Long-time reader of Ex-Po just getting back into this after a few years. Until recently, I haven't had a project vehicle for a while but have appreciated all the ideas and tech here. It's been a great site for daydreaming and brainstorming.
I had a 1996 T100 for almost 20 years and a quarter of a million miles---SAS, 37s, air lockers, FROR full float conversion, on and on. Time, money, and space finally conspired against me, and I sold it. The photo below is about 6 months after that. I warned the buyer MTs were not a good commuter tire for the Seward Highway in winter, so he replaced my Pitbull Rockers with the set of the Toyos you see. Go figure.
On a pretty tight budget after letting go of the T, I spent several years pushing (punishing?) a reconstructed 2000 Rav4 to its limit---stock, no mods other than four zip ties holding in the grille, a fly patch velcro'ed to the headliner, and some milk crate storage.
It started to really tire out this winter, though, and I wanted back into a Toyota truck. I found this well-cared for, slightly mod'ed, and reasonably priced 2007 Tundra a couple of months ago and pulled the trigger---5.7, standard cab, 6 ft bed, SR5, 4 in lift, rear airbags (manual), 35x12.5 ExoGrapplers (also not great commuter tires, but at least they're 3-peak rated and studded; back to Nokians next winter), Fab Fours bumper (meh, kind of a boat anchor but will take a winch readily). New beginning.
First thing I need is a recovery system...actually, the first thing I need is rid of the Clemson decal in the back window. From there, we'll see. There's lots on the list besides recovery gear and replacement decals---airbag controls in the cab, gears and lockers, snorkel, better sliders and skids, a habitat of some kind, whatever else I haven't thought up yet---although, it won't be terribly quick. My budget still isn't so solvent that I can just kit this thing out in one fell swoop. Plus, I'm still cool with tenting it in bear country, and as-is this will get me back into some old fishing holes I haven't been able to reach for a while with just the Rav---priorities.