SummitBound's (slow) Build, In-Cab Sleep Setup, and Southeast Trip Reports

I had wanted a Tacoma for 3+ years and was finally able to afford the one I wanted when I finished up my MBA and no longer had school payments in August of 2018!

Waited patiently and watched the 2nd gen for sale section for awhile until I found the one I wanted. @JimBeam was great to work with throughout the whole purchase and luckily enough, it already had my Tacomaworld.com sticker and a Clemson National Championship sticker for 2016 (I need to work on a 2018 one).

The primary goal for the truck is to get out and explore on the weekends, whether it be offroading, camping, climbing, hiking, etc.

Feel free to follow me @pupandhistruck on instagram for photos of the truck and my dog, Koda.

I also post videos of trips and truck mods on my Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjSe4uVcCK0UQLF4Rk_Twcg

Here it is when I bought it:


As far as mods, it had:
1. Fox 2.5 Coilovers
2. Total Chaos UCA's
3. Fox 2.0 Rears with remote Resi
4. Dakar Leafpacks
5. TRD SEMA wheels
6. BFG KO2 285/70/r17 E rated
7. Anytime Reverse Camera mod
8. Bentrodder Bed Supports
9. Entune NAV
10. Jumpers LED headlights


And here is how she sits today:


Probably doesn't look too different to you but here is what I have done!
1. Weathertech front and rear mats (grey)
2. Jumpers LED Fog lights
3. Jumpers LED map/dome lights
4. Jumpers LED Reverse lights (cree)
5. Rugged premium hard tonneau
6. Pop n lock

$122 pl8521 pop & lock – power tailgate lock for toyota tacoma, fits models 2005 to 2015 (PL8521)

pl8521 electric tailgate lock with support bracket
7. Diff breather mod behind tail light
8. BPF TRD Skid Plate (working on switching this up for SOS skids)
9. Front recovery point with warn shackle (replacing TRD hook)
10. ECGS needle bearing replacement
11. THRB (Tow harness relocation bracket)
12. Carhartt seat covers (front and rear)
13. @SOS CONCEPTS sliders with kickout and fill plates with 1" holes (so dog paws do not fall through)
14. Sleep in cab setup
15. RokBlokz
16. Ram Tough Wedge Tablet Mount
17. Unifilter mod
18. Raise front lift about 1.5"
19. Replaced UCA bushings and uniballs

Here are some more photos of the truck (spread out over last year, so may be missing some mods):
Love my Gazelle tent!


Shot of the wheels after Charlie's Creek!


After installing the SOS sliders!


Horsepasture Road run


After Jocassee Gorges (chestnut mountain road) and run down to Jocassee



Future plans:
1. SOS Skid trio
2. Wheelers Bump Stops
3. SOS Streamline bumper with winch
4. Trailer build with RTT (like @Cozza's awesome build)
5. LED Bedlights

Will post the sleeping in cab setup and trip reports below!

 

Having a 5' bed makes camping in it difficult, so that was not going to work (I am over 6' tall). I wanted something where I could sleep in the cab comfortably. Unfortunately, bench seat was not long enough for me to sleep. And I could not sleep with the seat tilted back (I usually sleep side or stomach).

So I decided I needed to sleep diagonally, as that was the only way to fit! I wanted to do so on a budget, because my whole goal was to use this for stealth camping at ski resorts when I am by myself and don't want to pay for the hotel. I also use it on long, solo road trips when I do not want to find a campsite for the tent.

Enter the following:
1. Window shades
2. 16" tall cinder block
3. 2" tall block
4. One 36x24" plywood piece for the front
5. One 30x24" plywood piece for the rear
6. Paracord
7. Carabiner
8. Grab Handle
9. Some cut up bicycle tubing to protect edges of plywood
10. Thermarest pad/sleeping bag










And check out a video summarizing the setup as well as how I put it together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSJSTk5TJuU&t=7s

 

Pretty badass and simple !

 

Trip Reports will definitely be ongoing and there are many more to come! I will try to post Gaia tracks, pictures, and videos wherever possible!

Horsepasture road is open year round up to Jumping Off Rock! However, it is only open all the way down to Jocassee September 15-January and during April.

Here are the gaia tracks for when it is open all the way down to Jocassee: https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/track/47d2a1ebc83ae5eb84eb361e50081d8c/?layer=GaiaTopoRasterFeet

And here is a video of the route just to Jumping Off Rock with a photo of the view at the end:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhkgFHgS1KM&t=29s

Here is a stop along the way!



Jocassee Gorges (Chestnut Mountain Road) and route (now closed) to Jocassee:

Gaia tracks: https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/track/9e77f4477620eaf6516eac32fa14711b/?layer=GaiaTopoRasterFeet


Charlie's Creek (near Clayton Georgia), is a section of the Georgia Traverse (https://www.georgiaoverland.com/). I ran the Traverse from the east side to Helen on 8/24.

Here is a campsite photo along Charlie's Creek:


And here is the video of Charlie's Creek (including Tallulah River crossing):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQIlv9aue8&t=447s

 

Thanks man!

 

Thank you! Doing my best to take good care of it

 

Your dogs name is Koda!? Mine too!

 

Small world man! What type of dog is yours?

 

Aussie shepherd and black lab mix!

 

Great looking pup and great mix! I love labs and I love shepherds!

Mine is a black lab:

 

I’m really digging the solo sleep setup. That’s pretty handy.

 

Thanks! I have been really happy with it. Glad it worked out too, as the only way I’ll really fit laying down in the truck is diagonal haha

 

Installed my @SOS CONCEPTS Aluminum Streamline and Warn m8000 with a Viking synthetic rope and thimble this week!

Love the way it turned out.

 

Steel or aluminum? Did you happen to measure truck height before any after?

 

It is aluminum - I did not measure it to be honest but there is no noticeable difference. I am lifted about 2.5 in the front and it is still around there.

 

Cool, thought you had aluminum. I've got the same amount of lift and I will be swapping my steel skids for aluminum so I'm hope for a net change of close to zero.

 

Oh yeah you should feel about the same! Where did you snag the aluminum skids?

 

SOS, added them to my bumper order during the sale.

 

Awesome! If you don't mind, please send me pics when you get them installed!