end of quality and are on their way out already.

The wear pattern on the tires does not look good/ normal to me or my mechanic. The fronts have worn much faster on the inside (engine side) of each tire and are getting close to replacement. Photos are hard to capture but it looks to be an 1/8- 1/16 of an inch of additional wear.

Additionally, my mechanic noted that the stock suspension looks to be on the way out and will be in need of replacement soon, and given that I will need to replace my tires, they recommend replacing the suspension as well so the new tires don't get worn out as well.

Here are my questions:
1. What brand, size, etc. do people suggest for majority highway miles in a cold enviro (Boston)?
2. When replacing stock suspension, what direction should I go in terms of replacement? I have no idea about where to start.
3. My mechanic quoted me $660 for 4 Yokohama tires (only details they gave) and $870 for front shocks, $482 for rear shocks (I am assuming labor is included in the shock quotes) does that seem reasonable? What questions should I come back with?

I am hoping to keep this truck on the road for an additional 150k miles and want to make changes that will increase the longevity of the vehicle as a primary orientation. Not that interested in aesthetic upgrades or off-road features.

Thanks for reading and any input!

 

If this is on the wrong forum, let me know and I will repost in the right place.

 

I can only answer a couple of these but here goes nothing. Stock suspension I have no idea but lots of folks on here are selling TRD shocks for cheap with very few miles on them. For the cost your dealer gave you on the suspension you Could get a 3" rough country suspension lift and probably installed. My local diesel/offroad shop does the full 4 shock suspension lift with installation for $1000 flat. As for the four Yokohama tires just go to Americas tires or discount tire direct (same company). If I could add a personal opinion in here it would be that the 3" lift looks great on the truck and keeps it looking very close to stock while adding a very pleasant aggressiveness to it

 

Also Congrats on the new Tacoma and welcome to TW!

 

Thank you!

 

Some bad info in this thread. Stay away from rough country. You get what u pay for. Any lift over 2.5” you will need new UCAs in order for a correct alignment. A mild lift around 2” up front is good for most people.

 

Welcome to TW!!
A good stock replacement shocks would be the bilstein 5100s.
The tires sounds like a good deal but he’s reaming you on the shocks. For all 4 you can shop around for about 350. If you have some basic hand tools you can do that rears really easily about an hour including beer breaks. For the fronts I’d shop elsewhere to get them swapped.

 

As far as tires go, I'd purchase them from Discount Tire. They can get you whatever tire you want, certifications for the tires in case you wind up needing a tire replaced, and you get free rotations and re-balancing for the lifetime of the tires.

As far as suspension goes, I suggest figuring out what you're wanting to use the truck for. If you're using it as a commuter, try replacing with stock components or bilstein 4600's. If you're wanting to do some off-roading, try going with the bilstein 5100's. They're ride height adjustable in the front so you can pick how much you want to lift your truck from 0-2.5". At that point, you will want to find a set of coil springs to pair with the 5100 shocks... most go with OME 2884 or OME 2885. For the rear, you can do 5100's and an add-a-leaf, or replace the leaf spring packs altogether.

Of course, all of this is dependent on how much you're willing to spend, and you can definitely save some money by doing the work yourself. The rear shocks can be bought for $100-$150 and you can put them on yourself, or with the help of a buddy or fellow TW member, in 30 minutes. The front shocks can be bought for about $200, and the coil springs are another $150-$200 and these can be installed within the matter of a few hours. So if you do this yourself, you can save around $850 (judging by the estimates you gave) and the parts that you will be putting on will perform BETTER than what the mechanic will put on your truck.

 

Thanks for the response Tylerh147, Matt, and NBourque. Appreciate the willingness to hop in on a new thread from a new member. My ideal scenario is to learn how to do a self install and begin the process of learning how to care for my vehicle and not just rely on paid labor. However, I am about to move to Iowa in the next few weeks and I need to get this work done before I leave.

I plan to have this mostly as a commuter vehicle with occassional useage for camping and hunting on public lands out west. It sounds like the bilstein 1500s and a trip to a different mechanic are the best options for the short term.

long term, are there meet ups for TW members where you can learn to do stuff like this or set ups for paid labor/teaching?

 

This forum has anything and everything in it. If you need help with anything, just either use the search bar at the top of the page, or send someone a PM. I'd be happy to help if you need it.