Ultimate Taco - Part Cuatro

Finally it was time to spray the paint, and we knew from the start that we wanted this truck to be orange. The need for a bright color to stand out was important, both as a cover truck, and as the lead vehicle for Ultimate Adventure. In addition, all the external tube work and frame modifications were sprayed with black.

To give the truck its own style, we gave it a semiflat green detail stripe and hood accent with a black pinstripe.

Lots of folks were asked if green and orange would look good together, and when they said no, we knew it would be perfect. At least they would remember our truck.

Since the bed of the truck was removed and just the stock sides reused, we needed a way to carry our camping gear. So with the help of the 4-Wheeler's crew we built some pieces of aluminum to the cage to make a pseudo-bed.

Upon leaving Santa Rosa we had less than a week till the start of Ultimate Adventure. We hauled tail back to L.A. after a quick stop in San Jose, which we'll tell you about next month. Our agenda was to get some parts of the truck Rhino Lined before we left. We rolled into Rhino Lining of Van Nuys and laid out the plan for the truck. We wanted the inside floor of the cab sprayed as well as the insides of the bedsides and the rocker panels. We started by tearing everything out of the truck. With the paint masked off we pushed the truck in the booth and started spraying the black goo.

When we were finished the cab had some insulation against road noise and drivetrain heat. In addition, having the bedsides sprayed helped keep them more rigid and rattle-free. For tons more images of the Ultimate Tacoma, go check out our Web site (www.4wheeloffroad.com) and click on the Tacoma link.