What would you do?

[aowanders.com]

The Tacomas could be had with a 6' bed... is that what you have, or the 5'? Also, the engine on the Tacoma is the 4.0l or the 2.7l? How many miles on the trucks?

Is this just you or ...?

At any rate I'd keep one of the trucks and build a camper on the frame. That's what I did.

My tacoma is a v6 4.0L 6 foot bed with 240,000 miles but the tranny and clutch have less than 10,000.
The 2018Tundra just hit 90,000 miles. I would say i baby it, but it carries a truck camper on it 24/7 so probably a stretch to say that.

Yeah its just me. Dog died last summer and relationships are more challenging when your a full time nomad.

The original plan was to build this on the Tacoma and spend chapter 2 of this life wandering North, South and Central America in that rig. Than covid hit. then a v8 truck landed in my lap, then the elderly parents chapter of life began. Now 5 years later I'm thinking about circling back to my life.

Did you build on a tacoma?

 

[aowanders.com]

You may have a problem here?
I do not know you or your goals in life, your life style, just to name a few. We do not these answers so, I will point out some thoughts and only you have the answers.

Depending to the length of time you will be gone, will make the decision of keeping or selling the other vehicles. Like a 3 month gone time or 3 years, totally different answers. Just having a glamping chariot with your budget can be doable. Use what you have! Paying for a vehicle sitting at home while traveling. (my opinion) A waste of money as it still deprecates sitting there. You can sell it for extra money for your adventure.

Extended travel generally limits your income.
Do you have plans for your income?
Do you own a home and have house payments?
Are you married?
Are you retired or working?

With my years of experience, I need these question answered (for a start) to give you any usable answers.

That is my Indian Head nickle.

Thanks for making it an Indian head nickle instead of a shiny penny.

My transparent story.....

I've been a full time nomad traveling by way of the restaurant and hospitality industry since 1998. When covid hit and put that entire industry on life support I checked out gig work until I realized the exploitation was too much for the income, and can be ripped away at any moment for any reason without any valid appeal options. What most people do for a semester or a gap year I've done for almost 30 years as a kind of working vacation. I am not worried about money. Thats easy to find, but............

I also have a ......

travel blog - aowanders.com - that earns advertising income, affiliate marketing income, print on demand income, guest post income, link placement income and product testing income.

myadventurejobs.com - seasonal and/or travlers jobboard ----i've neglected it for a few years but it can produce all the same income
mytshirtaddiction.com - custom designed clothing and apparel (heavy on travel and nomad designs : D: )
mycommunitycalendars.com - free user populated calendar that sorts all events by zipcode ( just finished building it so its a ghost town, but I have monetization ideas)
aodigitalsolutions.com - one stop shop of freelance digital services for anyone that needs graphic design, web development, branding systems, motion graphics, video editing, content creation, social media management and/or coaching.

Plus every social media platform is paying anyone who wants to make mindless entertainment content.
I could start a tutorial channel teaching graphic design and monetize it with adshare revenue, affiliate marketing and courses.

So the laptop money foundation has been built.

I have no bills besides a cell phone payment. No kids. No wife. No dog. No responsiblities. No Obligations. When you've been travleing this long you've mastered a minimalistic lifestyle. Because at one point the goal was to drive around the world like kombilife. Maybe thats still the goal, but for now I'm on buildind the rig chapter.

 

[simple]

Cool. I was talking about a box van like the one rruff posted but 2ft longer.

 

[DirtWhiskey]

Buy a 3rd Gen Ram Cummins or a 7.3 Super Duty short bed. Rip the bed off and install a cheap Aluma 8 footer. Buy a cheap hard sided camper or use the one you have. Bolt it to the flatbed and fill the gaps on the sides of the flatbed with boxes. Drive to Baja.

I just picked up a 3rd Gen Ram with some dings and dents. 2k on a new long block Cummins, new built tranny, turbo, injectors, CP3 and everything steering and suspension. Not a show truck, had brodozer wheels. Guy had it for sale for 14k, I offered him 9k cash quick. Picked it up and drove away. The guy did all the install himself (he is a John Deer tractor mechanic) and he needed cash quick.

This was in Utah, which is a really tough truck market for buyers. So the deals are out there. Watch FB marketplace and KSL. The worse the ad, the pictures and grammar are the better.

 

[rruff]

Did you build on a tacoma?

2016 Tundra, DC 8' bed.

The rig choice is highly dependent on how you want to live. I'd say the Tacoma would be nice if you like to be minimal and camp in the boonies... but the mileage isn't ideal. My truck was originally bought with a couple in mind, but she left... and now that I'm collecting SS and the testosterone levels have declined a bit, I think if there is a "she", she will probably need her own rig. Anyway, it's a lot bigger than what I need but I've grown accustomed to it. In the 90s I lived in a wee '84 2wd Toyota and with a roommate for a good chunk of that time, but I'm less motivated now.

Back to how you want to live. I hope to be able to return every winter to where I'm currently camping, and a less offroad capable rig would have a tough time. There is one spot where I regularly hit the frame due to an overly long wheelbase, and I may bump up to 37s from 35s to help with that. 4lo is used a lot, and though I don't have any lockers, the ATRAC has worked quite well when I've needed it. It seems to easily crawl up hills that I can't get enough traction to walk up.

Since I discovered sponge bathing with vinegar and water, I use far less water than I did in the 90s, and I'm always clean and presentable... even though there is no one around to care. I clean my bike clothes with the same mix.

You mentioned a cell bill. Starlink has a $5/mo standby mode, which is unlimited data throttled to 500kb/s... which is surprisingly ok to work around. The dish/router is $230 now. Good option if you like being away from the things of man, where cell service is usually lacking. I have Visible cell also for $25/mo which is unlimited hotspot and 20x faster... but that's only when I have a good signal, which is rarely the case when I'm camping; usually it's unusable, but the Starlink works.

Anyway, I think your Tundra would work fine if your like to camp in remote places and don't need a lot of stuff. Take your back seats out and you can store a lot in there. I have my bike, 9 gal of drinking water, tools, and 6 big crates full of stuff back there, and yours is bigger. You can make your camper longer than the bed (add a foot or so), and do flatbed style. I just reinforced the floor and made a pseudo 3 point pivot rather than getting a flatbed, and it seems to be working great. You do need to pay attention to weight, but suspension and tire upgrades will help a lot.

 

[FreedomTraveler]

If you only had $35,000 what would you do, if your goal was a full time 4x4 hard walled mobile habitat that could function as a glamping chariot at a local campground or if the ambition is there ---take on a global road trip?

Assets you own to use in combination of bag of money.

2012 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 crew cab manual 6-speed transmission - free and clear
2018 Toyota Tundra 5.7L V8 4x4 Crew cab -Not free and clear
Sunlite 690 Truck Camper- Remodeled with basic solar.

Rip the truck bed off the Tacoma and build a flatbed camper?
Trade/Sell the Tacoma for a __________?

Buy a new rig and build it out? What kind of rig? Ambo? Vanlife? Short school bus? Box truck? Military vehicle? Different base truck and build my own?

Rip the truck bed off the Tundra and build a habitat? ( The reason I keep suggesting flatbed truck camper cuz wheel wells take up valuable real estate that house something more beneficial)

I don't want a trailer of any kind. It limits mobiliy and accessibility. I had one for 8 years. Also no pop-ups or softwalls as I love skiing.

Really curious to get some feedback.

Aowanders, Not knowing what your Sunlite weights or what your trucks can support my advise will be by my examples. Keep what you got and make it as bulletproof as possible for long international overland trips. Stay out of debt, especially if you are retired. The last three overland vehicles I have built have cost less than $25K. each. Of course, it helps if you have the space, ability, and tools to do the work yourself. Example A. 2003 Ford F-150 4wd. / NL 6.10 TC built onto a flatbed with side storage and pass thru. ( Single cab on a 6' bed ) 16.5' long, built for Europe. ( I am setting in it now in Morocco. ) Example B. ( ( My future replacement for my 20' Class C. ) 2003 Ford F-150 7700 Series 4wd. / Sunrader TC build the same way. Example C. 1993 Dodge W250 W/ Sunrader camper body from a 1983 Toyota. Same basic build as tiger's Flatbed supported by steel supports bolted 90 deg. to the trucks frame. In conclusion, whatever you build know the weights; Tires, axles, springs,etc. The road are not always smooth out here! Good luck in whatever you decide.