Tribull's '03 Double Cab 4x4 Build

Here's my Double Cab. This is my second first gen. My first was an '02 Xcab PreRunner with a rebuilt title. I loved that truck, I just needed more in-cab room, and I damn sure missed my 4 wheel drive! So I searched within 500 miles of Little Rock, AR, and was lucky enough to find this one less than 60 miles away. And it was right in my price range! I took one look (and one test drive) and brought it home. So far, it has been an incredible truck. I absolutely love it. That being said, I am always looking for ways to make it better. Here's what I've done so far...

Current Stats:

Wheels/Tires

• Level 8 MK6 Bronze
• 2̶6̶5̶/̶7̶5̶/̶1̶6̶ ̶N̶i̶t̶t̶o̶ ̶T̶e̶r̶r̶a̶ ̶G̶r̶a̶p̶p̶l̶e̶r̶s̶
• 285/75/16 Goodyear Duratracs

Suspension
Front:

• Bilstein Adjustable 5100 struts - set at 0
• ToyTec 3" Coils

Back:

• Wheeler's Offroad 1.5" Add A Leaf
• Bilstein 5100 shocks

Interior

• Alpine CDE-147BT
• Kicker 5x7 speakers in all doors
• MTX Thunder 500.1 mono amplifier
• Audiobahn 10" shallow mount subwoofer, wired at 2 ohms
• Custom tiny little sub box to mount in front of the back seat.

Exterior

• LifetimeLEDs.com LED headlights
• Plasti Dip bumpers and grille
• Removed factory pinstriping
• Removed emblems

Armor

• 4xInnovations sliders
• ARB Bumper
• Smittybilt XRC 9.5k winch

Wishlist

• 3rd Gen 4Runner roof rack
  
• S̶t̶a̶i̶n̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶b̶r̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶n̶e̶s̶ Ordered 6/30/14
• A̶d̶j̶u̶s̶t̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶T̶o̶y̶T̶e̶c̶ ̶S̶h̶a̶c̶k̶l̶e̶s̶ Ordered 6/30/14

How it sits now:



Old tires:





This is how she sat when I bought her in September '13.



With a VERY clean engine bay.



And a pretty clean interior, for its age.



First things first: remove that awful step bar/grill guard combo, tint the windows, and order some new tires (265/75/16 Nitto Terra Grapplers)!!













Then decided it was time to paint the factory wheels, get rid of the new rubbing, and raise the front end a little bit. I ordered some Bilstein 5100 adjustable struts from wheelersoffroad.com, and they ride beautifully. They are currently set at 1.25" (I think?).















Then it was time to plasti-dip the bumpers and grille, and remove some emblems.







Then did the blinker relocate mod.





Decided it was time for a new stereo. Alpine Bluetooth unit, Kicker speakers in all doors, MTX 500.1 sub amp, Audiobahn shallow mount sub.







Put in revers light LED's.





Sound deadened the interior.





Time for new shoes! Level 8 MK6 in Bronze!








Removed the pinstriping and installed the Wheeler's 1.5" AAL, with Bilstein 5100's.

 

The wheels look great. Bronze and black are a really good combo. Hows the ride quality with the blisteins compared to factory?

 

Thanks man! The Bilsteins are a night and day difference. I was worried when I put the AAL on that it would ride stiffer, but the Bilsteins just ride beautifully!

 

Truck looks awesome man! Love the black and bronze combo

 

Got to play in the snow a little bit on the way to Hot Springs, AR.

 

Ordered some new Eibach coils on the 11th!! WooHoo!!

Then Wheeler's said they are out of stock.

But said they will have them back in on Monday!

 

Definitely looks way better than when you first got it.
Not really sure what direction your headed with your truck but just a heads up I remember seeing a thread somewhere about deaver leafs and from what i read they are pretty bouncy (even had a youtube video of the guy standing on one of the leaf packs jumping up and down on them..) The problem the guy was having was that they kept bottoming out on little bumps in the road. I like OME Dakar leafs personally (i think they are more stiff than deavers) and i have a pair sitting in my garage just waiting for new shackles. Everything I've read about OME leafs has pretty much been positive. Again I'm not saying your making a bad choice but maybe do research on leafs and find which one suits your needs.

 

DAMN!! Thanks for the heads up!

http://youtu.be/T553scxGcMQ

 

Yea bro no prob just tryin to help out some fellow TW members.

 

Got this little guy dropped off last night. I think I'll paint it gunmetal before the install. Either that or gloss black. Any thoughts?

 

Will be installing this on Sunday!

 

Well, I got my grille all nice and cut up, sanded down, and painted. Then I went to git the grille insert and it just looked like crap. So I am ordering some M1 from Homer. Looking back, I should have gone that route in the first place.

While I had the grille shell off I installed some new horns! Sounds much better!

 

Aaaaaaaahhhhh YEAH!!

 

Wheres the pics with the coils installed? Lol

 

Yes...they would look much better on your truck!

 

Here's a sneak peak...really it's just been crappy weather outside and I didn't want to stand out in the rain to get a picture of my truck! But it will be nice this weekend, so I'll take her out and stretch her legs a bit!

You can tell there is plenty of room in there for the suspension to cycle through with my 265's. I went from ~37.5 inches ground to fender with the stock coils/Bilsteins at 2.5" to ~39" with the ToyTec coils/Bilsteins at 0.

 

Okay, so I went out and played around a little bit at lunch today. She's so purdy!!!

 

Looks sharp man

 

Nice urban 4x4ing. I need to find a ramp like that lol.

 

looks good man! those wheels are killer keep it up!