Daryl Hutson here… from JCR Off-Road & Victory 4×4! I’m a Jeep guy. That means I ‘wave back’. I think crossover SUVs are basically minivans, and I’m probably going to have an eclectic collection of rusting junk in my backyard one day. It’s likely my father’s fault, as he owned (only) a CJ-5 when I was born. It didn’t even have a back seat. And it was overall a horrible family vehicle. But 1981 was a different time I guess. As a kid, I rode around in that topless CJ. And it infected me with some sorta weird Jeep disease that laid dormant until I was 20 years old. That’s about when I sold my Ford Probe SE (stop laughing) for a ’93 Jeep Wrangler. After that purchase, I joined a 4wd club, and like the other Jeep owners there, I started making fun of the Toyota drivers.
So why a Toyota Tacoma?
As car people know, a loving banter between brands is nothing new. And the Toyota 4Runners & pickups were a breed of their own. They introduced us to strange concepts like Birfields, solid axle swaps, and multiple transfer cases. Those Toyotas turned like battleships, but drove over everything they were pointed at & rarely broke down. So of course, they were mocked mercilessly by the Jeep owners. Oh, how smug we were in our Wranglers & Cherokees with our outstanding ‘inline six’ engines & questionable factory drive train components. The gunshot crack of an exploded u-joint only eclipsed by a broken Dana 35 axle shaft. Those were the days!
But fast-forward to today…
When one can buy a Wrangler Rubicon capable of driving over any mountain, practically any obstacle in its way, and then driving back in town for pizza. At present, there’s little that a Jeep owner could lust over.
So I bought a Toyota Tacoma…
Mostly because it had a bed to haul all the things that I started to carry everywhere. For example: Mountain bikes, a rooftop tent, water, extra fuel, cooking gear, various coffee making devices, beer, more beer, and groceries for a week. PLUS a 75-quart Dometic fridge/freezer combo for trail ice cream! Upon transporting all those things on trails to go camping, I inadvertently found myself participating in the ‘overlanding’ thing. And I must admit… I quite liked it.
Defining Overlanding is often debated…
Posting an Instagram photo of a truck next to a campsite with a picnic table & tagging #overland is sure to rile up the folks who have worn out their Camel Trophy VHS tapes. But let’s consider a definition from Wikipedia: Overlanding is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the ‘journey’ is the principal goal.
It’s in that vein that I’ve started to seek-out the coolest destinations to drive to. As opposed to the hardest trails to drive on. Setting up camp in a beautiful, remote part of the world, and knowing that there are no other people nearby, is a fantastic feeling. Just those remote views themselves are often rewarding enough for the whole trip. But if there are some fun obstacles along the way, that’s rad as well, and the truck is undoubtedly prepared for it.
So far the Toyota Tacoma life has been pretty amazing…
I’ve made trips on the El Camino del Diablo in Arizona, and the Mojave Road in California. I’ve even explored Jeep trails in the Sawatch Range of Colorado. Not to mention, daily-hauling mountain bikes all over my home-state of Michigan. I have many other trips planned for the future, and I can’t wait to get lost somewhere with my Jeep friends as they start to discover this hobby as well. And while they make fun of me at the campfire for driving a Toyota, I’ll be happy to hand them a cold beer from the fridge. I’m keeping the ice cream to myself though.
Text by Daryl Hutson Photos by Cameron Gregory
This 2016 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport…
Is lifted with a BDS Suspension 6″ system, featuring FOX coilovers and tubular upper arms. The axles are stuffed with air lockers and 4.88 gears from Nitro gear, which help turn 18″ Mamba M19 wheels wrapped in 35″ Falken Wildpeak M/T tires.
Victory 4×4 bumpers, rock sliders, and underbody armor…
Surround the truck; and if all chance of forward-motion gets halted, a WARN VR8s winch is hidden behind the front bumper.
Inside the Toyota Tacoma…
Features a full Kicker audio system with enough watts to scare away any woodland creatures in a 20-mile radius. It’s got a dash-mounted 10″ Android tablet for navigation duty, and communication is handled by a quad-band amateur ham radio. A Genesis dual battery system and a pair of deep cycle batteries keep the power in check.
The Victory 4×4 Toyota Tacoma rack system…
Is the key to the truck’s flexibility, and can mount whatever is necessary for the next expedition, plus an ax; which is always handy for firewood or zombies.
