Starting my overland build - Here we GO!

Hey all,

Willing to bet almost nobody reads these intros but it seems like a great way to warm up my fingers.

After many years of dreaming and thinking, I've finally got a 2010 Taco and the opportunity to turn it into a custom rig. I've decided on building it into an overlander

Specs currently is a 2010 TACO SR5 4X4 on P265/70/R16 Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs. Aside from the tires, she's bone stock and just rolled into 69000 km yesterday.

Future Specs are up in the air a little bit but I've got a good idea at this moment of what I want to do. I've got lots of time to think it over as it's going to be waiting for many months on a frame swap and that's the main reason I'm here is to ask questions, read reviews and get some insight from other Taco lovers.

Planned mods/accessories: Overlanding bedrack from Westin is ordered and 99% decided on the Ikamper skycamp mini (Wishing there was similar options from competition as they're painfully expensive). For off road mods I'm aiming for front and rear bumpers with recovery points and winch, rock sliders and a full set of skid plates. Suspension, I'm thinking of a 2" Old Man EMU and lastly, I'm going to need at least a rear locker. Possibly front as well, and these are going to be the two things that I'll be poking around for advice on here. Also in the air and confused on tires.

Overall, I'm going with a lower profile/touring build that is well rounded in terms of decent on road driveability and performance that is also carefully built to be very capable off road without going crazy with lifts and mods. Nothing for show and everything for function!

Lastly, I can't decide on what to name the truck..It's between TacoSilver and SilverTaco. If you made it this far reading the post, let me know what you think!

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld

 

Welcome to TW!

My vote for the name: Hi-yo.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW

 

Welcome! What part of the country do you live in? what do you see yourself doing? Cruising miles of forest service road or crawling over rock? If your sticking with forest service roads then I’d try to keep things as light as possible. Aluminium winch tray with 3/4 shackles, things like that. Then you can maximize your range.

 

I'd imagine, before your build is finished, you'll call it quite a few things.

No rush to name it so soon. LOLOL

 

Maybe call it 'Rusty'.

100 points for this.

-50 points for conflicting info.

Keep in mind that most 'overlanders' really aren't. It's just good buzz.

Best wishes for a successful frame transplant and all the ancillaries that are impacted. I recommend that being completed prior to your money being spent on parts. Just in case a change of direction occurs during the waiting time.

Welcome.

 

I live in Newfoundland, otherwise known as "The Rock" so it's inevitable I'll end up doing some rock crawling but I'll also be driving a lot of service roads and highways. I live on the east end and a lot of my adventures will be taking me across to the west end. This will inevitably present the most fun set of challenges in the build because I'll really have to carefully plan out how to keep the truck light and nimble yet high and capable enough for those occasional rocks.

I totally share your sentiments and was planning on going with an all aluminum front (gotta go steel in the rear though, aluminum won't withstand the abuse back there). One thing I'm on the fence about are the skid plates.. leaning towards aluminum but with only 2 inches of lift and a likely tire size of less than 33's I'm not of a sure mind on that one yet.

 

Haha, Rusty was actually an old nickname of mine from back in highschool and given the frame issues, it would be more than fitting.

I'm well aware of both the overlanding posers who are just for show and the serious off roaders posing as overlanders for the sake of views on Youtube, there's plenty of them out there and unfortunately none of them seem to have a discount code for Ikamper yet.

Also with you on being patient and holding off on buying parts until the job is underway at least. Only thing I've moving forward with now is the bed rack and rooftop tent. As is, the truck is still safe to drive and I'll have to hold off all this season almost certainly, so I'll at least get a few easy going camping trips in bone stock. I have to say, I'm impressed on what the truck can do as is, even completely open dif with those duratracs though.

 

255 85 16 or 255 80 17 is a full 33" tire. On a wheel of OE spec (or an OE wheel of course) it will fit with no lift, no cutting, no rubbing.

Lots of input around on that size. I think one thread is called 'the skinny on skinny's' or something like that.

Of course tire radius is what lifts the axle lines for more clearance. So something to consider.

Also 3rd gen wheels fit your truck nicely, and are usually cheap from those who have to go 'mainstream black' with new wheels. Could be some value for you there.

 

This is exactly what I joined up here for, great advice Good Sir!

Do you know anyone personally who has put them on their rig? I searched for the thread but drew a blank but if what you say is true, this could be the perfect solution to the problem of balancing ground clearance with road manners!

 

I just want to jump in here and point out that it is unfair you get to live in Newfoundland, and I do not! Spent some great time in St. John's.

Good luck with the build. Might not be a bad idea to keep an eye out on Kijiji / Facebook Marketplace. I've notices a lot of people selling their hardly used roof top tents and you might get lucky and save a few loonies.

 

St Johns is where I currently live and I'm confident you must have gotten some rare, nice weather while you were here if you're jealous of us who reside here..hahaha.

I agree with keeping an eye for second hand. I feel like a lot of people might have bought these on impulse only to realize for how much they use them it's not worth storing or keeping it on a vehicle year round. Problem is they're so hard to get here, not a lot of people on the island have made the leap, or so it seems.

 

I loved every minute of my time there, even the bad weather.

Doh, you are right. Probably not a lot of of tents on the island and too far away from Ontario to pick them up. I feel for you! Depending on your needs, there are some decent priced tents on the market. Not as good as the IKamper, though. But might be worth looking into solid, but less expensive options.

Best of luck to you. Looking forward to seeing how your project develops.

 

I'll admit, the place sure does have its charm.

I've accepted that I'm going to have to pay out a premium for the Ikamper Skycamp mini 2.0. At the end of the day I don't really mind paying for quality and I'll get my money's worth. Got a feeling I'll have to get used to this feeling...

 

Tell me about it. My wife fell in love with that roof top tent because her friend has one. Of course, it is like the most expensive tent you can buy. And, of course, I have to have one of the Leitner bed racks, which look so great:

https://www.leitnerdesigns.com

Neither one of us will compromise.

 

Im running 255/85/16 with two inchs of lift on my 2012 and I rub before I even get to full travel.