Advocate II
I kinda took a Swiss Army Knife approach when putting this girl together. I live in Ohio, so there ain't a lot of rock crawling to be done, mostly mud, hills, woods, etc. Tacomas are pretty capable all around as it is, and this is my daily driver, so big ticket add-ons weren't really called for, or practical. Instead of a locker, I have a winch. Lots of trees here on the North Coast, lol. Besides, the traction control works pretty good when things get a little sketchy. THAT took some getting used to, though. I do have front to back CSI armor underneath because I still do stupid things, even at my age. The Bestop bed topper folds all the way forward so I can use the whole bed without taking it off, so that lends itself to the versatility I need. The drawers in the bed just sit on the bed floor and slide in and out easily even with all my recovery gear and such. Anyone who owns a Taco knows everythng slides crazily around in the plastic bed, so why waste time installing drawer slides. I just put three lengths of treated 2"x10" front to back and topped them off with plywood. From underneath I drilled holes thru the bed floor and ran lag bolts up into the 2x12's to hold everything down. I built the drawers to fit close, but not tight, so they slide easily at any temp without binding, but don't slam around. She's riding on 33" Toyo Open Country II rubber with 10 ply sidewalls mounted on 8x17 rims. L.O.V.E. the tires They ride nice, aren't really loud, and I've never had to use the winch because of the tire's lack of performance...(just other of the stupid things I referred to earlier). (These are the same D.O.T. tires that Stadium Super Trucks race on, so watch a race if you want to see how much abuse they can handle, lol). I have a 3" lift in the front, with all the appropriate spacers to maintain the geometry. To replace the whimpy rear springs, I installed Old Man Emu medium duty spring packs which give me a lift of about 2 3/4" in back for clearance, and a solid but not stiff ride, and they carry the loads much better. Good tire clearance front and rear without any surgery. Between the Prinsu roof rack and the room in the bed of the truck, I can haul a well balanced load of gear for any length overlanding trip. With the ARB awning and the awning room I have that I can hang from it, I have plenty of living area, and can access the inside of the truck from inside the awning room if I need to. She's done everything I've asked of her so far. She's a keeper!
