what first?

[jjjewett]

I have been searching many forums and was wondering if anyone had an opinion here for me.

I recently bought my truck, a 2004 Tacoma TRD Double Cab.

I do not do a lot of rock crawling, but do find myself on a lot of bad roads getting to fishing holes. I do this in Northern California, a lot of rocks, not a lot of mud bogs.

Eventually I plan on having bumpers, winch, lift, and armor; but for now, I want to take the first step in what will likely be a long road to a nice expedition vehicle.

What are your opinions on what I should get first: sliders, skids, or lift?
I have some recovery gear (snatch strap, hi-lift, lift-mate, tow strap).
As you know, the Tacoma doesnt have good lift points for the hi-lift (hence the lift-mate) and I was thinking sliders would be a good first step.

If I get sliders, will a suspension lift later affect the slider install?

Thanks!
-JJ

 

[EricBirk]

Personally I would protect stuff first as the Taco is pretty capable out of the box. There is nothing worse than spending money that could have gone to tires or a lift on parts that got smacked because there was nothing there to save them.

 

[hillbillyjake]

of the 3, i'd go with skids. as mentioned above the taco is a pretty good platform from teh get go.

i'd buy skids, 265 m/t's, maybe a come along, and a cap to protect the gear and go fishing. hope this helps.

also welcome to expo.

 

[AlwaysExplr87]

Welcome to ExPo. I would go with sliders, TRD trucks have decent skids for what it sounds like you will be doing and sliders give you lift points and keep things from killing sheet metal if you do get into some rough stuff. Generally if you have an idea of what is under your truck and can pick a good line you'll be fine without skids just roaming around and not really crawling. At least thats my east coast experience. I second the 265's and cap, maybe a mild lift (OME or coilovers) later on.

 

[jjjewett]

Thanks guys.

It looks like sliders, then skids for me.

my vision is to eventually get a small lift when my current suspension needs to be replaced. I will likely stay with a small lift (2-3") so I wont have to regear, change cv angles, arms, driveshaft, etc.

When I get the lift it will be to accommodate an aftermarket bumper w/winch up front, and a popup camper in the back (http://www.fourwheelcampers.com/falcon.htm). Then I will get larger tires to make use of the lift.

Do y'all think this is a reasonable plan?

-JJ

 

[slus]

sliders for sure

 

[RusM]

Personally I think it's kind of a toss-up between sliders and skids. I think skids might be a better initial investment as the stuff that they protect is pretty high dollar! The stock skids are just sheetmetal and the first encounter with a rock or hard dirt is going to mangle them. The problem is that if you are into stuff where you need one, you're most likely going to need the other. So I would do the skids first and then shortly thereafter the sliders. You should be able to find a local fab guy or Trail Gear dealer and get some sliders that are going to work just fine for your purposes but not break the bank.

 

[Overland Hadley]

my vision is to eventually get a small lift when my current suspension needs to be replaced. I will likely stay with a small lift (2-3") so I wont have to regear, change cv angles, arms, driveshaft, etc.

I would go with an Old Man Emu suspension setup first. As noted above it will help hold the weight as you build up the truck.

 

[Overland Hadley]

And welcome to ExPo!

 

[AlwaysExplr87]

What tires are you running now? Honestly, that might be one of the most cost worthy investments you could make. You can do alot of exploring in a stock truck if your carefull and can get traction. If your running just a regular street radial, you would probably benefit the most from a good all terrain. Then once you've gotten out for a while you will realize what needs to be upgraded next. It's easy to get caught up in the frenzy of cool armor and gear but you might never even need armor for the type of wheeling you want to do.

 

[jjjewett]

What tires are you running now?

I am running Yokohama AT/S 265/70/16. I JUST bought them. maybe 5k miles on them...

 

[hillbillyjake]

the reason i was thinking skids first was if your out on the trail, you may find out yuo need skids after you mashed something expensive underneith. i think the underneith would be sujected to damge more so than anything else. just my opinion based on what he plans on doing. hope this helps

 

[ntsqd]

I am running Yokohama AT/S 265/70/16. I JUST bought them. maybe 5k miles on them...

Based on others experiences with those, good choice, run them until they are done.

 

[jjjewett]

Based on others experiences with those, good choice, run them until they are done.

Thanks. They are the 3rd set I have bought. They arent the greatest in snow (stopping particularly) but the price is right for a decent AT tire.

I wonder if I could have gotten away with a larger tire though...

 

[Box Rocket]

I'd go with sliders, then suspension, then skids. The factory skids aren't the strongest thing on the truck but at least they're something. You've got nothing under your rocker panels and I'd much rather replace a mashed factory skid plate or a dented oil pan than have to deal with the necessary body work after smashing a rocker panel.

I went with the Trail-Gear sliders on my '03. I have a set of the same sliders on my Land Cruiser and they've held up to far more abuse than the Tacoma will ever see and it's hard to beat the price. I finished welding mine up myself, but if you don't have a welder, it's a simple job for a local shop to finish up for you.

getting a lift then help keep the body off those rocks that got to your rockers in the first place, and also allow for larger tires that will get you up and away from the rocks even more.

I recently installed the full OME heavy duty suspension setup that I got through Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters. It put my pretty close to 3" over stock which is great for a truck that's primary function is not rockcrawling. It's enough lift that I feel like I can still get it out on some tough trails, but I'm even more excited about it's capabilities on moderate trails and washboarded fire/mining roads.

You can find pictures of the lift install, slider build, etc linked in my sig for the '03 DC Tacoma.