06 Build

Hi everybody ... just brought her home yesterday and super excited to add more off-road capability and coolness. Never owned a Toyota truck but love the size of the 1st gen after spending a few days hunting in a buddies.

Goals:
Adding more off-road capability without losing street/hwy drivability...or stressing my driveline too much. middle of the road. Probably run 33” tire.

looking for suspension suggestions I lean more toward a stiffer suspension ... no roll in corners but at the same time handle the big hits better. I ride motorcycles and understand it’s always about compromise.

Best performance I can get if you will.

I do want to maintain the stock rake a little higher in the back.

What are your recommendations

coil overs
UCA
Rear leafs
Rear shocks


I have read and read called Icon ... they were convincing about how much their stuff would improve the drivability of the truck.


Thanks for your suggestions... in regards to any additional suggestions you have as well.

Tim

 

I have an 07 because when I bought it it would have cost me more to get a used 06 at the time . Sweet truck. I actually like it better and agree with you on the size. I can't help you though but just love your truck .

 

Welcome.

I have an 2002 Access Cab so my reccos are first and foremost to get yourself a

$561 Hellwig 7700 Hellwig Rear Sway Bar Kit - 7700

Hellwig 7700 rear sway bar based on your street desires. No arguments or gray areas here and you will be glad you did it. Trust me.

Bilstien 5100’s are excellent street shocks. I have them and they are affordable and very nice for street driving, as your mandate. They are ok off-road. Way more shocks are better off-road, but $$$ and is it really worth it? Thats your call and based on your budget.

Tires: I’ve been on 285/75/r16 since 2003. Mud tires, AT tires, and then 3 sets of Michelin M/S thru Defenders which are they best tire for street and they do very well in sand and snow. Not a rock climber or mudder here so can’t vouch.

Can you tell us your budget? That will help in knowing what you really want.

The above reccos I gave are all solid and very affordable without pushing the original design of the truck.

 

[QUOTE="

$561 Hellwig 7700 Hellwig Rear Sway Bar Kit - 7700

Hellwig 7700 rear sway bar based on your street desires. No arguments or gray areas here and you will be glad you did..


....Can you tell us your budget? That will help in knowing what you.[/QUOTE]

love the certainty on the Hellwig 7700....perfect


Budget: I don’t have a number and reasonableness and perceived value governs what I am willing to spend.

money is a consideration but not the governing factor. I intend to keep this truck and only want to do this one time .... AND BE .. HAPPY w what I have built . I will be going remote and reliability is essential.

Thank you for the help and speaking to tires.

wheel size is also a question. I have heard 16, 17, 18.

i know I don’t want monster tire but will be in the mud. Not slick rock.

 

I don’t recommend getting a dedicated mud tire. I do recommend something in the dick cepek exp, or ridge grappler variety. I would personally keep your current stock wheels if they are in good shape. I’ve always liked those wheels. If changing wheels, Aftermarket 16’s needlike 4.5, 4 or 3.5 backspacing. 17’s are agreat all around size. I’m not fond of 18’s on first gens.

 

Agreed ... i don’t want or need a straight mud wheel.

 

I love your truck!

Since you asked, the first thing I would do is put bronze wheels on it. I love bronze on white trucks. 17 inch wheels seem to have the most tire size options and I think are a good balance for our trucks. I'm not a huge fan of 18 on 1st gens, but that's totally personal (as are the bronze wheels). I have 16's on mine because I like the look of a little more tire tread, but again totally personal.

Are your coil springs and leaf springs in good condition? If you have any question about the condition of the rear leafs, I would replace rather than lift. I used the progressive 3 leaf pack on mine and wish I had just replaced with a custom pack. I left the overload leaf in and got 1.5 of rear lift, but it is still soft and wallowy which I am assuming is worn leafs. Deaver, Alcan, Atlas are all good options.

How much of a lift do you want? For your truck the highest bilstein recommends is 1.6". In the 2.5 range, old man emu is a great option and on the stiffer side as far as valving. Eibach can go higher than the bilstein and is a very similar shock to Bilstein. Then you have the coilover options like king, icon, toytec boss, they are $$$

UCA, I was told UCA aren't needed with under 2.5 of lift, but when I lifted mine 2.5, the alignment shop could only get about half a degree of positive caster and the truck was very floaty and squirrely. As far as options, there are total chaos, camburg and SPC. SPC is less maintenance and also considered less sturdy than the other two. The design of camburg and total chaos require more greasing and cleaning, so generally not advised in snowy states, but considered more able to withstand heavy off road use and abuse. From what I've heard SPC if you do some off roading and mostly road driving, the other two for heavy off road use. But lots of people have used SPC off road with no issues (the ball joint just needs to be torqued really tight).

Also, make sure you reclamp your cv axles before you lift. I didn't and lost so much grease I ended up replacing them. Clamps are cheap and so is the little torquing tool.

Just my thoughts and lessons learned as I went through my lift and what I would do differently.

 

Assuming a shop does all your work, you are looking at $2-3k minimum for my suggestions (tires, sway, and Billys).

You start the slippery slope with all the other stuff you mentioned that I don’t have and the shock upgrades etc. $5-10k. You also run into strains on the body/parts etc. with lifts/spacers. I read the stories here all the time.

Then there is the next level ‘long travel’ $20k plus. Nobody really says exactly how much they spend on those. Without a budget number its hard to determine your reality/expectations realizing labor costs vary some depending on your location.

Your truck is pretty capable as it sits right now. Good luck.

 

My mud tires lasted about a year. Loud and bad tire wear. Never again!

I like the 16” look myself, but aftermarket wheel selection is not as good as 17”. Seems like the step up to 17” does weird alignment/balancing/frame rubs stuff to our trucks when going larger in size. Not always the case, just my opinion from readings here.

 

I was thinking 2.5 on the front

I will look at the bronze wheels ... does grounding the pink wire really turn the TMPS light

the rear leaf set looks good
All the shocks have to be replaced no question/choice


the front coil overs need replaced as well.
yea I am going extreme ....I am hoping to do most of the work myself and do have a great local guy who treats me fairly with work.

18 don’t sound popular ... good info

I have other projects that the “upgrades created a lot of issues .... that’s what I want to avoid.

 

Welcome!

As PFM mentioned, steer clear of a dedicated mud terrain unless you plan on running more in the mud than the road. I made that mistake on a different truck and I sounded like a freight train going down the highway at 80mph. People could hear my tires when I was on the phone with bluetooth. My Tundra just got a set of goodyear duratracs earlier this week and I have no complaints. I was never a big fan of them but a used/like new set came up for a smoking price so I picked them up.They hum a little down the road but so far they have performed well on the ROW's at work. They look pretty good too. My Duramax on the other hand has some Nitto Ridge Grapplers. This is the second set I have run and they work great. They are quiet on road, grip in snow, ice, mud and they look really aggressive. Fun fact, the ridge grapplers have two different sidewalls so you can pick which one looks better to you.

As far as suspension goes, I would suggest the 5100's. They are the most bang for your buck and will get you a little lift without compromising anything. When I do my shocks next year, I will be switching to 5100's. I run 265/75/16 with some aftermarket wheels with a little offset and it rubs on the passenger side only. Once I get my 5100's on there, it will clear with no issues.

 

The 5100's are great with a budget but I would heavily consider the Bilstein 6112/5160 combo or even just stick with the 5100's in the rear to save some money and get the 6112's up front if you think you need new springs.

 

I went with 5100’s ($190) top notch in the front, 5100’s rear ($140) with a 1” block to level it. Rides really dang good, much better than stock. Install was $200, alignment was $100.

I went with 285/70/17 (Load Range C) KO2’s ($720 on Black Friday), I’ve always run these tires and love them. Great road manners, but enough bite for hunting trails and mild off-roading in the woods. I haven’t had rubbing, but a lot of guys say they do, depends on the truck. 1.25” Spydertrax spacers should clear that up.

Good luck, clean truck!

 

If you need new coils anyway, this is a great option for first gen tundras. I got 3 inches with these front coilovers. I reckon with a crew cab it’ll be in the 2.5” range. Also, please consider the spc uppers. I have them on 2 vehicles, never had a problem.

 

Complete overkill and 2x the cost of 5100's for no real benefit for 99.9% of people. And yes, I've owned both on numerous vehicles.

 

Agree with Bubbles on this one, 6112 and 5160's for 99% of people are just the newest thing to get and completely overkill. Bigger and cool looking resi's, but overall it's unnecessary and I'd be willing to be most buyers never even use their capabilities. 5100's are more than enough for the majority of Tundra owners. Now, if you want to spend several hundred dollars more for the cool factor, have at it.

 

Not to mention lifetime warranty on 5100 vs 2 years on 5160.

 

Awesome info .... first hand

 

Thanks for the help ..... Right now I am leaning to the Old man Emu lift and SPC UCA
After thinking about my off-roading it will consist of dirt roads with “bad spots” to cross. Creeks, ditches, mud holes, banks, and I want enough confidence and enough truck to “make a showing”.

my budget it probably 5k to get this truck “sound” hoping to do it for less and plan on doing the suspension upgrades myself.
I have a great tire guy in going to consult w him on size.... I don’t want any rubbing or any thing like that to deal with.

 

Definitely search for information and do the breather mod if you’ll be crossing creeks and rivers where your differential will be submerged.

 

Is the 06 the same as the 07 as far as the mod goes ?
I found a great description of the gen 2 but nothing specific to gen 1

 

I’m actually researching myself to be honest, I’m looking for the part number for the rear diff and transmission breather someone just mentioned. Apparently both are easy to do and cheap.

 

i think the trans breather is already extended in these.

 

I get the 5160 vs 5100 wisdom.

However, having also had both 5100's and 6112's, the 6112's were DRAMATICALLY better compared to the 5100's, and worth every penny—a more controlled ride, better stability, and increased shock absorption.

 

Pretty good pricing, great products...

https://www.bilsteinlifts.com/

 

Is it possible to get this thread moved over to 1Gen Builds?

I have a lot to add as oppose to starting another thread.

thanks

 

And so it has Started.....and so has the education.

I had always wanted to trick out a truck and after owning this one a year i was happy with its performance.

When I started this project it seemed simple. The truck had 100k the frame and sub-frames are in great shape and it had a lot of what I thought was surface rust.

So I knew a shop who should take the bed off and undercoat it for me. The bed had a plastic liner in it turns out there were 9 hole rusted P

 

Hummm

 

Fully sand blasted and hole cut out and new pieces welded in.

They did a Great Job

 

Ziebart sprayed in every nook and cranny. In addition, to covering the underside if the cab which had been sandblasted....all which was solid.