Featured Rides: Taylor’s 2006 Tacoma Build

While we love the 4Runner and Land Cruiser, some of our closest friends (and relatives) have built some great trucks we can’t help but share.  So by now since you’ve probably already seen my brother Taylor’s Tacoma in a past trip report (Shoe Creek and GWNF) holding its own out on the trail we thought it would be a good place to start.

Out of the two of us, Taylor has been much more the outdoorsman for the most of our lives.  Three years younger than me, he’s been spending weekends in the woods hunting and exploring in central Virginia since he was in grade school, and has been driving modified Toyota trucks since he got his driver’s license.  These days Taylor is a career firefighter in the Richmond, VA area and continues to spend much of his spare time hunting, camping, and offroading.

Taylor (center) out on the trail with me (Ben, left) and our hometown friend John (right)

We can’t talk about Taylor’s current Tacoma without at least mentioning its predecessor.  Let’s go back to Christmas 2003, when 16 year-old Taylor with a freshly minted driver’s license became the proud owner of a 1998 Tacoma extra-cab short-bed 4×4 pickup “just getting broken in” with 175,000 miles on the ODO.  It wasn’t long before Taylor had the truck body-lifted and riding on 33” BFG Mud terrains.  Taylor drove the piss out of this truck – daily driver, hunting rig, and offroad explorer for nearly 10 years with very little fuss from the truck.  Taylor did most of the repairs (which were minor) himself along the way.

Taylor’s Original 1998 Toyota Tacoma – Fresh back from a duck hunt several years ago

Fast forward to 2012 – Taylor was washing “ol’ reliable” and found a small part of the Tacoma’s frame rusted through.  Knowing there was a Toyota frame recall on Tacomas, Taylor headed into the dealership and had his frame inspected.  Long story short – Toyota offered to buy back his Tacoma at a KBB “excellent” valuation, which was actually a higher valuation than what our parents paid for the truck back in 2003!

I was with Taylor when he cashed in the old Tacoma at the local dealership south of Richmond, VA.  He was not Tacoma-less for long.  Ink still wet on the check from Toyota, we piled into my 4Runner and headed south to North Carolina to look at a replacement – a 2006 double-cab short-bed Tacoma with the coveted TRD Off-Road package (includes a rear e-locker).  Tacomas are worth their weight in gold on the secondhand market, so we had to travel a bit to get a good deal (as good a deal as you can expect on a Tacoma…).  Taylor ended up driving the truck  home that day.

Taylor’s 2006 DCSB Tacoma in George Washington National Forest

For about the first year of ownership, Taylor managed to keep the Tacoma stock and it performed admirably.  Eventually (and probably partially because of my bad influence…) Taylor caught the mod bug.  Since then, Taylor has taken a cost-conscious approach to the build, opportunistically picking up some key parts (bumper, sliders) secondhand at huge discounts, and has thoughtfully carried out other mods to maximize his bang for the buck.  The result is an extremely capable truck (going everywhere the 4Runner and Land Cruiser can) with much less money invested.

Taylor’s Tacoma – Extremely Capable!

Taylor has gotten good use out of the truck, from hunting in central VA, to offroading in George Washington National Forest, and even traversing the class-IV roads of Vermont.  Nothing says “overland capable” like driving 600 miles up to Vermont from central VA, wheeling pretty hard, and then driving back those same 600 miles.

Current Modifications:

Tires:

BF Goodrich KM2 255/85/16

Exterior Modifications:

ARB Front Bumper (Craigslist find!)

AllPro Bump-out Sliders (Tacomaworld.com forum find: purchased secondhand, but unused at a steep discount!)

Rigid Industries Dually D2 driving lights (mounted in the front grille)

Suspension:

Bilstein 5100 Shocks (front set to 2.5” of lift)

Rear Add-a-Leaf

Interior:

Uniden Pro 520XL CB Radio with 4ft Firestik

What’s next?  In no particular order…

8000lb Winch

Uni-Ball Upper Control Arms

Aftermarket Skid Plates

CBI Rear Bumper

Softopper Bed Top

Let’s not forget the utility of a truck bed for the camp site!