New here, few Q's

[SSSUPRA]

First off, Hi. I have been reading and searching the forums for a couple of months and this seems like a great place. That said I picked up an 03 Taco, TRD SR5 auto recently to drive while my supra was down and turns out I got bit by the bug. My plans are to buy the fabtech 6 in, 3 in. body and some 35's. I want to run 35 15.5 TSl SX's but I'm not sure whether to go 12 or 10 wide on the rims and no idea on an offset. I was also thinking of doing a coil spacer lift, like the 2.5in dayco but am unsure what rear shocks to run once I have the aal from the fabtech lift and shackles. All topics have been searched for, since I come from supraforums I am used to the normal "search jackass" response.

Thanks in advance guys

[SSSUPRA]

Shy bunch??

[DeadlyPeace]

Not much of an IFS person, except when it comes to removing it, so I can't tell you much on any good lifts. Have heard that Fabtech's are good, but I have personal experience with them.

Why so wide a tire? Unless you plan on rock crawling, I wouldn't go over a 12.5.
For your rims a 10 would work for either the 12.5 or 15.5. You'll have to run the tire pressure a little lower then if you used 12's.

As far as shocks... there's nothing better then Bilstein.

[BurntOrngeLonghorn]

Well with the size of those tires, i would consider working more on the drive-train than the suspension. The lifts you have mentioned are all sturdy lifts from what I hear, but nothing on the stock tacoma drivetrain can take the stress that those tires will put on it.

For your case, not that i'm a big SAS guy, it would sound as if a SAS is truly the better thing for you. It will handle the larger tires better and if you're going to wheel as intense as you built your rig it will be a good investment. After the lift and completley changing out the drive train of the tacoma, it will probably come to be about the same price. Check out some SAS kits and see what you think. Heres some common SAS websites.

www.allprooffroad.com
www.bentup.com/SASKits.html
www.marlincrawler.com

[SSSUPRA]

Yeah a sas was the first thing on my mind after I bought the truck, however given the quick rate that my last project got out of control I decided against it. The ifs gives me two things, a comfortable ride(the lady will be happy) and limits, I can't go anywhere near as big as I could on a solid axle(lady will really be happy). Also I had a friend with a 97ish that did pretty much the same thing and ran 35 15.5's for a couple of years with no worries or breaks. Problem is that crackhead can't remember what size wheels or offset he used. I will mostly be driving on the street and beach with some mud here and there but nothing hard enough to break the truck all the time. From what I was told I would lose comfort and drivability with a sas. Chime in if you don't agree or have a different oppinion on that.

[4xfred]

;D No Taco but I'll chime in. Why the 35x15.5's? Sounds like a little play, some street time & alot of looks! Am I close? ;D Love it! A 3" Cornfed fits 33's easy. A 1" B/L over that almost gets 35's & a 2" does. W/a little trimming, you don't need to go that high unless you want to. The 15.5 part's what gets me. That's ALOT of tire to turn even w/the V6. Plus murder on wheel bearings & brakes. Think about this part of the plan. Later...

[SSSUPRA]

Yeah the looks part has a little to do with it but the main thing is that I can't seem to find a really good mud tire in a 35 12.5 that I like.

[BurntOrngeLonghorn]

The Radial SSR's almost have the same tread pattern and they come in 10.5, 12.5 and 14.5 widths....i wouldn't be able to tell the difference inbetween the two

[SSSUPRA]

The ssr's were the tire I was told to get, however they wear considerably faster than sx's and are much more expensive. Also what would be the difference in running a 35 14.5 as opposed to a 15.5. I don't like the way tacomas look lifted high with skinny tires so I will pretty much just have to see what happens with the sx's on it. Also, what backspacing should I run or who could tell me?

[snorkleman]

The other coma guys might have more info on the backspacing although I have heard rumors its tricky on some rims. I have a 92 toy truck with a SAS. I also run some 36"x12.5 radials. I really like the TSL's if you can handle the vibration and bouncing from a hard to balance tire. After some offroading trips and losing some rubber on the rocks they tend to lose their balancing.

Not sure about the SX's but I believe they are a heavier tire with harder compound than the SSR's. However thats a trade off because it is more weight and might be harder to balance.

Either way the high friction tires from Interco just don't last long on the road anyway unless your easy on them. I've gotten great wear out of my TSL's but I watch the PSI and how I drive on them.

If you want a little more wide stance, maybe a spacer would help. Nothing too big but a little wheel spacer to help push the wheels out further for the stance you want. Just another idea.

As far as ride quality with a SAS, I have to say the difference for me isn't a big deal. I think the tacomas have a better ride up front than the torsion bar suspension of the older trucks, but once i added a IFS lift, mud terrains, the SAS wasn't too big of a difference. You can feel the truck rebound faster from bumps with leaf springs but I actually like the stiffer ride. The Bilsteins I run also help control the motion as well.