phsycle
Adventurer
This thread is useful for me as well. I've a Tacoma trd offroad on order ( despite my handle ) and will likely increase the tire size to 32” max. I know nothing about suspensions and the plethora of choices is confusing to say the least. Advice on Leaving truck as stock as possible resonates, as does ensuring it's setup to handle worse than you desire to throw at it so that if you end up in hairy stuff you can get out. Is all this possible without sacrificing onroad characteristics? I've no desire for rock crawling but desire to explore the mountains of the west. There is a discussion at tacomaworld on the 2015 TRD Pro suspension that's on sale now, but reviews indicate it's a harsh ride, albeit effective off-road.
My opinion is, all this talk of prepping for the worst case scenario is a never-ending rabbit hole. I have a late gen Tacoma which is stock and will stay mostly that way. When the tires go, I'll be going 32” aka 265/75/16 All-Terrain. No lift unless I get a shell. Then I'll do a add a leaf. That should be good. The stock truck can go on a lot of trails.
I have some recovery gear. The only other mod I'll do is a Warn hidden winch mount for the recovery points and a winch for self-rescue. That's it. Like you, I don't want to compromise on-road ride or the range/MPG. Because that's where the truck will spend 80% of its mileage.
Look at these crazy OZ folks. The guy in the DMax is on stock 31” tires. When in doubt, just winch up!
[video]https://youtu.be/x4V_eO4Sjsg[/video]