Help me make my Tacoma overland ready

I have been giving your question a lot of thought. I went through this 20 years ago when I was building and kitting out our two motorcycles that we used in our travels, all of which were outside the country in Europe, the middle east and Turkey. Our travels came to a halt when the bus rear ended us in Turkey; my wife's left ankle was broken. It took three days to get her airlifted to Frankfort, Germany where she had surgery to repair her ankle. And then, I got to deal with the Turkish authorities and also arrange to get the sidecar rig out of Turkey and back to Germany so I could fix it.

At the minute I am in the process of building and kitting out our next travel vehicle; a 2005 Tacoma Access Cab with 65K miles on the clock. And yes, the mileage is accurate. How do I know this? My father in-law purchased the truck new in 2005; at 93 years of age he no longer has a need for it so he gave it to us.

Also, if you truly are going to be an overlander, this means that you will be living in your vehicle 24/7/365. This is VERY different than wanting a vehicle that has the "overlander look". So, if you are NOT going to be living in your vehicle 24/7/365 what I have to say is meaningless because you will just be wasting your money setting up a vehicle like this.

I have spent the vast majority of my time doing research for the past three months. I have made few purchases and am in the process of installing them.

1. Aftermarket audio unit with display screen.
2. Front and rear camera's. They will both operate from a switch in the cab and the rear camera will also operate when the manual transmission is put into reverse. This involves the installation of two diodes into the circuits for the rear camera.
3. Locking tail gate handle.
4. Bed stiffeners; doing this now because I know that we will be carrying a lot of weight in the bed; an ounce of prevention being worth lots in the cure department and all that.

And now is probably a good time to go into electrical work. I NEVER cut electrical wiring. The problems that cut wiring will introduce in the future when problems are least wanted/needed makes it just not worth the risk. So, a goodly amount of my time has been researching electrical connectors and pins. I just placed an order yesterday with a manufacturer in Hong Kong to get a connector I need to complete my audio installation. This connector will allow me to use a 30A circuit that is in the stock wiring for the amplifier circuit. I thought about just changing the connector but there are a number of vacant slots on this connector that I can use for additional circuits that I will be installing in the interior and this will make the job much neater and, more importantly much more simple in functionality. And, oh yes, I will also be creating a wiring diagram to go along with the Toyota wiring diagrams that I have on our computer. And yes, I exhausted every supply source in North America as well as using all of the Tacoma documentation I have assembled. And tanks to a lad on this site who was recommended as being the connector guru in these here parts.

I did all of the wiring on our sidecars and we have complete wiring diagrams that SWMBO made as I gave her the information about what item was connected to what ever. Yes, this was a lot of work but you really will not remember everything you do (it's impossible unless of have a "photographic memory") so admit that you are mortal and start the drawing and do it as you go.

We did a lot of research for a shell to go onto the bed. This will have no windows (an invitation for broken windows and stolen gear). Here in North America (baring Mexico) you do not have to worry too much about theft. But once out of the country, if you set it down and walk away you may well never see it again. We warned a fellow who was going to Mexico about this. He chose to ignore us and left his gloves and helmet sitting on his seat when he went inside to pay for gas; never saw them again.

So, one of the first rules of traveling is that everything must be locked inside a hard container; plastic can be easily cut so metal is really the best alternative. And, given all the glass, nothing gets left in the cab that is of real value. We make our own custom window sun screens that go into every window in the cab so nothing is visible from the outside. We were parked overnight in a motel parking lot in our current traveling vehicle (Ford F250 diesel) and luckily had all the stuff under the shell that had windows in it covered with black sheets. With the tinted windows it looked empty inside. This was a good thing too because when we came out at 6 AM to hit the road the car parked next to us had two windows bashed out and the inside had obviously been gone through. We were lucky that we emptied the cab of the truck on arrival. It was this incident that led to the custom made sun screens.

While I am working on the above listed items I am researching and ordering the things that we will need for the vehicle in our travels. You know, recovery gear, water tank(s), larger volume fuel tank, storage organizer(s) for the bed of the truck, shell to go onto the bed, roof rack for the shell, water pump, refrigerator, etc., etc., etc. As an example, our winch will travel in the bed of the truck and be brought out and attached to the rear hitch or the new front hitch that I will be installing for this purpose. No sense in having the winch exposed to all of the elements and needing to be rebuilt simply because the volume of dirt has made it inoperable. And, more importantly, this set up gives us much more freedom and more options for use. When you are traveling alone you really need to be self reliant, which is why we will have to tools to take tires off of wheels a put them back on as well; not much worried about wheels being pretty for this type of activity. If you want to learn how to do this go to a tire facility that does tires for big rigs; 90% of the tire changes are done by hand, not by machine.

Once we have all the "stuff" for the vehicle installed and all of our clothing and other gear assembled it will be time to head for the scales and do a bit or weighing. We are spoiled because we are used to have scales by the roadside just about everywhere so we can weigh the truck very easily; a benefit of spending lots of time in Oregon. Any rate, once we get the weight we then will be able to make decisions about suspension modifications. Our goal is not to exceed the GVW set by the manufacturer which is going to be a challenge when you consider we will be hauling 36 gallons of water and 35 gallons of gasoline. That alone eats up more than one third of our GVW. I suspect we will be removing things in order to get our weight to be such that we will not be overloading the vehicle. It will be tough enough on the vehicle to be fully loaded and traveling on mostly unimproved roads but it is just not worth the risk of overloading.

And this brings to mind yet another motorcycle story of the British guy traveling in Mexico who had a humongus (technical term) aluminum box on the back of his motorcycle. I have never seen anything like it; before or since. The poor machine was so overloaded that the frame snapped at the steering head; the bike was literally in two pieces in the middle of his lane of the road. What were his options?

So, good luck with your build. But do yourself a favor and be true to what you are doing. Save your money if you just want to be a poser at the local bar/coffee shop. Building a real overland vehicle is nothing like slapping some suspension mods onto a vehicle along with big tires and parading about town.

The only lift our vehicle will get/have will be a direct result of the calculations associated with the ability to haul about, safely, the weight that will be on the vehicle. And, as has been stated previously, big tires are not really necessary. Whatever tires we replace the 15 year old tires that came with the truck when it was new, and are still on it, will be very close to the stock size (265/65R17). The ability of the tires to handle the weight will be the real issue for their size/class. I have no desire to re-gear the rear end or transfer case (TRD Sport 4x4 with LSD); it is just not necessary. The weight we are carrying will dictate everything associated with the suspension, wheels and tires.

Hopefully this will help you with your decisions as to what you really want to do with/to your "new" truck.

Good luck to you in all you do...

Regards,

Jim

 

You don't need anything like that. Me and the family overland in the wife's FWD equinox for over 5 years. Multiple trips a year. Been to 6 different national forest/parks plus many many more "off the beaten path" adventures. We average 3 big trips per year and about 10-12 small camping trips per year.

Honestly. Get you some decent all terrains (3rd gen take offs), some decent recovery gear (come along, strap, ect), and some good camping gear. The wife's equinox I built skid plates and a front recovery point. Only had to use the come along once. I always found that my Jeep on 35s wouldn't get me any further than the equinox. The Jeep just got me deeper into crap that lead to me tearing up things.

 

I would disagree to a point, I regularly take the taco over terrain an Equinox would/could never traverse.

 

The point he’s making is that you can use what you have to get out and explore and camp. Obviously some vehicles are more capable then others, but by the sounds of it, he takes his equinox more places more often than many will ever do with another vehicle.

 

What is overlanding anyway? I really actually don't know.

I just like to travel and camp along the way. Is that too many words?

 

Point is that you don't need a Tacoma on 35" tires to explore. Before I got the Taco and the Jeep being a Jeep and always broke down, the equinox was all we had for most trips. We have video of us in Moab, all over the Rockies, All over Big Bend, and in the Everglades. All in the equinox since it had creature comforts like AC and Cruise Control. Plus plenty of room for the kids.

I'm not here to prove anything. If OP wants 35" tires and look like some Natty G Bro truck, then have at it. But IMHO and Experience its wasted money. I don't even carry OBA. Most time it's a portable Viair pump, and if were tubing, I carry 2 tanks of 10# of Co2. But my first car was a Dodge Dy-Nasty and I treated it like it was 4x4 and had mud tires. Surprised what you can do in a car lol

 

Camping. The word is camping.

I got into the "overlanding" fad early (one of the early subscribers to Overland Journal, ooo), and I'm over it... It's mostly insta-fam everything and show-off how much overpriced gear you can cram onto your truck. The exploration and travel bit is overblown - great, you drove to a national park in the continental USA. Much expedition!!! You really don't see any broverlanders when you really get off the beaten path. Just dusty stock looking Tacos.

Not to be confused with those who really DO live the life full time on the road, around the world. Now THAT I wish I had the guts to do. Maybe someday.

Not to be confused with Expedition Overland. Nice rigs and equipment, but those guys couldn't care less about the places they travel to, in my opinion. Painful to watch.

Anyhoo, the stock Tacoma is a marvelous machine as is. Part of the fun is taking it out stock and seeing what works and what needs to be changed - that's the only way you'll know what's right for you. Like everyone's said, just throw a tent and sleeping bag into the truck and go. Take notes and figure out what you want or need for next time.

I'm still mostly stock because the way I camp, I've found I don't need a lot of crazy modifications, but that's just me. I have an off road bumper with better clearance because I smacked my stock bumper up more than once, so that went on the list. I added ditch lights so I could spot deer better on dark rural mountain roads and the occasional nighttime camping spot search. I don't really off-road at night, so they've been great. I got a camper shell so I could solo camp fast and securely.

This all works for me, but maybe not for you. There's no one truck fits all template, really. That's what all the influencers would have you believe.

Plus it's no fun if you don't figure it out and build it for yourself and make it unique to you.

 

Dude you need a 4x4 you cant conquer moab in that 2wd stop trolling us

 

If you’re serious you absolutely have no choice but to sell that truck and get a 4 wheel drive. Off-road package and manual best. But just any 4 wheel even 4 cyl is gonna do a whole lot better than what you got.

it may be a hard pill to swallow, but it’s true and you will just get frustrated trying to off-road a 2wd. And waste your time and money. Not saying people haven’t had to deal with the truck they got and made it work, but really if your starting from scratch why choose to proceed with a 2wd?

 

Moab isn't a "overland" or camping destination. Even hiking Moab isn't worth it due to all the 4x4 trails. I have family in Grand Junction. They can get a 2wd to good places. But you go to Moab for the offroading. That's like saying your wanna go to the Rubicon to see the ocean. Isn't happening.

 

Besides all of the other mall crawler crap on that truck, the crap blocking the radiator ought to be a clue that it doesn't spend much if any time off-road.

Overlanding is the current term du jour for glorified car camping or glamping. Buy, borrow or rent some camping gear, toss it in the truck and go camping. See if you actually enjoy it (a lot of folks don't). You'll figure out what you need, like and want as you go. You don't need the fanciest and most expensive gear; a used Coleman stove from a garage sale, grab a couple of pots and utensils out of your kitchen, appropriate clothing and bedding for the weather, some water jugs and whatever food you like from the grocery store and go have fun.

As for the truck, a decent set of all terrains and learning to drive it will make a bigger difference than a lot of unnecessary mods.

 

This is my "overland" rig lol

 

265/75R16 or 265/70R17

As for it being "excessive", that's ok man. It's your vehicle, do what you want! I want a roll bar on mine. Will I ever need it? For what I do, no. Do I want one because I like the way they look? Hell yeah! If your vehicle does what you want it to do, make it look however you want. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone else, do what makes you happy

 

I managed to snag a 2 person tent off Craigslist for $25. It's some Dick's tent that retails for like $75 so it's nothing amazing, but I might hate camping. I browse Craigslist every so often for the term "Camping". I figured even if I drive from my home, to a camp site and sleep there, it'll be worth finding out if I enjoy it or not

 

#overlanding



Suspension: Bilstein 5100's
Tires: Toyo ATII's 265/75/16's
Everything else: stock

 

you HAVE to have the essentials, bed rack, rtt, as many rotopax as you can fit, a highlift, maybe an axe or two to hang off the side of your bed rack. Oh and orange maxtrax.

 

if its rear wheel drive with a locker thats sweet. Put some maxtrac spindles on the front and gain clearance there.

Rear slap on some full replacement leaf packs of your choice and longer rear shocks & brake lines (the lift spindles will come with extended brake lines for the front)

A nice all terrain tire and let her rip bro.

 

My personal preference is to sleep on the ground. I found climbing in out of the bed in the middle of the night a pain in the butt.

 

90% of your driving can be done with what you have. Good tires, maybe chains if snow/ice is in the equation, click the locker in and plant your right foot.

Seriously the best mood will be a dual zone DC fridge for cold beer and ice cream.

F all that "overland" BS. Funny how most people that have actually done what that word means accomplish it on a bike or VW Bug. Not in a decked Land Cruiser.

Just get some basics and get out. If you plan on doing more wheeling then you probably should have started with a 4wd model. Honestly, I feel like if that was your game you would have already know and bought something different. Something tells me that you just wanted to space and clearance of a pickup. If that's the case a locked 2wd is a good choice.

 

Not shown in a step ladder on the opposite side of the truck. Made entry/exit super easy. Lol my post was more sarcastic that you don't need much to "overland" as others have stated.