Rugged Radios builds a Taco Truck UTV.
Combining the love of offroad, with the love of tacos.
By: Joey Placke. Contributions by: Dustin Ensign
Tacos don't frequently find themselves at the mercy of a carne-shredding offroad trail - until now. Meet the brand new Rugged Taco Truck. It's the pastor-blastor. The chorizo chucker. The flauta-flinger. No matter what you call it, it delivers delicious, authentic tacos to hungry offroaders everywhere.
The 2023 Rugged Taco Truck | Featured in Destination Polaris: Project X®
Rugged's own distinguished duo "The Steves" turned an ordinary Polaris General into a well-seasoned tribute to the classic taco-truck concept.
The final product was everything a taco truck should be - complete with embossed stainless steel siding, a pull-out grill surface, and upholstered with a traditional serape pattern anywhere it would allow.
Steve G. serves up a master class on taco grilling at Rugged's beach debut party.
Rugged passed around the idea of the taco truck to its friends and cohorts who loved the idea (they might've just been hungry) so Greg Cottrell and the Rugged Garage® got to work, collaborating with our industry partners for ideas, parts, and the promise of sweet, sweet tacos.
The Rugged Radios Taco Truck had the honor of being a featured build on an episode of Destination Polaris: Project X. Click Here to view their channel and watch the episode.
Vehicle
Greg Cottrell, founder of Rugged Radios, spared no expense making this the greatest taco truck ever. At its core, the Rugged taco truck is a brand new General XP4 1000 Ultimate 4-seater.
As any outdoors person knows, the right equipment always matters. Photos: Polaris®
Follow me for tacos!
Communications
Ready to place your order? Call it in over the radio! The Taco Truck is filled with the latest and greatest communications equipment. It has the best of both worlds: The M1 Business Band Mobile Radio, the G1 GMRS Mobile Radio (pre-release), and the Brand New 696+ Remote Head Intercom (Available Now!).
To learn more about the differences between Business Band and GMRS read our blog post!
Reference: Which Radio is Right for You?
The Rugged Taco Truck is fitted with the M1, a pre-release of the G1, and the brand new 696+ Remote Head Intercom.
Recovery Gear
It was purpose-built to dispense tacos, but the Taco Truck quickly turned into a capable off-road machine. Factor 55 makes some of the best recovery and winch accessories for the offroad market, so we had them send over some of our personal favorite winch accessories, the UltraHookXTV and their XTV Hawse Fairlead.
Factor 55 makes recovery look good with an important emphasis on safety.
Medical Bags and the Baja Survival Kit
Desert Squadron went above and beyond by creating custom serape pattern medical equipment that we felt was a mandatory addition for the Taco Truck build. They are a must-have for any Rugged build and we can't get enough of their stylish and practical trauma and first aid kits.
Desert Squadron's custom serape pattern trauma kit.
Roof Racks, Canopy, Under Table, and Storage Boxes
Our friends at Front Runner turned our taco truck into a homey cookout spot. The pull-out canopy for shade, a stowable camp table for the cookout, storage boxes, water tanks, and a roof rack to sit them on were vital additions to the build.
Front Runner enabled a truly authentic taco cookout experience.
Fridge, Slider, and Cover
The Rugged Taco Truck wouldn't be complete without mobile refrigeration - a notoriously difficult thing to pull off. Big thanks to Dometic for supplying one of their modern mobile electric coolers, a cooler slider for easy access, and a cooler cover to keep it secure and protected.
Electric coolers feel incredibly high tech and fancy and brought the taco truck to new heights.
Long Travel Suspension
No one likes a bumpy ride (or the ensuing fizzy Jarritos). HCR came through with a +5" long travel suspension kit to keep the truck riding smooth. This thing eats more whoops than the Steves eat tacos.
HCR gives us the gift of ground clearance and a smooth ride.
Lighting
KC is the industry standard for off-road lighting solutions and we were beyond pleased with how the custom serape PRO 6 Light Bar came out. The Cyclone V2s were perfect as tail lights, and the FE1 secondary lights kept the rest of the build well lit.
The custom light bar steals the show on this build.
Seats, Steering Wheel, Harnesses &
Door Bags
The awesome people at PRP make some of the most impressive custom seats on the market. The seats, steering wheel, harnesses, and door bags all received the custom serape treatment.
Taking full advantage of PRP's ability to customize their products.
Power Management System
The Scoche "M8RIX" relay switch system is one of our favorite pieces of tech to include in a build. It's a modern touchscreen control hub for up to 8 different accessories.
Lights, channels, and fridge control from a single hub.
Cage, Roof, and Nerf Bars
We don't plan on rolling the Taco Truck, but if we do, Thumper fab made sure we - or at least the tacos - make it out safely (and looking good).
Thumper Fab's custom roll cage and nerf bars gave an appealing custom feel to the General XP4.
Flat Top Grill, Dutch Oven, and Accessories
Camp Chef's portable flat top grill provided an unparalleled mobile cookout and tailgate experience.
The portable flat top 600 grill is a tailgater's dream.
Hungry patrons and staff load up at Overland Expo.
Wheels & Tires
Raceline Wheels provided some top-of-the-line wheels that matched the build perfectly. Then we slapped them in a pair of primo BFG Tires for some burrito burnouts.
Raceline wheels and BFG tires look good and perform better.
Re-Valved and Re-Sprung Shocks
Shock Therapy went all in to make sure no taco is left behind. A complete re-valving of the shocks and spring rate adjustment accounted for the extra weight of the grill, fridge, and our over-the-top flatbed food prep area. No matter how deep in the desert we are - no taco is going unserved.
The Shock Therapy treatment keeps the spice mild while ripping through the bumps.
A huge thanks to our industry partners for helping make this build the best it could be. Be sure to watch the premiere of the Destination Polaris: Project X Taco Truck build on June 24th on Bally Sports @ 11:30 AM Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can also watch it on their youtube channel or website.
Return to the Rugged Garage page to view more builds.