(Here's the backstory, skip on down below if you are just interested in the truck.)
My wife and I have used a SUV (first a Jeep ZJ, then a 3rd gen 4Runner) as our primary wheeling/camping vehicle for many years. After having our first child we realized that the extra space taken by the car seat and miscellaneous kid paraphernalia was making things really cramped in the 4Runner, so we started looking into other truck options. Our requirements ran into the standard fight between trail capability and capacity. We would like something small enough to run semi-difficult (and narrow) trails such as Slick Rock and Deer Valley, but that is comfortable and can carry enough gear for longer family trips.
We identified a few brand new options (Rubicon, 4Runner, Diesel Colorado) that we liked, but had a hard time justifying paying $40k+ for a vehicle and then constantly worrying about it getting scratched and dinged, especially since updated versions of many of these were coming out in the next few years.
Ultimately we decided to try out a double cab truck since they have a good amount of storage in the bed and would also be useful for house projects. Neither of us has personally owned a truck before (but we have several in our extended family) so this would be an experiment to see how we liked the format of the truck and also how the extra length works out on the trail. We looked at Nissan Frontiers, but decided to go with a Tacoma based on how reliable our 4Runner has been. As a bonus resale values for Tacomas are high so if we decide to sell it after a few years the depreciation shouldn't be too bad.
It turns out that 2nd gen Tacoma TRD double cab short beds are pretty hard to come by, but in September of 2017 I ended up flying down to LA to purchase a 2010 and then drove it back up to the Bay Area. Almost 2 years later I'm finally getting around to starting a build thread.
I purchased it from the original owner who had taken excellent care of the truck and who had detailed maintenance records. He had modified it, and though he had taken off some parts before the sale many other nice bits came along with the rig such as OME Dakar springs, sPod, Viar compressor, Cobra CB, UCAs, Weather Tech floormats, Katzkin leather seats, and some other items.
In this thread I'll document some of the changes I've made and our thoughts on if we are "truck people" or not.
My wife and I have used a SUV (first a Jeep ZJ, then a 3rd gen 4Runner) as our primary wheeling/camping vehicle for many years. After having our first child we realized that the extra space taken by the car seat and miscellaneous kid paraphernalia was making things really cramped in the 4Runner, so we started looking into other truck options. Our requirements ran into the standard fight between trail capability and capacity. We would like something small enough to run semi-difficult (and narrow) trails such as Slick Rock and Deer Valley, but that is comfortable and can carry enough gear for longer family trips.
We identified a few brand new options (Rubicon, 4Runner, Diesel Colorado) that we liked, but had a hard time justifying paying $40k+ for a vehicle and then constantly worrying about it getting scratched and dinged, especially since updated versions of many of these were coming out in the next few years.
Ultimately we decided to try out a double cab truck since they have a good amount of storage in the bed and would also be useful for house projects. Neither of us has personally owned a truck before (but we have several in our extended family) so this would be an experiment to see how we liked the format of the truck and also how the extra length works out on the trail. We looked at Nissan Frontiers, but decided to go with a Tacoma based on how reliable our 4Runner has been. As a bonus resale values for Tacomas are high so if we decide to sell it after a few years the depreciation shouldn't be too bad.
It turns out that 2nd gen Tacoma TRD double cab short beds are pretty hard to come by, but in September of 2017 I ended up flying down to LA to purchase a 2010 and then drove it back up to the Bay Area. Almost 2 years later I'm finally getting around to starting a build thread.
I purchased it from the original owner who had taken excellent care of the truck and who had detailed maintenance records. He had modified it, and though he had taken off some parts before the sale many other nice bits came along with the rig such as OME Dakar springs, sPod, Viar compressor, Cobra CB, UCAs, Weather Tech floormats, Katzkin leather seats, and some other items.
In this thread I'll document some of the changes I've made and our thoughts on if we are "truck people" or not.