Thanks for all of the comments and questions.
Yes, that was me you saw in Big Pine - that is where I live when I am not traveling. After all of the comments about being over-gross, etc, I think that it is worth pointing out that very little on the truck is stock when it comes to suspension/brakes. When you start tearing in to the OEM suspension on a TRD Tacoma you will be disappointed in its ability and longevity. I am surprised that Toyota does not offer a real world overland suspension package above the TRD. Both TRD Tacomas I have owned needed major work to be up to the task of any significant off road travel. I don't have all the details together yet on weights, but I will get that info up as soon as I do.
To give you some insight, this is what I am running now for suspension/brakes:
Rear suspension/brakes -
Custom Deaver 11 Leaf Spring - Deaver can custom fabricate based on load and ride height.
Fox custom valved remote reservoir adjustable shocks
Vented brake drums
Stainless brake lines
Fromt suspension/brakes:
Toytech springs
Bilstein 5100 shocks (planing to replace these with Fox coilovers)
Total Chaos UCAs
Vented Discs
Stainless brake lines
Brake work was done by Vince at
www.chtopping.com in Long Beach - and I can't recommend them enough. Most of the parts are modified OEM items, so cost to performance is very high here. In an emergency stop recently the entire rig performed amazingly well. Much of that comes down to suspension - having appropriately dampened shocks, and correct prints heights/rates is so important to safety in this heavily loaded rig.
I would suggest that if you are considering a Four Wheel Camper for your Tacoma that you first upgrade brakes and suspension - whether you plan to off road with it aboard or not.
You will also find that there is very little storage space once you add the camper - which the Aluminess boxes/rear bumper solve.
As for comments about approach angles, location of winch, etc., I think that it's important to know what the truck was built for. It is a real world daily driver and I need it to be able to handle thousands of highway miles a year in addition to being competent on bad/no roads. Aluminess answered the comments about the winch location.
For better or worse, most of us - no matter how avid we are as travelers see very little time on truly on technical terrain. I do wheel into a lot of really rough double track, and the occasional technical section, buy most of the miles I drive are on pavement. For example I drove Steel Pass from Eureka Dunes last week and no issues with clearance or approach angles. The truck is set up now so that fully loaded with gear, people, dogs, water, fuel, etc. it is certainly over gross. However, the modifications made to it allow for safe and stable performance on highway at 80-ish MPH, and also really compliant and competent running in technical terrain. My only issue now is that I want more horse power to compensate for all of the weight. Another $8K for a blower, clutch, headers, exhaust and flywheel are on the 'to do' list now.
With the current boxers/bumpers I am able to travel with gear for two sports and carry enough water/fuel/food to be in the back country for at least a week to ten days assuming that there are multiple days static in one camp. I have since added 6 gallon fuel capacity via some Rotopax gas cans, which extends driving range about 90 miles.
I can't say enough good things about Aluminess and the team there. If you can imagine it and have the cash, they can build it for you. And as pointed out already their stock bumpers are very reasonably priced for what you get. The only down side in dealing with Aluminess is the install. They will mount up your bumper, but do not offer any help with the electrical portion of the install, so you will drive away with non-working lights, winches, etc. Finding someone to perform these tasks at a level equal to your bumpers can be difficult. If you are in SoCal, you should check these guys out:
www.methodsound.com
Michael and Joe at Method were willing to take the project to the level I wanted and I ended up with fully loomed light, winch and dual battery set up with a host of more durable and heavy duty connectors and distribution points. Both bumpers are now fully set up with quick disconnects (Aluminess engineered the rear bumper to take in to account the overhang of the camper and supplied spare brackets for using the bumper without the camper on the truck) in case I ever want to remove a bumper.
