Greetings from an Expedition Newb

YotaPilot

Adventurer
Greetings all. I thought I would post up and introduce myself. I am the proud owner of a new to me 2001 Tacoma DC with TRD. The truck is in amazing shape for it's age, and is completely stock with only one owner and all maint records :Wow1:. I have many plans for it in the works. Thanks to all in the forum who have posted up about there 1st Gen Tacomas, especially the DCs. Your threads are what inspired me to pick up this truck when I saw it. I have been doing much reading and I love the variety of the builds.

About me...I am KC-130 pilot in the US Marine Corps. I currently live in Okinawa, but will be moving to Corpus Christi, TX this summer, hence the truck purchase.

Here are a few of builds that I have been lurking through, looking for inspiration. :coffee: Any other suggestions are welcome.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/61733-Trump-s-03-Tacoma

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/36571-RSB-s-Radiant-Red-Tacoma-build

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/2747-Willman-s-2001-Tacoma

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/39134-Box-Rocket-03-DC-Tacoma-Build

All awesome builds, and I hope my truck can one day look as good as those.


And because we all love pictures, here are a few of my new rig. Hope to see you all on the trail soon. :smiley_drive:

IMG_6205+%u002528800x600%29.jpg

IMG_6191+%u002528800x600%29.jpg
 

haddix

Adventurer
Welcome. Good looking truck. Looks identical to mine just a few months ago. What are your initial plans?
 

NothingClever

Explorer
Welcome to the Portal. I concur with your good taste in trucks :D .

I offer up the phrase "all in moderation" on the Tacoma. You're a smart cookie and you're obviously doing your due dilgence in homework. I suspect you'll see (or have already seen) a dominant strategy of tackling the suspension before anything else. Make sure to get that right so that you open up flexibility with tire choices and final intended load to suit your intended use. Not sure if you've run across it but Toytec offers a great kit which will give you lift and flex without sticker shock (No affiliation, just a satisified customer). IMO, it's a little better than the OME kit but without a leap in price. You can get as sexy as you want with other brands such as Icon, King, etc, etc.

After suspension, you can, of course, armor your truck a bunch but if you don't intend on rock-crawling, it isn't really that necessary, IMO. I've had my Toyota all over 'blue' trails (FunTreks rating) in the Rocky Mountains and all I've done to my truck is the Toytec Ultimate kit (plus airbags and Alcan springs for my Four Wheel Camper). I re-geared it to 4.88 because of the weight of the camper. Without the load, I probably wouldn't have re-geared it. No armor, just careful route selection.

At any rate, a well-defined, realistic scope of use is the best start point before accessorizing. I'm confident you'll be as accurate as your best boom operator.

PCSing from Oki to Corpus...that's a pretty good follow-on. I went from Colorado to Florida and I think this is it until I walk across the stage for my GO handshake.

Take care and keep us posted!
 

YotaPilot

Adventurer
Welcome. Good looking truck. Looks identical to mine just a few months ago. What are your initial plans?

Initial plans are suspension and protection. For suspension I am considering the OME kit and for protection I am considering ARB front and all-pro side and rear. From there I'm not sure where I'll go. Maybe wheels, rack, RTT...the list goes on and on.
 

YotaPilot

Adventurer
Welcome to the Portal. I concur with your good taste in trucks :D .
At any rate, a well-defined, realistic scope of use is the best start point before accessorizing. I'm confident you'll be as accurate as your best boom operator.

PCSing from Oki to Corpus...that's a pretty good follow-on. I went from Colorado to Florida and I think this is it until I walk across the stage for my GO handshake.

Take care and keep us posted!

Actually, no boom operators on our planes. We just send out some hoses and make the receivers do all the work. See below.
As for Oki to Corpus I am stoked. Back to back flying tours are hard to come by these days, plus I have always wanted to be a flight instructor, which is what I will be doing there.

DSC00758-ec.jpg
 

trump

Adventurist
Jumping in late to give you a welcome from "Raider" country! It's a small world... I'm a former "Sumo" myself.

Let me know if you have any questions about your future build.
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
Welcome to the forums! My avatar should tell you I have more than a passing familiarity with the C-130 platform! (It's actually my favorite aircraft. Yeah, fighter planes are sexy but C-130's put Boots On the Ground! ;) )

JMDOOR1.jpg


I didn't realize an F-18 could fly slow enough to fuel up from a Herc...

Anyway, you'll find a lot of good ideas on the forum. Being in Corpus Christi I guess you'll want to set your Taco up for beach running?
 

YotaPilot

Adventurer
Jumping in late to give you a welcome from "Raider" country! It's a small world... I'm a former "Sumo" myself.

Let me know if you have any questions about your future build.

Awesome to hear...it is a small world. What did you do when you were with the Sumos?
I will most definitely sends questions your way if I have them. You build is awesome and I will be using it as reference when I start mine.

Martinjmpr
Welcome to the forums! My avatar should tell you I have more than a passing familiarity with the C-130 platform! (It's actually my favorite aircraft. Yeah, fighter planes are sexy but C-130's put Boots On the Ground! )
I didn't realize an F-18 could fly slow enough to fuel up from a Herc...
Anyway, you'll find a lot of good ideas on the forum. Being in Corpus Christi I guess you'll want to set your Taco up for beach running?

The C-130 is a sexy plane...the KC-130J is even Sexier. See below for reference. The fighter guys have nothing on us. We get more hours and are more comfortable. I can get up, take a piss, drink some coffee, cook a hot pocket in the microwave, then go back to flying.
The F-18 can fly surprisingly slow. We refuel them at about 220 knots (~230 mph). It's not their most efficient airspeed, but they are fine.
I will definitely be doing beach running in Corpus, however, I will not be focusing my build on that. I would like to do trips to Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. I think those states are some of the most beautiful in the country and would like to get into the back country and explore.

MC-130J.jpg
 

Joker

Adventurer
My avatar should tell you I have more than a passing familiarity with the C-130 platform! (It's actually my favorite aircraft. Yeah, fighter planes are sexy but C-130's put Boots On the Ground! ;) )

I agree 100% nothing cooler than being in the back of a C-130 and the LM screaming over the engine noise, "YOUR DOOR ARMY!"
 

Box Rocket

Well-known member
Congrats on the purchase, and more importantly thanks for your service! Looks like your somewhat familiar with my build already but feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Good luck with the build.
 

trump

Adventurist
Awesome to hear...it is a small world. What did you do when you were with the Sumos?
I will most definitely sends questions your way if I have them. You build is awesome and I will be using it as reference when I start mine.

Thanks! Yeah, let me know and I'll send you my email. I was working in Airframes and was a home grown Flight Mech during the legacy days. Was in Oki from '01-03. Loved my time out there... That command operated like a well oiled machine.
 

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