NEW MEMBER IN NEED OF GUIDANCE!

I thought it would take months to get this many responses lol. Thanks a bunch. Lets be honest with are selves, i also want my truck to look badass haha. I was planning on tires,rocks sliders, recovery gear, cage (for my rooftop tent), winch, and maybe eventually a small lift. I also should have mentioned that i will be making these purchases over many years. Also i am located in Pittsburgh, so most of my camping will take place deep in the woods, also rains here "everyday"

 

I’ve played around at times off road, gotten stuck with other trucks at times in a 1993 Range Rover and a 1979 Scout. With a lack of good terrain nearby in Maryland I signed up for the 101 off road course with Off Road Consulting in PA at the Anthracite Off Road Area. Basically spent a day wheeling on rocks and ice following a modified Jeep. Numerous times I looked a hill, both up and downhill, and thought it was going to result in failure or damage but I drove away highly impressed. So much of it was technique combined with the natural ability of the truck. We purposely did not use traction controls, locking differentials, or even airing down the tires until later in the day. Before this experience I was certain I needed sliders, winch, etc just to go play. It was the best $175 I could have spent.
Get a snatch strap, traction boards, someone who has experience, and go wheeling (very slowly)!

 

You bought a TRD OFF ROAD. Sooooo . . . . Take it off road/Overland.

G.

 

I'm not an offroader by most definitions, but maybe find yourself a local offroading club that has beginner/stock truck runs? I know in here in NH, there's a group that does stock truck runs every once in a while that I'm thinking about doing. My intention is to build up the truck to do light offroading and camping. Function before form.

As others have mentioned, getting recovery gear is probably a good first step. This is the suggested equipment list from that NH group, take a look at the "Bare Minimum" section for a good place to start. Some of this stuff isn't all that expensive (relatively speaking ot other items...like winches and sliders).
http://exploringnh.com/home/equipment/

Also, take a look at the off-roading forum here, there's a couple of good subforums there with mods and equipment lists. Also, if you're just looking for good truck porn, the RTT BS thread there is a good place read and daydream.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/off-roading-trails.22/

 

I’ve fallen into the trap of overbuilding a rig before even taking it out. You can waste a lot of money on things you simply don’t need. I’ve gone a long way with my stock SR and just a set of OR tires and rims as it’s also my daily driver. That being said Sliders may be a good investment and maybe a better skid but I’d hold off on the heavy modding until you use it, especially if it’s a daily driver.