Hello! New member here living in Oklahoma. I love the outdoors (hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, etc) and my wife and I used to do a lot of backpacking when we were younger. Now we have 2 children (ages 4 and 2) and we want to get them involved in the outdoors and hopefully be as passionate about it as we are. If nothing else, they will get to experience nature some and if everything turns out all right, they will look back and cherish the memories. My wife and I, who have been together since high school, haven't really done any vehicular camping in our life (I'm 33, my wife is 32). However, with the young ones in tow, this is the route we see ourselves going for the foreseeable future.
I've had a lot of off-road vehicles in my time, mostly jeeps. Typically built for crawling and/or just playing around off-road. For the past 2 years, I've been driving an old 1995 F-150 (my hunting truck previously) and putting back the money saved looking at all options as to what vehicle I would base my build off of. After a lot of time spent scouring the internet, I decided on a Toyota Tacoma as my base vehicle. I still need a truck for a lot of things I do, so that narrowed it down a bit. I've owned one Tacoma and one 4Runner in the past and both were great vehicles. With that said, I'm currently waiting for the 2020 model's to hit the lots and buy one new. I like the new additions the 2020 models will have and am willing to wait and pay for those features.
Knowing I am going to buy a new Tacoma, I've been buying a few things as sales come up. So far I've bought the following:
- OME BP-51 Suspension - make room for larger tires and more travel.
- SPC Upper Control Arms - prevent rubbing.
- Victory 4x4 Roof Rack - to carry additional items.
Other items on the short list for me are:
- Tires - number 1 thing that typically needs an upgrade in my opinion.
- Rock Sliders - rocker panels are expensive to fix and it will allow me access to my roof rack.
- Lighting - I like to able to see where I'm going.
- Diamondback Bed Cover - To keep stuff reasonably dry and I can stack waterproof items on top. Still need my truck bed for hauling non camping items.
- Recovery Boards - most situations I've found myself needing recovery where usually due to loss of traction.
Those items above will be installed immediately once I receive the new truck. The list of "things to add in the future" is significantly longer, but I'd like to get out there some and see what I NEED vs what I WANT. Well, I hope that introduction wasn't too long. I really look forward to learning a lot of new things as my family and I embark on this new journey. I'm really excited about getting into the outdoors in this new way and teaching my children about the outdoors. My father wasn't around to teach me anything about the outdoors and I'm fortunate enough to be there for my kids and guide them along the way. I'm sure some things we will be learning together, lol. Thank you for taking the time to read this, if you've come this far. Have a great weekend! - I'll be starting mine by going on a wild hog hunt tonight.
