Building the best Mountain Approach Vehicle

Hopefully this week I will pick up my first 4x4. Im getting a 04 Tacoma TRD Off Road. It has 145k and has been WONDERFULLY taken care of and is still stock as ever. My wife and I are AVID climbers and spend almost every weekend, plus 1 month a year road tripping trough the west climbing. But nasty rough roads have kept us from visiting lots of mountains and climbing areas. So we are super excited to have a vehicle which will dramatically increase are ability to access the mountains. With this in mind I am going to slowly be building up our rig to suit these needs to become the best mountain approach rig ever!

First we need tires, the ones on the truck now are done for. We will drive on highways 95% of the time (with lots of rain in the fall and snow in the winter) beyond that rocky and gravel forest road durability are what we need. I have heard great things about BF k20 and Cooper discover A/TW, any preferences or others I should look at.

Synthetic Fluids? Is it worth it? Will the engine gain longevity, will I get any extra efficiency? Are there any other mods that would help us gain MPGs? I don't think we need more HP?

Shock upgrades. I don't want to lift this rig since I am not going out to OFF ROAD and I want to maintain highway drivability. These trucks are amazing stock but at 145k miles it seems like shocks will need replacing sooner rather than later. Considering our use and wanting durability to drive faster than 10mph on dirt roads and get through occasional washouts what should we look at?

What else have you all done that we should consider. Way off in the distance Ill be looking into rock sliders, potential bumper upgrades and other things but this should get us moving. Thanks

Eric

 

The K02s are pretty beastly for 95% highway driving. Expect a decrease in mpg if you run them. I've read 1-2mpg for E-rated (of course depends on armor and other factors), but I have no personal experience so I won't pretend. Since you mentioned improving MPG with fluids, I think you will want to avoid these tires given your intended use.

I can recommend Michelin's LTX M/S 2 or duratracs for primary highway with some dirt driving on the weekends. I like mine a lot, but I recently purchased cooper at3s (not mounted yet, so I can't comment on them). There is a sale going on with discount tires direct ($170 off). Btw, this sale ends today if you want new tires. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...coupon-100-off-400-expires-october-31.456256/

You may want to hold off on upgrading suspension until you know what body armor you will run. I run Kings (25001-151 up front, 153s in the rear) and the ride is really plush, night and day difference over stock-not surprising given their price point though.

 

Fantastic choice. You won't be sorry, ever.

I've done a bit of climbing and I think I know where you're coming from. Something to not overlook is what a great camping vehicle it will make - you didn't say if it was an Xcab or a twin cab or what, but if you have a 6' bed, building a sleeping platform with drawers underneath and a camper top over it will give you gobs of storage for ropes and equipment and you can sleep the night away in comfort while rain pounds down on you. Tents just aren't the same.

As for synthetics, the answer is probably yes it's worth it. This sort of a religious question but I'm switching to synth at my next oil change and I run synth in my Land Cruiser and I wouldn't do it any other way.

Tires - BFG All Terrains - I think they call them K2's now - the gold standard for durability and all surface traction.

Shocks - the only sucky thing about these trucks is the stock suspension, so upgrading to a no-lift OME or other quality suspension (which will include springs front and rear) will pay big dividends in driving comfort and manners on and off road. A lift isn't necessary for most uses but my stock suspension is awful and is the next thing I'm fixing.

Have fun - again, you chose the right truck.

 

I will second the Michelin's LTX M/S 2's: really good tires.

 

I had the LTX's on my truck when I bought it, they were fantastic tires for stock size. Did great in the snow, quiet on the highway, stayed balanced the entire time I had them, and went 60k miles before I replaced them. Hell I'd probably still be running them if they made them in 35's.

 

The late 1st gens come with 16" wheels, which provide for sub-par tire selection IMO. I swapped my 03 16" wheels for 2000 15" stock Tacoma alloy wheels and then ran 31x10.5 tires in C-load to get lighter weight tires which reduce mpg and power loss from heavy E-load tires. Also greatly increases tire choice selection in the ideal C-load range.

 

I used to be an avid supporter of synthetic. But if you like changing your fluids every now and again, then just use conventional. I like getting underneath every 5k and checking everything out, so I stopped using M1 and went to yellow Pennzoil