Hello! My name is Andres, I have been building my 2016 Tacoma DCSB TRD OR 4x4 Auto since November 2015. I am from San Diego, CA. Lived in Tijuana Mexico for 7 years and will be living in the Bay Area after July/2021. I first decided on the Tacoma because I was living in Tijuana riding dirtbikes 2-4 times a week (mostly hard enduro single track). I still ride, but probably 1 a month now. I have mostly dedicated my free weekends to offroading/camping trips in Baja California, Mexico. My original goal for my Tacoma was to make a 4x4 desert Prerunner. As years of owning my Tacoma have passed I now look for a go-anywhere vehicle instead of a fast dirtbike hauler. That being said I just payed off my Tacoma and am madly in love with it, so it is not going anywhere any time soon. I pulled the trigger on 35's back in 2019, and have pretty much paused my build due to the lack of funds, but also lack of necessity. The Taco has been to hell and back... but I have tackled everything Baja has thrown at me these past 5 years.
Stateside I wheel a lot in De Anza Borrego and finished the Mojave trail in 2019 when I first got the 35's... I fried my electronic 4x4 system in a window deep water crossing... and now have a fixed AWD FJ cruiser front axle shaft and FJ cruiser manual Transfer case. (very proud of finally getting all the electronics in order this year with help from a forum member. Have fully functioning CC, MTS, and E-Locker.)
I have driven from Tijuana down to Cabo twice, and am sort of growing out of high Milage long excursions and am more and more interested in more challenging rock crawling-type trips. I have been attending KOH since 2019, originally for the KOM race ( my father races), but ever since 2019 I come back even more excited for KOH, even more than for the Score International races we have in Baja. I realize that my 3rd gen Tacoma isn't suited for rock crawling, but out of sheer necessity, I acquired a dirt-cheap 1998 4runner 3.4 Auto 4x2 ( My Tacoma got rear ended in 2020 and was down for 6 months) which I really really want to SAS, and possibly even do a Manual conversion. The current dilemma is whether to SAS the 98 4runner, or put more money into the Tacoma and follow Big Mike's White Tacoma build and get the MC RCLTHD Kit. Looking at $$ though, I think doing a SAS on the 98 4runner will be more cost-effective, plus I would end up with 2 built 4x4 instead of 1.
Current Build:
-Ovtuned
-AFE Momentum GT Air Intake
-URD Y-Pipe
-Custom 2.75" exhaust tubing
-Magnaflow Silencer
-Magnaflow Resonator
-King 2.5 Extended Travel Coilovers
-Duro Bumps front
-Total Chaos Upper A arms
-Bilstein 5160 Remote Resi's
-ICON Hydraulic Bumpstops
-Hammer Hangers, Complete Cross Tube Setup (Archive Deaver Springs)
-Alpine Designs Cab Mount Relocate
-Boxed Rear Frame section
-1" Body Lift
-All Pro Rock Sliders Kick Out
-Coastal Offroad Rear High Clearance Bumper Aluminum
-Nittro Gears 4.88
-FJ Transfer Case Swap
-FJ Trail Team Front Diff Axle Shaft Swap
-Trd Beadlock Style wheels.
-Spidertrax 1.25" Spacers
-Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 (315/75/R16)
-Baja Designs Amber Fog Lights
-Odyssey Red Top Battery
-Softopper
-Electric sliding rear window mod
-2020 Tacoma TRD Pro LED Headlight Swap
