Modification Recommendations

Hello all.

Just picked up my 22 Tacoma last week and of course I am already thinking about modifying it. I am coming from a 2006 Range Rover HSE I bought for $8000 and I wanted something more reliable which took 87.

I am thinking I will start with a leveling kit, wheels, and a/t tires. I think I figured out what I will be going with but I was hoping to get someone else's opinion on these products and possibly something I haven't found yet. I am on a fairly tight budget and not looking to do anything crazy due to this being my daily and driving around 250-350 miles a week for my commute.

Leveling Kit: Eibach Pro-Truck Lift System
AAL: Icon Dynamics Multi-Rate RXT Rear Leaf Spring Pack
Wheels: Pro Comp 32 Series Bandido Matte Black Alloy Wheels (These are not my favorite looking wheels and if anyone has any other budget friendly recommendations I am all ear)
I was also looking at the Pro Comp beadlock wheels but am not sure about running beadlocks for daily driving.

If anyone has a similar setup, what tires are you running, and should this all fit without any modification to the fenders?

I was also wondering if anyone has used a pedal commander to fix the issues I am hearing about with these trucks having problems with the gearing?

I know this is a lot of questions so thank you!!

 

Welcome to the forum. First suggestion…. Bury your wallet!
Second suggestion…. Stop reading this forum!
There I literally saved you thousands!
But seriously if I were you I’d just get it tuned and drive it for awhile.
And post pictures, we love pictures!

 

Tune that dog

 

If you're commuting that much every week, you want as high of gas mileage as you can get in my opinion. I'd stay away from a lift and larger tires since you say you're on a fairly tight budget... bye bye money.

Most of the gearing issues are fixed on 2020+ models. I still run stock and can't complain. But get a tune down the road if it annoys you.

 

Definitely get your point about it being a daily and appreciate the response. Maybe I didn't make it super clear but I do go off road pretty regularly and do a good bit of overlanding. My thought process is since my sr5 came with what I could only call road tires, I would rather get the tire size I want after doing my modifications as opposed to upgrading a few months down the line and wasting a grand on tires.

 

Also, just about anything will beat my HSE which got about 12 mpg and only took 91. XD

 

I get your logic, but if the tire size you're looking at won't fit without your suspension mods then you might want to consider doing the lift first, then getting your wheels and tires (or of course, use the buy once cry once logic and do it all at the same time). Yea I know it's a pain dealing with the touring tires, but as you say it's better to do it in the right order and not waste $$.

 

Since it's your DD and you're on a budget, I'd wheel as is until you find you actually need a mod to get where you want to go or make something substantially easier/less stressful on the truck. They are pretty capable in stock form. A lift and tires really doesn't transform them unless you need that 1-2" of height to make it over that one rock or you plan to take your DD rock bouncing.

I would at least figure out about how much weight you will be carrying on your trips before you go changing the suspension. You'll have to find a middle ground there since I imagine you will take the weight out for DD.

 

I would also suggest a tune instead of the pedal commander. I got mine tuned after I put about 5K miles on it and, I’m not exaggerating, it was like driving a different truck. I wish I did the tune the day I bought it.

All your other mods sounds like intelligent choices, good companies with solid reputations. I run 265/75/16 General Grabber AT/X tires and I didn’t take too much of a hit to my MPGs, I just mention that since people have mentioned the worse MPGs you will get with larger tires.

Here’s my SR5. It’s not so SR5-y anymore

I have the Icon AAL in the rear. 2 inch spacers up front (I’ll be doing bilsteins all around once I get some more miles out of the stock Hitachis). 16x8 Black Rhino Stadium wheels.

Just to give you an idea of what that size tire looks like since we have basically the same truck.

 

Chicken or the egg probs. My 2 cents is do not do any suspension until you have done some serious time and research on this forum.

Tires, I hear you, I couldn't get my crappy original tires off fast enough. I've got a 2nd gen so I might be off a little on this, but 265/75/16 or equivalent is the limit on stock without rubbing at full lock. I had to remove the OEM mudgaurds.

I'm really happy with Falken Wildpeaks. Very capable, and good in all conditions. Day they went on, I've been very happy with them, was able to descend the first approach leg to the beginning of the Rubicon aired down to 18 with no problems.

These could get you by easily until you really get your head around all the complicated and expensive stuff.

 

Oh and a dash cam. Get a dash cam to protect your investment. I bought a Garmin one off Amazon and it’s been flawless for the last 15K miles.

 

Spot on! That is exactly what I am thinking

 

That looks so good man. I got the midnight black too and it looks so clean!

 

Awesome truck! I had the Wildpeaks on my last car and absolutely loved them!

 

Thanks so much man!!

Yeah my whole build thread is based on it being a “clean” build. Feel free to read through it, maybe it will give you some ideas of things you do or don’t want to do to your truck.

 

Yes, you must do many mods to go camping.

I would start with an Ice chest and a block of ice.

welcome aboard