Tacoma Upgrades

[sneaky]

My absolute biggest complaint with my Tacoma is the rear suspension. Well, other than the horrendous fuel mileage I’ve gotten - I’ve never averaged over 12.5 MPG for a tank in over 39k miles, with MANY long road highway trips. But back to the rear suspension. It totally collapsed with any weight, would break your back hitting the bump stops on pot holes traveling out west. I tried air bags, couldn’t get them to hold air consistently to save my life. Tried replacing lines, fittings, everything, no bueno. Added add-a-leafs after I got my camper shell and the ride quality increased tremendously, but they were noisy AF. Like embarrassing riding around town. They’ve quieted down now, but too little too late…ordered a GMC Canyon (I wanted a long bed when I got my Tacoma) 11/9/21….built 5/12/22, still waiting on a train ride from MO to AL. But I’ll never forget my Tacoma!

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That First Lite sticker killed your mileage

 

[mtwarden]

I've been running 5100s on mine for a while with an add a leaf in the rear. OME 885s on the fronts.

Almost the same- Dobinsons coils and Deaver add a leaf. I’ll be able to leave the front perches at their lowest spot- not giving up any travel. I think the coil springs might be just a touch stiffer than stock.

 

[ChrisAU]

Almost forgot one of my favorite mods. Extra large extra cup holder!

 

[WV Mountaineer]

I also found my Tacoma to be very (very) capable off road with just a few minor upgrades.

I put on slightly oversized BFG KO2’s on and a few under carriage skid plates on and was pretty good to go.

Also added a soft top (can fold it down and have full access to the bed when needed.

I like my soft topper too. Great compromise in my mind.



To the op’s question. The best way to upgrade a Toyota Tacoma is to buy a ford.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

Yep... I've ran an 08 Taco, a'15 Tundra, and a '19 4Runner in stock form for years and years. I just picked up my son a '22 SR that'll probably never see a mod either. As bad as the tinkerer side of me hates to admit it, the Toyota guys generally get it right out of the box. I think Tacos are like Glocks and Tikkas...a lot of time, aggravation, and money spent bolting on aftermarket parts when the factory ones were more than adequate.

I get the appeal of building a rig...but I see a lot more "overlanders" out at the mall than out on the trails.

All jokes aside, a Tacoma is as good as it gets. From the factory.

I met a fella several weekends ago that had a 12,000 pound winch on the front of one, with a big over built bumper for a tank, fog and led lights all over it, a snorkel for deep water buggying, and tires so big when he turned to sharp the rubbed. Bad. I finally asked him where he put that truck to need all that. He said he never took it off road or any of the sort. I just smiled in return.

 

[Marbles]

All jokes aside, a Tacoma is as good as it gets. From the factory.

I met a fella several weekends ago that had a 12,000 pound winch on the front of one, with a big over built bumper for a tank, fog and led lights all over it, a snorkel for deep water buggying, and tires so big when he turned to sharp the rubbed. Bad. I finally asked him where he put that truck to need all that. He said he never took it off road or any of the sort. I just smiled in return.

You know all that stuff adds horse power, right?

 

[WV Mountaineer]

You know all that stuff adds horse power, right?

Yep. I figured as much. However, I ended up cutting a few trees for him around his home. That silly dude started backing up on the first one with a couple seconds after I bored into it from the backside cutting towards my hinge. I’m pretty sure had the three mice he had under the hood, all been pedaling at once, he’d split that thing right in my face.

After it was over, I thanked the Lord for having a souped up, fast cutting stihl 460. And, I thanked the Lord for the lack of power he had. Because his Lowes husgvarna would have cut to slow with the pressure he was applying. Causing it to bust in my face. And, I had initially suggested he use my ford diesel to put pressure on it. I’m glad He didn’t or I’d likely be dead right now because it would have had the weight and power to pull it too quick for the cut.

Nice guy that has grown up in the city. He just didn’t know any better.

 

[Billinsd]

That First Lite sticker killed your mileage

And it makes your ASS sag too!

 

[Coopsdaddy]

My absolute biggest complaint with my Tacoma is the rear suspension. Well, other than the horrendous fuel mileage I’ve gotten - I’ve never averaged over 12.5 MPG for a tank in over 39k miles, with MANY long road highway trips. But back to the rear suspension. It totally collapsed with any weight, would break your back hitting the bump stops on pot holes traveling out west. I tried air bags, couldn’t get them to hold air consistently to save my life. Tried replacing lines, fittings, everything, no bueno. Added add-a-leafs after I got my camper shell and the ride quality increased tremendously, but they were noisy AF. Like embarrassing riding around town. They’ve quieted down now, but too little too late…ordered a GMC Canyon (I wanted a long bed when I got my Tacoma) 11/9/21….built 5/12/22, still waiting on a train ride from MO to AL. But I’ll never forget my Tacoma!

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Something don’t sound right,12 mpg?

 

[justinspicher]

My 96 single cab taco rides like an 1800s wagon, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I have had a couple different camper shells on it, and the weight kills my power and gas mileage. I recently switched to a custom built rack and no more power and gas mileage issues. It still rides like a wagon though. I swapped the stock rims for some lighter aluminum rims and that seems to help my little 2.7L 4cylinder engine. She isn’t fancy, but she gets me where I need to go.

 

[Swamppirate]

New tires and TRD Pro wheels for the old Taco

 

[ChrisAU]

Something don’t sound right,12 mpg?

Yep. I probably never hit 250 miles on a tank of gas. It was pretty frustrating. Same tank size on my new Canyon AT4 and 400 miles is easy.

 

[Thinkingman]

+1 for Tacomaworld.com. Lots of knowledge, You can find a thread on almost anything that has to do with Toyota!

Be careful on Tacomaworld. You will quickly find that Toyota cars are not the amazing, problem-free sex symbol you thought they were.

 

[Thinkingman]

My oe Bilstein shocks are about done, so I decided I’d upgrade to Bilstein 5100’s, slightly taller front coil springs (instead of raising the front perches) and add a leafs for the rear. Not installed yet, but should yield roughly 1-1.5” lift f/r.

I don’t know if my truck is an oddity, but I don’t have any disparity in ride heights driver and passenger sides- evidently a lot of guys do.

Smart.
Only poseurs use preload shocks for front lift(leveling...lol).
OME 883 front springs and Bilstein 5100s at the LOWEST setting and add OME Dakar leafpack and remove the third leaf...Add Bilstein 5100s and you have the proper suspension that Toyota should have spec'd to begin with.
Go with a quality 70 series tire on the stock wheels (they're going to corrode, don't worry about it) and you're good to go.
Please don't join the crowd that sticks LED bulbs on everything to get attention....That's just advertising that you're desperate.

 

[mtwarden]

^ I powder coated the oe rims, 8 years and counting and no rust

 

[YZF_88]

Anybody buy these and just use in factory form? Maybe just a set of all terrains

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

My 2021 OR is pretty much stock. I did buy the VF Tune software though and it really, really smoothed out the shifting. Worth every penny. The only other functional mod I’ve done is adding the front bed rail for tying down bikes or a quad. Can’t believe these trucks don’t come with it.

Looking forward to dumping the POS OEM tires and getting some Wildpeak AT3W’s. Waiting until just before scouting/hunting season this year.

 

[Yarak]

Had my '05 since new, auto 4.0
It consistently gets 17-18 mpg with 280k on the clock
Just did the first mod to it...put a cat back duel exhaust on it and plan on doing some more mods over the summer

 

[Thinkingman]

Had my '05 since new, auto 4.0
It consistently gets 17-18 mpg with 280k on the clock
Just did the first mod to it...put a cat back duel exhaust on it and plan on doing some more mods over the summer

What did you accomplish by putting a cat-back on it?
Mine rusted out in the area of the cats.

 

[Yarak]

What did you accomplish by putting a cat-back on it?
Mine rusted out in the area of the cats.

The muffler was deteriorating inside and wasn’t letting the exhaust out and was causing sensor issues
The cat back opened it up and let it breathe like it should
It also restored power back that I didn’t realize was lost
It does have more growl than I’m used to but I can tolerate that

 

[7mm-08]

Can't help you with true mods, but my stock 2000 extended cab with BFG's is serving me awfully well 20-something years after purchase. Like someone said above, Toyota's design folks get it right before it hits the street.