Weekend Truck Build Plan

I have been lucky enough to own several nice 4wd vehicles in my time. All have been daily drivers. In addition to whatever trail/off-road use I had for them, they must be put into service as work vehicles that logged 40-50K miles/year, used to take customers out to lunch, etc. With those constraints I have never felt comfortable building a truck to be what I really wanted it to be - a solid, reliable, tough off-road truck. A week-end truck that can be taller, noisier, rougher, less fuel efficient than my daily driver needs would allow.

It is beginning to look like I may be in a position to build myself a weekend truck. I want this to be a truck I can drive on hunting trips, OR trail weekends, appropriate vacation trips, etc. While I want the truck to be as capable as possible, I also wish to maintain a high degree of reliability. Budget is certainly not "unlimited", but if I spread it out a little I should be able to afford a high quality build. I do not live anywhere near any deserts and high speed off road runs / LT suspension is not on the agenda. Additionally I do tow a light utitlity trailer w/ ATV's frequently, a ~3500 pound boat occasionally and would like to get a OR Tent trailer eventually.

Here is my planned build so far, I would appreciate feedback from some of the more experienced members. Any thoughts on items I'm forgetting, suspect components, suspect compatibility, etc.

Build Plan


Planned build truck – 2007 Tacoma DCSB Sport, no VSC/TRAC/ATRAC, mechanical LSD. Truck has Bilstein 5100's set at 1.75” in front, Bilstein 5100's rear, ride rite air bags, rear diff breather relocated behind tail light, front trans breather extended to top of firewall, running 265/70R17's on stock rims, BAMF sliders. Truck currently has ~150,000 miles, I am the original owner. It has been well maintained, regular maintenance performed as scheduled. Does not currently burn any oil, motor and trans feel strong.


Planned Armor – Relentless front plate bumper (steel) w/ rectangle cut outs for Rigid D2's and Predator Guard full headlight tubing. Relentless high clearance rear plate bumper w/ heavy duty below license plate hitch. Relentless 3/16” steel full skid set w/ cross over drop for stock exhaust. BAMF LCA skids, BAMF rear diff skid.


Winch – Need help! I want a high quality winch, not sure what my options are – looking at Warn VR8000-S


Front Suspension -


Option 1 – Icon Extended Travel Front Coil Overs w/ 700 pound springs and Icon Billet Aluminum UCA's.


Option 2 – BAMF IFS ORI 8" Strut kit w/ Icon Billet Aluminum UCA's. I really don't know enough about this set up to know if it fits my application – it looks intriguing though, would love to get some more feedback on this set-up.


Rear Suspension – OME Dakar springs, bushing set, carrier bearing drop kit, u-bolts. Timbren bump stops, Icon 2.0 aluminum lift shock for 0-2.5” rear lift.


Wheels/Tires – Just planning on keeping the factory 17” Sport rims for now. Tires – 255/80R17 BF Goodrich KM2's


Gears – I plan on swapping out the factory 3.73's for 4.56's. I know this is overkill and I don't need gears this low for those tires/wheels. I also know this is going to hurt my fuel economy. I don't care! I want the power and control that comes with the lower gears.


Differentials – Planning on getting an ARB air locker installed on the front diff, as of right now, planning on leaving the rear diff a mechanical LSD. I have read of several folks that have run this combination quite successfully on hard trails and I consider a mechanical LSD significantly more useful on a day to day basis than a rear locker. I'm open to hearing discussion on why I need a rear locker instead.




David

 

nice! should be sweet!

 

Let me know when you start the build or need another set of hands on a wrench! I live just down the road.

 

Much Appreciated!

Got to get a few things squared away first...

You coming to the Sicily Island "freeze your ass off meet"?

David

 

I know you already own the 2nd gen Tacoma but are you sure you want to start with that as your purpose built off road vehicle? If it were me, I would be looking for something a lot older that I wouldn't mind as much if some body panels get really scratched up, etc. You could probably sell your 2nd gen and fund most of your weekend truck build in addition to buying an older vehicle?

Also, what's your new daily driver going to be?

 

If everything goes according to plan my daily driver will be a company car. I will give my '12 Tacoma to my son to take to school and I will have the '07 as a weekend toy. I realize it could be done cheaper - it could also be done much more expensively.

I know anything can happen at any time, but....

I bought this truck new. I maintained it. I know what I have and the chances for a reliable performer. Truth is - I don't wheel as hard as some of the guys here do. I want something reliable and capable. And reliable...

David

 

I really want to, however around this time I will be in a career transition. If it works out the way I am planning, I will have about two weeks off (best case) and can go and attempt to make an icicle of my self.

 

Would you say that you're building more of an expedition vehicle? It sure sounds like that is the path you want to take.

Expedition vehicle = all about reliability, for exploring, self sustaining for variable amounts of time, comfortable ride on harsh terrain, capable but not necessarily a rock crawler nor a high speed desert vehicle.

What are you planning on doing with it?

- Trailering out to specific trails
- Weekend trips to scenic, hard to reach, camp grounds
- Going to small OHV parks
- Camping at camp-grounds
- Traveling through third world countries

Check out http://www.expeditionportal.com

I think that expedition portal should be right up your alley. They focus pretty much on reliable vehicles for exploring. Many of their stories follow people traveling the world, people with purpose built vehicles for driving up to the arctic circle or traveling through jungles in South America. They use vehicles ranging from VW Vans to Range Rover Sports to 1st Gen Tacomas. (I don't see as many second gen Tacoma's on there as I wish, but most the stories and reviews apply to Tacomas). I understand you probably won't be traveling to the arctic or through South American jungles – but reading about products and techniques used for this kind of travel proves reliability for anything you will be doing. I highly recommend the website and I read their new articles every day. (The owner of the website is currently building up a 2nd Gen Tacoma, you can find some threads and articles on it if you look around).

 

Yes, I guess its more of an expedition type build except I'm not as serious as they are either!

The to do List for this truck will pretty much look like the the to do list for my current truck minus the daily work commute:

Hunting vehicle
Light Tow Vehicle (Boat/Pop-up/4-wheeler trailer)
Occasional light use in ORV parks - I don't care if I can run every trail...
Travel vacations/wheeling trips (recent Big Bend Trip was awesome!)

Eliminating the daily commute will eliminate concerns about adding all the extra weight from armor and lower gears.

David

 

Cool!

Hope to see you there!

David