Well I bought every BOE epic tank piece I could for my pally, I also got a few naxx 10-25 tank pieces, im sitting at 26k unbuffed with 540 defense and I have no trouble tanking raids, havent gotten a team high enough to multi box heroics yet. You need at least 24k for heroics, you need a healer since your still gearing, having all of your dps stop dps to send off heals isnt going to get you anywhere. Switch one to heals, gear up more, when your sitting around 25k or bettere than try 4 dps.