Jimmy's Cross Country Tacoma Build

Hey guys, Im Jimmy and I'm from the Philly area. So a few months ago I picked up this 01 Tacoma from a local dealership for around 10k. Super clean, all original paint, etc. Its a vehicle I've wanted ever since I got my license. So thats how this all started.

As of now I will be leaving for a cross country snowboarding adventure in a month. I was planning on lifting it and getting some big tires and lights but my budget didn't allow it and I didn't want to kill my gas mileage for the 7,000 mile voyage from Philly to Seattle.

What I have done is grab a nice Leer hood cap off craigslist and had it painted, got some awesome floor mats, escort radar detector, gps, aux input for the stereo. I will be doing a coolant flush, trans and motor oil changes, alignment and brake check, etc. Any thoughts on other preventive maintenance I might be missing?

Also, I have a set of awesome Nokian snow tires that we used on our explorer last year that worked incredible. They are 245/65/17s which is around an inch smaller in overall diameter than the stock tires (fresh Geolanders). Would it be a good idea to grab some 17" steel wheels and use the snow tires? Come spring time I am planning on lifting the truck and going with bigger tires so I would want to re use the 17" steelies. So Im looking for your guys advice on what I should do here. I do plan on driving through a lot of snow and I know real snow tires do make a huge difference.

Thanks for any and all input guys!

Heres my baby as she currently sits.

 

Go for the 17s if you can find them, if not run it like it is!