[MA Local]If a man does not have sauce, then he is lost. But the same man can get lost in the sauce.

Hello TW!

As of 10/9/2024:

Apologies for the first readers of this, I know it's a tough read but will edit it as I go.

Now located in MA so if you're in the area hit me up!

Been too long that I’ve been procrastinating this, which is odd because I love documenting things. Anyway, looking to get the history of this build documented and continue as things progress!

Goal: Share with the world my experience of ownership as I explore NE and other spaces as well as show off the truck as I build it (oh yes, the truck will be fully built…slowly), not to mention share trips as they come.

Purchase: 2021 Tacoma TRD PRO finished in MGM (IMO it is a timeless color). Bought at the former Toyota of Hyannis (now called Ira Toyota of Hyannis) in April of 2021. Why did I go with a TRD PRO and not an Off-road/Sport if I was planning on building it you ask? Getting the right optioned truck was hard at the time due to supply, and the TRD PRO checked all the boxes for the options I wanted, not to mention the Fox suspension/other nuances it came with...more on the Fox Suspension to come. (Roast me if you want, but I bought it because I love it and that's what we are all about.)

Background: Road trips/general exploration has always been one of my favorite things to do since I was a kid. Having a taco makes the trips even more enjoyable. When I was born, my parents had a 2000 Toyota Land Cruiser, which while it was stock during their ownership, was a tank and made me fall in love with the company. Fast forward to 2021, I had my sights set on something with character, off-road capable, and had options for aftermarket off-road parts. So my options were either a 4-Runner or Tacoma. Previously owned a JKU Rubicon and honestly wasn’t very enjoyable to daily drive and in and of itself was troublesome (shout out pentastar/electrical issues). I originally wanted a 4-Runner but owned an SUV at the time (X-3 Diesel) and SUVs had become fairly boring to me, not to mention the utility aspect of a truck was massive for my decision. So there it was, Taco time! Anyways, blabbing done, here’s what you came for!

Few photos when she was fresh out the box 4/21!



Fell in love with the truck immediately, sounded great, was comfortable, and felt like I was behind something more bad a** than the average car.



Took it off-roading after break-in with some local Tacos through some medium-difficulty Class 4 Roads from Barnard to South Woodstock, Vermont. Was very impressed by the overall capability and ground clearance in stock form and figured out Rock Sliders/tires would be a must.


Onto the first “mod”: Tonneau cover, purchased a used 3rd party one for $150, and it does the job well. Pictures of it/the truck down in Rhode Island.


Raptor lights: wanted to give the truck more character and always thought they looked pretty neat… they are currently not on the truck as of now (6/24).


Bed lights: well worth the money, purchased them on Amazon and was a quick plug-and-play install.


More lights (seems to be the theme): Right around the 4th of July, I came across a sale Hotshot Off-road was running on ditch lights and couldn't say no to it. Scooped up a pair of Diode Dynamics SSC2 Pro Ditch lights. Couldn't recommend Hotshot enough for their customer service, price, and speed of delivery. The profile and performance of these lights is exactly what I was after and love them. At the same time, I found a used Hertic Studio 30” amber light bar that I couldn't refuse.



Light control: Meso LED Six Gang to manage and run all of these lights. Great product and saved a ton over a Switch Pro/ other products.


Roof rack: purchased a Hooke off-road roof rack sometime in the summer of 2021. Easily the worst purchase I made, the roof rack was clunky, heavy, and overall meh. Learned the lesson of buy once cry once with this but wanted the overland look so bad at the time. While I did install it correctly (silicone and the whole 9 yards, re-sealed it twice), where the nut was welded onto the roof (those who know what I'm talking about) wasn't done right from the factory as there was a gap (could see daylight between the nut and roof with headliner removed). This water leak led to $1k in electrical repairs which was a fun process. Took the roof rack off and have been running without it for months now.


Voodoo bed bars: purchased second-hand Voodoo bed bars as I had an RTT on order. Love these things to death, perfect height for keeping the tent below the roof line while driving, and easy to use.

Roam RTT: Everyone’s favorite, rooftop tent… would bed top tent (BTT) be more appropriate? Anyways, Roam Vagabond in Forest Green/Hyper Orange was the right fit. Love this tent, did a lot of research and was torn about which tent to pick. Like tacos, you can get them hard or soft-shelled, but wanted to be budget-friendly, and soft-shelled checked all boxes for me. I already had their awning and liked their company, brand, and loved their product. So after countless hours of research, a Roam Vagabond was my choice. All aspects of the order were ideal, customer service reps were great, and shipping was quick as well. If I remember correctly, the tent went from the back of the delivery truck onto the back of my truck within 30 minutes, that's how excited I was to get it.

Bed stiffeners: Cali Raised bed stiffeners. To help the composite bed maintain itself from the added weight, I got some bed stiffeners. Installation was super easy and gave some reassurance that I wouldn't compromise the integrity of the bed while bumping around off-road. Not to mention they have an abundance of tie-down spots which have been very helpful.


Installed it with my father and family's late best friend Ava, she always loved hanging outside while we worked projects...rip buddy


Sound deadening: my main reason for doing this was to improve the sound quality of the JBL’s while turning down the volume on road noise. Did all four doors and made a pretty noticeable difference. Also had this leftover from the van my father and I built during COVID (a few pics of the van also attached here).


A whole other project but figured I would share the 2020 Sprinter


Truck in its “prime”: another pic of the truck when it had everything on it. This had all the parts mentioned on it, to note I don’t keep the RTT on all the time.

If you made it this far, thank you for sticking through it! More updates to come as there are many parts that are going to be changed out/put it this summer as I’m getting back into things. If you are located in MA or the general area hit me up! Would love to do some off-roading! Follow me on instgram @trdprobert as well. Cheers TW!

Almost forgot to mention...285/75/r16's waiting in the garage. Stay tuned!

 

Welcome, stop in here

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-england-b-s-thread.204874/page-10115#post-29914541

Lot of good local people. I'm in East Bridgewater

 

10/9 Update:

Lift and tires! Went with the Westcott Designs TRD PRO front lift as well as ICON RXT Option 2. Also did the Clamshell bushing (went with ECGS) at the same time. Had the installation done at Offroad Elements in MA due to my lack of tools in Boston and returning to Vermont to do it there wasn’t in my schedule. Highly recommend the shop, great people and did a terrific job. Over all picked up 1.5” in the front and ~1.5” in the back with the tent on (150 ish pounds with Rack on). Going to have some rake when the tent is off for the winter but don’t mind it.



Undercoating: Found a fellow MA member jpereira2 doing undercoating using WoolWax not too far from me and had him do the truck up for a great price. Highly suggest this be done to all Tacomas facing winter conditions as rust is the taco’s Achilles heel. Looks great!
Before:



After:


Next up was the rock sliders. Had these on the list to purchase for ages but with lead times during covid being 8-10 weeks on average and my initial budget wanting to be over $900 I kept delaying it. Ended up purchasing a pair of Body Armor 4x4 Revo Rock Sliders from Thrashed Off-Road for $450. Yes, $450. After some initial research on these, and inspecting when they came in, they seem as solid as I need them to be and am not worried about smacking these around on trail while protecting the cab. Overall very happy with these.






Finally was able to visit a long-time buddy's shop up in the homeland of Vermont and check out his build. Crazy to think these are identical out of the factory (his is manual) and the direction we’ve both taken on building these out to our needs. Jesse, thank you again for letting me visit and showing me around the place!



Next on the list… dont know! Truck seems to be in the place I need it to be for now, might do a bumper/winch combo down the road but do not find my self alone on trails where I would need one. But, my wallet seems to be happy only spending money on maintenance for now.

Thought this was cool, found Whale Tails on the way back... matches the plate pretty well!