Rip's Rebuild Part 2: The Vision

The beginning of any project or journey is always exciting. Whether its pulling out of the driveway to start a big road trip, or a master plan to build out your dream rig, you need at least a rough idea of where you are headed in order to have a successful go at it. This is going to be a quick overview of what I'm shooting to have Rip looking like by the end of his rebuild!

Suspension:

For the suspension, I want to get a lift of about 2" so I can have a bit better approach angles, ride at a more comfortable height for me, and have room for bigger tires to increase my center clearance. As far as the suspension itself, I want a bit higher performance set of coilovers and struts, that will smooth out the ride on bumpy roads and off-road scenarios. The current suspension is absolutely shot, so I'm pretty sure anything will feel like a big upgrade. That said, the suspension is a chunk of change, so I want to make sure I get set up with something that will fit all my needs and last me for a long time.

Wheels & Tires:

The specifics are fairly up in the air when it comes to this, as I won't know exactly how big of tires I could go with until I complete the suspension. As far as tires go, I've had two sets of B.F. Goodrich KO2s, and been nothing but impressed with them as far as an all terrain tire goes. The only down side to the KO2s is the increase in road noise at high speeds, and they take about 1 MPG off your fuel economy in my experience. Rip currently has a relatively new set of Falken Wildpeak All-Terrains on it, which is also a great tire that I ran on a 2005 Tacoma I had a few years ago. I haven't tested the Wildpeaks as extensively on harder terrain, but they have a solid aggressive tread, and look great on any rig. There's loads of options out there, but right now I'd be surprised if I went with anything other than the KO2s.

As far as wheels go, I'm undecided. There's just too many options! Let's be honest, they are purely for aesthetics, but hey if you are building your dream rig you might as well right? Anthem Off-Road (anthemwheels.com) has some sweet looking wheels, but frankly there is a seemingly endless amount of options. I'm sure Grant knows of some other companies to look into as well. I do know I want to get black wheels, to keep with the dark color theme on the rest of Rip.

Lighting:

Lighting is both super important in the utility sense, and perhaps more importantly, bad ass. Rips headlights are currently pretty scratched up and oxidized, so a nice aftermarket LED set with a black background would be a nice facelift and a big upgrade in the visibility and safety department. That and a pair of LED pods on the hood will give me plenty of light on the road and on trails. After that, I've seen some nice set ups where they have pods set off the topper pointing to the sides and back for camp lighting, which I think would be super useful! And let's be honest, a light bar on the roof rack is going to make its way onto Rip at somepoint as well.

Recovery Gear:

AKA peace of mind gear haha. Some small things that I hope to add to the kit soon, would be a pair of MAXTRAX recovery boards and a kinetic recovery rope. The MAXTRAX are just hard plastic boards with aggressive tread that you stick under your tire when stuck in snow or mud. They give your tire something to grab hold to, while also dispersing the weight over a larger surface area of the stuff you are sinking into. The kinetic recovery rope is just a rope, but it is built to be more springy. The added help from the spring force dynamics can be a major help when pulling someone out.

The major piece is going to be a winch. A winch can be an absolute life saver (so long as you have something to tie off to). Since I'm often by myself when out and about, it would be very comforting knowing I could get myself out of a pickle with a winch and maybe a little backcountry ingenuity.

Accessories:

Of course if you get a winch you'll need a place to put the winch. That place is going to be an aftermarket front bumper, which is also going to improve the approach angle, and also make Rip look a heck of a lot more mean. That's called a win-win-win in my book. The back bumper is a lot less of a priority at the time, but getting it to match and maybe help with clearance is a must at some point. To round it out I would also like to add a nice set of running boards, which look sharp and are actually nice for getting in and out of the pick up for my vertically challenged friends and family.

I'm really happy with the LEER topper and rack Rip has right now, but the long term goal would be to get a truck camper. Go Fast Campers (gofastcampers.com) and OVRLND (campovrlnd.com) have some really neat, well thought out designs. They cost about as much as Rip did though, so those are way out in the future for this build. For now, I really do like the plain Jane set up of the truck bed. There is plenty of room in the 6' bed for sleeping and stowing gear. I would like to add a roof rack basket above the cab, which would give a little more space for storage on big trips (and a place to put that light bar).

So there we have it. A completely non-definitive but extensive guide on my vision for Rip! If you have any ideas or things you'd want on your dream rig, put them in the comments. Be good to yourself, and stay dirty!