My Overlanding Farm Truck Journey

Hello, my name is Tyler Newkirk and I’ve never posted on here but I’ve decided to give it a go as I’ve recently got quite a bit more serious about putting some money and time into my Tacoma. My goal for this thread is to be an ongoing saga where I record most of the work I do to it and hopefully get lots of helpful criticism and tips and tricks from those more experienced than I.

A proper saga starts with a backstory so I will explain a little about myself and my pickup. I am a 4th generation hazelnut farmer in Oregon, and I’m engaged to my beautiful fiancé with a wedding date in August 2023. I’ve owned my tacoma for a while and when I first bought it I made several questionable decisions, among which were putting a rear 3” lift with OME heavy duty springs with stock shocks and regular length brake lines, and a front 2” puck lift. I also moved twice in one year while farm housing and properties were being rearranged, and in the process lost the title and bill of sale in a shop box somewhere (I was procrastinating dmv trip at the time because with Covid I didn’t need plates or reg). I’ve just recently found and registered my truck legally, and have decided to switch back to daily driving it for farm purposes. My fiancé and I have also decided to give overlanding and camping out of the taco a serious try once we get married, and so of course I am very excited to slowly build the truck with my ladies blessing. The first order of business is redoing my suspension (LBJ’s, coils, shocks, brake lines) and maximizing the interior of the extra cab because I now have a 65lb dog who travels with me everywhere on the farm.


Feel free to say hello or let me know if the formatting of this post could be fixed in any way. I’m curious of whether or not my 2 photos uploaded correctly, and if I properly created this thread and am posting it in the correct place.
Thanks for taking the time to read!
- Tyler Newkirk

 

Welcome to TW and congrats on the pending wedding. I look forward to your future posts.

 

Welcome to the Forum

Best of Luck!

It is going to take me some time to get Farming and Overlanding into my old Brain.

 

Welcome,

there’s actually a built thread you might look at,

https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/1st-gen-builds-1995-2004.102/

 

Hell yeah that’s an awesome looking rig! Welcome aboard!

I too have a single cab that’s used for similar purposes, including the accompaniment of a 65lbs dog!

I haven’t done many mods other than led head/tail light bulbs, (cheap, easy, and great for backroads and night on a farm), and big tires. But, I did mod up the space for my dog and storage!

I simply have a wooden platform with an old carpet drilled into it (can undrill for a toss in the wash after particularly muddy weeks). Plenty of storage underneath. And I recently added a hanging storage thing I found for cheap on Amazon.(

$21 SURDOCA Oversized Trunk Organizer for Car, 3rd Gen Upgraded Car Trunk Organizer SUV with 4 Non-slip Strips, Hanging Car Storage Organizer with 8 Large Pockets, Car Accessories Interior–(43.3x18.9 in)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BGSFXZZF?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image ). Instead of hanging it from the front seats, I have it hanging below the year windows. Doesn’t take up any of my dogs space at all and is super helpful for accessible extra storage.

keep us updated on your build!

 

Unfortunately that link is just taking me to the main 1st Gen tacoma page. Thanks for all the responses! I’ve seen quite about about Toyota Nation here on the forums. Is it worth copy pasting my posts here onto an identical post there for more input and design advice on things as I work on them?

 

Hello OP! Welcome! I wouldn't bother posting on Toyota Nation forums. You have a lot of 1st generation Tacoma owners who are proactive about their mods & upgrades who share their pictures and post on here often. I found this forum to be the best for mods & upgrades which I've done to my vehicle which I've learned about on this forum.

 

My recommendation for overlanding. Buy a tent, cooler, Coleman propane stove, and two camp chairs. Fill up with gas and drive somewhere and enjoy life.

 

Phase 1 of getting Tacoma to daily driver status is working on using interior cab space more efficiently! My end goal is to build a nice wood platform 8-10” above the floor with storage underneath and a nice dog friendly surface on top. Tonight I started with the intention of just taking out the rear seats to give me a couple more inches of room.


After completing the job I realized I better pull the seat brackets as well, which turned into removing all the rear trim, and the rear seatbelts. And at some point I realized I could remove the metal structure that the rear seats sit on, which ended up giving me quite a bit more space in the rear!


I’ve got a plan for some sound deadener. Any product recommendations on what to put over the sound deadener? Looking for something a little prettier hopefully. Maybe a vinyl flooring option?