Junior, Monster's Mini Me

Monster's Mini Me

Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the last decade plus, you've probably noticed that the Toyota Tacoma is one of the most popular overlanding vehicles in the country.

Our beloved Sleepy is still in our family, and still running strong, but there are a lot of products that we offer that are specific to the Tacoma market! At the time, we didn’t have a Tacoma to showcase these options or to use as a template for new ideas, ie. Eezi-Awn, based in South Africa, has no access to the Tacoma, so we needed a new family member. And we needed one stat.

In 2017, we added Monster (https://www.equipt1.com/blogs/fleet/our-little-monster) to our clan. The Monster is a Toyota Tundra Double Cab with numerous modifications, and suffice to say, it's awesome. Fast forward to 2019, we picked up a white double-cab short-bed Tacoma, and honestly, it looked like a junior version of Monster. The name Junior stuck immediately. It was a smaller, yet still extremely capable, addition to our family. And once we had it in our hands, it was time to get to work.

Junior got a lighter build than Monster for sure. We wanted to keep it as nimble as possible. We added a 2-½” OME lift to start with. Then changed out the shoes with 275/70-17 BFG All Terrain TA KO2 tires, mounted on Icon Rebound Satin Black Rims. For cab access, and to tie in the Monster reference, we added some N-Fab steps to each side.

The goodie list starts getting fun here. Junior was the first Tacoma in the US to sport the new Eezi-Awn K9 rack systems for the Tacoma in two different configurations:

• On the bed of the truck we started with a 1400mm x 1400mm (55”x55”) K9 Platform held in place by the K9 Bed Rail legs. These legs are designed to mount to the bed’s internal mounting rail. The combination of leg and platform creates a tonneau cover style mounting area that helps secure the bed contents while offering a great surface to add more toys or an Eezi-Awn Series 3 or Jazz Roof Top Tent. We also added a table and K9 Table Mount to the bottom surface of the platform.

• To the roof of the cab, we added a second K9 Roof Rack System. This one was 1250mm x 1400mm (50” x 55”). It utilizes the OEM mounting points to attach the K9 Rail System, K9 feet, and of course the platform on top. It’s T slot mounting surface allows us to add all sorts of equipment, including Fuel Cans, a water tank, Alubox and mount, Max Trax and more. On the passenger side, we mounted up an Eezi-Awn Series 2000 1.5M awning.

The interior also saw a few firsts. It received America’s first set of Escape Gear Toyota Tacoma Gen 3 Double Cab seat covers. An incredible addition to the cab in design, comfort and durability. A little bit of graphics to the sides, and Junior is ready to go!!!

We weren't finished with Junior! After trying out the K9 Bed Rack and Tacoma Double Cab Rack for a while, we thought we would mix it up again. We started by replacing the bed rack with an AT Overland Cap. The Cap is the foundation for AT's Habitat/Summit/Atlas line of topper, just without the sleeping component on top. We added front and back windows for visibility, and a side window hatch for access and functionality. This gave us a tremendous amount of secure storage and a super strong top surface for attaching a Eezi-Awn K9 platform and RTT. We added a Eezi-Awn Series 3 Soft Shell Roof Top Tent. Inside we added a National Luna Legacy Smart QC 50L fridge in a Goose Gear fridge slide. That is mounted to a Goose Gear base plate that covers the entire bed. On the cab of Junior we swapped out the K9 Roof Rack with a K9 Cub Roof Rack. We are still designing products specific to the Tacoma platform, based on Junior. One of the biggest additions is a new line of entry level racks called the K9 Cub. A solid bolt together alternative to the traditional K9 rack system. On top of this new platform we have a set of MaxTrax on K9 MaxTrax Mounts, an Alubox 56L Aluminum Storage Case, a K9 40L Water Tank, and a K9 Dual Jerry Can Mount with 20L Wavian Fuel Cans. To the side of the rack is a Eezi-Awn Series 2000 1.5M Spoyla Awning on the passenger side and the Eezi-Awn Dragonfly Mini on the driver side of the vehicle.

Junior plays a key role in our shop set up and one of our key displays. We’ve had this truck a couple years now, and it’s still a hit of the show.

These builds are far and beyond the best part of my job. While no build is ever completed, the continual evolution and refinement is half the fun. Give us a ring or shoot us an email and we can discuss your own. I'd love to help get you setup!