Ash's slow progression into an adventure rig (build)

Well, I've finally mustered up the courage and accountability to start a build thread after years of having my truck! I've been a long time TacomaWorld member and have had my Tacoma for about the same time, however I've fallen off the Tacoma map in the last year with life getting hectic as I'm sure lots of you can commiserate with.

To start off some Info about me and my interests/hobbies etc.:

I'm from Albuquerque, New Mexico (for all my breaking bad fan out there) Life in the "Burque" is pretty much summed up perfectly in the show. Getting the hell out of dodge I opted to enlist in the Marine Corps. After about 5 years and a few deployments I am now recently separated and about 2 years before I got out I opted to buy a Tacoma. I am a former 2x Jeep owner (I know I know, but don't lynch me just yet) and the Tacoma has been the best vehicle choice I have ever made.

After separating from the military I applied for pilot school here in Southern Utah. I opted to go to the Rotor wing (helicopter) side as it appealed more to me and seemed more fun than your typical fixed wing aircraft. Also with not having intentions of being a big aircraft commercial pilot, Rotor wing just made more sense to me.

Since being here in Utah, I've been able to really explore more of my previously loved hobbies like camping, competitive shooting, backpacking, and most importantly... Mountain biking! Being an aviation student is pretty time consuming, but somehow I still manage a way to spend time and money on my truck, appropriately named "Ash" for that sexy MGM color she's in.

So that pretty much sums up everything to date! I'll Start by "back" posting as far as I can and what I have done to the rig to get you a better idea of the progression.


How she looks now:






Current Mod List:

Engine/Drivetrain:
Uni filter mod
Blais bros tacos rear diff breather kit
TRD exhaust

Electrical:
*Coming soon* blue sea fuse box

Suspension:
King mid travel extended front coil-overs with 650# springs
King mid travel extended rear shocks
Old man emu medium duty full leaf pack (overload removed)
Total chaos unibal UCA's
Drive shaft shim kit (ferda nasty vibes. #goodvibesonly)
Wheeler's stainless brake lines (F/R)

Wheels / Tires:
16” TRD factory beadlock style wheels
Sypdertrax 1.25" spacers
285/75/16 Falken wildpeak at3’s
CMC done by Fabn801 in southern UT

Armor:
Factory TRD front skid

Lights:
Cali raised side shooter ditch lights
Led strips in the bed
Tacoma beast interior LED's
Auxito reverse light LED's

Recovery/Emergency:
"Slime" branded air compressor (works suprisingly well)
Snatch strap (unsure of brand)
Rear hitch Shackle mount
Tire plug kit
Jumper cables
MED kits
Mechanix gloves for multi use
Fire extinguisher

Interior mods:
Cover king seat covers F/R
Husky floor mats F/R
Standard fire extinguisher (for all my sub par electrical work)
Kicker stealth sub
Window tint all around
Little wire routing magnets
Tech deck for mounting my iPad

Additional mods:
Super suuuper low pro antenna mod... aka: carwash ate my antenna like Kobayashi
Tyger canvas bed cover (50/50 chance I'm not using it at any given time)
Bullet proof fab front grill (with personal touch)
Redline tuning hood struts
Fox racing MTB tailgate pad (for shredding purposes only)

Plans, hopes, dreams/what if I win the lotto:
Supercharger
Sliders
Rock lights
Front bumper (ATF or BAMF?) maybe something low pro?
SS3 amber fogs
roof/hood vinyl for glare/cool points
To prinsu or not to prinsu?
Low pro 30 inch light bar
Maybe do an RTT?
Pro eagle jack
Eventually upgrade compressors and then bed mount it
New headlights (pro BLHMs?)
Remote start
Ubolt flip kit and bumps





Some pics of the old rigs:

 

So for a decent idea of what the clean slate looks like, back in late 2017 I bought a new to me 2013 Tacoma "TX pro" with about 45k miles bone stock.

After searching for a Tacoma with minimal miles and that met my criteria of not paying BRAND NEW MSRP for a 5 year old, base model truck with 150k miles, I had almost given up hope. As I was on my way to the last dealership in town with a 2nd gen in their stock, I cruised past this baby sitting up on a rack at a local Dodge dealership. Don't ask me why it was there, it just was ok!?

I immediately stopped my route for the last dealership and pulled in. I grabbed the first guy on the floor I saw (I know funny, they typically follow you around like sharks after they smell blood in the water) and inquired about the truck. A TX model, 4x4 with factory rear locker, TRD wheels and factory A/T's and a TRD exhaust all installed from the factory. Now WHY this truck was up for grabs, I couldn't tell you. However it seemed to good to be true. When asked about the price, the guy told me it was actually 5k less then the truck I was on my way to see. WITH ALMOST HALF AS MANY MILES AND TWICE THE FEATURES! So without screaming like a 14 year old girl at a Bieber concert, I calmly asked if I could test drive it the following day due to some time constraints I was in.

The following day I showed up to meet the guy, and the truck was off the rack and waiting to be driven. After the first 60 seconds I knew I was in trouble. After heading back and talking price as well as general info about the truck, turns out it was totally clean and well kept from the previous owner. We came to an agreement and I walked away with my brand new dream truck.


Here's a picture of the new baby next to my moms 06 2nd gen

 

So naturally within my first month of ownership, I went wheeling with her!

If you look close, you can still see the temp tags on her...

 

Chrome absolutely had to go first, but the BPF grill needed some more flare so this is what I came up with. Was able to paint and reuse the factory Toyota emblem, and add the TRD emblem off Amazon

 

I was able to convince my best friend to sell his Jeep JK and come to the dark side. Celebrations required us to go on a trip from 29 Palms where I was stationed up to Big Bear for a brewskie


Took another sip of that potion, hit that 3 wheel motion

Aftermath of playing in mud puddles like were 10 again



To this day I'm convinced some of this mud is on my truck, I've just yet to find and clean it

 

So about this time I was slated for another deployment, which for me, means more tax free truck money I ordered a set of these bad boys.

 

Didn't take long before I had to find the time to put them on. Took about a 18 hours in total with just myself and, of course mom wanted to help out too. She killed it and made it so much easier to have a second set of hands. Those UCA's were a PITA to put in!!











Finished product

 

About a week after installing the suspension I noticed a significant decrease in height the front as it settled and the rear decided it wasn't going to budge. So I threw her up on the local self serve lift on base and raised the coil overs up about 3/4 of an inch. I also decided to ditch the 1/2 inch overload leaf in the rear since I wont be loading it more than a few hundred pounds for short periods of time.



Before removing the overload



After




A side shot of the rig in JT national park after adjusting it. Leveling it out made a huge difference, and the rear has settled a little more since this pic. These Old man EMU medium duty leafs do what they're meant to.

 

Another trip up to Big Bear for the snowboarding proved a good opportunity to get some nice shots of the rig





Funny enough, as we passed Johnson valley OHV on the trip back, I noticed some signs for the King of Hammers going on. So naturally I had to swing in and check it out! Just so happend to catch it on their first day and was able to make it out a couple more times for the other events!

 

Some routine 60k maintenance

 

As I said, from time to time I like to shoot competitively, 3 gun, USPSA etc. and so my rig essentially becomes my pack mule for all my gear/ something to shoot inside of and around just to practice some odd skills. I always wanted to have a truck, and now that I have one, I don't think I will ever drive another vehicle as long as I live because how useful its proven




Mom putting in work on the SPR build

 

Installed some redline tuning hood struts and went camping for the first time in a long time.

 

Took some buddies exploring the old abandoned mine areas near JT national park.

 

So about this time in the truck build, I was in the process of leaving California and moving back to good ole New Mexico after separating from the military. I had a general plan and knew the direction I wanted to go but after taking a school tour of the flight school here in southern UT I was sold. So about 3 months later I moved to Utah and started the program. I pretty much fell off the truck build train and got sucked into school.

 

Here's some cool pics I've snapped over the last 2 semesters, including a pretty big goal I was able to achieve. My first solo flight with no instructor!

 

And while balancing school and personal life..... I may or may not have fallen into another money pit...

 

Also started getting out in the area to do a little backpacking! (yet another money pit I've fallen into)

 

But in the last month I've actually been back on the Truck modding train and started putting more effort into the rig that takes care of me. My goal from here on out is to turn this baby into a well rounded adventure rig and solid daily driver. I plan on using the rig for long trips involving backpacking and mountain biking. I already have a trip planned for the middle of this month, so I'll be sure to post along the way!

More recently I installed some that I bought with the suspension but never put on. Ask me why and I couldn't explain what took me so long

I finally got some

$136 Husky Liners Weatherbeater Floor Mats | Fits 2005 - 2015 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab (Footwell Coverage) | Front & 2nd Row, 3-pc Black - 98951

Husky floor mats to clean up the constant dirt and mud I track into Ash as well as Put in an order for Some Cover Kings coming in in the next couple weeks.

Installed some

$23 MICTUNING 2Pcs 60" White LED Cargo Truck Bed Light Strip Lamp Waterproof Lighting Kit with On-Off Switch Fuse 2-Way Splitter Cable Compatible with Pickup RV SUV and More

bed lights wired into the rear 12v plug, a hassle to have to turn the key on to use them but it beat wiring from the bed all the way to the battery.

Also installed the notorious

$22 Uni Filter UP-107 1" Clamp-On Breather

Uni-filter as well as the super easy to use rear diff breather kit made by Blais Bros Tacos thanks to @Blais03 and @LivinLoud

Replaced the reverse lights with some

$35 AUXITO Error Free 912 921 LED Bulb Reverse Lights Backup Lights 4000 Lumens/Pair Extremely Bright CSP 9-SMD 906 W16W T15 LED Bulbs Plug and Play for Backup Reverse Lights, 6500K White (Pack of 2)

higher end LED's, because we ALL know how shit Tacoma lighting is (these really do make a noticeable difference)

And along the lighting note I installed the Tacoma Beast interior LED's as well as a set of Cali Raised low pro ditch brackets and side shooters

 

Awesome report and build. Keep up the work and show more heli pics, way cooler than fixed wing.

 

Thanks I'll be sure to post more as I progress!