Tim's Taco Tales Part Two

Hi ya'll! After totaling my 2015 Tacoma, I spent a little more and got a newer Tacoma.

2018 TRD Off-Road, 4wd, 6 Speed Manual!!!!, Double Cab Short Bed in Super White with just over 116,000 miles on it. I am so excited, I have wanted a manual forever. It was owned by an older gentleman who got it new, and last year sold it to his son and went to a 3rd gen Tundra. It has been babied its whole life, with most of the miles coming from trips to San Diego to visit his wife's family. Not a speck of rust anywhere.

The only mods done to it are the camper shell, a diy bed platform in the back, LED headlight bulbs, and Diode Dynamics SS3 Sport amber fog lights. I plan to keep this one a bit more OEM+, keeping gas mileage up a bit.

Within an hour of buying it, I was on the road up north to go deer hunting! It is so sweet, I am excited to build it out!

 

Reinstalled my seat jackers from the old truck, it makes it so much better!

 

Put my obligatory AZTW sticker on today!

 

Congratulations on the beautiful truck! Enjoy your ride.

 

Heck Yeah! Congrats!

 

Deer hunting weekend 2, this time with snow! No deer though

 

Snow in AZ!

 

Yeah, I know right! We get it up north in the mountains. We were hunting at about 7,000 feet of elevation

 

Ahhh yeah that's why.

 

Sweet truck!

 

Thanks! I love it so far!

 

Made friends at the grocery store today, came out to some sports next to me!

 

Another weekend, another trip up north. I'm three for three since I got this truck! Went up to Flagstaff to scout for my buddy's elk hunt Thanksgiving weekend. We did some sketchy stuff, but good lord, stock tacomas are capable! I also used the bed that the previous owner built in the back, it is actually really comfortable! I like it a lot, but it does eat a lot of my bed space.

 

Installed my Auxbeam 8-gang switch panel with a cool 3D printed overhead mount off Etsy. Hooked up my Diode Dynamics SSC2 Pro ditch lights on brackets from @bad_guac. Time to get more lights ready to go!

 

I played with the truck a little bit last night. Swapped the SSC2 pros for SS3 Pros on my ditch lights. I also removed the drawer part of the bed system so I can have more space. I mounted my 3 gal rotopax on the bed rail, as well as a fire extinguisher on a rago fab bracket. On the other side, I used some quick fists on a BAMF molle panel to mount the shovel I found in the road two years ago. I also put my total chaos bed stiffeners on, not realizing that 2nd and 3rd gen ones are different until too late. I figure I'll run with it until it becomes a problem. I also cut the bed rug for the stiffeners. Hopefully my leaf springs will come in this weekend and I will be able to get it lifted!

 

Got a bit taller last night/this morning! Bilstein 5100s on the top clip, Icon RXT Stage 2 leaf packs, and 5100s on the rear. It might actually be a bit high for my taste, hopefully skids and sliders will bring it down a bit. Oh, and I put my TRD Baja wheels with Falken Wildpeak AT4W 255/85r16 on there from my old truck.

 

Got it all aligned today, she drives great with the new suspension! A bit higher than I was expecting, but hopefully everything settles in. All in all, I'm super happy with it!

 

Installed some crossbars on the shell today. I picked up a pair of Prinsu crossbars for free from Facebook and I used the Sherpa Equipment Co universal mounting feet to mount them. I made some pretty poor imitation Sherpa Smileys as well with some scrap aluminum I had. All in for $90!

 

My buddy helped me put my Backwoods Adventure skid plates on from the old truck today. They're a little dirty, but they are just gonna get muddy on his is elk hunt this weekend!

 

How's the light output compare between the ssc2 pros and ss3 pros?

I have selective yellow ss3 pro ditch, but prefer the look of the slimmer ssc2.