Hi from VA!

[804Tacoma]

Hello everyone! My name is Chris and I'm located in central VA. I grew up doing tons of things outside from hunting to fishing and farming and pretty much anything else. I'm 24 and just made my first major purchase - 2019 Toyota Tacoma double cab 4x4 SR5 silvery sky. It's currently completely stock but I have some big plans for it! Now that I'm out of school and gainfully employed full-time I would love to get back into camping and start to learn about overlanding. I've been browsing through some of the threads here on how to get started and would love some advice on that and for gear/things I will need. I'm looking forward to getting involved in the community and building my rig!

 

[Specter]

Welcome to Overland Bound, and congratulations on the purchase of your new Toyota! I live right up the street from you in Stafford. There is lots of great advice and dialogue here at OB - I think you are going to love it here!

 

[jakeandhisdodge]

There's a va/md meetup thread on here to, still sees some activity so you can find out when people are going out and have some back up out there. the advice i heard and usually go by is get some good tires, mud terrain or all terrain is something you'll have to figure out for yourself. I'm gonna try the falken wildpeak at3ws on my truck. heard a lot of good about them. And probably for the va are some rock sliders, thats a nice new truck, no sense in wrecking your rocker panels am i right!

 

[804Tacoma]

Thanks for the kind words! I definitely want to do a lot of upgrades to the truck and I agree that sliders are going to be great for saving the panels. Would anyone recommend aftermarket wheels on stock tires, or vice versa first? I'm also not sure on whether a 3" or 6" lift would be best. For what I have done in the past a 2.5" lift has been alll I need, but now that I am getting more into "overlanding" I'm not sure if I should go for a taller lift or not. Any input? I'm not looking to run crazy size shoes, I'm stuck between either 16x8 or 18x9 wheels, both with 32-33 by 11-12.5 tires.

 

[ODOverland]

Welcome!!! Also in Central VA! Congrats on your new purchase!

 

[jakeandhisdodge]

Oh man, I'm really not wanting to steer you down the wrong path or give you bad info. I'm in a 7000lb dodge truck so what works for me may be severely limiting you, ya know. Like i only need a 3" lift to run 37s, but your toyotas gonna be super different. not saying its bad, in fact yours can do more. I just don't want you to take any of my recommendations as "I gotta do it that way he said!"

SO! i think you could do a lot with a simple 2.5" to 3" lift, it'll keep your center of gravity lower and if your running a roof to tent that's definitely something you should always have on your mind. as well as heavy duty springs in the rear, you gotta truck! trucks do truck things with truck beds. tent? throw it in the bed. Cooler? throw it in the bed. See where this is going? so heavy duty springs will help carry that load and keep you off the bump stops. i would recommend smaller wheels fatter tires, solely because i know on trucks my size, it makes a huge difference on ride comfort having the more rubber with lower air pressure on soaking up bumps. Probably not gonna be a huge deal for your size and weight, but something to think about if you don't like a lid on your coffee cup.

 

[JButtress]

Hello everyone! My name is Chris and I'm located in central VA. I grew up doing tons of things outside from hunting to fishing and farming and pretty much anything else. I'm 24 and just made my first major purchase - 2019 Toyota Tacoma double cab 4x4 SR5 silvery sky. It's currently completely stock but I have some big plans for it! Now that I'm out of school and gainfully employed full-time I would love to get back into camping and start to learn about overlanding. I've been browsing through some of the threads here on how to get started and would love some advice on that and for gear/things I will need. I'm looking forward to getting involved in the community and building my rig!

Welcome! I'm in Charlotte, NC. I'll be up your way next weekend checking out Shenandoah NP and hopefully finding some overland tracks in Jefferson/Washington National forests

 

[jakeandhisdodge]

and i'm like 90% sure your stock wheels will allow bigger tires and not rub. fire up google to find those sweet tire sizes

 

[804Tacoma]

Wow! I'm blown away with how much you all have already welcomed me into the community. Appreciate it! I also have a 2000 Mazda B3000 running a 2.5" lift 15x8 with 32x11.5 tires without any rubbing or trimming needed. I really want to get some new tires first but I'm nervous that the stock wheels will cause rubbing. I'm leaning heavily towards the 16x8 just because I prefer a fatter tire look anyways, never been a fan of huge flashy rims. Anyone here running stock wheels on larger tires? If I have to then I will do a 1.25" spacer but I'm not crazy about that idea either

 

[ODOverland]

I wish I could help more... but I have no reference for the Tacomas.. I would think you can get a 32" tire in there..

 

[Virginiawilderness]

Welcome!

 

[roots66]

Welcome from Central Texas.