The Chive Turkeys Tacoma

In all her glory, here she is.
I started this build thread on TTORA, but figured I might as well put it here too!

Currently sitting with 272,000 miles, my 1999 Toyota Tacoma. 4x4 of course.
My plan is to build the most capable off/on road vehicle that I can, which has proved to be a challenge being a college student and all. As of now I have added a toolbox, a firestick cb antenna paired with a Uniden pro 520xl cb. The front bumper was built by myself and a buddy out of his garage. We had everything we needed except for the tube bender. Until I can afford a pair of Hella 4000's and a LED bar, my lighting consist of 4 harbor freight cheepies converted using the DDM tuning 55w at 4500k. She sits like this today.

Future plans include new wheels, OME suspension front and back, building a rear bumper, Ammo can storage, building a bed bar, Hella 4000s, an LED Bar. When I am done with school, I am most likely going towards an extended travel setup, although I am toying around with the idea of long travel 4wd
I hope you enjoy the build!

 

FRONT BUMPER:
I added a pair of cheep harbor freight lights, well just cause, and had the front end sitting like this.
I knew the cost to buy a bumper was way too out of hand, so I made the decision to build my own. A plate bumper was too much work and overkill for what I do, so I decided on a tube bumper. After looking at numerous builds, I found what i wanted. I wanted to build a bumper like this, the one that Demello built for DennisDawg, minus the turn signals and the aluminum front piece.
So, I drove down to Industrial Metal Supply down in Sun Valley, and bought a 20' piece of 1 3/4 .120 DOM tubing, and a slab of 12 gauge steel plate for the skid plate. Cost was under $150, and took me and a friend about 3 days to build. We decided to weld it on because it was much easier, and I will never be selling this truck, and have no need to remove it. If I was ever to remove it, it will be easy to hack everything off and start over, but lets hope that situation does not arise.
Front plates tacked on to stock mounts

Main piece and the hoop bent up and ready to go.

Our work station, I believe a Lincoln 180 HD.

Front tacked on

After 2 days, all of the tube done.

Skid welded on, just needs paint

Painted up

2 lights on, taken outside of Bishop

All four lights on.

Overall, I am very happy with the result, and it was a good experience. I really learned the meaning of measure twice, cut once. I plan on fabbing up a rear bumper in the future, which will be bolt on.

 

SLIDERS:
Rock sliders too were something that I wanted, but were way out of my price range. I managed to find a pair on craigslist, brand new with gussets for $80 from Affordable Bender down in Santa Ana. They were mad of 1 3/4 .120 DOM. The deal was way too good to pass up, so I drove down and picked them up. I had pictures when I first bought them, but somehow they got deleted.
Painting them up

My buddy Zack welding the plates on. Went 1/4 (Overkill I know)

Finished up.



Hopefully I will be testing these out in the next few weeks.

 

Today, I purchased a pair of Wheelers Type B's of of byoung2 (Thanks Brian). They are the discontinued onces, 15x8. I am hoping the wrap them in either Dynapro MT's or BFG AT's. You guys know how hard it is to pick tires!

 

Made it out to Rowher Flats over the weekend.


With about 30 minutes of daylight left, and half way up the mountain, the fog attacked. Was just me and a buddy, no other trucks, and decided to head back down.

At least we got this view!

Wheels to be installed next week.

Wheels.
Finally got some new rubber for my type B's! Decided on Hankook Dynapro MT RT03's. I bought a pair of 3 inch spacers off of another member on this forum. Planning on running it for no more than 3 weeks, I just need to clear these tires until I get my Icon Extended Travels.
Old Vs New



With that being said, spacers suck. Started the project Saturday night. Was not planning on driving my truck until Monday night, which was plenty of time. I ended up having to rush, so sorry for the lack of pictures. Was having trouble getting the lower shock mount mounted back in after the spacers were installed. Got that done at the end of Saturday night. Went to get the upper control arm reattached sunday, and ended up stripping the thread attached to the upper ball joint. A few trips to Autozone and a few hours later, I had that fixed up.
One part finally done

Passanger side buckled up.

Ended up getting the lift done, and all four tires on with 30 minutes to spare tonight. Going to take care of some minor rubbing tomorrow.


CV Angle

Glad I got that out of the way, should be swapping for coilovers within the next two weeks. Planning on Icons up front, and OME Dakars in the rear. Still undecided on what rear shock I am going to use.

 

FINALLY! After two weeks on spacers, finally got my extended travel icons. Little cosmetic damage, but damn do they ride like a dream. Now in the hunt for some UCA's, and to finish up my rear.

Rear Suspension!
Well, had some goodies come in! OME Dakar Springs, Along with Greasable shackles, 2.0 12 inch fox shocks, and a Ubolt flip and BPV relocation bracket from Toytec. The plan is to relocate the mounts to accomodate the longer shocks.



BPV relocation

Shackles

Springs


New UBolts, flipped

Rear crossbar, which has now been replaced and welded on much stronger

Top shock mounts


Bottom shock mounts

Well, the 12 inch shocks left me without an inch of uptravel. I switched to a pair of 10 inch FOA shocks, which are a much better fit. I am in the process of revalving them to my needs.

Ohh, and the awesome switches I ordered from OTRATTW.

In a bracket that should bolt in to my lower DIN slot. Ill get more pics of that as soon as its finished up. Next plans are Rock Lights, a Roof mounted led, Reverse lights, a bed bar, and my Hi lift mount.
Rowher Flats


I got stuck under a rock


Coming down the hill to Boquet Reservoir





Night run to Gorman


ROOF RACK
Well I travel and camp alot, so I decided its time for a roof rack. Decided to pick up a pair of 48" Yakima Rails, along with the stretch kit to put on my Extra Cab.



Its been sturdy so far.
I was also in the market for a LED bar. I was originally going to put a 22" bar in my bumper, but after the roof rack, I decided to go with a 36" on the roof instead.
Mocked up.


I mounted it to the front rails using a pair of Yakimas Universal Mounts, as well as some stainless steel hardware to go with it.



Roof glare was pretty bad in this picture, i've since then adjusted it. There is very little glare, and it is only when I have dust on my hood or windshield.

OTRATTW switches wire up. Sasquatch lights are for the roof bar.

Got pulled over within the two minutes I tested it behind my house, cop said I looked like a UFO.
It is now lower and mounted a bit more under the rails.

Fishing for sharks

New CB mount.

New sub, DD9515. Scored it for 60 bucks at a swap meet. There goes my back seat.

All cleaned up!

Got the high lift mounted on my tool box, as well as the flag pole mounts.
Got the rear shock mounts rewelded and painted.
Rock Lights Wired up!
Beauty Shots


New Exhaust, Aeroturbine.
Sounds Loud and deep. Drone isnt too terrible, only noticeable at when im not playing music.