oakleymiller
New member
In January 2023 my wife slid through a stop sign on black ice and totaled her 2012 GX460. I took this golden opportunity to put her in our 2016 200 series Land Cruiser and buy a 2023 Tundra with 7 miles from our local Toyota dealer. I've had dozens of Toyotas over the last 10 years and far and away the new tundra is my favorite all around platform. Its powerful, nimble and above all it is comfortable. In 2022 I had a long bed tundra but sold it for the LC. What I learned was that for my situation I really needed a shorter truck, even if it's only one foot shorter. So, I bought a black crewmax platinum. I was able to get the last TRD lift that my dealer had in stock and have it installed before I drove it off the lot.
For wheels and tires I was able to get 4 of the last 6 lug rock warriors in stock through Toyota North America. The lug holes are bored to 12mm for 4Runners, Tacomas, Etc. The 3rd gen tundra is a deviation from 5 lug to 6 lug but they stuck with the 14mm studs so I paired them with a set of 1.25' Spidertrax spacers to be able to run the RW's (I've put hundreds of thousands of miles on spacers and never had an issue).
Between purchasing the truck in late February and early May I knew I wanted a popup camper shell; something along the lines of a Project M, GFC, Alucab or AT Habitat. However, I could not justify the price of a new AT, PM or All and I haven't been too impressed with the final product of the GFC. In may, a used AT Habitat in great shape popped up in Denver for around 60% of the cost of a new one. The seller had it on a first gen Raptor but claimed it was off a 2.5 gen Tundra. So after a call to AT to confirm that the dimensions of their product did not change between the different TT body styles I pulled the trigger. I had a buddy who was already planning on going to Denver to pick up a GFC Superlite the same weekend so we caravanned out and snagged them. The AT was better in person than it was in the photos although not perfect. The steel crossbars were rusting through the powder coat and the aluminum skin was obviously not as polished as a new one would be. It was my first time inside a Habitat and the amount of space inside it was incredible. I could stand up at 6'2" and not touch the ceiling with my hand. Loved it.
I have done a little to get the dash setup dialed to be able to run my maps, and an iPad for my audio / copilot on longer trips.
Since February 27, 2023 I have logged 19,715 miles or just under 4,000 miles a month on regional trips to Southern Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and more.
I have a Warn Zeon 12-S I am waiting to bolt on to whatever bumper I end up going with and an ARB dual compressor I will pair with a dual battery system as soon as Cristo has finished development on these. I am going to do these as well as sliders, front bumper and rear bumper with swing outs and then my buildout will largely be done. I subscribe to less is more and have had no capability issues so far in some very remote areas. The OEM bumpers have no recovery points however, so I do not want to push my luck for too much longer
My goal is to do Prudhoe to Baja in 2023 and Baja to Ushuaia in 2024. I've done most of these already when I participated in Expeditions 7 between 2011-2014 and have been dying to return since then. This truck has been great so far and I think it would be great over the thousands of miles between Prudhoe and Ushuaia.
For wheels and tires I was able to get 4 of the last 6 lug rock warriors in stock through Toyota North America. The lug holes are bored to 12mm for 4Runners, Tacomas, Etc. The 3rd gen tundra is a deviation from 5 lug to 6 lug but they stuck with the 14mm studs so I paired them with a set of 1.25' Spidertrax spacers to be able to run the RW's (I've put hundreds of thousands of miles on spacers and never had an issue).
Between purchasing the truck in late February and early May I knew I wanted a popup camper shell; something along the lines of a Project M, GFC, Alucab or AT Habitat. However, I could not justify the price of a new AT, PM or All and I haven't been too impressed with the final product of the GFC. In may, a used AT Habitat in great shape popped up in Denver for around 60% of the cost of a new one. The seller had it on a first gen Raptor but claimed it was off a 2.5 gen Tundra. So after a call to AT to confirm that the dimensions of their product did not change between the different TT body styles I pulled the trigger. I had a buddy who was already planning on going to Denver to pick up a GFC Superlite the same weekend so we caravanned out and snagged them. The AT was better in person than it was in the photos although not perfect. The steel crossbars were rusting through the powder coat and the aluminum skin was obviously not as polished as a new one would be. It was my first time inside a Habitat and the amount of space inside it was incredible. I could stand up at 6'2" and not touch the ceiling with my hand. Loved it.
I have done a little to get the dash setup dialed to be able to run my maps, and an iPad for my audio / copilot on longer trips.
Since February 27, 2023 I have logged 19,715 miles or just under 4,000 miles a month on regional trips to Southern Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and more.
I have a Warn Zeon 12-S I am waiting to bolt on to whatever bumper I end up going with and an ARB dual compressor I will pair with a dual battery system as soon as Cristo has finished development on these. I am going to do these as well as sliders, front bumper and rear bumper with swing outs and then my buildout will largely be done. I subscribe to less is more and have had no capability issues so far in some very remote areas. The OEM bumpers have no recovery points however, so I do not want to push my luck for too much longer
My goal is to do Prudhoe to Baja in 2023 and Baja to Ushuaia in 2024. I've done most of these already when I participated in Expeditions 7 between 2011-2014 and have been dying to return since then. This truck has been great so far and I think it would be great over the thousands of miles between Prudhoe and Ushuaia.
