Overland set-up total vehicle weight...

If you’re not holding your modified harbor freight shit together with a ratchet strap, you’re spending too much

 

You know LED's flash in video right?

Unless there's people who set them up specifically to flash, which I haven't seen before with Tacomas lol. Just making sure this isn't a misunderstanding.

 

lol Sami goes anywhere. My point... not a Taco carrying two tons of weight. Something like your Sami. You probably had the same hp to weight ratio as those Jeeps.

 

No power adders, just a straight carborated 4 cylinder with two guys from Arkansas who had a but ton of recovery stuff they didn't know how to use.

I've got a lot of "1%" tools (rather have them and not need them than the other way) on my current Taco and dont worry about weight honestly. No need for full underbody armor or any of that crap unless you are hitting 7+ trails.
Towing our off road trailer is why I built my taco, but my initial point stands, you don't need V8s, full underbody skids, solid axles or full lockers to get through 5+ rated trails.

 

Couple of things,

Vehicle supported adventure, is a lot like backpacking, it always costs more than you want, is heavier than you want, and has stuff you find little use in.

Couple of things that I would look at. A GFC will save you 175lbs (that includes removing the awning) vs your proposed set up, allow for set up and take down faster, standing room and a lower CG. Awnings sound great, but we used ours about 5 times before we decided the hassle wasn't justified.

Take the rear seat out, build a delete. I am just guessing but I think I dropped 50 lbs doing that. If you use a light weight material like Coosa, even better.

The high clearance rear isn't worth it, fiddly, and you won't enjoy opening it every time you want to grab something from the bed.

I would absolutely do a front bumper, deer are a more likely problem then rocks.

I would consider going back to the stock engine skid, and taking the cat guards off before you hit the road, and maybe even the diff skid if you don't think you'll run trains hard enough to warrant it.

10 gallons of fuel is fine, however depending on location 10 gallons of water is a lot.

Be really careful on wheels and tires. Weight conscious would mean stick to 16-17s, and go with a tall skinny tire.

 

She is not dirty enough sir.

 

Vacation wasn’t over yet

 

It may be.

 

Seeing a lot of "I would, I would, I would...." Sounds like a bunch of hypotheticals. You live in South Carolina! Your National Forests are full of private inholdings and gravel roads. Give it a break, out west we actually need skid plates lmao

OP, don't go too heavy or you'll regret it.
My advice. Stick to 265/75/16 (I went with c-load duratracs because theyre much lighter than E load tires and still have a ton of traction)
Going up to 33's will dog down your taco the same as bolting on a ton of armor.
For long range touring, which is what you're describing:
-Steel bumper with hoops (I just had to dodge a black bear last week)
-32 inch tires max (all ya need unless you're building a rock crawler)
-Camper shell (securely store your gear)
-Set of skids (even aluminum skids would protect your oil pan from most impacts)

Good luck, let us know what you decide to do OP!

 

Yep, I agree. I recently spent a day in the Ozark national Forest following a Jeep and a FJ cruiser, both with 35’s. Fairly Modest trails with a few rough spots throughout the route where the right lines were needed. My 265 C load Duratracs were all I needed. Actually they did better than the BFG AT’s and General AT’s I have had in the past. Much better.
I have had several Tacomas, a few Toyota trucks(pre Tacoma years), and a few 4Runners. Unless you are going to make a dedicated rock crawling, or hard off road rig, 31-32” will get you almost everywhere you want to go in a Tacoma.
I doubt I will ever have 33’s or larger again. Not worth the decrease in power, and gas mileage. My truck rides and handles better on and off road than it did with 33’s.

 

As someone who upgraded to 33's, this resonates with me lol.

It's been almost 40k miles and they still have decent tread left. Just waiting for them to run out before I replace. I'll probably stay the same size since my truck has been heavily modified and it'd look weird to go smaller, but I'll definitely be going away from E load tires.

 

I had a few different sets of E load tires, and I hated them all. They are tougher tires, but dang they ride like crap. At least they did on the trucks I had them on. Never again for me.
I’ll just fix a flat or change a tire if needed, and carry on in comfort!

 

FWIW, my 33x10 ATs have been great, weigh 52 pounds. I’m still able to get advertised MPGs even with a lift and 650# of constant weight. Haven’t noticed power loss coming from C rated 265/70/17 ATs

That’s 21 MPGs not accounted for larger tires.

 

well...share with the class! lol

 

The last set I had were 33 E, I was averaging around 15.5-16 most of the time. I am now averaging 19 or even a little better on the Interstate. Of course, that’s what the dash is telling me. I Havnt added it up by actual odometer and gallons at fill up. I do know for sure In my daily route to the office and back, I don’t have fill up near as much as I did with 33’s.

 

Fair.

I used to do hand calculations for years and the my dash read out was pretty bang on, maybe +.MPG optimistic. Forgot to mention that I run premium SFOB tune on 94E0 chevron gas.

You probably had 285s right?

 

Share what?

How to drive like a grandpa to get good MPGs?

 

Yea, they were 285,s and heavy. Don’t remember the actual weight.

 

Yeah. I really wanted 285s but the weight and rolling resistance kept me away. There are some SL 285s but I need E rated for off road. I was even looking at 275s but at like 62 pounds, no thanks.

I’ve been very impressed with 255s, gonna be my tire size for the taco in foreseeable future.