2006 Taco: Overland Build

[ispoonwithmugen]

Hey guys!

Just wrapped up a 3 month trip living out of a Rooftop Tent with my Jeep and after going through cars faster than clothes I finally am settling down with vehicle number 16, a 2006 DCSB Tacoma TRD off-road in radiant red. Got a killer deal on a single owner car with all the receipts of every single piece of work done!

Current state:
100% OEM minus SportStickers Fly Fisher Male Sticker

Waiting to be put on:

• Treeline Outdoors Lodgepole Rooftop Tent
  Treeline Outdoors Annex
  Hi lift
  Jerry cans
  Maxxsa (maxtraxx amazon version that's done pretty well for me in the past)
  Viper 5806V two way security system
  Pioneer MVH-AV290BT
  ESKY Backup Camera
  Locking rear tailgate

Future plans:

• Pelfreybilt front steel bumper with full hoops
  Pelfreybilt standard rear bumper
  Pelfreybilt bolt on sliders
  Pelfreybilt IFS Skid
  Pelfreybilt Mid Skid
  Wilco off-road adventure rack
  Respray from radiant red to quicksand

Still debating:

• What suspension
  What wheels and tires

Open to any questions or suggestions!

Pictures how she sat on the day of pickup:


Previous Rig/Setup:

[ispoonwithmugen]

Also FYI this build will be slow over the next few months. I have a lot on my plate and not enough time to focus on this build/working with sponsors as much as I wish I could. Any suggestions/comments, holler!

[Senor_Taylor]

I saw you mention Taco on Instagram! I'm really excited for this! Hopefully Cabell and I can give you some Toyota specific info but I'm sure you've met some people in your travels that know much more.

Have you had the recall done for the leaves?

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[ispoonwithmugen]

I saw you mention Taco on Instagram! I'm really excited for this! Hopefully Cabell and I can give you some Toyota specific info but I'm sure you've met some people in your travels that know much more.

Have you had the recall done for the leaves?

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Yeah man! Pretty amped on this one. Any advice, fire away.. I'm still very new to this.

Recall hasn't been done. Figured I'd get that taken care of once I get an AAL in. You and Cabell may be able to help (and this also is dependent on some sponsorship stuff) but perhaps for suspension:
Bilstein 5100 all around
OME 886 up front
Dakars AAL (or some alternative?) in the rear

Will be running a steel bumper up front with a winch so I figured the larger coils is "needed". The AAL and 5100 should help in the rear for the weight of the bedrack, RTT, gear and steel rear bumper.

[Senor_Taylor]

I saw you mention Taco on Instagram! I'm really excited for this! Hopefully Cabell and I can give you some Toyota specific info but I'm sure you've met some people in your travels that know much more.

Have you had the recall done for the leaves?

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Yeah man! Pretty amped on this one. Any advice, fire away.. I'm still very new to this.

Recall hasn't been done. Figured I'd get that taken care of once I get an AAL in. You and Cabell may be able to help (and this also is dependent on some sponsorship stuff) but perhaps for suspension:
Bilstein 5100 all around
OME 886 up front
Dakars AAL (or some alternative?) in the rear

Will be running a steel bumper up front with a winch so I figured the larger coils is "needed". The AAL and 5100 should help in the rear for the weight of the bedrack, RTT, gear and steel rear bumper.

I tried 5100s all around and found them too short in the rear. Switched then out got 5125s If you're really trying to do it right, go for the OME Dakar leaves it similar instead of an AAL. Aals are okay though. If I'm not mistaken, the recall is actually just them doing an add a leaf.

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[ispoonwithmugen]

Too short? How so? What kind of load did you run back there? And didn't know that about the recall. I need to dig through the records to see if it's been done. Toyota gives you a replacement during the recall, correct?

[Senor_Taylor]

Too short? How so? What kind of load did you run back there? And didn't know that about the recall. I need to dig through the records to see if it's been done. Toyota gives you a replacement during the recall, correct?

I got the 8" 5100's I believe. I didn't just do an AAL, but the full OME Dakar leaf pack and they were both "+". OME marks their leaves to whether or not they will raise your truck more or less than the stated height with either a +, 0, or -. I got two + which usually isn't the case. I ended with a butt load of lift in the rear (never measured) so the 5100 shocks were already near their full extension. Once day I flexed the shock separated, so I had to go with the extended length 5125.

As for that recall, I don't know how long it takes them, but it's a pretty straight forward procedure to add an AAL with a lift and all the tools. The only recall I got done I just waited, but I was also 17. I will say this, the regular Dakar leaves take forever because they're always on recall, but the spring rate is way too high unless you constantly have weight in the bed, like a bed rack with a RTT and a rear bumper. Where do you plan to mount your tent?

If you plan to cross water, look into the diff breather relocation. I think second gens are similar to first gens in that regard.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Go full OME and never look back. You won't regret it. Anticipate how much weight you are planning to add over the life of the truck (bumpers, sliders, gear, people, etc.) and buy the appropriate springs/shocks/ucas.

IMO and a lot of other people will say the 5100s are ok for the road but not offroad. When you load them up with weight they just don't seem to handle the constant cycling of suspension you'll probably put them through. OME shocks/coils are all designed to work together and engineered for your Taco.

[Senor_Taylor]

Go full OME and never look back. You won't regret it. Anticipate how much weight you are planning to add over the life of the truck (bumpers, sliders, gear, people, etc.) and buy the appropriate springs/shocks/ucas.

IMO and a lot of other people will say the 5100s are ok for the road but not offroad. When you load them up with weight they just don't seem to handle the constant cycling of suspension you'll probably put them through. OME shocks/coils are all designed to work together and engineered for your Taco.

I agree with this. Honestly I've never liked how my "easy button" suspension rides and behaves.

[ispoonwithmugen]

I got the 8" 5100's I believe. I didn't just do an AAL, but the full OME Dakar leaf pack and they were both "+". OME marks their leaves to whether or not they will raise your truck more or less than the stated height with either a +, 0, or -. I got two + which usually isn't the case. I ended with a butt load of lift in the rear (never measured) so the 5100 shocks were already near their full extension. Once day I flexed the shock separated, so I had to go with the extended length 5125.

As for that recall, I don't know how long it takes them, but it's a pretty straight forward procedure to add an AAL with a lift and all the tools. The only recall I got done I just waited, but I was also 17. I will say this, the regular Dakar leaves take forever because they're always on recall, but the spring rate is way too high unless you constantly have weight in the bed, like a bed rack with a RTT and a rear bumper. Where do you plan to mount your tent?

If you plan to cross water, look into the diff breather relocation. I think second gens are similar to first gens in that regard.

That makes sense. Thanks for the heads up. The bed will almost always have a load on it. Bedrack with roof top tent mounted and a steel rear bumper. I'll be using Wilco Offroad's Adventure Rack system. Bed rack that runs the roofline of the cab as well. I'm using them because A) I worked with them on my last project and they're rad and B) It's an awesome setup where I can run my surfboards on the roof portion and the RTT on the bedrack along with my hi lift/shovel and maxxtrax on the sides.

Definitely going to do the breather relocation down the road. Gotta grab the snorkel/lift etc before I even get to that point...

Go full OME and never look back. You won't regret it. Anticipate how much weight you are planning to add over the life of the truck (bumpers, sliders, gear, people, etc.) and buy the appropriate springs/shocks/ucas.

IMO and a lot of other people will say the 5100s are ok for the road but not offroad. When you load them up with weight they just don't seem to handle the constant cycling of suspension you'll probably put them through. OME shocks/coils are all designed to work together and engineered for your Taco.

Good data point. I'll have different "expedition load" and regular unloaded loads. Not sure how I'll compensate for this. Essentially I'll have:
~200bs up front.... #125 for front steel bumper #80 for winch
~500lbs in the rear/center....#300 for the bedrack, #110 for the RTT, #85 for the rear bumper

Fingers crossed something pans out with OME :thumbup:

[ScottyB]

super pumped about this bro. gonna be a good time and its exciting to see you using a platform that will really let you explore the overland aftermarket to the extreme if you wanted.

if you're putting the alarm in it might pay to run a fuel pump cutoff switch that you can hide in the cab somewhere just in case. with that amount of kit on the rig and street parking, any additional hassle you can give a GranTheftAuto-wannabe is helpful.

i'm finding this out with the teardrop but if you have some blank "filler" buttons in the dash/console or some flat open space, it might pay dividends to run some dual 1 and 2A USB ports. they're shaped like cig lighters, you could even just swap out your lighter for the USBs. with the amount of electronics you carry around for photography and the camp batteries it could be convenient. they're like $5 on amazon.

i run bils 4600's on the xterra and would agree to at least the 5100 or beefier. the X rides very OEM but you can feel the rear axle get sloppy after an extended loaded down trip where the back end is seeing a lot of travel and the shocks start to overheat a bit. hindsight is 20/20 but i should have done the 51's when i had the chance.

[Kaan]

IMHO, look to keep or use alloy wheels. Steelies KILL gas and as much crawling as Cabell and Sylvia have done, they never took a real rock shot.

Look to go aluminum for bumpers and stuff. unless the yota guys make speed hole bumpers in steel, they are just going to hang a ton on each end of the truck. sylvias aluminum skid plate can support the weight of her jeep but is less than half the weight of her steel skid.

look to do something with your spare tire. crawling under the truck sucks. but you probably know this.

i've been looking at gear for the tundra since track season is coming and we will be living out of it... dont forget to add lights to your bed rack so its easy to find stuff in the bed in the middle of the night.

[ispoonwithmugen]

if you're putting the alarm in it might pay to run a fuel pump cutoff switch that you can hide in the cab somewhere just in case. with that amount of kit on the rig and street parking, any additional hassle you can give a GranTheftAuto-wannabe is helpful.

I chickened out on this after reading this thread and realizing I truly don't know much about electrical.. Le sigh. I need to learn but not on my reliable daily.

i'm finding this out with the teardrop but if you have some blank "filler" buttons in the dash/console or some flat open space, it might pay dividends to run some dual 1 and 2A USB ports. they're shaped like cig lighters, you could even just swap out your lighter for the USBs. with the amount of electronics you carry around for photography and the camp batteries it could be convenient. they're like $5 on amazon.

Already using one in the cig lighter. I'd like to run an AC outlet (there is one in the bed) but inside the cab. Most of my electronics run off that vs. a USB.

IMHO, look to keep or use alloy wheels. Steelies KILL gas and as much crawling as Cabell and Sylvia have done, they never took a real rock shot.

Good data point. I'm not sure what the wheel situation is going to be like. I do know that I'm going to need tires soon so hopefully something pans out with a tire company.

Look to go aluminum for bumpers and stuff. unless the yota guys make speed hole bumpers in steel, they are just going to hang a ton on each end of the truck. sylvias aluminum skid plate can support the weight of her jeep but is less than half the weight of her steel skid.

Unfortunately the setup will be steel in terms of bumpers. Skids will be aluminum, though.

look to do something with your spare tire. crawling under the truck sucks. but you probably know this.

Spare will probably be hanging down, in the spare tire area until we move to a swingout bumper unfortunately. I know all too well how fun it is crawling under cars.

i've been looking at gear for the tundra since track season is coming and we will be living out of it... dont forget to add lights to your bed rack so its easy to find stuff in the bed in the middle of the night.

Right on! Are you building a platform/camper/ or RTT? Adding lights tot he bed is definitely something on the to-do list.

[*insertusernamehere*]

Can I just be a cheerleader for your life?

[Kaan]

RTT? i'd have a cage in my car for the price of the RTT and iron work to hold it up.

I think i might mod out the trailer and design a tire rack/tarp system for when we part and unload the car. have the car under the EZ up and set up camp on the trailer itself. so that way i'm out of the water. sometimes the paddock can become a swamp.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Any reason why you didn't go ARB for the front? Why not buy a bumper that is the only one of the market airbag compatible?

[ispoonwithmugen]

Can I just be a cheerleader for your life?

It's not as fun as it looks, I promise, ha.

RTT? i'd have a cage in my car for the price of the RTT and iron work to hold it up.

I think i might mod out the trailer and design a tire rack/tarp system for when we part and unload the car. have the car under the EZ up and set up camp on the trailer itself. so that way i'm out of the water. sometimes the paddock can become a swamp.

Ha, true. Yakima has a cheap alternative they just brought to market! The EZ up on the trailer is a great call. I loved being away from water.

Any reason why you didn't go ARB for the front? Why not buy a bumper that is the only one of the market airbag compatible?

Price and a great looking bumper. It was a tough decision though.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Are you planning to run AT3's again or something a bit more aggressive?

[ispoonwithmugen]

Are you planning to run AT3's again or something a bit more aggressive?

Depends on a few factors (some that I previously Pm'ed ya). I really enjoyed the AT3's but might have some opportunities to try some other large name tires. Definitely sticking to an All Terrain, though, don't do enough off-roading to justify a fully dedicated M/T.

[ispoonwithmugen]

I've been bad about updating...
I already put in a double din with backup camera and a locking rear tailgate.
Then ended with some 265/70/17 on 5 TRD Pro in Matte black wheels. Also snagged an Airflow snorkel, CB radio/firestik and OME front and rear suspension (no leafpack yet). All of this should be going on this weekend.