Decade Old Tacoma - New TW Member - New Mexico!

Well met, TacomaWorld!

I recently inherited a 2009 Tacoma from my father and I am here looking for information but also to bring a positive addition to this community. First, a bit about the driver! I live in New Mexico. I'm a husband, a father, and a prosecutor of child sex crimes, border violence, and human trafficking. I love to get out of doors whenever I can. While my pops says this taco is "nothing special" (think he was referring to it being just the standard 4x4 V6 double cab short bed as opposed to the other fancy and aggressive sounding acronyms that these bad boys came with) I vehemently disagree with him. To me, this thing is a piece of him, as I watched him drive it for 10 years. It is also a means of getting a bit further off the grid--something I've wanted to do for a long time. I love to hike, fly fish, ski, and camp, and I've been yearning for a vehicle that will help me do so in a way that gets me further out there! Last week I drove into the Jemez mountains then hopped onto some forest/service roads that I did entirely in 2 wheel drive. I barely had clearance for several stretches and my buddy in his 1500 crew cab with full-size bed definitely scraped his runners to death. I promise not to ask questions until I've done the research, though if there are threads readily available at your finger tips for linking in the comments below, I'd appreciate it.

Goals: Off-road capable, but not expensive rock-crawling. I'm thinking 2-3" of lift, larger diameter tires, a bed rack to add an extra level of storage versatility, and a cb radio mod of some sort. My priority is clearance--I won't be doing a ton of rough stuff, but I don't want a hump in the trail to keep me from continuing on to where I plan to camp. The tires currently on it are wearing out and if I'm going to purchase new tires I might as well make the changes and get a set of tires that achieve the goals. I don't want or need fancy shit, just shit that will get the job done. Course, I say that now. Ultimately, I don't think I need much more than what I already have in order to get off the dirt roads and get me to some cool places to explore.

The taco: It's got 140K miles on the clock, some hail damage, a ding on the driver-side rear end from some dummy in a home depot parking lot, and it's absolutely beautiful. It's seen all routine maintenance and has spent the vast majority of its life on the pavement as a daily driver with the occasional trip pulling a pop-top trailer or navigating washboard-like dirt roads.

What I think I know: (Disclaimer! I'm not a car guy by any means) I think that in order to get more clearance I have to have larger tires, and it seems that in order to fit larger tires I need a lift. I am up to speed on the cab-mount chop, and I think I have a mechanic capable of doing it (I don't have the welding capabilities or I'd definitely give it a go). I understand that to get a half inch of clearance I need to increase diameter by 1 inch--I think that's how the math works. Something about radius. Please correct me on any of this if I'm wrong!

What I'm pretty sure I don't know: products that will help me achieve the goals without unnecessarily requiring that I replace other components or compromise the integrity of components I don't replace. If larger tires in the front will require a new bumper setup. Other cans of worms I'll be opening once I go down the larger tires, lift, and CMChop (if that's even required).

If there's anyone in the Albuquerque Metro area willing to talk to me, I'd greatly appreciate your insight.

Thank you to everyone for reading, and I look forward to learning and contributing.
Jason

--Edit--
I took the mudflaps off!

 

Welcome aboard Jason

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome! Looks like a good platform for a build.

 

@Cresthaven Welcome to TW and glad you've got a great start on a build! Being from NM I know we've got a lot of land to explore and the 4x4 definitely helps. Hop on over to our local threads!

BS Thread
Adventure Thread
For Sale Thread

 

All Tacoma’s are special to me. Welcome

 

Thanks!

 

You don't need a lift.

 

Do I take this to mean add larger tires by means of a cab mount chop?

 

Sure. I don't know 2nd gens as well as I do my 1st gen, but if I were to do it all over again, I would just have not lifted my truck and just fit the 32.8" tires I have now (LT255/75R17).

You don't gain any tire clearance from a lift. When you compress the suspension (whether that is by flexing on the trail or bottoming up from speed), the tires will still hit things if you get too big, so if you get the right size tire and not the popular wide-as-hell-on-matte-black-rims-with-backspacing-so-the-tire-sticks-out-3-inches setup that seems to be the trend, you won't need to cut or trim much.

Or, better yet, you could trade trucks with me and you'll be set up already. 2" lift, rock sliders, all maintenance up-to-date, etc - and have a smaller truck for the trails.

 

There are several New Mexico members on here. We used to do meets at breweries until Covid showed up so maybe those can return soon. Make sure you sub to the New Mexico threads.

My recomendation for your truck is to drive it and figure out if you need to upgrade. These little trucks are very capable off the lot. If you know you want or need upgrades feel free to bounce ideas off us.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to the TW

 

3rd Gen! It'll last forever!