3 Tons of Fun! Littles' Build, Travel, and B.S. Thread

Hey TW! Thanks for stopping by my build thread. I bought this truck bone-stock back in 2016 when I was in my mid-twenties (now in my mid-thirties) with the intention of taking it off-road, cutting it up, building it up, and doing a bunch of camping and exploring. I didn't really have any sort of plan for my build when I started out and mostly just followed the advice of my good buddy @HomerTaco early on, so you'll see a lot of his influence early on in my build. I have made a lot of mistakes along the way, upgraded and replaced things multiple times, and most important had a lot of fun building a pretty capable rig that takes me where I want to go. I have also formed some amazing friendships and recorded some unforgettable experiences through the fine folks of TW.

I did not have a lot of mechanical experience before buying the Tacoma. I had done some brake jobs, replaced alternators and radiators and simple stuff like that on cars, and even went as far as tinkering with re-jetting the carbs and adjusting the valves on my 600 katana when I was a teenager. Most of what I have learned here and can share with you was learned from folks here on TW by doing my research, asking questions, and taking on projects myself. Hopefully there's some useful stuff in here for anyone pursuing similar mods, and if nothing else pretty pictures for you enjoyment and inspiration.

Parking lot shot 5/2/20:




Drivetrain (229:1 final crawl ratio)
4.56 Nitro gears from ECGS
ARB Front & rear air lockers
Crown stainless steel airlines
Hurst Short throw shifter
1-piece double cardan drive shaft (Bill’s Englewood Driveshaft)
Marlin Crawler tacobox with 4.7s
FJ cruiser twin stick tcase

Front Suspension
Toytec BOSS 2.5 non-resi Adjustable Coilovers with 700lb Icon springs
Fox 2.5 Remote Resi Front Coilovers w DSC adjusters, 13" 600lb coils
Wheelers Off-Road Superbumps
Total Chaos UCAs with Icon Delta joints

Rear Suspension
Chevy 63 swap (4+1 with overload removed) (install link)
Fox 2.5 x 14" smoothie, Remote resi w/ DSC adjusters
Fox 2.0 x 2.5" air bumps
Alcan custom built leaf pack for 3 tons of fun
Bilstein B110 Shocks
@ARCHIVE Garage Shackle flip
Timbren Bumpstops
All-pro U-bolt flip
Toytec Bump Stop drop kit

Brakes
Crown 30" rear brake lines
4 Runner Brake Upgrade (link)

Armor
Budbuilt front/mid/transfer case skids
4xinnovations weld-on sliders
Elite aluminum high clearance front bumper
BruteForce high clearance rear bumper w/ swingout tire carrier and Jerry can holders
Boztec Rear Diff Skid

Wheels and Tires
TRD Pro 4Runner 17x7 4mm offset
BFG KM3 35x12.5x17
Stealth Custom series 16" SR5 wheels 4.5"BS
BF Goodrich KO2 315x75x1
Bora .75" front spacers

Electrical / Accessories
100amp Blue Sea 12 circuit (30amp ea) fuse panel
6 spot iggycorp switch panel
ARB twin air compressor
Off-grid engineering side by side dual batteries, Northstar AGM group 35

Storage
Decked bed drawer system
Access cab rear Molle panel
Indel B 40L truck fridge
2 x 5 gallons Jerry cans (1 x fuel, 1 x water)

Recovery
Warn M8000 Winch and snatch block
60” Hi-lift

Camping
Flippac Camper

Communication
Cobra CB Radio
Kenwood D710A HAM Radio
Baofeng BF-F8 Handheld Radio

Other Mods
Cab mount hack
Rear diff breather relocate
Reroute air intake to cowl
Exhaust axle dump
Exhaust re-route

RA60F Ratios (Tacoma 4wd 6 speed)
4.171
2.190
1.488
1.193
1.000
0.849

 

A little history...

May 2014
With the help of @HomerTaco, I picked up a bone stock 2009 Super White Sport Access Cab for just under $23K with less than 53,000 miles on it.




July 2014
I headed up to Rausch Creek and left my truck in the parking lot while I rode shotgun with @HomerTaco to see what wheeling was all about. I was pretty much hooked instantly.



Modding started with removal of the factory steps ("damage mutipliers" as Craig calls them) and Grillcraft insert installed by the master grill maker himself, @HomerTaco.



October 2014
Last minute preparations for my first wheeling trip at Big Dogs included installing skid plates and having my new sliders welded on and painted. I went with BudBuilt skids for the quality and ease of install, and 4x innovations weld-on sliders for the price.





My first time off-roading and getting stuck down in Gore, VA at Big Dogs.





November 2014
Rausch Creek. Removed badges.



December 2014
Short-throw shifter.

January 2015
Stuffing 33's with factory suspension. It can be done. Cut the cab mounts and fenders, beat back the pinch weld, and get the proper backspacing or spacers.

I went with the 16" Stealth Custom Series SR5s with 33" Nitto Terra Grapplers (285/75/16).





February 2015
Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky. This was my first trip with the new wheels and tires, and my first time playing in the snow. We had a blast on this trip, but I will never, ever camp in a sleeping bag on the snow again. Probably the two coldest nights of my life.





April 2015
Installed @HomerTaco's old aluminum high clearance front bumper, a rare piece from Elite Concepts. Unfortunately, I snapped rear leaf spring on trail 13 at Rausch. Fortunatelly, I had already sourced a TSB leaf pack with 1" AAL and extended Bilstein's for the rear.







May 2015
I installed the TSB leaf pack with Toytec 1" AAL, timbren bump stops, and All-pro u-bolt flip, along with a 3 degree axle shim.



September 2015
I bought got my Bruteforce high-clearance rear bumper powder coated and installed. Gorgeous piece. Billy does great work!



September 2015

Flexing out at Rausch Creek. One of my last trips before moving to Colorado.




November 2015

After waiting months for my Pelfreybuilt diff skid plate that never arrived, I went with a cheaper option, Boztec. Unfortunately, the diff skid didn't quite fit...the hole wasn't drilled in the right location and the collar was welded on slightly crooked. The guy who built it tried to tell me that on some trucks the drain hole was in a slightly different spot and I should ground down the protective ring around the drain bolt. WTF?

Instead, we modified the part to fit the truck. With a lot of grinding to the drain hole, and the collar, we made it fit.

I also picked up a silver cap for dry storage.







November 2015

Swapped out my URD short throw for a Hurst.

The URD is basically just a spacer on the factory shifter that effectively moves the fulcrum up on the shifter, giving you less movement up top for the same movement down low. Simple. 44% reduction in throw.

The Hurst replaces the whole mechanism, with a 30% reduction in throw and a sexy chrome shaft.

Hurst on the left, OEM with URD spacer on the right.

Despite the numbers claimed by manufacturers, the hurst feels tighter.



December 2015

Packed my shit, moved to Colorado.



January 2016

I got in over my head. Way over my head. Being new to Colorado, I took off on my own into the mountains and got myself stuck in a bad way. I slid off the trail trying to avoid a snow drift and almost rolled my truck. I was afraid to get out the drive side.

Thankfully I had service on my cell phone, and the wonderful folks of Tacoma World in Colorado saved my ass.

It was after this experience that I got serious about recovery gear, bought the winch, and installed lockers.





May 2016

Leaf spring recall done at Stevinsin Toyota, and had them swap over my AAL.

 

Relocated converter and fog light switches to center console. Relocated RSCA, traction, and clutch cancel switches to make room for compressor and lockers

 

I'm in.

 

Bought the fox 2.0s to replace a blown Billstein 5100 but realized they were almost 2" shorter and quickly picked up some of the older N182s from Old Man Emu.

 

Money well spent. No regrets. Removed in preparation for ARB lockers and re-gear to 4.56.

 

And my airlines are in from Crown So glad I decided to upgrade. These are nice...

 

Long overdue project. Finished modding both my jerry can straps to fit my brute force carriers.

Not all that pretty anymore, but functional.

Designed for a generic jerry can holder:

Jerry Can Mounting Straps Steel Mounting Strap

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BF...X236_SY340_QL65&keywords=jerry+can+lock+strap

 

Thanks to advice from @3378jakesr5 and @tdubd, I'm going to save a bunch of money by waiting till after Moab to borrow some spare diffs and swap out gears / lockers myself (and hopefully a little guidance ) instead of paying a shop.

Since I've already mentally spent the money and justified the cost of the install by selling my Lancer back in Philly, I decided to invest some of the money I would have spent on capability into recovery. I'm done F'ing with a hi-lift / come-along as a winch after my seperate experiences on Yankee hill with @aero3685, @Reh5108, and @ashrr213. That shit sucked.

I've read nothing but good things about the M8000 as being a reliable entry level winch for the Tacoma, and with the aluminum bumper I should have no issue getting away with the weight of the steel cable on my stock coils for a little while. @80lbs, the winch ways more than the bumper and I doubt the two are over 150lbs together.

Can't wait to use it.





Had to pull the whole bumper and drill 1 extra hole to mount the control pack. It all fits nicely back there, and won't be too exposed. Happy with the purchase and looking forward to being the guy who has the winch, instead of the guy who needs one

 

Woot. Build thread time!!!

 

Your wench pic reminds me that i might want to rehook mine back up before RT.

 

hell yeah! If you want that cable to last make sure you put tension on it and watch it wind back into the drum. Eventually it will get kinked and you can upgrade to a synthetic line and aluminum fairlead so you don't have rusty rollers on the front of your bumper!

 

Gave the fender some much needed love after my last trip to Yankee hill.

I didn't think I'd get it to pop out as well as I did.

 

Good news...I found pork roll in Colorado. Bad news, shit is 12 dollars a pound.

 

Just in time for Moab.




Started modding before I even plugged it in
Not as glamorous as @aero3685's hinges, it'll do. Still need to decide on a latch.



I also did my hinges opposite him...this is going behind the passenger seat, so I wanted the lid to open against the back of the cab, with the controls and wires facing me and the center console.



Nice heavy duty base pops right on and off with a three ball shaped studs. +$35 option

 

Pre-rock therapy with @HomerTaco.

Left Monday @ 8ish. Hauled ass across Colorado. Blew past Moab and headed straight for Zion National Park. Camped in the middle of nowhere, Utah.

Made delicious breakfast of pork roll and eggs, then headed to Zion to ascend Angel's Landing...the most spectacular hike I've done yet. Finished the day at Emerald pools and then camped again further in the middle of nowhere, Utah.

Can't wait for Rock Therapy!

 

Hey I've got your cell phone charger and a shirt that I need to send you .. let me know where to send it

 

Did you get your charger and stuff ?

 

Found these waiting for me when I got back from Philly. Thanks James! Appreciate you sending the stickers and the t-shirt!

 

Great looking truck man!