Newbie needs suspension/lift advice

Hey folks

I'm in the stage of planning my build of a 2nd gen Tacoma for my upcoming, long term North America trip. I'm also in the market for a 2nd gen AC Auto in case someone has one for sale.

What I'm using the truck for:
- Long term traveling/expedition/overlanding or however you wanna call it
- Desert driving, forest roads, no racing though
- Moderate trail riding and hopefully some more difficult trails this time

Mods the truck will get:
- Front steel plate bumper but no winch
- IFS steel skid plate
- Second battery in the front
- Rock sliders
- Aluminum camper shell or hopefully a pop up shell
- 255/85r16 bfg km2 or Cooper STT Maxx tires (depending on what will be available)
- Tacoma factory spare steel rims 16x7 (can't find any aftermarket 16x7 steel rims in the US)

The truck will be loaded with typical camping gear, food, water, fuel etc. The truck sure will carry some weight, but I'm trying to travel as light as possible. A lightweight vehicle for offroad traveling is essential to me.

I did a lot of research on different forums but oh boy.. It's a never ending topic. So far I came up with the following setup/options.

As for the rear:
- All Pro Expedition leaf pack
- All Pro U bolt flip kit (with timbren bumpstops? Or wheelers?)
- Shocks? Bilstein 5100 or 5165
According to this thread on ExPo http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/69515-Just-installed-AllPro-Expo-Leaf-Springs, I could install longer Bilstein 5100's or Bilstein 5165 with reservoir. So far I haven't found Fox 2.0 shocks online with correct extension/compression length.

Front:
- Upper control arms from Light Racing or Camburg
- ToyTec Boss Performance with Eibach springs 650lbs
- ToyTec Boss with Eibach springs 650lbs
- Bilstein 6112 with Eibach springs 650lbs
- Radflo 2.0 Extended with Eibach springs 650lbs or even 700lbs (my favourite so far)

Since I'm definitely going with aftermarket UCA's, an extended suspension such as the Radflo would make sense I guess. I want to get an adjustable front suspension to level the truck out once it's fully loaded. I was hoping to get about a 2.5 inch lift in the front, I don't want to get higher as 3 inches. A diff drop kit might be added, depending on the result after installing the whole setup. New alignment after the install as well.
I don't mind spending some money on a good suspension, but I don't need a trophy truck style racing setup.

I would highly appreciate your suggestions, inputs, experience or nonsense Does that setup make sense or will I be running into some major issues with my tire size? After some reading minor trimming in the front might be acquired.

Cheers, Neil

 

Sounds like a good plan. Wanted to add that you may want to think about airbags in the rear, depending on how much weight you're thinking about carrying.

 

Thank you. I want to avoid airbags, I don't think they're a good option for offroad use and I would loose the flex of the Expo leafs. The truck won't be as heavy as with a slide in camper. But worst case, I still could install airbags if the truck is being too heavy.

 

Not a lot of traffic here..

Anyway, I put together a setup and was able to buy most of the parts during black friday sales. Thanks to the forum for all the links that were posted.
Will see how the setup works out for me.

 

What setup did you end up getting?
Just do the ECGS upgrade vs the diff drop.

 

Don’t do a diff drop, you’ll regret it later.

 

I would imo get an aluminum front bumper if you really wanted to save weight. I don't think a steel bumper is a must as they don't really get all that banged up. From what I've seen what really is necessary as far as steel is under body armor and rear bumper. Just my opinion tho.