Anybody have a pickup truck?

[jclaiborne]

I think what the OP is asking is if a stock suspension is going to be able to get him to hunting spots. The answer is YES. If you are asking if a 4x2 is going to get you there, the answer is probably/maybe not. As an avid hunter I can tell you that rarely will you encounter ideal conditions on a hunting trail. It's going to be wet, snowy, muddy etc. I'm pretty sure that October and November in Illinois is not going to yield very easy terrain when reaching deer. There is no reason not to get a 4x4. You can keep the truck in 2wd when you are driving around town, and throw it into 4wd when you need. My ram gets awesome gas mileage in 2wd, so its not like there is a real downside to having 4x4 capabilities. But there is a serious downside to not having a 4x4 when you begin sliding back down a slick muddy hill. Trust me, you don't want to be that guy with the inadequate rig when you are out in the backcountry. No one is going to be happy to winch you out of mud because you didn't come prepared with the right truck.

As for suspension upgrades its not really necessary with a full sized truck. Your ground clearance will be plenty. I use Bilstein ride height adjustable shocks to level up the front of my truck, but this is more for esthetic reasons. Some use a level to 'stuff' 35s on the truck, but wouldn't recommend that for any intensive four wheeling. Do not use spacer kits, they are mostly junk and compress over time. You also run the risk of blowing out CV joints and other hardware.

A quality suspension lift is highly variable in price, depending on how big and what brand. Zone and BDS are the industry standard for quality. I am getting a 6" Zone lift, and it runs $1400 before install. So don't think you can turn just any truck into a backcountry beast on the cheap.

If I were you I would test drive as many trucks as possible, and stick with a quality stock suspension. There is always room for upgrades in the future. Typical "offroad" packages usually give you something like 1" increase in ride height, and some other worthless features.

Also, keep in mind that Tundras are notorious for horrific gas mileage. With similar sized engines I get at least 6 mpg more than my buddy's Toyota.

I agree with almost everything you listed. At this point the OP mentioned a Tacoma, which is why I started referencing everything I did because it is not a full sized truck, it utilizes almost everything the FJ does, basically take your pick, truck bed or SUV, most other things are the same and while the stock suspension will suffice for moderate stuff it is not the same as a full sized truck which is where things start to differ. Second thing that is if he is going with a Toyota I can tell you for a fact that Zone and BDS are not the industry standard for quality or performance (they may be for Ford, Chevy, Dodge, and since I currently own none of the 3 listed I can't speak to the quality on that). What I can tell you is on the Toyota side of it after looking at their websites they offer nice shocks (not MFG by them) with a drop bracket for the front, essentially not increasing ground clearance at all in the front diff area, this is a weak point in most IFS systems, some Ubolts and shackles for the rear. For a Toyota the top of the line for quality and performance when talking about a FJ or Tacoma (mind you again not full sized) would be Icon Vehicle Dynamics, Total Chaos Fabrication, and Camburg (these are the big 3 for the actual tubular suspension components), now shocks again would be Icon, King, Fox, Sway a way, King being in my personal opinion the best quality.