At first, I thought this old stripped-down Toyota Tacoma with an enormous wooden plow was some improvised war machine, but its mission is far more wholesome and happy. The truck was modded for a job I’ve never seen a car do: creating waves to surf on.
Self-identified “Semi-pro Novelty Wave guy” and talented surfer Ben Gravy posted this clip of him and his crew using the Taco wave rig on IG earlier this summer. But that’s just a cut-down of a full 30-minute video on YouTube. It’s a vlog-style clip of surf antics and the making of, then using of, this unusual Toyota truck.
I don’t know Gravy’s whole backstory and I can tell from a quick scan of his videos that a lot of his antics are firmly in the “don’t try this at home, kids” category. Surfing the wakes of commercial vessels, for example, is generally frowned upon and definitely not a good idea.
This Tacoma DIY wave-pool truck looks like good, filthy fun though. There’s not much to it—a bunch of the pickup’s body was removed, and some thick sheets of plywood were sandwiched together at an angle so that the vehicle could push water off its, uh, “bow.” It’s the same idea as a plow moving snow, except this has a lot more surface area and a different rake.
Water happens to be heavy (over 60 pounds per cubic foot) and a sandy, swampy bay is a tough traction situation. Plus, there’s the whole issue of major water ingress to the engine bay, cab, axles, and everything else. In other words, this truck is in for a hard and short life. These might be some of the few people who actually need one of those intake snorkels I see on so many SUVs in mall parking lots. But even with that, I wouldn’t count on this truck surviving wake-making service for a very long time. That’s OK—given the size of waves being created, I’m guessing that the novelty wore off pretty quickly for pro-level surfers, and that the Taco will only be trotted out for laughs on occasion. I just love cute, goofy, softcore Jackass-style antics and creative modifications on old trucks.
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