Request for Advice for a serious beginner

Yeah, just dropping over rocks, and turning around rocks and trees, heck, even in parking lots they prevent door dings lol

 

I keep hearing the 2018 Taco's are going to have all that new driver's assist radar crap. I wonder how that will affect off-roading. I envision a lot of beeping and warnings. Hopefully that stuff can be turned off but I doubt it.

 

Some kid in a Baja bug drove by and gave him a lift into town...

But he’s right- I do take along my SPOT PLB to check in when I’m soloing, otherwise at least make sure home base or coworkers know your itinerary and route.

 

Regarding sliders: as for the damage- sounds like you guys are saying it’s coming from below and side- so as far as best slider mounting angle for protection from dropping onto boulders and such- are the ones set to be at a 45 degree angle or lower rather that further out from the rocker edge the best? I noticed the Mobtown ones have such an angle.

 

Mobtown ones are built at 20 degrees, which is nice and tucked in. 45 would hit the truck itself.

 

Well since you asked...
I was about 2 months into ownership of my truck, still completely stock.
I had been sipping the “ this truck is impossible to get stuck” koolaid. Around the time California had just had record rainfalls, coming out of a drought. I had my sister as a passenger and drove to a rural hillside area with some off-road terrain. I saw a short line with some nasty mud and thought let’s take it! I figured if I got stuck, crawl control would bail me out. Well all was going well until my rear axle sinks completely into the soup like mud. I turn on crawl control and it’s making a racket but not getting me anywhere. I tried the rear locker but it won’t engage. I get out of the truck and immediately sink ankle deep. Defeated, I start walking towards the road, checking my phone every so often for reception. Then in the distance, I see headlights coming my way. I wave hoping the driver will stop. The driver has a early 2000 Jeep and offers to help but neither of us has any recovery gear. So he offers to drive me to my shop, about 15 miles away to get a chain. He takes me to the shop but I feel bad about him dirtying up his clean Jeep and tell him I’ll just grab a International 4700 from the equipment yard. He says he’ll tag along either way to make sure I get home safe. Well I end up getting the International stuck! This is a 8000 lb., 7.3 liter diesel, dual axle truck. The Jeep ends up pulling the International out! He then helps me shovel the Taco out some and with the 30 foot chain we get the Taco out. I thank the Samaritan and offer him everything I had in my wallet for compensation, he will not take it. He says he’s just paying it forward and helping another human being out. We then part ways.
I tell my sister to drive the Taco, while I drive the International back to the shop. While I’m driving into the private road towards the shop a pair of the company security trucks turn their overhead lights on at me and trail behind. I felt like O.J!
I explain that my truck was stuck nearby and merely returning the chains and truck. They tell me they had reported the truck as stolen and had notified the Sherrif! Explaining this to my supervisor the next day was awkward but he wheels often and understood. From there on out I invested in a shovel, snatch strap, and tires. Common sense goes a long way!

 

OP. The vast majority of any offroad driving will never require the locker. Lockers only became a standard OEM item in recent years, and lots of people did lots of hardcore offroading in old school Toyota pickups with open diffs and no traction control. You still have traction control on your limited. You must realize that a good portion of your nervousness is due to being new to offroad driving, and Toyota does a very good job selling "offroad" features that most never need or use, but purchase for that elusive "peace of mind". There is no greater marketing tool than paranoia. Enjoy your awesome truck, in it's excellent trim level, and don't worry about getting stuck until you actually are stuck, which is unlikely.

 

This story has a good ending with good suggestions for the OP: Along with the shovel, snatch strap, tires, and common sense, I’d also add traction boards and a compressor.

 

Skids sliders and tires will make a big difference. I put myself truck through a lot with just the above.

Some will say differently but I think winch and front bumper is only needed if you're going into so serious stuff and solo trips or just difficult stuff.

You'd be amazed what 265 70 17 all terrains will do for you. Check my build thread you'll see plenty of pics of what I did with mine with lift and before lift. Under carriage armour and tires can go a long way.

Also just get a compressor so you can air up and down. Don't forget some recovery gear like straps etc. Go from there. It might be more than enough for what you want to do.

 

Sliders and skids are the best start imo

 

Can I keep the front skid that I already think I have on the Limited and just supplement the rest of the skids with the Mobtowns or do they need to all match?

 

Invest in traction boards and snatch straps made for off road recovery.

 

Factory skid is trash and I dented mine my first outing on a lil hill.

If I had to pick I'd get that front skid over sliders as my first price of armor.

 

I'm in OK. I think the stock Limited comes with a front skid, if I'm not mistaken. (edit dang Jukeboxx13 answered my question I think.) I see on the Mobtown website that there might be two others I need to get? Will they work fine with the current front skid I have? Are they easy enough for a non-mechanic to install?

 

The stock skid will not work with aftermarket skids. If you want to go with all 3 skids you will want to go with them all from the same company. I have the full set of Mobtown skids and they are very sturdy. They are very simple to install and just require some sockets. They are very heavy though so a helper and or a jock is very useful to lift them into place while bolting them in.

 

Stock one is paper thin and useless as a real skid, HOWEVER it'll be just fine while you get out and use your truck and see how you like it. Even with something basic like skids there are different options such as steel vs aluminum, different thicknesses of steel, etc. They all weigh different amounts, which plays a role in how YOU will use your truck. That's why you just need to get out and go.

 

Can I ask a personal question?

Is the truck paid for and can you afford to make repairs when you break it?

Once my shit is paid for, I have no issue beating like a rented mule. I don't like making payments on something as well as paying for parts.

 

The tacomaworld affect often causes people to over equip for what they're doing. For the first year I had mine, I got a good set of tires, sliders, recovery gear (straps, maxtraxx, a shovel), and left it otherwise completely stock. After that period I knew exactly how I was using it and what my priorities were for building out further. I rarely felt there was anything I absolutely needed during that time.

 

Yeah I'm paid up.

 

Then its time to get crazy.