New guy from Indiana!

Been a long time lurker on here, new member, finally decided to do an intro post. I've been influenced by some of the builds here for years, even when I still had my previous Jeep so I never really had much to contribute other than a love for Tacomas. I finally purchased my Taco in July of 2016, not the exact model I wanted, but I love the color and the price was great so I went for it.
Stock 2013 DCLB Limited with Leer 100XL

My idea was always to build an "overlander" that I could really do anything with. Commute it, haul my bike, road trip in, etc,. so it was the logical choice over nearly everything else. Unfortunately I haven't used it nearly as much as I've wanted but it has seen more than a few hundred miles of trails in Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Of course the build isn't complete, but she has come a long way.

My first mods were really to just remove as much chrome as possible, 2" OME lift, the TRD Pro wheels (love the look, had no idea how popular they were...), and get some BFG TA KO2's.


Next was armor, so I went with Pelfreybilt aluminum skids, as I wouldn't be doing a LOT of hardcore trails and Indiana is prime rust belt territory. So I hit em with some bedliner, tossed em on, and headed to Arkansas to explore the Ouchita area for a few days.


My initial thought was to build a sleeping platform in the bed, but I'm 6'3" and couldn't deal with my feet and head touching the ends of the bed/tail gate, so I opted for some All Pro bed bars, a Smittybilt RTT (just to cut my teeth and see if it's what I want to deal with) and the rest of my armor (Pelfreybilt steel full hoop front, and rear bumpers). I also opted for their bolt-on rock sliders, and a Rotopax Fuelpax just to serve as fuel enough to get to a gas station if needed.


I also opted for a bit of a lighting upgrade, adding a pair of Baja Designs Squadron Pros, and testing whether or not I would even need a light bar by throwing on a Rough Country Black Series 20" LED Bar in the bumper, a Smittybilt 9.5k winch, and a refresh of old recovery gear (straps, rope, snatch blocks, etc,.) adding a set of the X-Bull Recovery Boards as a test as well.


I'm currently in the process of changing my bed/RTT setup as this just isn't where I want to be in the end. I want an enclosed bed and a hard shell RTT. I've toyed with the idea of an AT Habitat for a bit now and would really love to have one but it's a lot for my daily driver, so maybe a couple years down the road I will go for it. My current plan is an Alu Cab Explorer Canopy because I'd rather have all aluminum construction than another fiberglass type. Oh and I also added a Prinsu Cabrac which is where my main recovery gear will go when I'm wheeling. I don't have a pic yet as it's not fully setup, still working on hardware for the X-Bull boards that's easier to access than wingnuts on bolts. Here she is in her current form, with my ARB 2000 Awning for my most recent trip to North Carolina and Tennessee.



So there ya go, I'm Mike from Indiana and I love Tacos! Oh and an edit to add some pictures from a trail we did during Rendezvous in the Ozarks last year.


Newest additions. Alu Cab Explorer Canopy and COE Vehicle Solutions Large RTT.

 

Welcome to TW! Sweet truck! I’m in the process of converting my truck to an overlander rig. Had no plans to do so, it just happened to be that’s how I see her!

 

Welcome to TW.... Nice truck!!! Now get a color matching grille, powder coat the back bumper and plasti dip or remove the badges and your chrome free!!

 

Those are plans I have for the future actually, except the Pelfreybilt rear is already bed liner'ed so that's good. My main problem is the mirrors.... Color matching grille, easy, badges, easier, the mirrors I've debated quite a bit actually. And Thanks, glad to be here!

 

Welcome!

 

I overlooked the mirrors,plastic dip might work.

 

Welcome aboard. Gotta love those DCLB MGM tacos

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Howdy

 

Welcome! A DCLB limited has to be one of the best starting points for a build! Nice looking truck, love what you've done so far

 

Thanks a lot! It really had more options than I care for which sounds very odd to say. I never use the sunroof, hate the leather seats, but them being heated is very nice for the cold Indiana winters!

 

Nice! I didnt even know you could get a 2nd gen with a sunroof. Id love to have one in mine, but theres no way im cutting a hole in the roof

 

Welcome to TW, great looking truck bud!! I believe we have the exact same truck expect ive got the short bed. And Were both from the Hoosier state!! whoohoo. I am planning a lift and tires for my next big MOD, once I get past that we will have to get together and Wheel. I grew up racing dirt bikes and ATV's at Haspen. Ive been to Badlands as well. Hung out with some guys that had sand rails and jeeps but never owned one. I drank the koolaid for years and had big trucks, even though deep down inside i always liked the Tacos better. Its GM/Ford country around here, I bet my grandpa would be rolling in his grave knowing i didn't use his GM discount. Anyway, Let me know if you know of any other places around Indiana where you can get a little mud on the tires other than badlands, haspen, and redbird. Everything is private around here.

I do have one drive planned this year from madison to versalies that is all public roads, but has about 6-8 water crossings and requires 4WD at a minimum.

 

Thanks Rick. I don't really know of anywhere, Indiana is pretty terrible as we don't have any public lands and hardly any terrain features that aren't filled with cornfields.

 

Sounds like my area in Illinois!!

 

Yea I am close to Indy, nothing but tillable ground round here. Southern Indiana gets a little better, but like you said its all private ground. And all the state parks are Paved or Gravel roads, they keep everyone off the ones that could get interesting. That and most of the offroad parks require super short wheel base. Like Towmater said, you are going to end up with some Trail Badges.... I need some armor before i get to crazy.

 

A little update to the Taco courtesy of @docloco . I just added his bed panel for the long bed that I got in today. Going to have to experiment with what I mount, orientation, and spacing in order to fit what I want/need. I want to mount a fire extinguisher as well, so some re-configuring will be needed. So far, it's a very nice piece of kit and deals well with my OCD for the bed of this truck!



Oh and apparently I never updated this thread with my pop-up solar panel setup.

 

Welcome to TW.... Nice truck!!!