Hayes

I just picked up a 2011 Toyota Tacoma Regular Cab 4x4 5 speed. It has the 2.7 liter 4 cylinder which I have found to have nice power all around. I haven't had it in the mountains yet, but I'm sure she will do fine.

My plans for this truck are actually fairly modest (as opposed to my last truck).

I will do this in stages, because I am not made of money.

Stage 1 will include:
-Sliders
-A full array of Bud Built skid plates
-Better tires (hopefully I can get a set of 265/75r16's on the truck)

As you may have noticed, I have no intention of lifting the truck in stage 1. My goal is to get as far off road as possible without lifting the truck. I have nothing against lifting the truck, I just know that it's expensive because it includes lift, tires/wheels, gears and lockers.

Stage 2 will be all about making it more capable on longer trips.
-I'm thinking, Roof Top Tent, though I have no idea which kind
-I'd like to build a box right behind the cab to host a VIAIR kit and a Dual Battery Kit. I'm sure you noticed that the VIAIR kit that I selected is good up to 37" tires, that is not a mistake. I'd also like to be able to run pnuematic tools when necessary. I'm going to be looking at making the box completely water tight and house all the electrical components inside the box. Plus, with the second battery in there already, I can wire the air compressor directly to the battery. This little project is going to take some serious thought and time to get it right, but once I do, I think it will be incredibly useful.
-Along the same lines as the VIAIR and Dual Battery box, I would like to build drawers or a compartment of some for so that I can store all of my crap inside them and not worry about weather exposure or sticky fingers.

Stage 3 will be to make this thing unstoppable. Lift, 285/75r16 tires (possible 255/85r16's), ARB air lockers front and rear with gears to match.

I know some people will try and convince me to use the PowerTank setup. I have had it in the past and it is a great system. My only drawback at this point is the limited amount of CO2 that is available at any given time. When I had my 4runner, I didn't have anywhere to mount the compressor or tank without it being incredibly noisy inside the cab, now that I have a truck, it will be outside and I won't have to worry about it. I can just kick it on 15 minutes before the trail and the tank will be full and ready to use for airing up the tires. Personal preference for what I think will be more useful is what this choice is all about.

Ok, On to the part everyone really wants, Pictures!!!

Disclaimer: These were all taken with my phone, picture size is tiny, sorry about that. I will be wheeling it on Wednesday and will get some better pictures then.

This is a picture the day I picked it up.


The very first modification that I made was to add a CB radio. I chose the Cobra 75 WX ST because of it's compact design. Since I have a regular cab, I have to be very cognizant of what takes up space in there. I also chose a Firestik II 4 foot antenna.

This is where I chose to mount it. The control box is under the shifter bezel.


This is what it looks like all mounted up.



I still need to mount the clip to hold the radio, I test fit it in front 1st gear and I won't bash my kuckles shifting, so I think that's where it will go.

Next up is the antenna mount. Easy Peasy.






The only other thing that I have done to this truck is to add a ScanGuage II that I had from my previous vehicle. I'm not sure that I like where it is mounted, but I can't find a better place. Recommendations accepted...




Let me know what you think of my truck, my plans, or any other general ideas you have.

-Hayes

southernZ

I love single cabs.....nice truck man.

Hayes

Thank you! I am looking at getting some sliders in the next month or so (gotta love overtime at work)... After that is skids and then I will be a lot more willing to get out on the trails and bash some metal.

trd123

i am going to be buying the same truck here soon im really looking forward to it. But i was wondering what that little scan gauge u mentioned does.

Hayes

The scangauge can monitor engine vitals. battery, water temp, tach, speed, mpg, a bunch of other stuff. It was useful in my Impala so I could keep an eye on my water temp since I was having an overheating problem. Basically useless on this truck. I am probably just going to take it out.

trd123

i need to figure out how to mount my cobra 29 ltd up.

Hayes

I chose the cobra 75 because its not big. I've always used the 29 style but there is not enough room in a regular cab Tacoma. There will be lots of other stuff occupying room in my cab so I needed to.save where I can.

Hayes

I did get some 265/75r16 hankook dynapro atms on my truck. They look.awesome, ride great and ill get them off-road soon.

DIRTCO

Looks like a good start and a well thought out plan, it will be cool to see it out on the trail!

I use my Scangage all the time, but for the most part I'm watching my ATF temp. I would still keep it in the truck in case you get a CEL in the middle of nowhere, even if it's in the glove box or mounted in an area that is out of the way.

Hayes

I thought about something like this. The other problem that I am having is that it wont recognize the truck, it still thinks it's reading my old Impala... I have tried all the resets that the manual has, and it still wont work.

DIRTCO

That mount is really cool, I like it. I don't know what to say about it resetting itself. I set up my gauges and the intro stuff but I still have not set up the fuel mileage or actual MPH yet. Can you call any kind of tech support?

Hayes

I think I got it figured out. It was reading something like 150 mph when I was doing 60 (it was really close to being right), I found a setting that said I was doing 90 when stopped, I changed that to 0 and it seems to be reading correctly. After this was reset, the mpg said I was getting 21, which is what I really have been averaging on the first 3 tanks. I think I got it set. Now I need to get that mount, but I have to get a longer cable too, so for now it stays.

DIRTCO

I think it comes the longer cable, look at the 2nd to last picture in your link.

Hayes

Good catch! Maybe I'll do it then... Next paycheck.

stockwell45

iTrader: (1)

Subscribed...test drove the same type of truck a little bit ago, I loved it. I hope to get one soon down the road. I'll be following this thread, good luck!

Hayes

So I picked up am iPAD... I hate apple products, but this is the one device that is going to fit into my needs, without too much clutter in the cab.

Here is what it can do: music (duh), gps (on and off road), trip tracking (via the gps), photo uploading from my camera while I am not near power, and OBDII info tracking.

GPS is accomplished via the Bad Elf gps adapting device. There are a bunch of apps for the mapping software, but Google maps (stock on iProducts) seems to be the best overall on road mapping program. Offroad mapping is another deal altogether: there is Fun Treks, they make all the Colorado off road books. There is Back Country Navigator, which has a lot of support from the Expo Portal crowd. Trip tracking is available on all of those products, and most of them allow you to email yourself all the data.

Here is the kicker, I found the Rev, which could replace my Scan Gauge II. I am all about integrating everything that I can into one unit, and this will eliminate the wires and all that I would have to run to get the sgII mounted above the mirror.

I'm not sure if I want to do the new OBD II scanner or not, but the integration factor is cool, plus, no one would know it is there.


As for mounting the iPad in the rig, I have an idea, but I will need to mull it over to see if I can come up with a better mounting option. Mostly, I want it to occupy the space directly in front of the factory radio (I'll have to get pictures of this so I can explain better. This mount will prevent the iPad from taking valuable space in the passenger area or away from the shifter area.


I was also talking to a friend of mine about the storage/sleeping compartment in the truck bed. Now I don't know what I really want to do. I have decided (almost 100%) on getting a topper so that I can sleep inside and warm when it's wet out. My idea was originally a VIAIR OBA setup, but now I don't know. I have used CO2 with great success in the past, but I like not having to worry about being empty, which is why I was going to go with a OBA setup. Now, after thinking about it, I think mounting the whole setup will be a whole lot of work, without as much benefit as I initially thought. Without an OBA setup, my sleeping compartment can be about 1000% easier to design and make work with a lot less weight. It's a six in one hand, half dozen in the other scenario. Back to the drawing/contemplation board.

Anyways, that's my ramblings for the night, let me know what you think of my ideas (especially the OBA vs. CO2 setups).

Until I let my mind wander,
Brandon

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

back country navigator isn't compatible with Apple OS though...

Hayes

good call. I have it on my Droid phone... Didn't even think to check to see if it was available on the istuff. There are many many more though, I have been doing a lot of reading about it, I just need to find the software again. That won't be too hard.


Thanks for looking out.

limited#279

I put buds and the same compressor kit on my wife's truck. Last weekend she finally put the skids to use and they held up great. Fitment was spot on, really quality stuff, you are gonna like em. The compressor works pretty good. Fills up the 285' s from 17 ish to 32 in under 10 minutes.
We are from CO too. We should hit the trails sometime.

Hayes

Sounds like a plan to me. Are you 06Rubi on TW? If so, I have followed your wife's rig's build... great looking truck, even if it is a little gay

I've been going back and forth on the oba vs co2 thing. oba takes up a lot less room overall and the ease of installing it is a big difference.