3rd Gen Tacoma Build

Year / Make / Model

2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road

Mileage

79,156

Year Purchased

May 2020

The Story Behind My Tacoma Build

It was the beginning of the overland boom, and I had spent about a year figuring out how I was going to get into a truck and start building my own version of an overland “expedition” vehicle. I had always liked Tacomas, but the 3rd generation was the one that finally pushed me over the edge.

In 2021, I bought the Tacoma I still have today. Less than two weeks later, I was already wrenching on it, installing parts, and slowly turning it into the truck it is now — or at least the current version of it.

What makes this truck special to me isn’t just that it was my first overland vehicle. It was the first vehicle I really learned to build myself. I started with simple bolt-on parts, then installed my first suspension with my grandpa in his shop, learned how to work through problems as they came up, and made plenty of mistakes along the way. There were stripped bolts, late nights, parts that didn’t fit the way I expected, and more than one moment wondering how I was going to get to work the next morning with the truck still sitting on jack stands.

That process changed how I looked at trucks completely. I went from being someone who liked modified trucks to someone who wanted to understand how everything worked, how to install it, how to make it better, and how to build a vehicle around the way I actually wanted to use it.

The Tacoma also became the starting point for Overlandaholic. It gave me something of my own to photograph, write about, experiment with, and eventually build a much bigger creative outlet around. Through it I’ve met people I probably never would have met otherwise, worked with brands I genuinely admire, found new opportunities in the automotive and outdoor industries, and built a lot of the experience that has shaped where I am creatively and professionally today.

More than anything, it’s still a work in progress. My taste has changed, the way I use the truck has changed, and I’m constantly finding things I want to simplify, improve, or completely rethink. That’s probably the part I enjoy most.