From van life to the Taco life

Hey y'all,
First time Tacoma owner, long time fan. I'm usually a Subaru guy but my most recent rig was a Nissan NV2500HD tall commercial van which I had converted to live out of. I lived out of it full-time for nearly two years in the SW US. After buying a house in my home state of Wisconsin, I ended up selling it.



I pulled the trigger on a new Tacoma because the used truck market was insanely inflated and slim pickings at the time.



Anyway, my plan is to build her out to be an overland capable daily driver. She is pretty much stock with just a few cosmetic upgrades. I'm in the process of wiring up a second house battery and some 12v SAE terminals for a fridge and other accessories. I'm looking to add a roof rack, bed cap, and probably swap out the stock tires for KO2s soon. I'm debating whether I should try to build a bed cap myself or just get one like the RSI smart cap and use a tent or separate RTT.

Thanks for all the great conversations already taking place. I'm excited to join in.

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Nice and welcome to TW!

 

Congrats! Welcome to TacoWorld.

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome! Glad you found a truck that suits your needs. I'm ready to sell everything a start living out of my Tacoma and camping trailer. Gotta few more years before I can make it a reality!

 

Welcome! Subaru to Tacoma is a fairly common transition from what I hear. I think it's cause they both get modded.
Congrats on the house purchase! Now you don't have to eat where you poop! (presuming you even used the bathroom in your van)

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Thanks for the warm welcomes.

Awesome! Maybe I'll follow in your footsteps eventually. Going to be a lot more than a few years before I can pull anchor and live on the road again. What kind of trailer do you have? I decided to go for a little more "rough" car camping style with the Tacoma since living in the van was like camping in a mansion.

Thanks! Only on rare occasions... Interestingly enough, my bathroom is off my kitchen at the house. At least there is a door for privacy now.

 

Welcome to the forum.
I’m a longtime van fan and was wondering how you liked that Nissan.

 

Thanks, I really liked it for what I was using it for. I was really impressed with the van overall. Never had a problem with it. BFG KO2s made it an impressively capable RWD rig. I made it through some pretty sketchy situations. I swear by those tires and believe they saved my life at least twice. Ice and snow is where it still wasn't great. Part of the reason I didn't want it as my daily driver here.

Obviously I got rid of it. I'm looking to have a more capable daily driver vehicle with less livability and comforts since it isn't my primary residence anymore. If you have any particular questions, feel free to ask.

 

V6 or 8?

 

Welcome to TW. Excited to see what you come up with. I run a DCSB with a platform setup under a leer 180 cap. It’s small but I can go anywhere and not have to worry about rollover or tent setup.

Was ground clearance ever an issue for you and how equipped was the van for going up steep, un-paved slopes?

Cheers

 

V8

Sounds like a nice setup. Yeah, that was my original plan. I'm thinking of sleeping 2x 69" humans but I'm a bit worried it'll get cramped with all the gear. I actually have all the lumber for a DIY platform already so maybe I'll give that a try once I get some sort of topper. Not a fan of fiberglass though. I like working with metal if I can.

The clearance wasn't great, but wasn't a problem in typical, well maintained, forest roads. I didn't do anything aftermarket beside tires. I only had one time when I needed to take a different route because I was dragging hitch bad enough. I also didn't push it often. You've gotta know your limits to a certain extent.

There was a few times I was on 3 wheels. In a tall, loaded commercial RWD only 2500 van, that's a bit freaky. Going uphill was never an issue as long as I didn't get hung up on the hitch.

Overall, that van did an unbelievable job at handling everything I threw at her. The limited slip was awesome in that van too. Kept me from getting stuck on sandy inclines a few times.

I'll be able to throw more at the Tacoma though!

 

$28 NV200 GunVault NanoVault Travel Handgun Safe for Pistols with Key Lock - TSA-Approved

NV200Damn it! I want one, now. Micro glamper

 

Welcome to the TW forum RosettaBanana

Congrats on your Tacoma and thanks for sharing a real world story along with pictures

I swapped out my OEM Good Years's @ 100 miles, the stock size BFG's are on national back order
so I went with the LT265 /75 R16 123R E1 RWL and they are a tad narrower, this might be better
for the conditions on the frozen tundra.

Again, Welcome !

 

For mild off-road use, I wouldn't have gone with anything beside the larger van. It's be a great option for on road trips though! There's a few people who've done the Ford transit conversion.

Thanks! I was thinking of going with that tire size. Do you like that size? Just a tad taller than stock too, right? I'd love 285s, but I don't think I'll be worth all of the downsides of such a large tire since I don't have plans to do much rock crawling.

 

LOVE the SIZE

The 70 series are on National Back Order, not only were the 75's a bit less expensive they were in stock and like I had mentioned a bit narrower, I spent a good part of my life on the Frozen Tundra and know all to well about wider tires in Mud, Snow and the Frozen Boogers that stay in the center lane

They are about 1" higher, I really noticed it when the first time parking in the garage the hitch cover mark on the wall is off an inch
and no issues with rubbing, I really like how it no longer feels like it's ' Diving' while cornering, AND fit & Look Great on the OEM Wheels I like this as they don't show the brake dust and I did not have to spend money on new wheels

RF



RF/Side



RR/Side