MULTI-TERRAIN MASTER

David Heining's '07 Tacoma Built for All Conditions 

- LINDSEY FISHER

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 offroad 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 offroad 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.