Building a 2024 Tacoma

Mar 26, 2024

By Alex Fleming

With Sherpa's roots deep in the Toyota community, we knew for some time we needed to get our hands on a modern Toyota platform and when the new Tacoma was released we jumped on the opportunity. Boasting a rear 4 Link suspension and reintroduction of the 4-cylinder turbo in the mid-size pickup category, this platform was right in line with our needs.

This truck epitomizes the ideal blend of comfortable highway cruising and formidable off-road performance. Just as we thought, our trip to Moab, UT to assess it's capabilities proved our predictions and has us excited for more changes in the future.

Before I get too far, let's rewind to how we transformed this truck.

Starting with a bone-stock Toyota Tacoma can be intimidating on what to add or change first, but our best recommendation is to go use it. We got some miles on the platform, got an idea of its capabilities out of the box, and began making our list of needs for the Tacoma. A quick trip to the mountains to ride mountain bikes gave us an initial idea for the build.

Needs:

- More Off-road Capabilities

- Armor

- Better Gear Storage

- Easy-to-use Bike Racks

- Larger Tires

So, with that, we got to work!

Off-road Capabilities

Our first order of business was upgrading the wheel and tire package on this Tacoma. We went for Kenda Klever RT 35x12.5r17 tires on Raceline RT951B Ryno Cast Beadlocks. These wheels are -12mm offset which is a little wide for these trucks to have clean fitment but we are making do with what we had on hand.

This combo required a decent amount of trimming to fit at full bump and full steering lock, but not being scared to trim a little is how you can pull a lot more capability out of these rigs.

We also worked with RCI Metal Works to get belly skids and rock sliders on before our trip to protect our rockers and vital components underneath.

This portion of the build we passed on to our friends at Michelson Motorsports. He pulled the coils off the struts and removed the rear coils to allow the suspension to be easily cycled. This allows you to fully stuff the tires into the fenders and trim everything necessary to fit. After a couple days of work, the truck was back in our hands and looking great!

Cycling 35's full bump, lock-lock with no lift, and the proper way to fit tires on an IFS platform.

Now we can start work on the storage component and design the Sherpa Product before taking off for Moab.

Gear Storage

The Roofrack

Our initial focus was on developing a Roofrack System tailored specifically for the 2024 Toyota Tacoma. Toyota comes with built-in hard mounting points on the cab that we were able to utilize. This allowed us to use our rubber roof seals and direct load path mounting feet to provide the best in strength, weather sealing, and reliability within the rack industry. With load capacity, strength, aerodynamics, and overall fit and finish at the forefront of our design we're delighted with the final product. Our racks are quiet, functional, and aesthetically pleasing for the best customer experience.

For this trip, we threw a Sherpa Adapt Plate on one side as a platform for strapping gear as well as a place to stand to take photos. On the other side, we mounted a 95l Roam Case with our 95l Roam Case Mounts. This is perfect additional watertight storage.

$Sherpa Roofrack on 2024 Tacoma$

The Bedrack

Our second focus was on developing a Bedrack System tailored specifically for the 2024 Toyota Tacoma. Toyota has built-in bed rails that allow for easy mounting of exterior storage to the bed and makes for effortless installation of our bedrack. Using our current PAK System technology we were able to make a mid-height bedrack system that is incredibly modular and strong. Built with CNC cut and formed powder-coated aluminum for lightweight strength and fastened together with stainless hardware for long-term corrosion resistance and high strength.

For this trip, we mounted up Olive Green Maxtrax using our Traction Board Mounts on our XL Accessory Panels, 2 Yakima bike racks on our Standard Accessory Panels, and a 2.5-gallon Rotopax for additional water storage.

Our Thoughts on the New Tacoma

After five days of using this setup, we definitely have a few things to change but overall we are impressed by the performance of this 2024 Tacoma. The truck handled the highway great, the 4cylinder had plenty of power for the mountain passes, averaging around 16mpg on the trip. Not only did it travel well, it wheeled great. We ran Dome Plataue to break the truck in and get a feel for it. Pushing some of the harder lines with no issues. We then followed it up with Seven Mile Rim after a day of mountain biking Slick Rock Trail. We even conquered Wipe Out Hill with ease.

We at Sherpa are excited to release our 2024 Tacoma product and continue to test this platform and build this truck.