2001 Toyota Tacoma/ Adventure Vehicle

[mjohnson1]

Hell Everyone,
This is my first forum so bear with me, I am still learning. This past summer I bought a 2001 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 regular cab and I am planning on living out of it for over a year. I am graduating early from college and will be traveling across the country(east to west) starting in January. I am planning on skiing all 9 mountains on the Epic pass. I got the truck for pretty cheap, it has a little over 140,000 miles on it, and a new frame(toyota recall). The bed on the truck was rotted out, which was fine because I wanted to build an aluminum body for it. Due to lack of time and finding a utility body online I am planning on using that to live out of. It should be interesting living out of this body but the storage and it being lightweight should be great.

So far I have taken the bed off of the truck and began some minor rust repair on the fenders and on the top of the cab.
This week I am planning on doing something with the suspension, either new leaf springs, new shocks, or possible airbags. I also need to fix the exhaust which is cut off mid bed.


Attached are pictures of the truck when I bought it, the truck now, the utility bed that will be on it soon, and the possible route I may be taking across the country.

Things I will be doing the the truck:
-Mounting the utility body
-framing out and insulating the utility body
-50 or 100 watt solar panel, regulator, inverter, battery
-new rear led lights
-electrical system for the utility body--> lights, fan, outlet, ext
-Propane boat cabin heater(Sig marine, Cozy Cabin, Force 10 propane heater, model 10000)(in Picture)
-cooking grill
-aluminum roof rack
... and much more to come!






I am currently a full time student so progress has been fairly slow. Hoping to get a lot done over Thanksgiving and winter break. I want to be on the road by January 9th.
Let me know if you have any suggestions!
Thanks

 

[AaronK]

Looking forward to seeing how this build progresses!

Sent from my OnePlus One using Tapatalk.

 

[aaol1]

very nice!

Thats awesome dude, stoked to see how you progress with this! keep posting pics and all that good stuff where would you place your aluminum roof rack? on the utility bed i imagine?

 

[mjohnson1]

Thank you! Yes, the roof rack will be bolted to the top of the utility bed I am going to have it hang over the cab enough to have a solar panel mounted right above the cab and possibly an LED light bar under it.

 

[Willman]

Cool idea. Sounds like a fun way to see the country.

 

[codybutz]

Can't wait to see the utility bed mounted. What was it off originally? Any idea on weight?

 

[NODNARB]

Very cool... Looking forward to updates.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mjohnson1]

The bed is off of a ford ranger(I didn't even know Reading made them for Rangers). I am excited to mount it, but keep telling myself to wait because it is much easier to work on the rear suspension without it. I will be sure to post pictures

 

[jerstw]

Great build and reason for doing so...wish I would have taken a year off after college back in the day and road tripped. I see you have Afton Alps on there...my wife grew up in Afton and we are about 45 minutes from there on the west side of Minneapolis. Afton Alps and Afton State Park, which is right next to it, are pretty cool places. Right on the St. Croix river, fat biking and snow shoeing in the winter in addition to skiing. When are you planning to head through the area? Sounds like a graduation burger and beer are in order.

 

[amo292]

Awesome Idea! I look forward to following along. I think that will be a great setup. I was hoping to do a similar tip this winter also but on a limited time schedule due to still having another semester of school left.

Where in Maine are you located? I am in seacoast NH and could always lend a hand if needed.

 

[mjohnson1]

I am planning on leaving Maine January 10th if everything is ready. I want to be in Vail by early February, so I should be passing through mid to late January. I will let you know!
I appreciate it!

 

[mjohnson1]

Awesome Idea! I look forward to following along. I think that will be a great setup. I was hoping to do a similar tip this winter also but on a limited time schedule due to still having another semester of school left.

Where in Maine are you located? I am in seacoast NH and could always lend a hand if needed.

I am in Shapleigh Maine, near Sanford. I appreciate the offer, I will definitely let you know if I need a hand. There is a lot to do in a short amount of time.

 

[mjohnson1]

When I mount the aluminum body I am worries about galvanic corrosion between the aluminum and steel. I was thinking of using hockey pucks to keep them separated, but then I still have to worry about the steel bolts I will be using. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[codybutz]

I was just thinking of extremely over complicated ideas of how you could do this, but then I thought why not just call READING and see what they say.

 

[bkg]

When I mount the aluminum body I am worries about galvanic corrosion between the aluminum and steel. I was thinking of using hockey pucks to keep them separated, but then I still have to worry about the steel bolts I will be using. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I would not use hockey pucks... not really up to the task. I've seen hockey pucks crack and crumble when used for body lifts. You have a great built going, don't try to cut corners with the hockey pucks. Maybe a urethane bushing?