Building a crawler from a 2017 trd sport

Hey everyone, first time tacoma owner and first post here

I recently purchased a bone stock 2017 tacoma trd sport 4x4 and am looking to make it into a crawler and am looking for a point in the right direction of what suspension lift and wheels/tires are best for recreational crawling withouth making too big a dent in the wallet

also how necessary are lockers and other upgrades? any information or links would be greatly appriciated

 

If it’s going to be a crawler you’ll want to regear, add front and rear lockers, and probably a marlin crawl box as well.

 

Why!?!

 

Honestly, you’re starting with the completely wrong platform. If you’re actually serious about a “Crawler” than sell it now and buy a Jeep Rubicon it will almost forever be more capable due to dual solid axles, dual lockers, and much much better approach and departure angles. Now if you just mean you wanna Offroad that’s different but to make a Gen 3 Sport a real crawler you won’t even be sort of satisfied without major work and body modification. A truck isn’t a Jeep. Just my opinion but perhaps it will make you rethink your plans. Where do you plan to wheel? A Tacoma will get you up most of Oaray but you won’t be winning King of Hammers....

Welcome to TW, interesting first post.

 

hahaha agreed, sorry for my terminology and any misunderstanding, im brand new to the offroad world and want to eventually get into crawling, first i want to add a suspension lift and get some bigger off road tires just before i start delving into my own research and get what I think is best I want to see what people would suggest

as for right now im looking at an icon stage one 3 inch lift.. am i going to regret that and just be throwing my money away right now and suggest going with a different stage or brand even?

 

I should have been a lot more clear, im not looking to crawl like professional jeeps do, i want to off road and tackle some beginner to intermediate trails but also use this as my daily driver and work truck

am i wasting my money to try and make it a good cross between the both?

 

I live in so cal, santa monica to be exact

I snowboard every weekend and want to explore places like big bear and tahoe mountains and be able to tackle some of the light jeep trails in areas like that

 

2-3” lift, 255 80 R17’s (since you have the Sport) tires, skids and rock rails. That’s s you need for now in fact it’s more than you need but it’ll keep your truck intact.

 

Thanks a ton brother, much appriciated

Any brand that coexists with toyota more than others? as of right now im looking at an icon stage one 3 inch, i can go for a higher stage if the UCA's are needed

 

Okay, stop using the term “crawler.” That will alleviate a lot of your issues.

The idea of spending 40k on a vehicle, Jeep or Taco, that you intend on turning into a dedicated off road vehicle is mind boggling to me in the least but you have the freedom to do that. It sounds like you have a LOT of wheeling to do before you even touch a moderate trail in Big Bear or similar.

My suggestion is spend some time on here and find some active local members to go wheel with. Even if they’ll let you ride along at first so you can get a better idea of what you want to do or are willing to do in your vehicle.

 

agreed, again i apologize for being such a rookie, just getting my feet wet and try to get some nudges in the right direction, thanks for the info

 

I went full OME, no UCA’s, Marie @HeadStrong Off-Road should prob be your first call. I don’t really know the Bilsten Suspension route because i went a different direction but contact her and she’ll go over options. Someone on here will chime in on other low priced options that a VERY common on here.

 

Bought the wrong vehicle lol

 

He did say it was gonna be his DD.... just didn’t word this post very well. He wants a very moderate trail rig he can DD.... not at all what the first posts states lol

 

No, the Tacoma is a great multiple use platform but sucks at being dedicated to one thing.

No worries, it makes sense to be excited. I would again suggest to use the shit out of the TW search engine to read on your beginning questions and talk to people who have gone down the rabbit hole before purchasing A DAMN thing.

 

haha yeah i can see the confusion, im sure ima get flamed a lot for how i worded this at first but i absolutely love my truck and have 0 regrets, i know for a fact i can make a 3rd gen trd sport do what i want it to do and can promise i wont be needing crawl control lol

 

I saw that and realized that he is not looking for quite what his first post hinted.

The Tacoma is great for DD and a weekend getaway vehicle. I think we’re back on track.

 

I’ve made two crawlers from Tacoma’s, feel free to send me a message for any info or details you need. I’ve done it!

 

Thats great your pumped to build your truck, how much cash do you want to spend immediately ? The amount of cash you have will determine what you do

 

thank you brotha, ill be in touch with you

roughly 5000, not tryna use my whole budget if not needed, but I live by a "if you buy cheap, you buy twice" mentality so i dont want to be getting a low grade setup