Off-Roading with your Daily Driver?

All varies. You've got Slee up your way (Golden) that's been in the business a long time. Excellent quality components. They're most oriented towards Landcruisers, but plenty of Tacoma gear as well. They are not cheap. But all components are very proven.

I like dealing locally, so I would see who else is in your area. I'm sure there is no shortage of fabricators in Colorado.

 

I’m on 35’s with an ome 3 inch lift. After the gear swap I can’t really tell a big difference in how it handles from factory. If anything it’s better on potholes and speed bumps. I wouldn’t advise 35’s for you. But 33’s and 2 1/2 inches of lift will do wonders for what you need. I drove on 33’s for 5 years before I moved to 35’s. And I liked how it rode. It’s a truck not a sports car. Mine is also my daily driver.

 

Well, I've actually take the stock OR rock crawling and through a couple small streams. Granted, the rocks were maybe 12" or less or I was able to go around the too big ones. Almost got stuck in a big hole/cutout on a steep grade going up to Castle Peak near Aspen but a second try with more speed made it.

 

Not sure I'm following this, but I take it it would be ideal to replace both the stock springs and shocks with the 5100s and whatever springs match. Is this right?

 

IMO, with a 5100 set up, you would want to also get OME springs 885 or 877s to pair with the shocks and a 3 leaf AAL. If it is within your budget. This will run you about $750ish....

 

Thanks. I'm going to look into this. Maybe add the skid plates and sliders next as funds allow.

Does this help with cargo carrying as well? I have a topper and with all my gear in the back it sags a bit.

 

There's off-(paved) road and then there's off-road. There's degrees of difficulty. Something that can go up the fun stuff at KOH is probably not going to be very nice to drive every day, but even a stock-suspension Tacoma with a little extra armor and some decent tires can go surprisingly far. Just don't expect to look at a four foot stone cliff and be like "yes I will drive directly up this." You can do a lot of this stuff (carefully) without unduly endangering your DD.

The AAL will add some weight capacity, or you can go whole-hog and get a heavy duty leaf pack (like Dakars) which will add a bunch.

 

You can do a lot of Off Roading with a stock TRD-OR if you mount some all terrain tires. My SR5 is not lifted (yet) and running 265/75r16. It goes where I point it with no problems...

Picking a correct line can get a stocker thru many surprising trails.

 

Yes.

 

Not my pic but this is roughly the types of roads I'm talking about. Some with rocks big enough for the frame to hit when I couldn't get a better line.

 

Indeed... this is a bone stock OR Taco with only a 265/75/16 A/T tire upgrade...

Even my girlfriend, who had never off roaded before, managed the hill.

 

Definitely look into full armor then.

 

Could also look into an exhaust reroute...

 

Lift definitely helps when wheeling. Stock Taco is quite capable, just needs a bit grippier tires, and maybe some decent skids.

As others have mentioned, most importantly is to choose best line/path (go around vs over it).

I'd say go for a 2-3" lift plus taller/grippy tires, if you can afford it and want that extra clearance. =)

 

Too lazy to read all the posts, but I’d say the best thing is tires. I did 255/85/16.. got a bit of a lift and a whole lot of traction.

You will have to spend a bit of money though, at least enough to keep you comfortable with what you do.

 

My truck is bone stock in terms of heavy duty armor, bumpers, lift. I did upgrade to (stock size) Cooper AT3 4Ss which gives me much better off road traction which was helpful - though I also never got "stuck" on the stock Wranglers, they just took a lot more work to get moving in mud and slick rocks.

Other than that I have the cheap Tyger steps. not sliders and I'd never put the weight of the truck on them, but they have saved my body from rock chips especially when driving on gravel where I here a regular "ping" of rocks hitting the steps that would have otherwise hit the lower sides of the truck.

Yes, there are certainly times when I need a spotter to ensure clearance on uneven, rocky surfaces and a lift, larger tires, etc., would make that easier for sure. But like you I really do like the way the truck handles with stock geometry and while I know many do it successfully, I'm not committed enough to invest in shocks, springs, LCAs, ECGS bushings and anything else that could surface later. Maybe some day - likely when the truck is no longer a daily driver. At that point I'll look at it differently, but for now I drive it every day in a congested city commuting and clock several hundred highway miles most weekends along with lots of tight, curvy mountain driving at speed. The truck does well in these scenarios and I'd like to keep it that way

 

I'm pretty much agreeing w/ bshammer, on my 17' DCSB OR I just put on all terrain tires, no taller than stock, did the exhaust bypass, added bilstein 6112's front and 5160's rear w/ no lift; truck works pretty well. No rock crawler but goes most places, still good on busy highways and mountain roads, mostly same mpg as stock. The bilstein shocks added a lot of stability to the truck. I put 245 miles on my truck last Sat.; up the 5, west thru Frazier Park, down Lockwood Valley Rd., some off roading a few places off Lockwood, then down the 33 to Ojai, and then thru Santa Paula, Filmore, and Moorpark back to west L.A.; no complaints except maybe I could use a little more power.

 

Trying to get a bit more understanding here. On this page, which type would this be? I'm guessing #4. Do I need to worry about a diff drop? That's starting to involve stuff I don't want to do.

 

It never stops. You raise it 2" and you go over bigger rocks and still hit. My advice is to choose a better line.