New to me TACO

[Joker]

Well I have been contemplating for a few months about what to do with my aging Durango as there are really no aftermarket parts for overlanding and I needed to spend a couple grand just to keep it street worthy. So I was surfing the net when I came across this 2007 Taco with 34k miles and I couldn’t pass it up; this thing must have never seen dirt, been garage kept and only used to get groceries as it is absolutely spotless inside and out. The only think wrong with it is it needs new tires so I will probably get those soon, something in the 31x10.5 range; any suggestions on a small 2” budget boost?


P4080013.jpg

[Owyhee H]

For tires your stock tires are just about 31" equivalent. The 245/75R16 is about 9.5" wide while the 265/70R16 is a little over 10.5. You can easily bump it up to 265/75R16 with no lift and they are about an inch taller.

For budget boost you can either go with a OME front setup with the 884's to get about 2" or Bilsteins with the adjustable ride height to keep the soft stock springs. In the rear OME or Bilstein shocks and an add a leaf is easy and inexpensive. There are better rear spring packs out there but they cost a lot and can provide more lift than you are looking for.

Be warned you can get a front end growl with even a small lift but an aftermarket bushing has been made to hopefully solve the problem for good, but it is very new.

Congrats on the new ride.

[Joker]

Owyhee,

Thanks for the reply, I looked up the OME on ARB and they are like $1600 ouch. Would something like this get me by for a year or two until i could get something like the OME.


http://www.roughcountry.com/toyota_4wd_tacoma_3.html

[Tim A]

Nice truck! Looks just like mine! If you get the Bilstein 5100 series adjustable shocks, you can use your OEM springs to keep the cost down.

http://www.toyteclifts.com/index.php...mart&Itemid=72

[Owyhee H]

Im not knocking the Bilsteins but having a set of struts tuned to the spring is really nice. If you are not going to go with ICON's or somthing similar later just cry once and try this:

http://www.toyteclifts.com/index.php...mart&Itemid=72

You can do sping packs later if needed but the AAL will get you through. Dont do the diff drop, it arguably does nothing on a 2nd gen taco. Definetly do the trimpacker, the taco lean is still present on mine with only one trimpacker.

[jds0912]

I have Bilstein 5150's, an AAL in the rear and BFG 255/75/17's. Love this setup, and it's reasonable.

[Joker]

just cry once and try this:

http://www.toyteclifts.com/index.php...mart&Itemid=72

You know this statement really has me thinking and this package is a little more afordable, I may end up going this route and cry once.

[Owyhee H]

I dont want to steer you away from the Bilstein's but they have a different purpose. If you want to have a soft ride and travel unloaded then the bilsteins are a better price, but if you want to load up your rig and go then the OME will do a better job carrying the weight. I feel more in control with a stiffer suspension, but I also came from a sraight axle leaf sprung 4runner. The OME provides a little lift, higher spring rates, and mainenance free service. The Bilsteins offer all that but the higer spring rate(unless you count spring preload). Coil overs offer the best of all worlds but require maintenance and are $$.

There are lots of good choices you just have to figure out which isbest for your intended uses.

[Joker]

As far as weight it will mostly be hauling kayaks in the bed until i get some kind of rack to get them above the cab and then just your standard gear in the back. Mostly weekend excursions and the occasional four day weekend so not a ton of weight but enough. But once the kayaks are up high that will create more room which always means more gear, right.

[Tbird]

Probably the best source forTacoma info on the web is the Tacoma World forum. Go check it out if you are planning a lot of mods. It's a seemingly bottomless info pool.