‘19 Taco TRD Sport 4WD Build - Everyday driver turned adventure-mobile

[MO_Taco]

Hello OB, welcome to my build thread!

I bought my Tacoma last year with no intention to find Overlanding when I did. It all started with my first modification, which was replacing the god-awful interior lights with nice, white LED’s. That of course has me watching YouTube and I’m sure you guys know the rest...

Since then I’ve done a few minor upgrades like the pop-a-lock tailgate mod, the OEM Tacoma bed mat, and my homemade shovel mount and planned axe mount (which I’ll make the next post about). That’s about it.

So in planning my purchase of suspension and tires I thought I’d start up a little build thread to keep track of what I’ve done. Hope you all enjoy reading and feel free to comment or ask questions!

 

[MO_Taco]

Shovel/Axe Mount:

Decided to go for a drive by myself last weekend to spot out a few trails to take my girlfriend on her first overnighter. On my way out of town I realized that besides a spare tire, jacks, jumper cables, a few tools and a ham radio I had no recovery gear whatsoever. So I stopped by Harbor Freight on my way out of town to pick up the only thing I could get at a moments notice...A shovel. And the only thing I heard all day were the sounds of the forest, my truck, and the stupid thing bouncing around in the bed.

Naturally, I began scheming up a solution. After seeing some YouTube examples and high-priced prefab options I decided this mount was something I could piece together in the hardware store (well, except the Quick Fist which I promptly ordered off Amazon). This was pretty simple but my challenge was sorting through the countless bolts and nuts to find the right combination. I ended up needing a 4” drop from the T-Slot rail to fit the shovel securely above the fender well. I’ll list the parts below:

2x Elevator Bolt (sized to slide perfectly into the t-slot)
2x Wingnut (for easy movement and removal)
2x 6” Steel Brace (these were pre-drilled and sealed)
2x #10 Bolts, Lock Nuts, and Washers (sized for the pre-drilled holes in the brace/quickfist)

Seeing how this turned out I definitely plan on getting an identical setup for an axe on the other side. Here’s some pictures of the process:

 

[MMc]

That will work! I don't cary a axe, I do have a saw. Taco's are good truck that can take to fun places.
Make sure you girlfriend has a great time, cook and clean, favorite drink, bathrooms comfortable sleeping . If she is new to camping make sure she doesn't have a bad time, shell never go back.