Desert Thrills and Rock Crawls: David Heining’s Off-Road Tacoma

David Heining’s ’07 Tacoma Built for All Conditions

Visit anywhere from Moab, Utah, to Glamis, California, and you’re sure to find a plethora of once-factory vehicles turned into awesome off-road machines. Built for specific types of off-road performance, these rigs range from mild to wild, but not often are they crafted to be equally capable in the rocks as they are on high-speed desert terrain. But that doesn’t mean such a build is impossible. In fact, David Heining’s 2007 Toyota Tacoma is just that.

Built by David with the help of his brother Kyle over a three-year period, this very purple second-generation Tacoma was specifically set up with all types of off-road adventures in mind.

“I wanted a truck that could do well in the rocks in Moab or Sand Hollow, but also be able to have fun in the desert and sand dunes,” David explained when asked why he built his Toyota the way he did. Add that to his and Kyle’s knowledge of suspension geometry and what it takes to make a rig perform no matter what kind of terrain you throw in front of it, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a fun truck!

 Long Travel? Yes, Please!

One of the most important components of any off-road machine is the suspension, especially when you’re building a truck to be able to handle both the rocks and the desert. So David and Kyle started out big in building the Tacoma, cutting the back half of the frame off and constructing a custom tube chassis from the cab back. Not only does this add to the stability of the overall frame for proper off-road thrashing, but it also makes room for a much more complicated suspension system like the one David had in mind for the build.

When building the cab-back tube chassis, David further planned relocating the truck’s rear body mounts and tubbing the back of the cab to allow for even more suspension clearance while keeping the link mounts on the frame high for added clearance in the rocks.

So I bet by now you’re wondering just what kind of suspension system David and his brother have put on his truck. Well, if you guessed a modified version of a prerunner setup, you’d be spot on!

The truck features a Camburg +3.5 long-travel suspension kit paired with a TMR Customs rear trailing arm 4-link suspension system. Thanks to the custom cab-back tube chassis, these elongated trailing arms fit nicely mounted to the undercarriage of the truck while also adding clearance to the frame in consideration of the truck’s impressive 13 inches of up-travel.

“I wanted a truck that could do well in the rocks in Moab or Sand Hollow, but also be able to have fun in the desert and sand dunes.”

Both the front and the rear of the truck are further fitted with Eibach springs, as well as FOX 2.5-inch coilover shocks—the frontend featuring 2.5-inch FOX bypasses, and the rear featuring 3.0-inch bypasses. The truck also makes use of a 0.90-diameter RockJock Antirock sway bar kit with 18-inch arms, as well as WarFabInc skid plates to protect everything from the undercarriage up.

Giving the truck adequate sticking power, whether on pavement or dirt, as well as added toughness for exploring off-road, David outfitted his truck with 17×8.5-inch Method 316 wheels wrapped in 37×13.5R17 BFG Krawler tires, featuring 4.75 inches of backspacing both front and rear. The tires are said to not rub at all thanks to custom tubbed inner fender wells and a tubbed firewall, compliments of David’s brother Kyle.

Drivetrain Upgrades

While your suspension system has to be tough to withstand being put through the paces off-road, so too does your drivetrain.

With plenty of power produced by the truck’s factory 4.0L V-6, David built up the drivetrain from the transmission back. Tied to the truck’s manual gearbox is an FJ Cruiser manual-shift transfer case with a 2.56 low-range gear ratio. The truck also features a Northwest Fab crawl box for a second set of low and high gears for all that rock-crawling fun.

Up front, the 8-inch factory differential drives Camburg +3.5 long-travel axle shafts fitting of the prerunner-style suspension system, while the rear of the truck features a 10.5-inch Toyota diff. Both front and rear are equipped with 4.88 gears and ARB lockers.

Looking the Part

With a number of chassis, suspension, and drivetrain modifications done to the truck all in the name of making it more capable off-road, the last thing David wanted was to have the truck’s body hinder its added capabilities. So, he opted to do away with the truck’s traditional fenders, replacing them with ones from McNeil Racing while his brother further cleared the wheelwells with the aforementioned custom tubs.

Up front, you’ll find protective gear in the form of a WarFabInc 2nd gen Tacoma Tomcat front bumper, matched with a custom bumper out back that David built. Further customizations to the truck include the custom bed cage, also built by David and his brother.

“Secondary lighting from Diode Dynamics helps light up the truck’s path regardless of the time of day, while the Avery Dennison matte metallic purple vinyl wrap makes the truck hard to miss regardless of the backdrop.”

Secondary lighting from Diode Dynamics helps light up the truck’s path regardless of the time of day, while the Avery Dennison matte metallic purple vinyl wrap makes the truck hard to miss regardless of the backdrop.

Inside, the truck remains mostly factory, keeping things simple but with the added comforts of a road-worthy vehicle. One custom addition to the inside of the truck is a custom center console built by David, Kyle, and friend Chris Goss. This center console features dual shift levers for the secondary gearbox, as well as a TRD short shifter for the truck’s manual transmission.

“The truck features a Camburg +3.5 long-travel suspension kit paired with a TMR Customs rear trailing arm 4-link suspension system.”

There’s nothing better than a good looking, highly capable off-road machine that is built not only to perform in the rocks but also in the wide-open desert. David certainly built the best of both worlds with this truck with the help of his brother Kyle, and you can bet they’re going to continue to make use of every bit of it, taking it everywhere from Valley of Fire State Park to the off-highway vehicle area of Johnson Valley, California, for many years to come!

UPGRADES

2007 Toyota Tacoma

Owner: David Heining
Henderson, Nevada

Chassis & Suspension: Custom rear tube chassis built by owner and brother, Kyle Heining of GD Motorsports; Relocated rear body mounts and tubed cab-back for suspension clearance; Tubbed firewall for wheel and tire clearance; 128-inch wheelbase; Camburg +3.5 long-travel suspension kit; Eibach front and rear springs; FOX 2.5-inch coilover shocks with 2.5-inch bypasses up front; FOX 2.5-inch coilover shocks with 3.0-inch bypasses out back; TMR Customs rear 4-link suspension system with trailing arms; RockJock 0.90-diameter Antirock sway bar kit with 18-inch arms; WarFabInc skid plates

Wheels & Tires: 17×8.5-inch Method 316 wheels; 37×13.5R17 BFG Krawler tires with 4.75-inch backspacing front and rear

Engine & Drivetrain: 2007 Toyota 4.0L V-6; Manual transmission with TRD short shifter; FJ Cruiser manual-shift transfer case with a 2.56 low-range gear ratio; Northwest Fab crawl box for a second set of low/high gears; Factory 8-inch front differential; 10.5-inch Tacoma rear differential; Camburg +3.5 long-travel axle shafts up front; 4.88 front and rear gears; ARB lockers front and rear

Body & Paint: WarFabInc 2nd gen Tacoma Tomcat front bumper; Custom rear bumper built by owner; Custom bed cage built by owner and Kyle Heining; McNeil Racing front and rear fenders; Custom tubbed inner fenders and firewall by Kyle Heining; Custom tubbed rear portion of truck cab; Diode Dynamics secondary lights; Avery Dennison matte metallic purple vinyl wrap

Interior & Stereo: Factory seats; Custom center console built by owner, Kyle Heining and Chris Goss