Wests (Desertboater) Tacoma Build

DesertBoater

Adventurer
For starters, the truck is an 05 Access Cab, V6, 6 Speed, 4WD in Silver. I found it on Craigslist back in NH a couple of years ago and have really only changed the oil and whatnot since then. Just after I got it I had a cap put on the back and built a basic sleeping platform. Most of my driving is on highways or at least decent dirt roads with a lot of it being driving cross-country (6 times and counting,) however I've been known to take the long way to find put-ins and take-outs in rather remote locations. This summer I'm going to be driving to Alaska to guide sea kayak trips and figured now was as good a time as any to do a bit of work to get it into shape for a planned two and a half week roadtrip. Here are a couple of pictures mostly of the sleeping platform and whatnot.

Before the bumper and safari box:
IMG_5998.jpg

I think we got 12 kayaks on top by the time we were done...

Here's the second generation bed
IMG_2523.jpg

The drawers slide completely out and then the center pieces can also be taken out to have full bed space if I'm hauling a bunch of stuff around town. I can access forward of the wheel wells with the hatches up forward. The drawers were sized using milk crates...i can fit 3 in the skinny one and 5 in the wide one

Having studied both Bajataco's bed and one of the links from his site, I ended up enabling both drawers to be emptied, flipped, and used as tables.
IMG_2525.jpg

I think they might also be strong enough to be used as a bed if I want to be outside under the stars but still off the ground.

It's not the greatest photo but this is the roof box
IMG_2530.jpg

It was originally a cheap contractor rack that had a free sign on it on the side of the road, so I picked it up in a friends truck (no cap) and carted it home only to find out that the skirted cap that I have would require too much energy to make it worth modifying to fit...so I cut it up and welded some of the sections together along with some steel grating to make a box. I'll be hauling an 18' whitewater raft up to AK this summer for a class with school and I didn't want it inside the cap with me.

Here's what I've done since I've owned the truck:
Rear AAL
ARB winch bumper
Century Cap
Thule Rack 72" bars with Stackers
Custom Safari Box (Not actually Thule)
Bike Racks
Sleeping Platform (mostly permanent)
Slide out Drawers/Tables
On board air compressor
Bridgestone A/T Revos
Raft Paddle T Grip Shifter top

Soon to be added:
OME 886 Coils up front
Front Mounted Winch
Lights
CB Radio

That's about all for now. I'm open to ANY suggestions, tips or questions regarding my rig, the trip, etc and I'll try to keep y'all updated as I drive north/continue adding mods.
Cheers,
West
 

viatierra

Explorer
Welcome to Expo...
Those slide out tables are so cool! How do the legs attach & stow?

BTW, You are the Jed Clampet of paddlers.
 

DesertBoater

Adventurer
The legs slide into the back side of the front pieces. there's a bit of framing behind the plywood with 1x2 slots at the top and bottom that the legs slide into...i'm going to be interested to see what happens to the wood this summer moving to a wetter climate than AZ...right now they're just being stowed either in the handles of the crates (across the top-ish locking the crates together) or in the bottom of the drawer. there is just enough room for the crates to fit under the bed platform...so they can't be on the bottom of the drawers.

Cheers,
West
 

Rallyroo

Expedition Leader
I agree, that's an awesome drawer/table transformer set up.

You also win the game of Jenga with kayaks.
 

Speaker

Adventurer
Nice rig job in that first photo! Most we ever got on top of the trooper was for a Salt shuttle. 4 Kayaks, 3 IKs, and one Mini-Me. All inflated. The stack must have been 12 feet tall.
 

DesertBoater

Adventurer
End of summer update and call for help

Hey Y'all,
So my rig made it up to Alaska and back this summer as well as down highway 1 on the coast. I have now begun upgrading the suspension for a bit more of an even ride. I ordered a set of 886's with OME struts and shocks front and rear respectively. The rear went on easily enoughg
this afternoon however the front has thrown me for a bit more of a loop. For starters I rented a spring compressor to aid in installing the end cap to the top of my new strut assembly. The issues began when I went to remove the compressor after tightening down the bolt on top of the strut. The spaces between the individual coils is too small to allow for the hooked arms to slide out. You now see my dilemma. Does anyone have the right tools or know-how to fix this without disassembling the whole mess and taking it to a shop? Better yet, anyone have some free time tomorrow and want to help a fellow expo'er out with some of the afformentioned help, knowledge, expertise, and potentially tools? I'm in Prescott, AZ by the way. Any help, suggestions, or similarly amusing anecdotes are all much appreciated.

Cheers,
West
 

DesertBoater

Adventurer
So it's been a little while since I've put anything up, however I was eventually successful in installing my new suspension components. It took some new swaybar linkage on the rhs but other than that things went pretty smoothly all tolled. Having done a bit of looking around at other folks rigs and comparing them to my own, I've come up with a question. For those of y'all who have an ARB front winch bumper, did the shackle tabs (probably not the correct name) come mounted when you bought it, or are those custom additions? Apparently mine didn't come with them as they aren't there and might be a nice addition.
Also, any ideas as to where I might find a replacement to the rubber piece that wraps around the front and then under the vertical bars kinda as trim...? If you look closely, the right side (driver's perspective) looks torn and has subsequently come off.

IMG_4944-Version2.jpg


This is pre-lift...I need to get out someplace and take some pictures.

Cheers,
West
 

DesertBoater

Adventurer
I've got some free time this weekend and have been thinking about putting a coat of paint (or two or three) on my bed platform and drawers. What have y'all used in the past to do this? brand, type, color?

Cheers,
West
 

Applejack

Explorer
So it's been a little while since I've put anything up, however I was eventually successful in installing my new suspension components. It took some new swaybar linkage on the rhs but other than that things went pretty smoothly all tolled. Having done a bit of looking around at other folks rigs and comparing them to my own, I've come up with a question. For those of y'all who have an ARB front winch bumper, did the shackle tabs (probably not the correct name) come mounted when you bought it, or are those custom additions? Apparently mine didn't come with them as they aren't there and might be a nice addition.
Also, any ideas as to where I might find a replacement to the rubber piece that wraps around the front and then under the vertical bars kinda as trim...? If you look closely, the right side (driver's perspective) looks torn and has subsequently come off.



This is pre-lift...I need to get out someplace and take some pictures.

Cheers,
West

As for the rubber bumper pieces, you can probably just source them from ARB.
For the older Tacos I think ARB had shackle tabs but not for our newer trucks. What I did was notch the plate with the big holes in it to allow me to use my factory recovery point on the drivers side.
 

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