TX Bat's Pro Build, Off-Road, and BS Thread

Here is how she sits currently.



I needed to start a thread about my new truck. This is going to be a work in progress. Both the truck and the thread. I really needed to keep track of what I've done to my truck.

I have had a few Toyotas and this is my fourth truck. I'm going to post pics as I find them.

This was my first Tacoma. It was about four years old in this pic. Not may mods at that time. I'm not going to go into much detail of the mods I eventually did on it. I might at a later date.



I first started with a 1986 Toyota x-tra cab 4x4 truck. I wheeled the hell out of it when I lived in Las Vegas. Most of it around Las Vegas but quite a bit in Southern California, Anza Borrego, and in Colorado.

Now we get to my current truck.

The old and the new.



This was shortly after I bought her.



Now for Mods. I'm going to add pics of each mod.

First addition:



It's black. So, it's the Batmobile.

Other additions:
I will post pics as I find them again. Not necessarily in order.

• Tri-fold cover
• Weathertech floor mats
  
• Replaced the Weathertech with TRD Pro floor liners from Toyota.
• Kylin's Custom Upholstered center console.
• OEM bed lights
• Toyota bed mat
• Brackets for bed extender from old truck
• Stickers
• MOLLE rack for the front of the bed
• USR Switchback mirror lights
• Meso Gasshole
• Meso map lights (red)
• Meso puddle lights
  
• Some stuff I can't remember right now
• Cargo net
• Center console and glove compartment organizers
• Redline Tuning Hood Struts
• Cali Raised Rock Sliders
• Hi-Lift and DIY mounts
• Softopper
• Southern Style Offroad Slimline Bumper
• Smittybuilt x20 12k winch.
• Fox Mid-Travel Suspension Upgrade
• General Grabber X3 285/75r16

Stuff I had but needed to mount into my truck.

• First Aid kit. Attached to MOLLE rack
• Fire Extinguisher. Added a quick fist in the bed
• Tool bag and other tools. Attached to MOLLE rack
• Jerry can. The temporary mount that I had was not suitable.
• Rocket launchers

Extraneous purchases because of the new truck

• Power washer - I could not take her into any car wash so now I detail it like a pro.
• Recovery gear - I had these before but they disappeared with an old truck. now I have a new strap and recovery hook for my hitch.
• 10mm sockets

Need list

• Done: I recently bent my running boards and realized that I need rock sliders.
  The boards actually protected from further damage. I didn't take them off because they do actually keep other people's doors from denting my nice truck.
• A better way to mount my Jerry can. I'm open to suggestions.
• Done: A better lifting solution than the stock barrel jack
• More rocket launchers

Wish list

• Roof rack - Maybe I can mount my jerry can up there along with other stuff. I am considering both the Prinsu and Victor 4x4 racks.
• Done! -- Softopper - I would like to switch back and forth with my lid and a softopper, depending on what I am doing with my truck. I've always been one to go out and set up camp, take my top off and wheel. Basically, set up a base camp and then explore from there.
• Done! -- New tires - These stock GY Wrangler Kevlar were pretty good on the road. Off-road, they were OK.... As long as it was mostly dry. Mud would cake up on them and there would be no traction.
• I might come up with some other items on the wish list.

 

Previous Vehicles

I'm trying to find some old pictures. Most were from before digital photography and cell phones.

Here is my vehicle history, without pictures... For now.

• 1962 VW Bug.
  My first car. I helped my dad restore it from a junkyard frame.
• 1982.5 Honda Accord.
  This was my dad's car that he gave me when he got an offer he couldn't refuse on the Bug.
• 1987 Subaru Station Wagon.
  This car was quite a car. My first 4x4. I drove it when I was in school in Colorado. Did a lot of snow and even took it on some random off-road trails. A buddy of mine and I spent a week exploring the mountains of Colorado on whatever road we could find. Fun times.
• 1986 Toyota pickup.
  I bought this used, right out of college, for $7900 and about 69,000 miles on it. It looked gorgeous, in bright red. It didn't have air conditioning (who needs that in Colorado?) and yet I moved to Las Vegas with it. Wheeled it all the time around Las Vegas and Southern California. I realized that it would have cost me more to put air in it than the truck was worth so I sold it. It had 350,000 miles on it and I sold it for $5,000. I got a good amount of use out of it.
  
  
  
  
• 1995 4Runner. This was the replacement, with air conditioning. I only took it out off-roading a few times before I moved to Texas. I had it until late 2000, when I tipped it over in the mud.
• 2001 Tacoma. This was my first Tacoma. I was looking for a new 4Runner to replace the one I messed up. When looking, I found that the Tacomas were then offered in a double cab config. The only real difference between the Taco and the 4R was the Taco has the cargo on the outside. Oh, and it was about $5,000 less than the 4R. I drove this one for over 18 years.

• 2019 Tacoma TRD Pro.

 

Most Recent Upgrade
This was done on weekend of September 18th-19th, 2021.

• Fox 2.5 Remote reservoir front coilovers
• Icon Delta joint UCAs
• Fox 2.0 Remote resovoir w/LCA rear
• Icon Mini Pack AAL
• Archive Garage Flip with 2.7" Super Bumps U-Bold

Back:


Front:

 

Off Roading

This was from our trip on 9/1/19 to Northwest OHV Park.

It's the first time my son drove this truck. He had a blast.



Pics from the excursion.

 

Got some pics for you @Stoked

For some reason, most of the pics were from behind you.



I don't have any pics of the recovery. I had the kids stand way back and put the camera away.

 

That's my best side anyway...

 

I'm starting with some catch up with some of my upgrades. I'm going to try and get these in order and with dates on them.

Here's one of the first ones. April 5th, 2019. The Meso Gasshole.

 

Another upgrade. April 18th, 2019.

Custom Upholstered center console lid from Kylin. The Pro really should have come with something like this.

 

Already messed up the timeline. April 12th, 2019.

USR Switchback lights in the mirrors. It was the only chrome on the exterior of the truck. The turns, if you only want that part, only took about five minutes to install. To get the DRL feature, it took another 4 hours.

 

April 26th, 2019.
I had forgotten to put the bed extender from my '01 in the bed when I sold it. Rather than throw it away, I decided to put it to good use. All I needed were some brackets. They were the first holes that I drilled into the truck.

 

May 17th, 2019. OEM bed lights and bottle opener. They were both easy installs.

 

May 17th, 2019. Heritage!

 

Going back again. March 4th, 2019. Trifold lid.

 

March 9th, 2019. Weathertech floor mats.

These have saved my interior many times. Easy to wash off too.

 

July 4th, 2019. First road trip.

Went to Colorado Springs for our summer vacation.

Collected some bugs.

 

Same Colorado trip. July 13th, 2019. First real off-road adventure. Shubarth pass, between Woodland Park and Colorado Springs.

 

July 27th, 2019. MOLLE Rack and bed mat.

After some light off-roading, in Colorado, I decided to finally get the bed mat. I also needed a mounting solution for some of my stuff. Thus the MOLLE Rack.

 

August 29th, 2019.

Picked up Meso's red map lights and puddle lights. The map lights are installed but I'm still trying to find time to install the puddle lights.

 

August 10th, 2019. Remounted the fire extinguisher with a quick fist. It was on the MOLLE rack but it wasn't that easy to get to from there. It still may not be very easy and I will probably mount it somewhere in the cab.



I've always carried a fire extinguisher and first aid kit in all of my vehicles, whether I'm on or off the road. I had to use an extinguisher once, when I had my '86 pickup. It wasn't my truck. It was a car that had caught fire on the side of the road.