LostPilots truck

Did my back bumper with rustoleum the other day. Turned out awesome! Gonna do my flares tomorrow. And front bumper if I have time.

 

I felt like I wanted the muffler a little louder, so I went back to the shop and swapped it out for a 14". Bedlined my fender flares yesterday too

 

Got me a toolbox! It's a dee zee. For 50 bucks. Found a guy who trades factory reject parts or something and it had a few dings. It started out chrome but I put some rustoleum on it and mounted it up.

 

I wanna paint my rear bumper black too! The tool box looks nice and was good deal

 

Thanks man! It's holding up alright.. The rustoleum job is kind of shitty, it scratches off pretty easily. So I'll either have to just go with a "worn" look or touch it up constantly.

I finished my job and got hired by a regional airline (envoy) so I drove from Dallas to nashville in one sitting the day before yesterday, and I'm about to drive from here to Charleston SC. Hopefully the taco keeps tickin.

Also I can report that the magnaflow 14" really isn't that bad on road trips. You can always hear it even with the radio on but it's not loud enough to be an annoyance, just a background hum.

 

Today I installed OME 883 front springs, and moved my bilsteins down to the stock height. It looks like I got about 2" additional lift out of the springs, so it's maybe 2.5 over stock in the front. After I got it aligned I noticed a constant "clop clop clop clop clop" sound coming out of the front end as I rode, which I assumed to be the CV joints. I installed the 1" diff drop and the noise went away. Doesn't have any unusual sounds or vibes up to 70 mph, but I didn't go any faster than that.

I'll post a couple pics of my CV angles now, since that's what I'm most concerned about. Can anyone tell me what exactly we're looking for here? And how bad mine are/ what time of extra wear and tear to expect in the future. I'd really appreciate input.

pics -

 

Hey man! Truck looks good, i always liked the red tacomas

As for the CV angles.. What ive heard is that with lifts you can possibly see down the road is a blown CV. Where greese will just spin out of the boot. If that happens though and you decide to replace the CV you could do the CV boot slide mod.

CV angles look a little high. As long as the fins are not touching, you should be good.

EDIT: Found the mod http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/146070-boot-slide-mod-no-more-blowing-cv-boots.html

 

Thanks for the compliment! And on the CV's is it actually going to break the joint itself or just the boot that covers it? I guess I could also go with high angle CV's and/or boots too.

Also I just did this today, so they'll improve as it settles I guess. Also planning on getting a heavy front bumper, which is why I went with 883's. I'm already aware I'm gonna be in for a pretty stiff ride until I get some weight on it. Or maybe I could just throw some sandbags in the cab haha

 

Just the boot, would end up looking like this



What bumper are you going to be going with?

 

Hmm, well my inner fins are touching right now, but idk what I could do about it, so I guess for now I'll just have to wait and see.

I'm not sure, I like the relentless fab bumpers but they're pretty steep and I think it take a long time to fill orders. Right now I'm leaning towards one of these with filler plates:

 

Downside of those baja bumpers is they don't really weigh much at all

 

Your suspension should settle in a bit so only time will tell.

If you plan on getting a winch it would help weight it down a bit. I have a relentless front on order (5 months on the 25th) and relentless rear wrap around waiting to be welded. Im still on stock suspension.. I plan on upgrading to the full ome kit with the dakar aal.

 

Niice, that's gonna be a huge change all at once. I'm building mine one piece at a time. I might do a relentless DIY bumper, wait times a lot shorter on those. And I'm probably gonna drive it a few weeks and lift my rear end to level it. Got about 1.5" bro lean right now I think. Bigger tires coming too, but I'm gonna stick with these until they actually need to be replaced.

 

True, it is gonna be a big change.. haha. Yeah wait times for full fabbed are around 5-7 months but for DIY its around 1 month. What tires are you going to go with? And what rear lift?

 

Those bumpers are incredibly badass though, worth the wait. I've got bilstein shocks and adjustable shackles ready to go on it. And I'm thinking either 265/75/16 or 285's.

 

They sure are, i cant wait for my front to get here. Rear just needs to be welded. Ill get that done around November. For my next set of tires im looking at the cooper discover a/t maxx at the 285 size. Looks good with a 2-3 inch lift.

 

I haven't seen any truck with 285s that doesn't look good. The only thing I'm worried about it the mileage. But I can't stand lifted trucks with small tires. My current ones are just barely big enough to not look stupid with the lift lol.

 

Ha yeah, i think 265 is almost to small but can still pass with looking alright. Ill run my 265 with a lift until i need some new ones then go up in size.

 

265s look real good on stock suspension actually. Pretty good with a lift too

 

Yupp, thats what i'm running now. You planning on getting an aftermarket rear bumper also?