Our Little Monster

Monster joined our company with numerous roles to fill. Up to this point, we had been using Sleepy, our 2004 Gen 1 Tundra, to handle all the hauling. It’s a great truck, but now has well over 200K miles on it, and it’s a little undersized for our future needs. We needed a multi-functional workhorse. It had to fit the bill as a full-function overlanding truck, a show platform for our product lines, and to pull our 29’ enclosed marketing trailer all over the country. No short order. Oh, and tow a Baja 1000 race truck back and forth to Mexico.

It never occurred to me to purchase anything other than a Toyota. There are plenty of worthy trucks, but I love Toyotas, and that’s the way it is. The Tacoma was a bit small for our long-term plans, so we opted for a brand-new 2017 Toyota Tundra Double Cab Limited in white, equipped with the 5.7L V8.

The nickname Monster stuck pretty early on. Honestly, it is the biggest thing I have ever owned (except my house). I am still learning where the corners are, and parking lots are a real trick.

Within three months, we built the new truck up. It is a purpose-built truck. Strong as an ox, tall enough to clear things without being too tall, and it has the functionality of a rather large Swiss Army Knife.

The bed primarily drove the purchase of the double cab over the Crew Max cab. I think the lines on the Crew Max are more appealing, but we had a lot of plans for the back, and a 5’ bed was not going to give us enough room to do it. We started with an Ole Man Emu 2-1/2” lift with added capacity springs. We installed Firestone commercial air bags, managed by a Ride Air compressor with a remote control. That helps us handle the heaviest of loads with ease. Next was the swap of tires and rims to 35x12.5 BFG All Terrain TA KO3 tires on Method The Standard rims. This added some extra height and a bit wider stance. To handle all the added capability, we added a set of Power Brake front brakes to stop us on a dime. We added matching front and rear bumpers from Expedition One for added protection and a place for our 12,000 lb Warn winch with synthetic line. Both bumpers have sets of Baja Designs flood lights in them, and we added a pair of Baja Designs LP9 lights to the front one. There is an Eezi-Awn K9 Tundra Double Cab Roof Rack System. On the roof we added a Baja Designs LED Light Bar, as well as S2 perimeter lights. All of these are managed by an sPod on the dash. Plenty of light now. We also added a set of N-Fab steps so that we can get in the truck again.

To the sprayed bed we added ¾” rubber mat originally intended for a horse stall. It turns out to be an incredibly durable mat that takes all the abuse you can throw at it. We added a Snug Top cab high shell, with their Sportsman package option. This gives the roof a 400 lb dynamic load capacity without additional internal framing. Perfect for hauling all those overlanding goodies. The top of the shell rotates between a Eezi-Awn K9 Load Bar System and a K9 1400x1800 Canopy Roof Rack System, depending on the duties of the day. The rack can haul a RTT, Awning, Max Trax, Extra Fuel, Shovel, Axe, Hi-Lift, and more. Even a Fly Craft boat on occasion. The load bars are a perfect solution for one of our Eezi-Awn hard shell roof top tents. The sides of the shell have hinged window hatches, to let us gain access to anywhere in the bed. On top of that mat in the bed we have a custom made drawer system from AT Overland. It is 6’L x 4’W x 1.5’H. The right half is a full length drawer, for just about everything you need for an adventure. The left side rear section holds a National Luna 50L Stainless Steel fridge on a Eezi-Awn Shuttle fridge slide. In front of the fridge on the left side is a top lid cabinet that stores our National Luna DC25 Distribution Box auxiliary battery system, a twin cylinder ARB compressor, 400W inverter, and all of our recovery gear. On the ceiling of the shell is a pair of L track mounted to the bottom of the roof rack rail. And to this track we have a custom sized net that carries our K9 Camp Table.

The cab of the truck is already filled to the brim with toys from Toyota, but we added a few things. We installed a 2 Meter HAM radio in the center console with remote speaker. This allows us to keep in touch with the group, whether on a trail run, or chasing race trucks south of the border. And we recently added a Weboost mobile/data wireless amplifier for remote connectivity. It creates a boosted signal inside the cab, so we can always keep working even way off the beaten path. We have a Gen 2 Starlink Mount for it too. Very handy. And for a final bit of flare, we added a Ducati Red half wrap, to help it stand out a bit more from the crowd. Custom fluffy flip flop mats top it off, because I am a flip flop guy.

We’ve had Monster since December 2016, and I can tell you it is one tough vehicle. We’ve used it as a chase vehicle on the Baja 1000, hauled a 1400 lb camper all over the western US, Traversed Utah a pile of times, and tow a 6,000 lb 29’ long marketing trailer all over the country. I have beat on this truck as hard as I have any vehicle I have owned, and it doesn’t seem to care. Rock solid. I can’t think of a thing I would change. It does it all. Monster has been, and is going to be a part of our family for a very long time.

If you make to one of our events, come by and check it out.