realprotundra's 3rd Gen Tundra Adventures

Hi everyone! I recently made the move from a 3rd Gen Tacoma (2019 TRD Pro) to a 2021 Tundra TRD Pro. The main reason for the switch was that I needed something better to tow around my 1988 Suzuki Samurai rock crawler.

The Tacoma was pretty well modified with 5.29s and lockers front and rear (stock in the back, ARB in the front). Full high clearance bumpers, lift, etc. etc. etc.



I loved the Tacoma for wheeling but around May of this year I decided it was time to stop beating on my daily driver and pick up a dedicated trail rig. The Tacoma did well flat towing the Samurai when it was a baby crawler on 33s.

Day I picked it up:



The tow setup with high clearance rear bumper and the Zuk on 33s:




Since then the Zuk has spiraled out of control and is now fully Toyota axle swapped, runs on 37s, etc. With that much weight the Tacoma wasn't cutting it anymore so I traded her in for my new 2021 Tundra TRD Pro:



Couldn't be more pleased with the way it tows other than the squat. I tried re-positioning the load a few times to see if it would get better, but it didn't make a ton of difference. Looks like I'm in the market for some airbags!



Zuk did pretty well this weekend too! I definitly need to get my new front shock hoops burned in so I can run my 14" travel shocks. Right now the shock bodies and the upper shock mounts are the bump stop and there is only like 2" of uptravel! Always fun lifting a wheel in a Samurai though:



That's it for now, but hope to be a fairly active member of the community here and post up about my adventures in my Tundra and Samurai! I also work on the Samurai a LOT so hopefully no one minds some shop photos. At the point with the Zuk that it is tube bending time!

 

Welcome to the club! Is your Samurai running the OEM 4cylinder? I remember when I met my wife, 26 years ago, she was driving a Samurai. Not much HP, but capable off road.

 

Yup, it’s the stock 1.3l and stock transmission. It’s mated up to a Samurai T-Case with a 6.5:1 low range and there are 5.29s in the axles. Detroit locker in the front and spool in the rear.

 

First little mod.....



I love the embossed bed sides on this thing but it was missing some of the flair that my Pro Tacoma had with the graphics package. I think this is a good “subtle” option.

 

New year new trailer!



Pulled it out to good old Box Canyon in Florence, AZ for some rock eating!

 

Enjoyed towing a lot more yesterday with the rear TRD Sway Bar and airbags. Bags only needed to be filled to 20psi to level since the Samurai is so light.

 

Had a spray-in bedliner done by Bedliner Veterans in Gilbert, AZ this weekend. Very happy with the results and the nice little touches they add to differentiate themselves.

 

Love your setup man! I was just scrolling and seen it so figured I'd send yah this pic

 

Love it man!

 

Built some sliders today. Need to clean them up a bit, weld on some legs, and make some mounting brackets.....then off to bedliner to hide my welds!

 

Awesome rides, I came from a taco to a tundra as well. Also had a zuk back in my high-school days. Me and my dad built it. Really wish I never sold it. Back when camera phones were a new thing...never got a good picture.

 

Welcome, really nice suki!

 

Thanks! We actually built these Samurais back in high school as well. Back then you could get a runner for $500 though! Now any Samurai that runs (well), drives (well), and has a title is pushing $3k+!

Thanks!

I'm going to be towing it several hours this weekend through what should be some fairly nice scenery so hopefully get a few photos of the tow setup with some nice background to share!

 

Dragged the crawler out to Elvis this weekend.





Put my big boy undies on and ran the big shelf obstacle. Took 5 or 6 tries but she made it up! Clutch cable was sitting on the exhaust manifold and started acting up so stalled it at the top....oh well....still made it over!