My first Tacoma... help me build my hunting rig

I just picked up this 2004 double cab 4x4 yesterday with 166k on it. It's pretty clean, no major issues that I can see. I'm not super knowledgeable about Tacomas but I've been reading on here for a while and have a pretty good idea which direction I want to go with this. I do a lot of hunting at night for pigs and predators and this truck will be my dedicated night hunting rig. I've been hunting out of my F-250 but it's my daily driver and I didnt want to rig it out for hunting. My Polaris Ranger is just too loud. I needed something stealthy, and this truck should fit the bill. Please chime in with suggestions and any ideas that yall might have. Feel free to correct me if I am way off base with something.

Armor - I want to get replacement front and back bumpers with a winch in front. Some that I have seen and like on here are Relentless Fab, All Pro, Coastal Offroad, Bruteforce. Still undecided but I will be looking into each of those mentioned. I'd prefer something not too heavy. The lighter the better. Suggestions are welcome. It already has some steps along the side and I'm good with those.

Lighting - I'll be adding a light bar and some red pod lights. Unless anyone knows of a good combo red/white light bar? When driving to an area I will use the red lights to be more undetected. A friend suggested Black Oak LED's. They seem like good quality. I will also add some strip lighting under the bed rails to illuminate the bed.

Storage - I'm kinda undecided here. Could do a tool box, some rubber storage totes, or I'm really thinking hard about making something out of wood similar to a DECKED drawer system. There's a bunch of youtube vids of guys making them. It doesnt seem too complicated. Between my buddy and I, we have a ton of gear. Drones, monitors, rifles, tripods, thermal scanners, backpacks, chargers. electronic callers ect ect. I want to keep it organized and easy to get to. I will leave the backseat as is since I often have people with me.

Lift/tires - It already has a mild 1.5" lift according to the previous owner. Although I love the look of a little more lift with some 33's, I'll probably leave it as is for now. Our ranch roads are pretty good so I dont anticipate going through anything too rough. I'll be replacing the tires with the same size 265/70R16 that are on it now. Probably some BFG MT or the Yokohama Geolander MT. Is one better than the other? Suggestions? This truck will be 90% offroad so I'm not too worried about pavement behavior.

Seat covers - The seats are in good shape and I'd like to keep them that way. What are some good seat covers that fit good and look somewhat factory? The interior is grey.

Bed cover/camper - I've already ripped out the plastic bed liner and will be getting the bed rhino lined. Undecided between a folding bed cover (bakflip) or a camper shell. I've had numerous bakfilp covers and I like them. However a camper would give me more usable space especially if I build the storage drawer system, but they are expensive. Maybe if I can get lucky and find a matching color used one then I'll grab it. Otherwise I guess I'll stick with a folding cover.

Auxiliary power - I thought about adding a 110V outlet in the bed but I'll probably just get one of those Jackery portable power stations. We often have to charge phones and an assortment of batteries, and also need power for the drone monitor. I think the Jackery will work just fine.

I think that's pretty much it for now. I might think of some other stuff along the way. I'd really appreciate any suggestions and opinions from you Tacoma pros. Any must do maintenance items and recommendations are welcome as well. I'm all ears and still very much learning about these trucks. All of this wont happen overnight, but I'll post progress pictures and updates as I get stuff done.

 

I just picked up a 22 OR a couple of weeks ago and I am doing the same thing - building my ultimate hunting rig.

Here is what I am doing.

Phase 1 (infrastructure)

• Bilstein 6100 1.5" lift in Front and Bilstein 5160's with Icon RTX Leaf Pack in back.
• Alu-Cab Contour Canopy
• 17" (maybe 16") Ray 10 rims with Falken Wildpeaks ATX4 w/pizza cutters 255/85/R16 or 255/80/R17 (33's)
• Full RCI skid plates with the exhaust re-route and exhaust dump so I can get the flat plates (just had the re-route done this weekend, I will do the rest)
• Power Tray, Switch Pro, Upgraded Group 67 Battery, Big 3 cable replacement, Power run to Bed.

I have purchased almost everything in Phase 1.

Phase 2 (extras)

• Slimline Southern Style Off Road front bumper w/Winch
• Rock Sliders
• Rear bumper (undecided)
• Lights (I will be using cheap lights that I have until I can upgrade to some Rigids, Baha's or Dynamic Diodes (Haven't researched these much yet).
• Refrig, pull out tray, Inverter and extra Batts in bed.

This is NOT a cheap hobby.

 

I feel like you should buy some nice light bars, and have someone throw a red tint on them. I think you'll have better luck

 

I got a few things done. I washed and waxed and detailed the interior. Got the window tint redone, spray in bed liner and put on some BFG KM3's. I can see some wear on the UCA where the tires rub if the shock gets compressed due to the previous owner putting 3rd gen rims on it. Guess I'll need to get some wheel spacers. I also ordered some red LED pod lights and the mattgecko bed rail lights. Hope to find time to install this week.

I'm going to order some seat covers. I've read plenty on here about the good brands but I'm undecided on what material to get. It seems like the neoprene has the best fit and looks almost factory. They are also thicker and might offer a bit more cushion, but are they hot? I'm often dripping wet with sweat after chasing hogs around. Sometimes covered in bug spray too. I dont want to sit down all hot and sweaty and have a seat cover that the material retains my body heat. Any thoughts on this, or what is the best durable material?

 

Truck looks awesome and I am so jealous of everyone's BIG garage that they have to work on their vehicles.

 

Sweet truck, great score!

If you aren't planning on really rock crawling or hitting your armor a lot you can go with aluminum bumpers to get some armor while also saving some weight. Coastal Offroad offers 1/4" aluminum for a lot of their kits which are pretty light and still have some strength to them. If you are interested in going that route at all, we have this group buy that we are running which can save you some money on their gear as well

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/coastal-offroad-group-buy.829531/