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Adventurizing my Tacoma

OceanandMountains

OceanandMountains

Member
Joined
May 6, 2020
Messages
44
Location
MA
Just finishing adventurizing my 2019 Tacoma TLD Offroad. Goal was to make it more offroad capable, be able to get myself unstuck in remote places, and carry all my hunting, fishing, camping, and hobby gear for some long trips. Built it up while in Florida this winter so haven't been able to test it on any really rugged rugged stuff yet, but so far I'm liking the set up. I'll be spending a most of the September-Novomber hunting season out west so it'll be loaded with archery and rifle gear as well as mountain bike and possibly a dirtbike on the back bumper. For years I did adventure motorcycle trips. Hoping this rig will be my new workhorse for adventures for the next 10+ years.

- ADS full coilover suspension and OME leaf springs
- RCI sliders
- Souther Style offroad bumper
- Smitty built winch
- Baja racks roof rack
- 16" SCS wheels and Cooper Discover tires
- Nitro regearing
- Undercover Ridgelander bed cover with Yakima bike racks

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ScottP said:
Sweet rig. That bumper is slick. How's your MPG compared to stock version?
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Thanks. I just did the regearing and haven't done any highway miles to really test MPG. The regearing was pretty pricey to do but supposedly it get's your mpg back so that was part of justifying it since it should pay for itself over the life of the truck. Most people lose about 3 mpg going to 33" tires and the regearing regains your power to better than stock and your mpg close to original.
 
I feel like Toyota is doing what Jeep did. The offroad reputation was made by early model stock vehicles and now has evolved into a pavement princess stock vehicle with a whole secondary modification market that they make you feel you HAVE to do to make it eligible to get dirty off road. (I will admit the stock 4wd Toyota is still capable off road).

I think it is a shame you have to spend $30,000 on a new vehicle and then spend an additional $10,000 on accessories, "better" tires, a lift kit, exhaust kit, air filter, new gears and a running boards so you can get in it...Brand not withstanding...

Sigh... I guess I won't be able to get to the trailhead.

FWIW, your truck looks cool. It is obvious you put a lot of work into it. Nice job.
 
Awesome looking rig! I love the idea of a roof rack to increase cargo capacity.

I’m leaving mine stock except for some heavier duty All Terrain tires and a winch and winch bumper. I think I am going to add a roof rack to that list.

I may eventually look at doing a small time suspension lift and taller tires for a little more ground clearance. I will evaluate that over the next year or so. When the new tires I am getting in a few weeks wear out I may pull the trigger on the lift.
 
Mpg will still go down once you put stuff in your roof basket. What gear ratio did you go with? I put in 4.88's in my old 4runner with 33x12.5x15 tires. Didn't matter. Thing was a gas hog anyway.
 
I got 15mpg with a tail wind driving across WY over the weekend, pulling an empty 14’ flatbed trailer. Got 10mpg coming back into a head wind with a sofa on the trailer and the inside loaded down with most of my son’s other possessions. That was in my 4Runner attempting to push about 80 mph. Thing was consistently downshifting the whole trip. Tried backing off to 70 mph, but was still wanting to downshift all the time. I love the rig, but power and gas mileage are not it’s strong suits.
 
I did the 4.88 gears too. It drives a lot better without constantly hunting for the right gear and has more power. I’m eager to do some longer mpg tests.

roof rack adds a lot of storage but it does kill mpg if you carrying big bulky stuff op there. I had this rack on a 2009 taco and transferred it over to the new rig. Learned to put lower profile stuff up there and it’s not bad. If I were buying again I might look at lower profile ones like Prinsu.

@2rocky agree and recognize there’s a difference between ‘need’ and ‘want’ or ‘nice to have’. The Tacoma and most modern 4x4s are plenty capable from the factory. I like setting my gear up though and got a little carried away with this one but plan to properly use it too.
 
All out budget here, to each our own I guess. I’ve had my Tacoma for four years now, great nimble trucks.
 
I just wish Toyota would give us Americans the diesel option out of the Hilux for the Tacos. I think it's gotta be on the horizon, with other competitors making it a more frequent offering state side, and it's about time. A little 4 cylinder with some down low grunt would be an awesome place to start an overland/hunting rig build from IMO.
 
YoungGun said:
I just wish Toyota would give us Americans the diesel option out of the Hilux for the Tacos. I think it's gotta be on the horizon, with other competitors making it a more frequent offering state side, and it's about time. A little 4 cylinder with some down low grunt would be an awesome place to start an overland/hunting rig build from IMO.
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Totally agree. I work overseas and the seen the Toyota D4D Diesel engine would work great in the Tacoma. The D4D is in Prado and Hilux, and seem well equipped with it, and great fuel economy.
 
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