Setup for mountain roads

Keep it stock. How much snow are you expecting? In the snow and ice weight in the back is mandatory. Maybe consider 265/70r16 snow tires?

 

I'm in California so only when I head up to Mammoth. Its not too much snow. I had great luck with BFG KO2's so far. Thanks!

 

Then 33's would only be for looks. I'd stick with a stock or maybe +1 size in the correct tire for your use and forget the looks.

Most folks find Michelin Defenders to be a great street tire that do well in snowy conditions. If you get heavy snow/ice you need dedicated winter tires on a second set of wheels for the best traction.

 

The swaybar is adjustable with 3 settings. Most go the lightest and some go medium.

 

Adjustable would be a nice to have, but as was said earlier, most are looking for more bite in the rear, which a rear swaybar of any type would decrease. The Sport is surprisingly flat cornering stock. There appears to be two or three front swaybars for the 3rd Gen Tacos. I think the Sports, which the OP has, get the stiff springs with the stiffest swaybar. If folks aren't going off road and have nice, smooth roads, I wouldn't do anything more unless adding permanent weight in the back (300lb+) or towing often. The OP was talking about mountain (twisty) roads in winter conditions. Getting less bite in the rear is not a good idea.

 

95% of my driving is in San Diego through twisties which are always dry.
5% would be up north in Mammoth where it snows.

Think the swaybar would still be a good idea?

 

I come from Driving a sportscar with adjustable swaybars. Plus the Wife's 4runner comes stock with a rear swaybar and it handles lightyears better than my truck. That's why I recommended it

 

No. I do not believe a rear sway bar is a good idea for a stock truck, esp in wet conditions or worse. Put a canopy or armor back there, then maybe, depending on how it handles. Stock, it is pretty neutral handling. I can get 4wheel drifts going with the original Toyos that don't have great wet grip.

Like I said for winter, you want to add traction back there. Sand bags will do that. A sway bar will do the opposite.

The rule (physics) is: stiffen the rear, gain traction in the front and vice versa. Whether you do this with springs or swaybars, it is all the same. This is why folks will add big sway bars to the rear of front wheel drive cars since they tend to plow along versus turn at the limit.

 

Cars and SUVs handle very differently than pickups. Our weight distribution is worse than most FWD cars. I've added rear sway bars to cars in the past for neutral handling. The Taco is pretty neutral stock with just the front swaybar.

 

If you want to feel neutral test drive a stock 370z. These trucks do not feel neutral to me. I will soon be going with a rear swaybar as i love how our 4runner handles. Will probably go with the softest setting

 

I have no disagreement there. You are probably darn close to 50:50 also.

 

FWIW I changed the stock shocks on my 17' DCSB OR to the Bilstein 6112's front and 5160's rear (no lift), they made the truck much more stable in general and particularly more stable on fast mountain roads. I also have 245/75-16 General Grabber AT2's load E, same overall height as stock. For any further curvy road improvements probably the Hellwig sway bars would be the next step.

 

Paging @St.Germain
Think he is running a rear anti sway bar.
Maybe he has some insight.

 

I ran a rear bar on the back of my last truck, not a Tacoma. It definitely helped the truck stay flatter through corners.
It may have made the rear slightly more tail happy in the rain but no snap oversteer.
We don’t deal with much snow down here

 

or 255/75r17...which is 32"

 

Awesome! i'll take a look at the Bilstein shocks.

 

I did bilsBils 5100s front and back, added some 265/70/17 SL Toyo open country at2 tires on some 4runner sema pro wheels and it rides amazing, handles way better that my stock Sport suspension. I can take a curve a lot better, gained a nice 2.5 inch lift in the front and a inch block in the rear. Didn't break the bank, looks great, like it came from Toyota this way.

 

Dude, leave it stock. Including the tires, bigger is not good for what you want.

 

Not 100% true, I have a nice lift, rides better and corners way better than stock. I thought the same thing until I had the 5100s installed with new tires and wheels.

 

I'm also lifted with 5100s all around. It rides like a dream, I agree, but I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have a good reason, and OP doesn't have a good reason. No need to increase center of gravity if he's only worried about cruising paved mountain highways. It's literally what the truck in stock form was designed to do.