Hey guys!
So, I'll give everyone a little backstory so as to better understand why I chose this truck and why I'm building it the way I am!
I got bit by the offload bug at a young age, between family camping that always involved a 4 wheel drive road, or mountain bikes, or racing/riding dirt bikes, I don't really see how I could have ignored the call of the trail! Sitting shotgun in those early years was fun and all, but I couldn't wait to do the driving myself!
Fast forward a bit and I got my first 4x4, a 1993 Jeep Cherokee XJ. It had the 4.0 and an ax 15 (I've had an affinity for manual transmissions for as long as I can remember)
It started out stock, but eventually became what's pictured above. It got 3 linked up front and put on some ford 1/2 ton axles. I wheeled it and beat on it quite a bit while it was stock, but it got used less and less as I modified it. Even then I was able to wheel some good trails like Spring Creek and the Jeep made its way out to Utah a few times. The problem was I was only 19 when I built it and used someone else's garage/tools to build it. So even though I lived in town home with no garage, I had a rig that I needed a decent shop to really work on since just about everything was custom and not bolt on. That was frustrating to say the least. Add on top of that the Jeep was loud, creaky, didn't handle great, and my new girlfriend refused to drive it. Looking back I realize I made plenty of mistakes you'd expect a 19 year old to make building their first rig!
Anyway, I decided it wasn't a good fit as I wanted to go farther in more comfort so I sold the Jeep in the summer or 2016. The vehicles that came next helped shape my idea of what I wanted and what I was going to actually use (I remember wheeling my stock XJ way more than my built XJ!) I bought and sold 4 cars between then and the summer of 2017.
When the dust settled at the beginning of Summer 2017 I had an e series van that I had half built into a camper and a Suzuki Samurai that I realized needed more work than I was willing to put into it. Neither of these was what I wanted and I'm still in college so 2 cars was not working out for me! I sold both of them and started my search for something new.
I had developed a list of things I was looking for in the next project. It had to have aftermarket bolt on support, a manual transmission, less than 200,000 miles, 4 wheel drive (duh), a real frame, have a reliable reputation, have parts availability at any given parts store in the country, and most importantly cost less than $4,000 which is what I sold my other vehicles for.
It took a few weeks of searching to find the right vehicle. I bounced between trucks and SUVs from different manufacturers and had decided a truck was going to be the best fit. And with the reliability that Toyota seems to be notorious for it seemed that a Toyota truck was going to be the ticket. I decided against the pre taco because I wasn't thrilled with the torsion bar setup, even though I like the visual appeal of those trucks, better. The 2nd gen tacos were out of my price range, so I was looking for a 1st gen tacoma.
Anddddd I found one!
a 2000 SR5 with the 3.4 V6 and 5 speed. The truck came well loved, but with only 170,000 miles on it for $3,500 after a little negotiating. It was lifted slightly with mismatched coilovers in the front and an Alcan leaf pack with longer shackles in the back, it had a lunchbox locker in the back with 4.10 gears and some 33x10.50 km2s. It was a little clapped out, but nothing that seemed like I couldn't handle.
The truck came home and I immediately packed up the dog and the girlfriend and hit the road for a couple hundred mile road trip with some camping thrown in. Everything went very well. Cruised up 1-70 without a problem. And I had identified most of what would need some attention coming forward.
I knew the truck would need new shocks on all 4 corners, but I wanted to situate the ride height a little bit so I could buy shocks based on my desired height. It was 2-3 inches taller in the back so I figured I'd take out the long shackles and put in some stockers
I drilled out the stock shackles and used some 3/4 inch grade 8 hardware and that helped the ride height a lot.
At this point I ordered up some Bilstein 5100's with OME 882 coils from the front to replace the mis matched coilovers . Yes mis matched. There were seriously two different brands and lengths of coilover when I bought the truck . I was glad to have those gone. Then I put some ranch RS5000 on the rear since I was running low on funds and didn't quite know what I wanted to do with the rear shock setup. Its currently setup with a u bolt flip and shocks angled in like this /\. I'd like to outboard the shocks in hopes of better handling characteristics and fitting some longer shocks.
Then I went on a few little adventures over some mountain passes and through some unremarkable dirt roads.
I was really pleased with the new shocks and how everything was working on the truck! So I turned my attention to my camping setup. I had wanted this truck to work just as well for cross country expedition style trips as it would for wheeling near town.
I was perusing Craigslist for a basic camper shell to meet these needs when I lucked out and found a Wildernest for $400 bucks! The guy even included the original carpeted bench set with it. Just like the truck, it was/is a little rough around the edges, but it definitely gets the job done. For anyone who doesn't know, the Wildernest Adventure Campers were made for 3 different bed sizes in the 90s. There were long/short bed models for full sized trucks and an import model for mid sized trucks. They have a steel frame molded into the fiberglass and the bed is supported by aircraft grade steel cables. They are definitely hefty and it took 4 guys to situate this on my truck and I believe I'll be replacing my Alcan leaf pack with a new pack this spring, maybe the OME Dakars with a load leaf or the All Pro expo pack. I think that with a spring rate that'll handle the 400 or so pounds that's always on the truck and a shock mounted outboard from the frame the truck should handle the camper and any tools/gear without a problem on the highway or on the trail.
I got it on the truck and brought it home, gave it a nice clean with some bleach and a scrub brush. Let it air out in the dry Colorado air and then did my best to reseal all the canvas and any seems exposed to the elements. I put a new 4 inch memory foam mattress in there and called it good enough for a trip
We headed up to Cottonwood Pass, saw some views, did some wheeling, sat in some hot springs and had a good time in BV. By this time it was late September and camping season had all but ended. We got snowed on every night this trip, but stayed pretty cozy. It just planted the bug for next years adventures! Even though I plan on camping out of just the shell during the winter for snowboarding trips, I doubt the tent will get popped till next spring.
So, after that trip I replaced my inner and outer tie rod ends, got an alignment, replaced my driveshaft support bearing, did an oil change, picked up a spare cv shaft and did some other maintenance items. I even organized my tool bag and my recovery bag for the first time in a few years! Now I feel that the truck is really ready to go out and explore since there are no nagging maintenance items left and everything seems to be in strong working order.
I'm pretty sure that brings us all up to date on the truck. Thanks for bearing with me through that long post and the mismatched picture sizes, I'm still getting the hang of image hosting sites. Thanks for the great site and I'll see y'all on the trail soon