Which off road mod should be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd?

I have a laundry list of things that I would love to do to my truck but the goal is to make it as off road capable as possible so that I can join a club and not just be getting recovered all day long. I think that I know what should be done first but after that I am at a loss. I have a DCLB w/LSD and added a 3" lift with spacer up front & AAL in rear and 265/75/16 BFG TA KOs years ago just to get the truck so I was not scraping every time I went camping. I plan on upgrading the lift and going bigger on the tires but wasn't sure if that should be at the top of the list or if what I have will work for now. Here are my current top 3 but let me know if I need to put something else on the list and it would be helpful if you could tell me why.

1. ARB Lockers front and rear
2. sliders
3. front bumper & winch

 

I would do sliders first. If you are in an area that would require both front and rear lockers or a winch for recovery, more than likely its rough enough that it would cause some decent trail damage if you didn't have sliders. I would probably do lockers next, unless you do a lot of solo wheeling, then get the winch so you can unstuck yourself vs walking home.

 

1- Suspension
then the rest depends on what type of wheeling you do(rocks,mud,sand etc...)
personally it would be:
2- Front bumper and winch
3- Sliders
4- Lockers

 

Does anyone seriously buy a DCLB for technical off-road travel? Sliderts??? I have put many thousands of off-pavement miles on a fleet of F350 crew cabs with 6.5' beds. Mostly, I missed my CJ7. For the cost of the "upgrades" on your list, you could buy a trail thrasher that would need none of the mods on your list. You didn't buy a trail truck, and you can't make it into one.

Mike

 

Give the best answer available.

 

Common sense and knowledge should be at the top of the list. You could have the slickest rig on the trail, but without those two things, you might as well be out there in a prius

 

sliders, tires and atleast a rear locker

 

Way to stomp on this guys puppy.

Sliders aren't required at all, but be ready to suffer the body damage.



I get hung up on mine sometimes. I guess that's the price you pay for being able to open your door at the end of the trail.



That said, I sure do like that front locker. I rarely NEED to use it, but it's nice to be able to crawl sure footed through stuff instead of hitting it at warp speed...in the end, it's your truck and F$*! what anyone else thinks. Build it the way YOU want.

 

1. Bumper/winch/sliders. It doesn't take much of a mistake to really make you wish you had sliders.
2. Rear locker/compressor.

Front locker is a waste of money unless you're really into mudding.

 

As a newb without a front locker, that's nice to hear

 

A front locker will be very, very rarely used and pretty much get you into trouble. A winch will do everything a front locker will and then get you and everybody else with you out of that trouble you just got yourself into/

 

I realize that my first response may sound a bit harsh.

Long wheelbase vehicles are not well suited for offroad travel. No amount of bolt-on parts can make it significantly better. A DCLB Tacoma is a very nice truck. In any situation that would require sliders, that very nice truck is at risk for serious damage. An extra-heavy front bumper only makes the problem worse. The Tacoma is a light-duty truck to begin with. Keeping it light keeps it alive.

I did what I did with the F350s because they were the best tool for the job, and my employer provided them for that purpose. Maintenance costs were very high, but again, the cost of doing business. High-centering a long-wheelbase truck in the rocks is not fun. Sliders will prevent some of the body damage, but they do nothing for the undercarriage, and in most cases merely encourage riskier driving. The extra leverage provided by the long wheelbase magnifies the torsional twisting of the frame and body. I could go on forever...

There is no shortage of expendable 4x4 trucks on the market for under $5000 that would make excellent trail rigs. They don't need sliders. They don't need winches or custom winch bumpers, and they don't need front lockers. They need a tune-up, oil change, and tires. This is what I would spend the money on, not the Tacoma. Keep the nice truck nice. Buy a throwaway toy for the trail.

Sliders??? No.

Mike

 

@slowmachine

Spoonman drives a DCLB and has taken it to Moab...just throwing that out there. His truck is very built but still.

 

Hahaha! You don't need a winch, you need a trail buddy with one!

 

Haven't read any previous comments but, IMO this would be the ideal order

1: Skids - protects vital components necessary to make the truck drivable / reliable.
2: Sliders - protects rocker panels, all cosmetics really.
3: Tires - probably the most important off road mod, a good set will go a long way.
4: Gear - whether it be recovery gear, tools and spare parts.. all I would say are required.

 

This plus a better suspension setup.

 

Skids would come in real handy for a DCLB. The breakover angle on that'll see you having a lot of contact with the ground.

 

Wow. I personally hate my front locker in the rocks, it's all but useless. In fact I think I may pull my built 60 and ditch it for the IFS from the Yota. Now that would be sweet.
1-Recovery Gear
2-Skids
3-Tires
4-Sliders

 

I drive a 2012 Access Cab 4x4. I put on Icon extended travel coilovers and rear shocks with their add-a-leaf pack. Truck is even better on the street and much bettercontrol off-road (slow and fast off-road stuff). then I put on Relentless skid plates, all three pieces for maximum protection under the truck. I have Avid sliders welded to the frame to save my rocker panels when in the rocks. I like the looks of front plate bumpers so I have the Pelfreybuilt one with a Warn winch inside it. But the best mod for off road was swapping out the stock tires with Goodyear Dura-Trac tires for som real traction. I run 265/75R16 size because I did not want rubbing or to have to do a cab mount chop.

I now have a Pelfreybuilt rear high-clearance rear bumper on order. I realize some will say that I don't need the high dollar bumpers, but I like the way they look and I like the recovery points.

I would like to get an ARB locker for the rear axle and (lower priority) the front.

Bottom line is build up your Tacoma how YOU like it to be, but if you ask me for priority I might say;

1) Tires, at least BFG A/T, tread should be selected to match your terrain, but if it is a daily driver those A/T's are hard to beat!

2) Suspension. Can provide a couple inches of lift and tame the bouncing.

3) Skid plates, at least the front one to protect the IFS. You can get them made of aluminum if you are weight concious...

4) Sliders, you might move these up in priority if you travel through rocky terrain.....

 

And it's great of you to ask questions. Research the shit out of this, find some local Yota wheelers and check out their stuff. See if some of the locals'll even let you drive it a bit. Don't go by just opinions although this thread is showing little strong disagreement except for the buy a $3 four wheel drive and wheel 'til it dies guy. (Half of my fun in wheeling is doing the mods myself.) Do it right the first time. The big five are on just about everyone's list here: recovery gear, lift, skids, tires and sliders (although I include sliders under the skid category). Take it step by step -the order's not that critical except lift, then tires- and choose your trails accordingly.