Central Cal Coast Tacoma

I've been trying to put together a fishing vehicle. The Tacoma fills the bill. I'm retired and have been using my '96 Civic to bomb down dirt roads. I've been sleeping in the Honda, eating in the Honda and now, I have added a herding dog to my very small vehicle. It came time to buy a used machine and the choice was obvious. A Toyota pickup with 4X4. Now, I can stay later and fish more without getting trapped by weather somewhere.

I'll do shakedown trips in the local mountains this winter. In the Spring I'm headed for eastern Arizona and, you guessed it, fish. That will be the true shakedown trip. After that I will be doing 2-3 week trips living out of the Tacoma.

Preliminarily, this is the vehicle to help me with my quest. I am not starry eyed. There are potential problems to aging vehicles. However, forums like this one will lead me to solutions. No problems.

This is me in '70. Back when I was doing some hardcore fishing in hard to get to places. This is the photo of me convincing the rest of the crew that it was an easy climb just over the ridge. I have slowed considerably. My plan for the next 10 years is to place the truck strategically, then spend 4 days 3 nights packing into fish down stream. Return to the truck to replenish supplies and then head upstream for 4 days and 3 nights before returning to the truck. That puts me about 8 days onto fishing water without having to carry 8-9 days worth of food.


This is my dog, Brooke. Tough, loveable, still a touch wild and loyal as any dog could be. I'm working on a 'perch' for her in the extended cab area. Not sure exactly what I'm going to do. If anyone else has built such a perch, I would not be embarrassed at all to steal the idea. Looking forward to seeing what everyone has done and is using their Tacoma for.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Nice! I had an 04 extra cab like yours and the dog perch is pretty easy to do a lot of different ways. Easiest way I did for my husky was folding up the seats, deploying the rear seat cup holder thingy on the passenger side and then adding a block of wood the same height as the cup holder doohickey on the driver side. Then you have a solid 4 corners to lay down a piece of plywood cut to size that fills the whole area. I upholstered my piece of plywood by stapling some insulation foam and a quilt for the pup. He loved snoozing back there on long road trips. The block of wood doubled as a spacer for the bottle jack when lifting off the frame for tire changes, and I could flip the plywood over and use it as a janky table when camping. Wish I had pictures but I sold the truck. You’ll figure out something nice for Brooke there.

 

Thanks for the ideas on the perch for the princess. I'll give it a shot.

 

The Tacoma came to me with an older, contractors shell that did not fit. I am not sure what the Lifetime shell was originally made to fit. It was not for a Tacoma. The original owner built up 4X5 wood to shore up the shell so it would sort of fit.



After much help from the neighbors, the shell was off and the primitive interior removed. A week later the new shell was installed and I started working on the interior. Interior photos later but here is the Leer. It was chosen because my aging body doesn't like to contort while changing clothes.