LT "look" without the expense

first off, sorry if i posted this in the wrong section...i have been doing a lot of thinking, and seeing that i may be selling my bike soon, and i have always admired baja racing, i want to turn my '05 taco into a "LT" truck without all the necessities it would need to take an a** beating in the desert and survive.

so, seeing that i live on the east coast and there is no desert, i will never take my tacoma out to actually jump it or go prerunning; however, i have always loved the stance and look of the long travel trophy trucks and have decided that i want to go that route rather than lifting it straight up like everyone else does in this area.

currently, i have fox coilovers on the front (dont know the exact model ; they came on the truck when i bought it.....it originally was a california truck)...they have the remote res...and i think i have factory bilsteins in the rear (cant read the lettering bc they are faded). it's a v6 4.0L 2wd prerunner trd offroad ext cab with approx 98k miles as it sits now.

would love to be able to utilize the fox coilovers if i can, especially considering i do not need 13" of suspension travel, but if i need to buy an entire new set up, i will. im assuming i would need upper and lower control arms along with, at least, some type of leaf set up in the rear. obviously, cheaper is better, but not if it is junk. would love to be pointed in the right direction because i also want to go with a wider tire and a aftermarket wheel (something like a 285 on a 16"-17" wheel), as well as a prerunner bumper.

also, would it look stupid if i just put fenders on the front and not the rear? whatever "kit" is suggested, i definitely still need to be able to utilize my bed. no need for any bed cage, tire rack, engine cage or boxed frame; this truck will NOT be jumped. i have read the differences between long travel and mid travel kits, but i still would love for actual builders and people who own LT and MT kits on their trucks share their knowledge.

any and all help would be greatly appreciated. and if anyone knows of a local shop in the charlotte/mooresville area that specializes in desert fab work, please let me know.

thanks!

 

I have fiberglass and mid travel and it looks absolutely perfect. i am running wheel spacers and 35's so that really fills the gap.

 

what mid travel kit? and how big of spacers? i would rather shun away from spacers if i can; depending on the thickness.

 

if your coil overs are adjustable, you can crank em up for that bro leaner style, add some fiberglass and some wheel spacers, you're good to go

 

King Coilovers, DSM Boxed Uca's, All-Pro springs with custom shock hoops and 12" 2.5's in the rear. 1.25" spacers to clear the hoops and matching fronts. as long as they are properly torqued you won't have problems with spacers either.

 

yeah, but if im cranking them up, do i not need at least need UCA's bc of the amount of stress and negative camber the front wheels will have?

 

yep!

 

so basically i just need spacers, uca's, crank up the coils...and if i wanna put some 285's on there, and not have to worry about rubbing, get some glass fenders?

how about the rear? what shock/leaf combo should i go with? i wouldnt mind replacing both rear shocks and the front coilovers if it will give me a little more travel and not but a HUGE dent in my wallet. i figure i can always sell the fox coilovers and someone may want the bilsteins.

 

icon progressive add a leaf and maybe some nice 2.0 or 2.5's will get you about 1.5" lift, question for you though, if you want fiber glass have you thought about a front bumper?

 

im diggin' your truck. sh*t is sick.

 

not necessarily. how high do you want to go? lol
you can also lower the rear to get the same bro rider effect.

 

i know if i go with glass, i will most definitely get a tube-style prerunner bumper that i would probably want to put at least 3 fogs or a light bar on.

 

okay good, glass with front bumper looks pretty goofy in my opinion!

 

i dont want to lower the rear bc i still put stuff in the bed and sometimes it's enough of a load that it sinks the suspension; it doesnt bottom out..just dont want to lower the rear.

 

Im looking at doing a similar thing, about to get the baja fenders (im originally from NC also, and NO ONE rocks those fenders over here!) I was just looking into "bumper caps," if thats what theyre called. Theyre like 100$. I guess they are supposed to make a stock bumper fit better with the baja side fenders. Im only doin the front, the back is ok IMO

 

Go bigger than 285.

 

fenders on a truck that still has the factory bumper looks funny, even if it is lifted...fenders only look good, in my opinion, with a wide stance in the front and a prerunner bumper.

 

or a plate bumper that matches the glass

 

gotcha, yeah you will want uniball or lr bj uca's to get your alignment into spec

 

if i put glass on the fronts and rears, i will probably go bigger than 285, but if i am just staying 1-2" bigger than stock height, just doing the front fenders and not the rears, then ill prob just stay at 285/75/16-17