I bought my first Toyota 4x4 waaay back in 1981. A screeming yellow SR5
with all the chrome i could find on the options list. I quickly added a color matched
camper shell. Back then it was an unusual thing to see the color match but i talked the
vendor into the job. The result was a very nice looking truck! I'm attempting to locate
some of the old pictures and will update this page if i find any to share.Sometime in 1984ish i purchased a 1975 FJ40 hardtop and began tweaking it to our liking. First to go was the hardtop as we were living in Nevada/Reno/Tahoe area and had lots of nice weather. Once my wife's dad saw the lame stock roll bar he asked if he could "borrow" the rig for the weekend (he is a proWelder). . . come Monday when i picked it up it had a windshield hoop, two front seat hoops, a rear hoop and three longitudinal support bars front to back. It looked like a moving oil derrick but his daughter was safe! I then began a winter long project of pulling out the JapSix and replacing it with a Chevy327. That is one nice mod for an FJ if you are thinking of doing it! Takes several hundred pounds off the rig, and you'll nearly double your milage depending on carbs. OK, enough of my Yota history. . .
Along comes 2007. . . 25 years of fun marriage and two volvo awd wagons later. . .
my four-wheeling wife and I decide to get back to our roots now that the nest is nearly empty
with our youngest heading off into the "Blue" as an Air Force mechanic like his older sis did
a few years back.
After some careful study, much of which took place reading hundreds of posts
over at the ExpeditionPortal.com forum
our choice in rigs was a 2007 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 TRD ready for some light off road adventures.
Within three weeks of delivery we had a color matched A.R.E. camper shell on the truck bed,
and a week later i had outfitted the interior with a removable bed platform
with storage underneath.
On this page are some images of the exterior rig. At the bottom of this page
you will see links to further details on the camper shell and access-cab. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the views.
Happy Trails!
Thom
For a closer look at the interior build of the camper shell take a look at these additional pictures
Here are details of a nice Hatch-Back Privacy Shelter
We also purchased and use some nice storage containers for use inside the Access Cab