Ginger_taco’s DIY tacoma build

So this is my second attempt to a decent build thread, last one was pretty boring and was filled with random cellphone pictures. This time I will try to captivate the fine people of expedition portal with all my DIY wisdom haha.
I bought my first truck in January 2012, an almost perfect condition 2005 radiand red Toyota Tacoma SR5 access cab with SOME km already but wasnt scared of that as I heard these trucks were very reliable and easy to work with.

The day I picked it up from the dealer
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My primary need for this truck was to haul my toys around, dirbiking was a huge part of my life at the time and also a huge reason I didnt have money to spend on mods for the truck. So for a couple years the truck stayed in stock form, but was still very capable of getting me anywhere i needed to go in the backcountry.

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But I must admit that the truck gave me the adventure bug, a need to just get out there and explore grew in me more and more.
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My first mod was a kenwood double din with built in gps and put on some new shoes, Fuel Formula 17 x 9 with 285/70/17 Super Swamper Irok NDs.
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So much robbing on the the front bumper came with the new wheel setup and no lift , so I decided to build myself a front steel bumper with winch capability, I was a welder/fabricator at the time for a big oil rig company so I had access to everything needed including cheap material. Built the thing under 5 hours and cost me about 50 $ total. Also found a color matched grill on ebay and blacked out headlights, gave the front a much cleaner look.

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You cant have have Super Swampers mud tires and not go mudding.

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The truck looked like this for a couple of years without much happening to it

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Alot happend last year, I moved from Alberta back to Quebec, got a new job and less money coming in so I had to give up my favorite hobby, after few inguries it became hard to ride and go back to work so I retired from the motorcycle and dirtbiking world. Sold all my bikes and decided to focus on my truck to make it a great overlander. Unfortunatly I quickly realised how expensive modifying a vehicle for overland travel can be. So i decided i was gonna go the cheap way and build as much accessories as I can build myself DIY style. Right away i ruled out the roof top tent, I decided a used shell with a sleeping platform was better suited for me and the dog ( no latters) . I was lucky to find a nice leer shell same color as my truck with slide windows and aluminum rails.

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Now the sleeping platform has its own build thread so im not going to go into details. Its made of aluminum, with 1/2 inch plywood for the drawers. There is an 21 gallon water tank at the back under the platform, a kitchen drawer and gear drawer. ShurFlo waterpump, Blue sea fuse block and breaker.

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Ive been working for the past month on an aluminum roof rack for the shell, im planning on mounting a 100 watt solar panel, plano case and axe/shovel to it.

My inspiration for the rack.
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Took a bunch of mesurment, then bent a few lengh of 1 inch pipe 1 5/16 th OD.

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Phase one, building the main frame

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Phase two is mounting it and testing for a couple weeks, looking for wind effect and if the rack will rub the cab in flexing situation. The rack is very light but very solid. While im testing ill be deciding what type of light ill be mounting to the rack and where so I can build mounts. This will be phase three where i mount lights and accesories.

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Installed led lights inside the shell and shell door, really great for night tailgate cooking

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Throws a decent amount of light out back
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Random pictures of the summer

Expoling with Blue some mountain backroads near the Vermont/Quebec border.

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Beach day on the Champlain lake shore

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We were in for an amazing sunset, got the Primus Kamoto fire pit out and started cooking

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Installed a sunvisor organiser by OneTigris, very neat to hold random things like pen, knife, flashlight and has a little pocket for paperwork.

Sorry dark picture

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