DIY Baja Style Toyota Tacoma Prerunner Built to Go Places

In our quest of finding unique off-road builds, we stumble across projects that are extremely inspiring and even jaw-dropping, and this 2016 Toyota Tacoma build is a prime example of those cases. We met Sam Webster from Salt Lake City, Utah who was able to make his childhood dream of a cool Baja-style off-roader a reality through hard work and dedication.

Starting with a very limited budget, he bought a totaled Tacoma on a salvaged car auction choosing carefully among lots that have damage to the front end that could be relatively easily fixed with basic tools at home. The fact that Sam managed to do that in his driveway having no prior experience is truly mind-boggling.

He has chosen the 2016 Toyota Tacoma, the latest-generation mid-size pickup truck with decent off-road capabilities and modern interior powered by an efficient V6 engine. It’s a truck that could go anywhere and do anything you need it to do in style. Even the stock exterior design is very aggressive and muscular, but when you add big off-road wheels and tires, suspension lift, beefy front bumper, cool aftermarket headlights, wide-body panels, and satin dark gray vinyl wrap, you get a perfect big boy’s toy that looks unreal.

“As for the wheels, I have 17″x9″ Fuel Vector rims in satin black with 5 inches of backspacing. For tires, I am running a 35×12.5R17 BF Goodrich T/A KO2”.

How did you become interested in off-roading?
– I grew up surrounded by mountains on one side and the desert on the other. My parents loved to camp and we spent a lot of time outside surrounded by nature. Growing up we had a 1994 Ford Bronco that we used for our adventure mobile. That bronco became mine when I was 16 and I quickly started modifying it. Lift, tires, exhaust were first, and then It became a real off-road machine. The freedom of being out on dirt roads and far from civilization became something that I fell in love with and has followed me until now.

“The freedom of being out on dirt roads and far from civilization became something that I fell in love with and has followed me until now.”

Why did you choose this truck?

– I have had a handful of full-size trucks in the past, and I was ready to move to a platform that was a bit smaller and more capable in the desert and on trails. I found that there was a huge selection of aftermarket parts for Tacomas and that they were a very reliable vehicle. I realized that I was going to lose towing capacity and bed size, but for what I was doing at that point in my life, a smaller truck fit what I needed. I had thought about buying something more like a Jeep or 4Runner, but I use the bed of the truck so much that I didn’t want to lose that capability. I decided to buy the newest body style of the Tacoma for all of the new creature comforts. Big touch screen, updated interior, and all of the crawl control and offroad goodies added to the 3rd gen body style. I also didn’t want the truck to feel dated, and if I was going to buy a wrecked one, I thought I may as well buy the newest one that I could.

“I have had a handful of full-size trucks in the past, and I was ready to move to a platform that was a bit smaller and more capable in the desert and on trails.”

What inspired you to choose this modification style?

– I have always been in awe of Baja race trucks. The ability to go super fast over large bumps and float on air has always been something that I have wanted to be able to do. The other trucks that I had were not very good offroad at high speeds, and the Tacoma gave me the ability to build something like this. Having a Prerunner style truck that I can drive on the street as well as offroad was a no brainer.

There is something so mind-bending about seeing the suspension going crazy underneath the truck and the body nice and level and hardly moving. I knew I had to have that.

“I wanted to be able to have a truck that I could jump, crawl, and daily drive, and a pickup truck with crazy suspension seemed to be the perfect fit.”

What challenges did you face while putting it together?

– The largest challenge was starting with a totaled vehicle. It took a lot of time to fix all the damage that happened before I was able to put all of the fun “go fast” parts on it. I needed to get the truck registered and insured first so that I could use it on the street. I spent about 3 months after work and weekends slowly pulling things back straight, replacing airbags, working on body gap alignment, and making sure the truck was in good running order so that it could be road legal once again. I improvised tools and techniques in my driveway, such as making a DIY frame table from a come-along winch that was anchored to my house and a tree in my driveway.

– Building the skills to repair the truck was another big challenge. I had not done anything like this before so I was constantly faced with new and challenging obstacles. My favorite challenge, however, was vinyl wrapping it. I have always been amazed by wrapping cars and decided to do it with a friend of mine. I was quoted $5000 for a shop to do it and was able to complete the job for under $1000, not including any labor costs (roughly 130 man-hours)This was by far the most rewarding and satisfying part of the build for me and its something that I look forward to doing again in the future.

What do you love about your Tacoma project?

– I love looking back at it in a parking lot, knowing that I built it. I designed it in my head, bought the wrecked truck, towed it home, figured out how to fix it, and made it with nothing else then some basic tools and hard work. I am so proud of it.

– I also love to see people’s reactions when I drive by. Where I live, this is not a common style of truck that you see driving around. It really is something that catches the eye and is so different from all of the other cars on the road. I get lots of thumbs-ups, smiles, and heads turning whenever I am out in it. This is validation that I build something that not only I love, but other people do too.

Is it your daily?

– This is my daily. That was the goal from the beginning and I plan to daily it for a long time. Life is too short to drive boring cars.

Do you take it off-road? If so, where and how often?

– Yes, I take it off-road quite often. There are some fun trails surrounding the great salt lake that are fun. I hope to get it down to Moab this year.

What are your plans for this vehicle?

– Soon I will tear the truck apart to do a full rebuild on the rear suspension. I am going to get rid of the stock leaf spring setup and take it to a full 4-link set up with a cage in the bed for the new coil springs, and triple bypasses to mount to as well as a new fuel cell. I am also going to box the rear fame to make it more rigid. With that, I will also be building some rock sliders, a new rear bumper, and a mount on the roof for some classic looking Baja lights across the front.

As any project goes, the list keeps growing, but that is what is on the immediate horizon.

I have loved to see the support I have gotten from my Instagram page @tacotaco_taco, and my youtube channel @Sammy Builds from the offroad community. We are all in it for the same reasons, and we all just want to be able to go out into nature with our friends and have fun. I hope that I can inspire others to go out there and build the off-road machine of their dreams. I can’t wait to see how truly capable this thing will be once I finished up the rear suspension and get it dialed in. It’s so rewarding to see the truck of my dreams parked in the driveway.

“I hope that I can inspire others to go out there and build the off-road machine of their dreams.”

Background
The truck has had much of the front end repaired from the crash it was in, as well as some body damage on the rear driver side door. I have also extended the fuel filler neck to match up the wider body. I have replaced the front diff bushing. New extended high strength front axles. Extended tie rods. Custom Magnaflow exhaust.

2016 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-road – Specs

Engine

– 3.5 Liter V6 with no engine modifications as of yet

Suspension

Front Suspension
– Long-travel +3.5 race kit from Dirt King. 2.5 x 12inch King shocks with remote reservoir and adjusters. Set at 3inches of lift.

Rear suspension
– At the moment it is still stock with a 2-inch block lift. Soon I will be changing it to a 3 or 4 link setup paired with a coil-over, a triple bypass, mounted to a bed cage.

Wheels

Fuel Vector in satin black. 17″x9″ with 5 inches of backspacing. For tires, I am running a 35×12.5R17 BF Goodrich KO2.

Exterior & Interior

– Fiberwerx 6 inch widebody front fenders
– Fiberwerx 6 inch widebody bedsides
– Spyder Auto DRL Projector headlights
– Raptor style grill
– TRD sport hood
– C4 Fabrications front bumper (3 inches wider to match widebody)
– Truck is wrapped in 3M 10180 Satin Dark Grey

– Interior is stock other than Carbon fiber wrapped center console trim and shifter knob.

Watch the progress and find out more about this Toyota Tacoma project by visiting the Instagram profile of the owner: @tacotaco_taco!

Related Parts & Mods

– Inspired by this Toyota Tacoma build and looking to prepare your own truck for off-road adventures? Some parts used in this build were sourced from custom shops or custom made, but our team has put together a list of similar products and accessories available online that may help you to achieve similar results:

Body Armor

• Body Armor 4X4 HiLine Series Front Bumper – Fits 2016-2020 Tacoma
• Body Armor 4×4 Rear Bumper – Fits 2016-2017 Tacoma

Rock Sliders

• Body Armor 4×4 Revo Rock Sliders – Fits 2005-2022 Tacoma Double Cab Short Bed

Roof Rack

• Front Runner Slimline II Roof Rack Kit – Fits 2005-Current Tacoma

Roof Top Tent

• Smittybilt Overlander Roof Top Tent – 2 Person

Awning

• Overland Vehicle Systems Nomadic Awning 270 – Dark Gray with Black Travel Cover

LED Lights

• Baja Designs Squadron Sport LED – Yellow Driving/Combo
• Rigid Industries RDS SR-Series Pro Spot Light Bar – 54″ 307 Watts Curved

*Before ordering any part or accessory, it is recommended that you verify its fitment with a qualified professional and/or seller. We are not responsible for fitment or other issues that may arise from using the products featured on our website.

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