Matt's Tacoma Thread

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Matts96HB

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Time to start a "build" thread for the Taco! I've had this thing (bone stock) for a couple years and now working on getting it setup to be a better camping and tow rig.
  • 2019 Tacoma SE Black Package - bought new in May 2019
  • 4x4, V6
  • Dual Cab, Short Box
Pics of a screen before I went down to buy it lol
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After moving from Dallas to Idaho. I pulled off the front air dam, added fog lights, and a remote start
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Recently added mod list and a pic in its current state
  • Old Man Emu (OME) Nitrocharger "soft" valving shocks (PN 90021, I belive)
  • OME 886 front springs (good for ~2.75" lift and 660 lbs/in)
  • OME Dakar Heavy Duty leaf packs
  • OME Carrier Bearing Drop
  • Toytec Front Diff Drop
  • SPC Light Upper Control arms (to be installed)
  • HeadStrong Offroad 3 degree pinion angle shims (to be installed)
  • Fuel Torque 17x9 -12 wheels
  • Nitto Ridge Grappler 285/75/17 (~34x11.5")
  • Cheap folding Tonneau from FB marketplace
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Upcoming plans:
  • Bed rack (RCI or CBI likely)
  • Roof Top Tent (looking at iKamper or CVT)
  • Brake controller
  • Inverter
  • 5.29 gears and a tune
  • FI? :D
I love this truck. Can't wait to get it out camping this summer!
 
nice! You don't have the inverter in the bed? Mine has a 400 watt inverter built in. I have the TRD sport long bed.
 

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Looks cool. Love the white look. My bro in law has a 4runner in the same color scheme. HIm and his friends seem to now all getting really into the toyotas. He does a lot of camping out of it. But mostly to feed his serial habit of buying stuff and taking pics for the gram.







While not to dump on the taco, but having spent significant time in one over the years, quite cramped for 6'+ and not great MPG for lack of power. What advantage does it have over a normal 1/2 ton?
 
nice! You don't have the inverter in the bed? Mine has a 400 watt inverter built in. I have the TRD sport long bed.
No inverter, my trim is essentially an SR (base model). My parents just got a Cement Gray TRD sport short bed!

I'll probably install an inverter to run small things (cell phone charger, maybe a heater) from the tent. The generator will handle larger stuff (like a refrigerator) when the truck is off.
Looks cool. Love the white look. My bro in law has a 4runner in the same color scheme. HIm and his friends seem to now all getting really into the toyotas. He does a lot of camping out of it. But mostly to feed his serial habit of buying stuff and taking pics for the gram.







While not to dump on the taco, but having spent significant time in one over the years, quite cramped for 6'+ and not great MPG for lack of power. What advantage does it have over a normal 1/2 ton?
Gotta do it all for the 'gram. 4Runners are badass, I almost got one instead of this but felt I needed the bed.

My truck got ~20 mpg mixed driving which seemed decent. The two big pros for me were 1) size.. at the time I lived in Dallas and didn't really want/need a full size pickup 2) price was right. I paid 30k for this thing 3) reliability.. tough to beat the Taco in that regard 4) looks.. one of my favorite body styles.

I shopped this vs. the f150. The real deciding factor for me was the size
 
Do you regret the short bed?
This was one of the things i went back and forth on.
Ultimately, i said, "i'm buying a truck to do truck things, so buy the whole truck." :D

The long bed fits in my garage, thankfully. It was a close call having not measured the truck before i brought it home, but it fits. I have a 6" extra jetty on my house on one bay and the truck fits great on that bay. the other side, you can't walk around to get in the house with the door closed.
 

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yeah, they START at 20 grand though. It's great it you're offroading and can't tow a camper, but honestly, for 20 grand you can get a pretty nice camper that has water and a shower/etc.
 
Do you regret the short bed?
This was one of the things i went back and forth on.
Ultimately, i said, "i'm buying a truck to do truck things, so buy the whole truck." :D

The long bed fits in my garage, thankfully. It was a close call having not measured the truck before i brought it home, but it fits. I have a 6" extra jetty on my house on one bay and the truck fits great on that bay. the other side, you can't walk around to get in the house with the door closed.
Not yet! lol. The only time it would've been nice is when I hauled two sets of slicks (and the typical track tool set) down to Circuit of the Americas for a track weekend. The truck was pretty loaded up and I had tires stacked 3 high across the bed. It fit, but took more effort than I would have liked. If I had a proper car trailer for that scenario, it wouldn't have mattered.

That's kinda crazy that a long box Taco barely fits. Would a full size, short box pickup fit?

yeah, they START at 20 grand though. It's great it you're offroading and can't tow a camper, but honestly, for 20 grand you can get a pretty nice camper that has water and a shower/etc.
Camping gear gets expensive quickly. I may get a trailer in the future but the idea behind this is to be able to camp anywhere and also pull the car trailer with a place to sleep. I want to do 2-3 weeks of track days down in California at some point.
 
my garage is 22' deep on that bay, so it's a pretty standard size.
the Truck is just under 19ft long (225 inches google says)

in theory, it fits perfectly fine, but you have to factor in a foot in front and a foot behind is all you get, and that's not a lot of space to walk around the truck. my fat ass is more than a foot deep walking sideways lol
 
Gotta do it all for the 'gram. 4Runners are badass, I almost got one instead of this but felt I needed the bed.

My truck got ~20 mpg mixed driving which seemed decent. The two big pros for me were 1) size.. at the time I lived in Dallas and didn't really want/need a full size pickup 2) price was right. I paid 30k for this thing 3) reliability.. tough to beat the Taco in that regard 4) looks.. one of my favorite body styles.

I shopped this vs. the f150. The real deciding factor for me was the size

I really like a taco with some big tires on it. Porportions look really good. Aftermarket is huge and they're very simple to work on. My bro in law has done SO many things on his runner. He's got the popup tent on top with hard cover, awning on side, inverter, CB so he can talk to the other influencers at the mall, camping gear galore. Looks great on the gram.

My favorite thing is, make sure you have gas tanks on the outside of your rig and rescue treads everwhere you go. Just in case.



30K is a great price for new. Once you're in those fancy tiers though... My neighbor paid over 40K for a used taco pro. I about fell over. But my F150 was $35K and a nice platinum/limited is $60K+.

1/2 tons are def a bit longer. I back in everywhere I go pretty much. . I think mine is 230" vs tacoma is about 210". Width is only a little different (3-4"?). Having spent a lot of time in dallas, its a great place for a big vehicle. Bigger = better there

I'm averaging about 20mpg lifetime actually. Most highway trips 22-23. And it hauls balls.
 
Better shot in the garage and the 6 inch jetty.

There's room but not much.

An f150 at 6 inches longer should, in theory, fit but it would be tight.


If I ever move again, 25 foot min garage requirements.

My last house was 20.
 

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Any update on that truck recently? I have seen your rims on 4wheelonline before. I can't believe the bronze colored wheels will look good on a white truck.
 
Any update on that truck recently? I have seen your rims on 4wheelonline before. I can't believe the bronze colored wheels will look good on a white truck.
No updates lately, I've been driving it exactly as it is shown in the last pic above (lift, wheels & tires). Haven't had much time to get my camping stuff together unfortunately
 
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