SoCOTaco's Revived Overland Build Thread and BS

Well, here goes y'all. Figured it was time to revive my build thread! I'll be keeping it more up to date from here on out. Here's a bit of a backstory:

I finally got my first vehicle, a 2006 Tacoma AC TRD Off-Road 4X4 6MT in July of 2015. (Sorry, haven't named her yet.) I've wanted a Taco since I was a little kid, and watching my dream slowly come true has been amazing! However, seeing that I'm a college student, a mountain biker, and have a 1976 Datsun 280Z that's being restored, funds are somewhat "tighter" on the build. That really just means I only buy things from GB's, sales, or used. The truck has basically been through 3 stages at this point. Stage 1 being stock, stage 2 being lightly modified but still basically stock, and stage 3 being moderately modified with some nice gear! Stage 4 coming soon! Here's what I've got to show:

Most recent pic as of 5-17-17:
(Stage 3)


How she sits as of 12-7-16:
(Stage 2)



And here's how she looked the day I got her:
(Stage 1)



Now the mod list:

Truck:
2006 TRD Off Road 4x4
4.0 V6 6-Speed Manual
174k miles

Engine Bay/Mechanical:
ARB Safari Snorkel (Awaiting Installation)
TRD CNC Battery Tie Down
Rear Diff Breather Mod

Suspension:
King 2.5 Coilovers w/ Remote Resi
King 2.5 Shocks w/ 1" Longer Rod End
Dakar Leaf Pack w/ 3rd Leaf Removed
Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines

Armor:
Pelfreybilt Steel Single Hoop Bumper
Pelfreybilt Steel Standard Rear Bumper
RCI Bolt-On Sliders
RCI Steel IFS Skid

Wheels and Tires:
SCS Ray10 16" Matte Gray
265/75/16 Wrangler Duratracs

Bed:
Tepui Kukenam RTT
RCI Bed Rack
RCI Hi-Lift Bed Rail Mounts
RCI Maxtrax Mounts (To Be Installed)

Interior:
Wet Okole Seat Covers
Weather Tech Floor Mats
AJT Design Shift Knob
OCD Glove Box Organizer
Phone Mount

Recovery:
Maxtrax in FJ Red
48" All Cast Hi-Lift
ARB Snatch Strap
D-Rings
Hitch Receiver D-Ring Mount
Portable Air Compressor

Lighting:
HID Headlights (Pre-made)
Baja Designs Squadron-R Sport Pods

Small Exterior/Misc:
TRD Sport Scooped Hood
Extang Solid Fold Tonneau Cover (Winter only)
KB Voodoo Bed Bars (Removed)
Plasticolor Mud Flaps
Mobtown Locking Bed Storage Door
Tailgate Hose Clamp Mod
Race Face Tailgate Pad/Rocky Mounts SplitRail Bike Rack
TRD Mountain Edition Bed Decals (Awaiting Installation)
TRD 3rd Brake Light Decal
Overland Bound Badge #4575
Ballaculla Trailer Harness Relocation Bracket (Removed)

To Be Purchased/Wish List:
20" Cali Raised Single Row Light Bar
RCI Full Skids


Here's a bit to jump start the thread before I document mods over time thought the thread:



My first mod, new headlights, grille and a Weather Tech bug deflector. Weather Tech mats inside.




Finally got the wheels powder coated satin black, put on 265/75/16 Wrangler Duratrac's, and installed Husky mud flaps.



Steelcraft Evo3 bumper guard/light bar mount. So much better than a bull bar and doesn't decrease approach angle. Hope to get a full plate bumper..... one day.



First trip to Moab with my truck, it was mainly for mountain biking but got to spend a couple hours screwing around in the Sand Flats Recreation Area to check a few things out.



An RCI 3/16 steel skid plate. SO much nicer/stronger than stock.



I got a set of Maxtrax as my first little piece of recovery gear and mounted them at the back of the bed with velcro straps.



An AJT Designs 6-speed shift knob looks 100x better than the stock knob.


Kings Baby!


OCD Glove Box Organizer

I'll continue to keep you guys posted!

 

Trails Ran in 2017:

Hell's Revenge
Gemini Bridges
Geyser Pass (Incomplete due to snow)
Halfmoon Creek
Alpine Loop
Engineer Pass
Mineral Creek
Imogene Pass
Mojave Road

 

Seat's taken...

 

I'll be buying it in the next week hopefully. I think it'll be a full OME setup w/ coil assembly and LR UCA'a for around $1650 shipped.

 

I got some Maxtrax to add to the non-existent recovery gear list, figured it couldn't hurt to have something given the planned snow and sand use. I mounted them at the back of the bed (for the time being) using the tie downs and a couple of velcro straps. Because this is a budget oriented build, here's a little justification of the purchase and how I got it cheaper:

I did a lot of research on some of the cheaper traction boards and after a lot of reading it seemed like the other boards just couldn't match up. This was one place I decided to splurge, even though I could have spent half of the money on a different set and gotten 80% of the performance. After all this is recovery gear, so the small margin that it is better could be the difference between successful extraction and utter failure. Price wise, I scored these around black friday for 10% off from Off Road Warehouse plus I got free shipping and a free t-shirt. So $270 went much further here than paying retail plus shipping from another site.

 

Got the @AJT DESIGN shift knob in the mail today and installed it immediately. The quality is fantastic and it took me 30 seconds to install it. It feels a little different than the stock knob but is very ergonomic and I don't forsee any issues getting used to it. It wasn't cheap at $90, but considering I literally couldn't find a single other shift knob I actually liked, I decided to spend a little additional cash to get something I loved. Highly recommended!

 

Great photos, thanks for posting!

 

Absolutely! It's really nice and looks a ton better than the stock one!

 

KB Voodoo bed bars have been ordered and I should be picking up a Tepui Kukenam tomorrow! I'll update with pics when I get it all together.

 

It's been a while since I've updated the thread. A couple of weeks ago I was involved in a pile up on the highway. Thankfully everyone was ok, but my truck took a good front end hit. I missed the actual bumper so all of my damage was taken out on the headlights, grill, hood, plastic bumper, fenders, etc. Thankfully it will be fixed (I'll update the thread with a pic or two later). Along the way I'll be upgrading some stuff using the insurance money. I mean, why put a new stock bumper on when I was planning to upgrade it in the next year or so anyways? So I figured I'd contribute the few hundred bucks insurance allowed and just pay the rest out of pocket. The only other notable upgrades will be some HID Xenon headlights and a scooped hood for bro points. I'm missing my truck big time though and it'll probably be another 3-4 weeks until I get it back.

 

Here's a pic of the truck at the collision repair shop. I theoretically should have her back in the next couple weeks! Thank goodness all the damage was cosmetic, nothing structural in the slightest.

 

damn dude that sucks

 

Seriously. Thankfully it will come out better than it was before. It just sucks in general though. I'm just glad it's not totaled, 'cause at only 160k, it was just getting started!

 

yea man hopefully she ends up lasting as long as mine

 

That's certainly the goal, I bought it because I wanted a truck that would last me practically forever.

 

Sorry about the pile up. Glad you made it out unscathed.

I'd forget the HID headlights. They're a PITA and aren't worth caca. I'd put the money towards some real expo goals.

 

Thanks! And the shop already ordered the HID lights already (pre-built, not retrofit). Thankfully because insurance is paying for repairs, they'll deal with the installation.

 

Colorado Sucks...

 

I-25 sucks...

 

Shit were you on monument hill in the accident?