Going Broke the Fun Way

Im not quite sure how to start this build thread because this build has lasted two trucks. I traded in my 2006 tacoma trd off road for a 2013. Same color, same everything and I swapped most of the stuff over to the new truck. Most people never realize the truck I have today is not the same truck I had 6 months ago. This is where I will start. I originally started building up my 2006 for looks. It was a prerunner so it was 2wd. I put a 4" zone spacer lift on it with 285 bfg ko2's and I put the leer cap on it. The lift was terrible and it rode like a school bus. I knew nothing about lifts and I went with what was cheapest.
I slowly started adding other things to it (for looks) and it turned into a fairly nice looking truck. I added a grillcraft mesh grill with a rigid radiance 20" lightbar behind it. I mounted the light bar with a BAMF mount. I also changed out the aged headlights and fog lights.
When I got the cap I realized it was near impossible to see behind me at night so I got Rigid SR-Q flush mount backup lights. These things are extremely nice.
Around this time I went on a camping trip and saw and old friend there (dcoursler). Most of the guys there were into overlanding and off roading. Seeing their rigs is what hooked me. This is where my knowledge of building up trucks and their capabilites grew immensely. DCOURSLER helped me out a lot. Ive always been able to design and build almost anything but he helped me break into the world of trucks and overlanding. I was invited to Overland Expo east so I started making rush preparations to build my truck up a bit more. I started with ordering a prinsu rack for my cap.
I think it was this forum that I saw a picture of a prinsu rack with orange painted washers. I stole that idea and painted mine red. Whoever came up with that idea....genius. It looks great.

Next I realized I needed to build some type of drawer system for the bed of my truck. I had been sleeping on my sofa cushions in the back and all of my stuff piled around me. Im an organization freak so that wouldnt do. I worked on a design and I ordered all of the material needed. I bought a queen size 4" memory foam mattress and cut it to fit.

I wanted it to become a functional part of my truck so I decided to run power through it also.

Next I bought 60" light strips and modified them to fit inside the cap and on the glass gate. There is one along the edge of the glass gate and one on each side running along the length of the windows. I added a dimmer to the lights so I can set them to a comfortable brightness. Theyre capable of turning darkness into day when theyre all the way up. All the way down and they offer a nice night light. I dont have a very good pictures of the lights at the moment. Ill have to add them later.

When I got to Overland Expo East I went broke. I went crazy buying stuff. I ended up with 55" and 79" CVT awnings and I also bought the rooms that attach to them. Along with those I bought a CVT shower.
This picture has an Eno rainfly attached between the two awnings.

That brings me to the trade-in. My truck was not 4wd so I was thinking of SAS'ing my truck. After considering finances, I asked my friends to look out for a truck that matches mine that is 4wd and later model. DCOUSLER texted me a link to a 2013, 4wd, same color and trd off road. I drove 7 hours to go pick it up. After spending forever taking everything off of my old truck I realized the spindles on the zone lift wouldnt let me put the factory wheels back on it. I had to leave the wheels and tires on it. I was pissed.
I got a truck that is 7 years newer and 150,000 less miles on it.
First thing I did was add most of the stuff I took off of the old truck. Next was a Toytec 1" body lift. Then came 3" lift, tires and wheels. This is where DCOURSLER stepped up and started really showing me the ropes. Im not a mechanic but I catch on fast. He brought me up to his house and we had a wrench party. I went with OME springs on front and rear. I sprayed the black coils red just because Im a fan of red. Its the only red OME coils ive ever seen. We also added Icon upper control arms.

I went with Dakar rear leafs with an add-a-leaf and timbren bump stops. BTW, the timbren bump stops are a dream. Not cheap but money well spent.

The shocks were changed out to bilsteins.
I ordered Toyo M/T 285's and a set of Raceline wheels.

The wheels looked ok but I wanted them to be a little different so I sprayed them. I couldnt be more happy with them.

Next I ordered a set of All Pro Off Road Rock Sliders. I got them in bare metal and sprayed them myself.

I had plans of doing a lot of wiring work under the hood so my first project under the hood was to add under-hood lighting. I used the same light strips that I used in the cap and I added a switch.

At this point I had multiple small projects going. I was building up the components for my dual battery system and I was trying to figure out the best way to add switches inside the cockpit without it looking bad. What I came up with was adding a switch panel in the upper console to replace on of the sunglasses holders. I build kydex things for a living so I built it out of kydex and I fiberglassed the joints.


Next up, Dual Battery System.
I used the battery trays from Off Grid Engineering. They came as bare aluminum but I decided to spray them. If you havent noticed by now, I spray EVERYTHING.










After wiring up the battery system I saw a hot chick get out of her benz one night at the store. I saw the light underneath her door come on as she opened the door. I said "I want to do that". I took a few of the scraps I cut off of the 60" light strips I used in the cap and under the hood. I soldered wires onto them and used heat shrink to make the ends look good. I wired them into the dome light wire in the A-Pillar.
Now the Lights come on whenever my dome light comes on.

DCOURSLER and I were talking about rear swing-out bumpers one day and decided to build our own instead of paying $2K for them. We ordered the material and over two weekends we got them built. We built his bumper out of scrap. Then I decided I liked his All Pro Off Road bumper so we chose to modify it to accommodate the swing arm we would build for it. I chose to have my jerry cans behind the spare in an effort to shorten the swing arm. An unanticipated positive to this is my caps glass gate will open without opening the swing arm. I like it much more than I ever thought I would. The swing arm will also lock open and lock closed.



This past weekend I built a mounting plate to accommodate my arb compressor. It turned out nicely but the part to come is the part im most excited about.

When we were building the swing arm for the rear bumper, we built it with something else in mind other than holding the jerry cans and spare tire. We built it completely sealed off so I can use it as a tank for the air compressor. I will be tapping the swing arm sometime soon. The swing arm offers right at 1 gallon of volume so itll be perfect. I havent got the compressor wired yet but Ill update as I go.

I ordered a Demello Offroad front bumper last week and I ordered a snorkel and baja lights last night. I will be ordering a winch next week and Im hoping to have full skid plates soon. Im racing time because we leave for Moab and Overland Expo West in 3 weeks.


I still have a lot planned for the build and I figure its only about half complete. Stay tuned!!!

Photo Credit: DCOURSLER



UPDATE:

Last night I decided to build adapters to allow the attachment of maxtrax to my prinsu rack. It took about 2 hours to get it completed. The result is solid mounting points that hold the maxtrax secure and allow me to mount additional maxtrax if needed.



UPDATE: 4-20-17

Ive done quite a bit since my last update. I have added an UltraGauge that I use with my ipad. I will be fiberglassing the ipad into my dash in the near future.

I also got my Demello front bumper in and sprayed it. I installed Baja Designs Squadron Sport fogs and a Warn VR-10000-S winch.




The next step was a bit difficult as I didnt really know what I needed to do. I have a 1" body lift so there was space between the top of the bumper and the bottom of the grill. I eventually decided to take my factory bumper and cut 2" off the top of it to use as a spacer.

I also Plasti-Dipped my grill surround black while I was at it.

My next step is the one I was most excited about but also most dreading. The snorkel. I searched high and low looking for one that I liked. I wanted the arb but I didnt like how big they are. I finally decided to go with a snorkel made for the hilux by a company in which I cant pronounce their name. It came with no instructions and the pattern was for the wrong snorkel. I made my own out of cardboard.

 

Nice Truck OP Welcome to TW!

 

Sub'd...You have a killer build going man!Looks Great...

 

Thanks. Ive made a lot of progress in a short amount of time but its starting to slow down a bit. If only I could hit the powerball...

 

Bro, you are killing it! Truck looks great!! Sub'd

 

I would say so, very cool you took pictures along the way and shared with us! Keep her going...

 

You're going to find that 1 gallon of air at 60psi or whatever isn't a whole lot of air if you air down often. Since you have all that space where the spare used to be, you could fit a big tank there if needed.

And uh... War Eagle and whatnot.

 

Im hoping itll help enough to make it worth the time of sealing it off. My original worry was time spent re-inflating the tires. I wanted the twin compressor but couldnt afford it at the time. I guess im going to have to make do with it or find another spot for a secondary tank. Im hoping to add another fuel cell in the old spare tire location though. So far it appears im going to have to fab one since i cant find any for sale anywhere.

 

Badass build man! Love the bed drawers and that dual battery kit. Was that the $800 one?

 

I just bought the battery trays from off grid. I sourced everything else from different places. I used a 1 gauge cable which is overkill but i was unsure what type of draw i would have in the future so i wanted to accommodate any possibility.

 

oh badass okay! Was gunna say the kit is sooo expensive but Ill prolly go your route

 

The parts you go with can vary your price significantly. The good thing about buying your components separately is you can buy a piece at a time and it doesnt hurt your wallet so much.

 

Well done, David. Well done!

 

Awesome job for a fellow Lee County boy! That all looks great. When you coming up to help me copy your bed boxes and power setup?

 

Thanks. I can get you any dimensions and part numbers you need. After I get back from Moab at the end of next month Im going to rebuild the box and drawers using aluminum. Theyre made out of 3/4" oak plywood now. Im hoping to save some weight. Im also needing to rebuild the passenger side drawer because Ive decided to go with a larger fridge than I originally planned.

 

Great build and story! Maybe I'll get to meet you at Overland Expo W, I'm heading there from DFW TX.

 

@Tralen solid build page bro! And your welcome for helping you spend your money.

 

At least now I will never be homeless when I go broke. I can sleep in my truck

 

Looking good.

 

I have also added an UltraGauge that I run on my ipad

Today I also received my new ARB 50qt fridge/freezer. It will be replacing my Yeti 50. I am going to need to modify the drawer and box to make it fit but Im ok with that.

Another project Im working on is adding the Front Runner 10gal Upright water container to my truck. I am building a box in the access cab portion of my truck and the water container will be built into it.