Hello from Maryland! I've been reading many of the posts here, and my truck has finally reached the point where it's time to start fulfilling dreams and ideas.
The truck is a 1998 V6 SR5 Extra Cab Tacoma TRD with just shy of 320,000 miles, and is totally stock and original with the exception of an ARB bull bar (added after a four wheeling mishap) and a Rhino spray in bedliner. The truck has proven to be incredibly reliable. Only routine maintenance, still runs perfectly, still has the original clutch, etc. and has taken me through all 48 states and most of Canada on and off road. After finding Expedition Portal, I discovered that I've been doing "vehicle dependent expedition travel" since I bought the truck new in December 1997. :smiley_drive:
Most of my trips have been 1-2 weeks long, with no more than 6 consecutive days totally offroad. I have wanted to modify the Tacoma for more extended and somewhat more challenging offroad trips, but only with the idea of replacing original components as they wear out or are damaged, and only with components superior to stock in terms of reliability and capability.
The idea for finally doing something started with a trip to a local tire shop several weeks ago. One of my tires had what seemed to be a slow leak that I could not find, and it turned out that it's the TRD rims that are leaking air, and not the 31 x 10.5 BFG A/T's with 165k on them.
After nearly blinding myself researching online, I've come up with the following, and would love to hear your comments/suggestions and get advice.
Suspension:
Front - Toytec adjustable coilovers with heavy duty spring option
Rear - Old Man Emu Dakar set up
Tires - BFG A/T 33x10.5 ****Will these work without a body lift? Does backspacing need to be changed?****
Rims - ******Need help finding rims that at least look a bit like stock. Thinking steel?*****
Protection:
Front - keeping the ARB (no electric winch for another year or so - a 6 ton come-along has been sufficient, though inconvenient and slow)
Middle - full Skid Row skid plate package (stock plates have been hammered back into shape too often), CBI Offroad HD sliders (could have bought these many times over for what I've paid the body shop to fix rocker panels)
Back - Badland Bumpers rear bumper (OEM rear is starting to rust and is a bit banged up from being rear-ended a couple times)
Looking forward to hearing and learning from you all,
Chris
The truck is a 1998 V6 SR5 Extra Cab Tacoma TRD with just shy of 320,000 miles, and is totally stock and original with the exception of an ARB bull bar (added after a four wheeling mishap) and a Rhino spray in bedliner. The truck has proven to be incredibly reliable. Only routine maintenance, still runs perfectly, still has the original clutch, etc. and has taken me through all 48 states and most of Canada on and off road. After finding Expedition Portal, I discovered that I've been doing "vehicle dependent expedition travel" since I bought the truck new in December 1997. :smiley_drive:
Most of my trips have been 1-2 weeks long, with no more than 6 consecutive days totally offroad. I have wanted to modify the Tacoma for more extended and somewhat more challenging offroad trips, but only with the idea of replacing original components as they wear out or are damaged, and only with components superior to stock in terms of reliability and capability.
The idea for finally doing something started with a trip to a local tire shop several weeks ago. One of my tires had what seemed to be a slow leak that I could not find, and it turned out that it's the TRD rims that are leaking air, and not the 31 x 10.5 BFG A/T's with 165k on them.
After nearly blinding myself researching online, I've come up with the following, and would love to hear your comments/suggestions and get advice.
Suspension:
Front - Toytec adjustable coilovers with heavy duty spring option
Rear - Old Man Emu Dakar set up
Tires - BFG A/T 33x10.5 ****Will these work without a body lift? Does backspacing need to be changed?****
Rims - ******Need help finding rims that at least look a bit like stock. Thinking steel?*****
Protection:
Front - keeping the ARB (no electric winch for another year or so - a 6 ton come-along has been sufficient, though inconvenient and slow)
Middle - full Skid Row skid plate package (stock plates have been hammered back into shape too often), CBI Offroad HD sliders (could have bought these many times over for what I've paid the body shop to fix rocker panels)
Back - Badland Bumpers rear bumper (OEM rear is starting to rust and is a bit banged up from being rear-ended a couple times)
Looking forward to hearing and learning from you all,
Chris
