If you spend around $50,000 for a brand new Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro, you’re getting a seriously capable off-road truck you can live with for years to come. But where’s the fun in just keeping it stock? 4WD Toyota Owner Magazine collaborated with the automaker for this year’s SEMA show to demonstrate how far you can go if you want to convert your Taco into a true overlanding rig. While folks aren’t able to see this truck at the normal SEMA event in Las Vegas, the event is going virtual this year in a “SEMA360” showcase.
Building the overland Tacoma
So what do you get in the “Overland-Ready Tacoma”? Ryan O’Connell and ShmellFab came together to create this truck, starting from the BFGoodrich KM3 mud-terrains on up. On the suspension front, the overland Tacoma gets ToyTec Boss Aluma 2.5 Series coilovers, shocks and an add-a-leaf package. CBI Offroad Fabrication is responsible for the lower control arms, as well as the steel and aluminum skid plates front to rear. DOM steel tube rock sliders protect the TRD Pro’s body, while Camburg Engineering fabricated the upper control arms.
Under the hood, Toyota’s standard 3.5-liter V6 engine gets a major power bump from the stock truck. Thanks to a Magnuson TVS1900 supercharger, this overland Tacoma manages a whopping 370 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque. The truck also includes one conspicuous factory option in the Desert Air Intake — an option that’s notably missing from the 2021 Toyota Tacoma lineup.
Naturally, building an overland rig isn’t just about off-road kit and power. The editors of 4WD Toyota Owner Magazine thought best to fit a PowerTank PT10 onboard air unit as well as a four-gallon Rotopax fuel storage solution to stay self-sufficient on the trails. A two-gallon Rotopax water storage container is also onboard, as is a Hi-Lift jack, Yakima SkyRise bed tent and a 40-inch SR Pro LED light bar.
Would you build your Tacoma like this?
At this point, Toyota has no confirmed plans to put this sort of build into production. As ever, this SEMA build more or less shows off what can be done with the enormous aftermarket support surrounding the Tacoma.
Fortunately, all these parts are available to build the truck yourself. Let us know what you think of this SEMA build and how you’d do it in the comments below!
