Jackpot for this Mechanically Incompetent Taco Owner

Listen to this guy - you are apparently a bright guy, financially secure and appear to be in control of your life's circumstances. You got capable, "professional" advice from someone you know, but choose to ignore, so, make a list of all the suggestions you are going to get on this forum, from people who you have no clue as to who they are and their expertise, pin the list to a dart board and - throw. LOL

 

I'm surprised at all the lame responses no one has mentioned but the standard upgrades that make it even more capable and it will still drive great on the road are called a MT or mid travel setup.
1. New coilovers up front, choose your poison, fox, icon, Kings, toytec, etc. I'd go fox.
2. UCA's icon, total chaos, camburg, I'd get icons or camburgs with the Uniball covers.
3. Rear leaf springs. I love the OME DAKARS but others will do. Grab some new rear shocks while you're st it and extended brake lines.
4. If you want 33's with low hassle look at the pizza cutters, 255/80/17 or 255/85/16. Maybe need a cab mount chop (CMC). Since you have free labor have him do it!
5. Maybe some bolt on sliders if you have some extra cash at the end, all-pro of CBI or any others, they all work the same.

After that Replace what you break and have fun.

 

He did ask if the money could be put to better use elsewhere. Personally I find retirement planning more exciting than trucks.

 

He said he's against altering the truck...not saying don't do it. His mechanic is someone who believes stock is best, that doesn't make him right. Its just his opinion to not modify the truck.

I had a coworker in a shop who was against me modifying my GTO and said "the factory made it the best it can be, you don't need to change it." Well...now it handles much better, stops faster, and is faster with no issues.

 

Actually, what I asked was this-

I was referring to the initial plan I had for my upgrades.

Man, I must have really did a piss-poor job with phrasing things appropriately in this post, haha.

 

You mean "keep as is" as in buy your original set up plan you listed above, and spent extra $$$ elsewhere correct?
Or plan a new/better set up that will cost about $4k

Not "keep the truck stock and spend all $4k elsewhere"

I think this is what you asked...

 

Thoroughly research the different set ups and check out the suspension threads.

Don't do a Diff Drop kit. The whole purpose of a lift is to increase ground clearance, so why would you turn around and drop your differential just to have it poked into by a rock? (Speaking of which, make sure you budget for a good skid plate)

Also, go into the deals forum and check out the deal going on with the TRD beadlock wheels. Significantly cheaper right now, although I agree insane on cost. I like the 4Runner wheels myself but am disappointed that they aren't 15 or 16'' options.

I like the OME set up with the Dakars in the rear (my choice when I have money one day). I also hear great things about Icon.

 

I skipped all the financial advise in the thread and just decided to post. i don't know much about lifting the 2wd version outside the fact that you can do spindles for good cost / lift ratio. That being said if your willign to spend that much money the biggest upgrade is tires. you can do some 33" 255/85r16 tires with no rubbing on a stock taco and that will run you around 1200. Another 3k could get you new UCA's, fox coilovers w/ resivor and compression adjusters and full compression adjusting. Check here as well as a new leaf pack in the rear. that link is to headstrong. play around with that kit to get pricing where you want. but thats a mid travel setup with 33" tires for right around 4k. you can go with an ALL instead of the deavers and save some cash. you can dump the compression adjuster and save more. i went with a kit from them that cost 2200. Im happy with it.

The point of my novel is if your going to spend 3-4k and wheel your vehicle do it right, get value and performance out of the lift. the OME kits are great but you can get so much better for the money your budgeting. OME kits limit your down travel equal to the amount of lift, they clunk goign over speedbumps. the kits i gave you give you an extra 1" down travel

 

So far about 10 different opinions on "what to do" - OP, you didn't do a "piss poor job of phrasing things" - WELCOME TO TW!

 

I did the full OME 2.5-3" lift (dakars in the rear) and have 33" tires (285-75-16 BFG M/T) but you would need rims with the correct offset and I changed out my front bumper to a plate bumper (had to remove the front splash guard in the wheel well and all the mud flaps)
always get complements that it looks mean, but not over done. The wheels fill out the wells and provide a nice height , without looking like mini big foot

 

I have a similar set up (Bilstein 5100s and wheelers 3 leaf AAL) and have been satisfied using it for the occasional camping trip.

The set up you have there is less than $1k in parts (you left out rear shocks). look for a used set of wheels and tires for $1k. Then spend some on his daughter or invest in your future (house, retirement).

Also your father in law probably won't want money from you, but I'm sure he won't turn down a family dinner at a nice restaurant as "payment"

 

Pics or it didnt happen

 

Again, not the picture I intended to paint. SilverBullet19, you nailed it. This guy is the man, but he's old school. The dude is 3rd generation, and very successful at what he does, but in his mind it's all shackles and blocks still. He joked with me when I bought the truck, "You can't lift that thing! A lot of very smart Japanese engineers got together to make that thing run. You could get 300,000 miles from that truck! If you lift it, you may only get......jeez, I dunno, 150,000!!"

He knows how badly I wanted to do this, so he's helping me out. I'll be in the shop all day with him. He's got 4 sons of his own, but after I lost my father in a motorcycle accident 2 years ago, he's the closest I've got to the real thing, and he never makes feel otherwise.


Let's get back to business, people. Haha. 3'' of lift isn't a MUST, hell, 33" tires aren't either. Both had just sounded like reasonable options. Basically, I just want my truck to be a little taller, with some bigger tires, and a better ride. I want it to look bad ass, and ride better(if possible). I'd love some Wet Okoles, a nice light bar, new headlights etc etc, but those aren't priorities quite yet(though I would love a nice set of seat covers).

 

Added the prisnu rack and light bar since then.

 

I have 885 coils ome lift with icon 3 leaf aal and spc uca, and arb bumper cost 2600 ish. install couple friends, alignment went to les schwab they did a good job on it.

 

Fox and icon progressive aal. And light racing uca

 

Can you throw up a few pictures of your set-up?

I suppose that's more of the "look", that I would like. I don't necessarily need 33" tires and 3" lift. If I can improve the ride quality(I'd prefer the ride a little more stiff), while gaining a little height and making my truck look more bad ass all-around, then I'd be tickled pink.

Since this will see pavement 96% of time, should I look more at 17" wheel options? Would I even notice a difference?

So, I guess what would I need to achieve these things(better ride, meaner look). If it's a set-up with 2'' suspension lift and 32'' tires, that's fine. I'd rather have a tire that fills out the wheel well more, than the pizza cutters.


Specific tire/wheel combo recommendations would be awesome. Nothing too elaborate. As I mentioned before, pretty much anything in the Stealth Custom Series line-up really trips my trigger, and obviously, those TRD faux beadlocks!

If we can have anything left over for some fun accessories-light bar, seat covers, headlights, etc. That's a-ok in my book.

 

So, I think this is pretty much exactly what I'd like my truck to resemble. Strong work to Justinmbowen

 

@justinmbowen

 

Thanks for the tag.