Blank Slate!!

so, I am picking up my new SR5 dual cab 6 foot bed guy this weekend!!! So excited.

Am planning on turning this into a camping/"trailer life" "monster" for retirement and bought the SR5 as a blank slate to build on.

I am just looking for suggestions as to what to start with as far as adding on to make this a great nucleus for many traveling adventures in the future.

Our plans right now are to get a small sized teardrop camper, or a Tepui "car top" type tent, and plan on mostly heading to places in the upper midwest, Canada, New England...usually for fall and winter camping/MTB riding in the woods. I have already been scouting out campers, and we don't need/want anything huge...I just want to be able to pull into a single space tent slot at any campsite and go...

I am pretty sure the truck is already ready to go "As is", but any suggestions for performance, comfort, and capability "hacks" would be great.

Already plan on getting some BFGoodrich K02's; I am still waffling between wanting a cap on the back, or just going tonneau cover...

so my truck is your empty canvas!!!

 

Congrats in the truck!

I'd say you need to drive it to Charleston, SC and buy a slightly used foldacover tonneau. Not sure what your budget for campers is but check out the Taxa Cricket. That's my dream one.

 

that would be a fun drive!!

looked att he Cricket...that is way out of our price range, so I checked out the Tigermoth and even the WoolyBear...both of which are also closer to what e would need. I will add this site to my list as I had not heard of them before!!

 

My wife and I bought our truck in 2019. We have a CVT rooftop tent and love it. Easy to maneuver with it. Down side is that once you set up you are there til you teardown. We decided to buy a 5 X 8 enclosed trailer and make it into an overland camper.

 

that is a sweet set up...I think we are also liking the trailer thing for the same reason...you can unhitch and leave it there. I might look into a shorter (in height) trailer for the same idea. I am also thinking that a tear drop trailer will last longer than a roof top tent...but maybe not? I have a regualr tent that is 30 years old, but it doesn't see the elements like a roof top tent would...

decisions. decisions

this is the one that has been at the top of my list for a while...

https://timberleaftrailers.com/pika-small-camping-trailer/

 

Not sure if you have cloth seats...but for seat covers ? I like the “Wet Okole’s”. Neoprene..many colors and patterns..water proof...if soaking wet from the rain..it will protect your seats..

in Hawai’i..all the surfers, beach goers like them...and people who use their trucks for work...construction..et

“OKOLE”. In Hawaiian means your butt! I fell on my “okole”. It hurts....” the bugga threw one rock and hit my “okole”, Some people ware there “Okole” on the face...
Aloha, Always keep the “Okole’s clean... The Wet Okole’s “is one good seat cover...”. My pigeon English...lol

 

cool...I do want seat covers because many a wet and muddy butt will be in the seats from mountain biking. I should have got those for my old RAV4 as well...will look these up

 

here it is!!! The empty canvas....









I also like it as is....but getting toys is definitely going to be fun as well!!

 

SR5 Is the only way to go imo. glad you like your truck.

 

yep...I was set on a TRD Off Road 2 years ago when I started looking, but then did more thinking about how I would truly use the truck, and the SR5 made so much more sense in all manners...I can spend the money saved on the pursuit of making it camp/travel ready to out liking now.

 

Beautiful truck, congrats!

If you're towing, the first thing is to make sure you have a good transmission cooler and beefed up rear suspension. Also following the severe maintenance service interval is wtg.

Enjoy your truck and freedom

 

Congrats! If you're ever planning to be in Michigan for some adventuring, drop a line.

I had ko2 on my 1st gen, they were great in dry anything, especially on the road, mediocre in wet, no so good in mud or snow. Between that and the E rated heavy/stiff tire I decided to look elsewhere for something as light as the Tacoma.

 

Congrats on the purchase. I’m about to upgrade my 2015 Trd sport for a 2020. Looking at the sr5 as well.

Take a look at Capri campers as well. Very well priced for what you get. I’ve had RTT, teardrop, camper shell, popup camper and now this Capri. By far my favorite. Only issue is clearance, but you can work around that and really not much higher than a RTT. At the end of the day it’s about what suits tour needs most. For me the Capri is about comfort, ease and ride quality. I can pull over at any time and I’m already setup. Gas mileage didn’t take a huge hit and you can barely notice it on your truck.

 

I believe the engine came with a transmission cooler - I made asure to get the towing package on the engine - says it has an ATF cooler...should I get a better aftermarket one? Or is the OEM good enough. Also it does have a beefier than normal rear, but again, it is OEM...

 

we go to Michigan all the time!! We regularly hit the Rose City/Rifle River Recreation area <-- that has great MTB trails, as well as the Mackinac City area and Sleeping Bear dunes. My wife is from the Trenton area, so we hit a lot of places her fam did back in the day.

What tires did you find that worked better? I am still in "shopping" mode for tires.

 

Stock coolers are good enough for me, I’m sure other’s may have a difference of opinion, but que sera, sera.

For the rear I would go with a quality Icon, but that’s just me.

I would have mention something on the tires as I agree with poster #12, but most ppl are set on KO2’s. And they are great, but a bit too much for our light truck and maybe little over kill. But that’s just imo.

 

I was really focused on getting a TRD Off Road for the first couple years of my searching, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew that I would be paying for a bunch of stuff that I would not truly use, and wanted to save money to put into stuff like a trailer/camper and other things that I would use. The SR5 is the perfect model for me. My off roading will never be rock crawling in Moab, but more like fire and logging roads in the Great Lakes region, New England, upstate NY and Canada.

we had one of those types of campers growing up on my dads f150...I have sooo many great memories of that thing!!! I will definitely look into them as well.

 

This was me, but they had an OR on the lot and I wouldn't get the deal if they had to order the SR5 in my spec. If you dont mind me asking what did you pay? Truck looks exactly how I would have it, congrats!

 

I am pretty happy with the Toyo Open Country tires it shipped with, so i am not in too much of a hurry, but I think I would like something a bit more "beefy"

 

so, i did an online build, and sent it to the lady I was working with. It came out to 35,750. My truck, which absolutely matches the online build, listed for ~$37,000, but we worked it out so that I only payed the build price, minus trade in...my truck had just a few minor additions from the online build, and they were minor...not enough ni my eyes to warrant an extra $3000 from the build.