Plannerman's 2010 Tacoma

[Plannerman]

For as long as I can remember, I have had a fascination with exploration and especially vehicle-dependent exploration. I can remember being 5 or 6 and loading up my toy Tonka truck with toy supplies and playing explorer. Years later I traded in that Tonka truck for hiking boots and, later, a mountain bike. Overtime, I went through several two-wheel drive pick ups and a Jeep Cherokee, all bringing lots of enjoyment through travel and exploration.

Fast forward to 2009 and I finally had an opportunity to purchase my dream truck: a 2009 Tacoma Double Cab 4wd SRD Off Road in magnetic gray with a six-speed manual. Unfortunately, the truck had a weird clutch issue and, after multiple repair attempts, Toyota purchased the truck back from me under California's Lemon Law.

A week later, we rolled the dice and purchased a 2010 Tacoma, this time with an automatic transmission. This thread will be a chronicle of the adventures exploring with and modifying the truck.

As she sits today:



Details:
Make: Toyota
Model: Tacoma Double Cab 4WD SR5 TRD Off Road
Year: 2010
Engine: 4.0 V6 1GR-FE
Trans: 5 spd Auto
Wheels: Toyota FJ Cruiser/Trail Edition 4Runner alloys, 17" x 7.5", 4.75" back spacing
Tires: BF Goodrich AT, 265/70R17


Current modifications:
Front suspension: Rancho Suspension Prototype Tubular Upper Control Arms, Rancho RS9000XL Adjustable Coil Overs yielding approximately 2 3/4" of lift
Rear suspension: Toyota TSB 4-leaf spring pack, Rancho RS9000XL Adjustable Shocks, 1 1/4" block totalling approximately 2 1/4" of lift
Demello Off Road Bolt-On Sliders
Dynomax cat-back exhaust
Trail wheels/tires: Toyota FJ Cruiser black steelies clad in BF Goodrich MT KM2 255/75R17
Britax toddler safety device
Extra D-rings in bed
Above bed bicycle rack and Hi-Lift Mount
Hard mounted fire extinguisher
Cobra 75 WX ST CB

Future modifications:
ARB front bumper
Winch
Driving/spot lights
Replace/upgrade rear spring pack

I have one principle guiding the modification of this truck: Do as little as possible. These trucks are amazingly capable off the lot and there seems to be few reasons to mess with the design. Also, it seems modifying a vehicle can bring an unfortunate cascade of continous additional modifications. With limited time and money, I will try to limit modifications.

Adventures:
Mojave Road
Mojave National Monument
Death Valley NP
Rock Creek, Eastern Sierras
San Bernardino Mountains
Cleghorn
Holcomb Valley
Santa Ana Mountains
Santiago Peak
San Gabriel Mountains
Lytle Creek
Carrizo Plain
2012 SEMA Show, Las Vegas
Arizona Strip - Kelly Point

 

[highspeed]

subscribed

 

[Lostmanifesto]

Cool truck and look forward to seeing your build. The more I think about my next truck, the more I feel it may be a Tacoma. The trucks off-road prowess is wonderful as is. My previous FJ was packed and loaded with amazing parts that truly never got even close to being used as they should be. My next project will be as minimal as possible while still retaining as much capability as possible. Cheers!

 

[Plannerman]

The FJ is an amazing vehicle! I gave it very close consideration after the passing of my '09 Tacoma. But we had just started our family and I was sure the FJ wasn't going to work (suicide doors + car seat = crazed daddy). The Tacoma is proving to be very capable and I imagine it will be a long time before I can outdrive the limits of the vehicle.

 

[Plannerman]

Gratuitous "first day" shot. This is actually the second day; I can't find day one pics. And yes, the mud flaps were removed the moment I got the truck home. On my '09, the mud flaps got hung up all the time and damaged the clear coat. I learned from that experience.

 

[Plannerman]

I ordered sliders from Demello Offroad as soon as I could. As so many of you know, the rocker panels are quite exposed on a longer vehicle like the Tacoma. I selected bolt on sliders because I wanted the flexibility of removing them at my discretion. These sliders have saved my butt so many times. Definitely the correct first modification.

Picking them up from Demello's shop:



The install. This took me so much longer than I had expected. Drilling through the frame was a chore.

 

[Plannerman]

The day after the sliders were installed, we took the truck out to the hills east of Lake Elsinore. I did not need them for this trail, but the extra peace of mind was fantastic.

 

[Rotorgeek]

I can't see any of your pictures after the one with the boat. When I click on them it tells me they are invalid.

 

[Plannerman]

I can't see any of your pictures after the one with the boat. When I click on them it tells me they are invalid.

Thanks. Better now, I hope.

 

[Plannerman]

Bicycle Mounting

Until I became a father 2 years ago and bought a fixer upper, I had a 15-year streak of mountain biking peppered with competitive events. I am in a different place in life now and racing has all but lost its luster. For now.

At the time I had purchased my truck, I was exploring 12-hour races. I especially liked the 12-hour races because they reminded me of the festival/fun of my early days of mountain bike racing in the late 90s, when racing was a little more carefree and collegial. Racing coupled with camping was pure joy. To better fit a weekend of camping and racing gear, I cobbled together this above-bed rack system using brackets fabbed by MetalMiller of Tacomaworld.com, Yakima cross rails, and my Yakima bicycle tray. The cross bars are loose within the brackets, providing flexibility to move the brackets when unbolted, but have tabs welded within them to prevent the bars from being pulled through. All in all, I have been pleased with the function and will likely get a Yakima or similar cargo basket for additional volume and load carrying flexibility.

 

[Lostmanifesto]

Cool bars man. I race 12 hour events. I have done several of the 12 Hours of Temecula races, some in Big Bear, one in AZ and looking to find some new ones this year. They are definitely fun and the 12 HOT ones are really well put on. Jason does a great job.

 

[Plannerman]

Thanks! Getting the bikes up above the bed really opens up the cargo area.

The Temecula races are a blast! Definitely great trails in the Vail Lake area! As my son gets a little older, I'll start riding regularly again and maybe return to racing. There are so many great races out there that I'd love to try.

 

[Plannerman]

Mojave Trail, Part 1

It's been two years now, but the next major adventure we took the trip on was a west-east traverse of the Mojave Trail. We hit the trail shortly after a major storm came through, making for a very interesting start to the trip. It took us almost two hours to get .9 of a mile from the Afton Canyon campgrounds as several sections of the trail were washed out. The truck handled admirably, raising the eyebrows of my Land Rover driving companion.





This is the famous water crossing at Afton Canyon, completely silted in. It was actually rather hairy to cross as the silt was unconsolidated. If you look closely, you can see the trail boundary posts on either side of the trail are almost completely covered.



This crossing was pretty torn up, too.





Soda Lake was wet and muddy and briny. So we found a detention basin to wash the salty mud off the vehicles.





Our always evolving camp kitchen

 

[Plannerman]

Mojave Trail, Part 2

Snow!


Old mine

 

[Plannerman]

The next step with the truck was an unexpected one. Last summer, Rancho Suspension posted an open call for late Tacoma's to test a new suspension package. I figured, "What the hell?" and threw my name in the hat, even though I had never really considered Rancho. I was playing with lifting my truck and was going through the typical motions, comparing OME, Ironman and Icon and debating whether I needed anything more than new springs and shocks (i.e., upper control arms, etc.).

The Rancho guys were very cool. In exchange for being the Double Cab guinea pig, and maybe using my truck at the 2012 SEMA show, they'd give me a new suspension kit, new cat-back exhaust, and new tires. :victory: Even better, they were very flexible and very sensitive to both my schedule and the fact that they would be working on someone else's property. Again, they were great.





The lift provide the truck with 2 3/4" up front and ~1+ in back (in addition to the 1+ that came from the TSB suspension upgrade). With the upper control arms, the alignment was all back to factory spec. The front springs are rated at 700 lbs. The results were great. The truck drove very well, both on and off road. The new suspension really does well with washboard roads, too. Certainly an improvement over stock. However, the heavy front springs are a little too heavy for a truck sans steel bumper and winch and I sometimes notice a little sensitivity in the steering while on the freeway. Also, with this lift, I got some driveline vibration. You'll probably note the spacer blocks for the rear suspension. Initially, Rancho was going to use an AAL. I don't know why they switched at the last minute. I see this as temporary as my rear springs are starting to fatigue and will need to be replaced/upgraded later this year.

After a few weeks of driving it around, I brought it back to Rancho for a carrier bearing shim and to prep for SEMA. I purchased 17" FJ Cruiser rims and Rancho put 285/70R17 BFG ATs on them. Also, they added a Dynomax cat back exhaust. Then, they added decals and shipped the truck to Vegas for a week.

I have to say, seeing my truck at the SEMA show was one of the coolest things ever. Although, it was way cooler being there with my son.