lift and tires questions

Still trying to decide what to do with the 96 x cab 4x4 I just aquired. I will be sharing this truck with my son next year when he gets his license so as a first truck for him I want it to look as good as it can without being dangerous. So, I want a 2-3 " lift, not sure weather to lift or level, and being on a budget money is a factor.
Also, what tires should I go with? I want a decent mud type looking tire, but also don't want something to wear out to quickly.
Should I go 31x10.50 or 285/75/16?
I am liking the look of the kuhmo tires in the other thread.
Thanks guys!
Third question, truck also needs new tail lights. I think I will get some of those gay altezza type lights off of ebay simply because they are cheap and some do not look too bad, like the smoke tinted ones for instance, any thoughts on those?

 

Old Man Emu Tacoma Suspension and 265/75/16 Duratracs been pretty good setup for everyday driving and weekend hunting and fishing duties.

 

i have the Bilstein 5100's in the front set at the highest setting but after being on or a year and a half they've settled to about 2 inches which makes the truck pretty level. They are very reliable and def the cheapest way to get an effective lift w/o destroying components or sacrificing a good ride. If i had to do it all over again, i would do what Itsallgood said and go OME suspension lift with the coilovers which also isnt too pricy. You can do an add leaf or 1 inch shackle for the rear if you need some lift there and neither of those are expensive.

As for tires, it depends whether you want to replace your wheels or not. If you want to go with the 285's you will either have to get wheels with less backspacing so the tires don't rub on the UCA's or get wheel spacers which i don't recommend. If you go with the 32's aka 265/75 as seen above ^^^ those will fit fine on the stock wheels. So pretty much do exactly what the guy in the previous post did haha if you want a mild capable lift and decent sized mud tires that won't require further modifications.

As far as the taillights go, i have no idea

 

then again since it is a 96, are the stock wheels 15 or 16 inch?

Cuz i have pro comp 15 inch wheels to replace my stock 16 inch wheels and have 32x11.5 R15 tires on them. I did this since tires for 15 inch wheels are cheaper and lighter load than the bigger tires for the larger wheel diameters

 

Bilstein 5100's with eibach coils. 33x12.5x15 or 16 w/e you have. Why? 5 minutes or less of hammering to make them fit. EXTREMELY SIMPLE, and they fill the wheel wells way better than 31's. 31's are the new 33's.