Kai, a car mechanic, wanted a pickup that he would be able to drive daily but also occasionally use for off-road trips and rock crawling. Now, these two goals sound mutually exclusive and like something that should be done with two different vehicles – but Kai has managed to build his dream truck exactly as he wanted to, the result staying close to stock while still being more capable.
Working with a 2007 Tundra Single Cab Short Bed, he reshaped both bumpers to improve approach and departure angles, installed undercarriage plates for protection, and increased suspension travel. He also put new wheels into the arches along with 37-inch Nitto Recon tires. Apparently, the bed had enough space underneath for suspending a whole spare wheel.
Pricing is what impressed us the most in this particular build. The Tundra had around 200,000 kilometers (130,000 miles) of use of it, so it went for U.S. $15,000. All the upgrade parts cost another $6,104. It helped greatly that Kai had both the tools and the expertise for such a demanding project. He used welding in some places, soldering in others, and fabricated some parts from scratch; others may not be able to get the same scope of work done so cheaply.
Watch the video for an in-depth dive into this impressive project.
