BigMike’s Big Journey: New 2016 Tacoma

After I had messed around in Photoshop for a while it was time to actually get to work!

Knowing this would be a lengthy process that would also involve additional body work, I turned to my good friend Bob who bobbed my bed earlier this year. His son, Russel, does great bumper and exocage work so I knew this would be a great match to get the job done. It would also be nice the Tacoma wouldn't be tied up in our shop for a while. I pitched to Russel that I'd like him to help me build a prototype bumper that I'd possibly one day want Marlin Crawler to manufacture and he said he'd be honored to help, and the rest as they say is history!

November 16, 2017: Tacoma Delivered

Bob's house is a 2-1/2 hour drive for me and to get the Tacoma to Bob's I planned to load all four 40s in the bed and just drive over with my wife as the chase vehicle. But Bob has a truck that is scheduled for work at MC, so, despite the fact I dislike towing my own vehicles as towing is highly unmanly, it worked out well. The Tacoma is too wide to fit on our trailer so I had to rent one. We pulled down my SST Pros that have been waiting patiently for me up in our warehouse, loaded em up in the back of our company tow rig, and that evening I made it safely back to Bob's!

 

November 29, 2017: Stage III officially begins!

After Thanksgiving I returned to Bob's and Russ and I got underway





Slapped the 40s on the front and yanked the bumper off so we can start reviewing designs



It looks WAY better already!

 

I was very pleased to see the front axle isn't too far back from the front of the frame. This wasn't so obvious with the factory warthog bumper on. We can work with this!



You'll see my original TRD Sport grill on the ground a few pics up. I brought it along so that we didn't damage my precious SR grill during fabrication.

I like this huge gaping area here. I really wanted to leave the entire bumper off which includes the color keyed area beneath the headlight. This would reduce a lot of work during installation. No jigs, No cutting up your truck. Ability to resell your factory bumper...

We played for a while trying to get my idea to work which included intricate/compound tube work up and over to the outside. Bending limitations nullified my ideas and I refuse to settle for the "easy way out" of plate-steel.



Some of my plans went out the window and we did the typical cut here on the factory bumper



There is an added bonus of reusing the bumper and that is added support beneath the grill



Here is the compromised design of the main tube

 

December 6, 2017: Test driven with 40s for the first time!

The next week we got so sick of still seeing the 37s on the rear of the truck we dedicated our time to getting this truck rolling on 40s

When I tried mounting the 40s earlier this summer I couldn't even lower the truck off our lift. The fronts were okay but the rears directly contacted each fender.

Here are a couple pics of the fronts installed





For the rear fenders what we did was trim one inch above which was blended into 2 inches front and back



Installed and the truck on the ground for the first time ever rolling on 40s!



Lengthwise shot. Looks worse due to no flares in the rear. The rear probably needs spacers. The rims are 17" x 9" and 4" (solid axle type) backspacing

 

OHHHH MAN I THINK I CAN GET USED TO THIS!









I took the truck out for a spin on the 40s!! Yes I was limited on how much I could turn but it wasn't a problem out on the open road.

Power
Power far surpassed my expectations. I was concerned about the horrible gearing for the stick-shift 3rd gen as 4.88s only provide a 14% reduction (vs. 25% reduction for you auto guys). I pulled out in front of traffic and it accelerated right up to cruising speed. All you 3.5-liter haters can suck it! I love this engine

Brakes
Brakes are rock solid and O.P.; Can't feel any loss in brake power

Of course loaded down in the hills will be more challenging for both systems. I have two tricks up my sleeves for both factors, reserved for later this year.

We spent the rest of the day working on my rear bumper design to figure out if I'd need to order any special tooling for it. As such the rear bumper will be missing in some upcoming pics. More on that for a later date And that was it for the day!

 

December 13, 2017: Lower frame plate mocked up

The next week we built our first frame plate and figured out how we'd be hanging the side supports



While I won't be keeping my factory tie down point, we will keep this as much bolt-on as possible



Testing different ideas for side bracing

 

December 29, 2017: Bumper now self-supported

After Christmas I made the journey back to the Taco and we made some great progress.

Russel bent-up the final main tube and we redesigned the lower frame plate. The main tube is made out of 2.0-inch DOM USA-steel.



I'm really liking how this is turning out!!





We built an updated lower plate, now using the typical eight bolt points

 

Main tube tack welded and standing on its own!! The lower bracing is also 2.0-inch DOM USA-steel. Many mfgs use flat plate steel down here to reduce cost and manufacturing time. We'll have some plating but I'm trying to focus on tube where ever possible.





Side view

 

Welcome to 2018!!

January 4, 2018: Started on a winch mount

The next week we were back at it this time getting a winch mount incorporated. My entire wheel'n career I've never had a winch. Of course I like to say this is because I never get stuck hahahe but that's not true for anyone who has done some actual wheeling. I've had my share of being winched out of tough pickles, yes even by Jeeps. Also I've had my share of moving out of the way to get a rig up front with a winch. Marlin raised me with the 'help others first' mindset and it's painful when I cannot help someone because I don't have a winch. Looking forward to surpassing this with the Tacoma.



Figuring out how high up we can stash a winch to prevent losing too much approach angle



Many a rock is going to fall prey to this approach!!



How the triangular plating will look behind the lower tubes

 

My MR2 worked hard taking me back-and-forth a total of nine times (almost 50 hrs of driving!!) so I've gotta include at least one pic of its services. Thank you to my awesome first vehicle, now spending its 19th year with me. Popup headlights FTW!

 

January 10, 2018: CUT IT UP BABY!!!!!!!!!

I finally did it!! I trimmed my fenders like I should have back in July! OHHHHHHHH man I was super nervous doing this but it turned out better than I imagined!

My original concern was that I wanted to retain the original flares. I like them. They give the truck it's nice shoulders & stance. So I was going to order a complete set of four new flares and Bob was going to use his plastic welder to combined 8 flares (4 used, 4 new) into 4 new, wider flares that we'd mount higher up on the vehicle. Man oh man that sounded like so much work to me but Bob was like, "Sure Mike, it wouldn't be a problem at all." Professional body guys are crazy! Talent I can't even dream of having.

The easiest step would be to just trim the fenders first and then decide what to do about the flares later. I'll spare the suspense: I won't be keeping the flares.

Removing the front flares for the first time in history



Whew, my fenders sure took a beating from the 37s + no trimming



Passenger side not as bad



As I've mentioned earlier I wasn't too concerned about this because within minutes this happened:



HELL YEAH BUDDY!! I'm gonna make these 40s work with IFS or die trying!!

 

Rear with two possible cuts. We wanted to have the height of the rear fender lower than the front



Russel laid out tape for me and I took an air powered body saw and did the trimming. Thank you Russ! I couldn't have done this without your guidance! Russel later reminded me how it's much easier when it's someone else's truck. Hahah so true buddy!



Ohhhhhh my



There will be much wheel-well modification before the truck can see another trail. For now we just painted it black



Animated before and after!

(GIF, size: 452KB, direct link)

 

January 12, 2018: Stinger mock-up

Two days later Russel had a short stinger mocked up. Looks great!! The throwback design is coming together! Follows a few of the factory body and grill lines while paying homage to the classic Marlin Crawler bumpers



It's dark in these pictures but Russ finished up the winch mount. It is a 1.75" DOM USA-steel lower tube hoop with plated steel pedestal for a winch

 

January 13, 2018: Prototype Marlin Crawler 3rd Gen Tacoma Front Bumper finished!

The very next day Russel had it all finished and Bob professionally painted is using Rust-Oleum. B-I-G Thank you Bob!!! I returned in our chase car with my wife and got this puppy installed!!

Russel widened the lower frame brace to add additional support for the side tubes but this meant the bumper could no longer be slipped over the factory lower-right tie down point which is now required to be cut off the frame before the bumper can be mounted.

I didn't weight it but the bumper is so light one person can easily install and remove it if needed. I love how it all came together! I love it!

I'll just let the pictures do all the talking!

 

There was only 1 hour of daylight remaining and on my way back through the city before merging onto the final highway I had THREE people at red lights talk out their window saying how awesome the truck looks

 

January 14, 2018: First day back at home on 40s and prototype Marlin Crawler front bumper









That first day back home I couldn't even run to Starbucks without a guy stopping me in the parking lot asking questions about the truck. I showed him the TacoBox Crawler and the work I've done to make this happen, gave him my business card. While chatting I noticed bros wearing flatbills in their lifted American-brand full-size pavement pounders gazing over at the Taco while slowly driving by.

Heck yeah!! Get'n respect for the new 3rd gen like never before!! But there is A TON OF WORK still remaining to get this truck trail worthy again. Currently it's just eye candy. The next Rock Crawling event is in March. I'll work very hard to get it ready by then!

 

Damn that looks good. I usually don't like tube bumpers but that's my favorite tube bumper by far. Of course, 40s don't hurt either. What's next!?

 

Looking good. This is probably my favorite truck. Really dig that bumper. I have a white 17 dcsb or.

 

Thanks for the comments! Making big changes like this is always refreshing. I want to drive it everywhere just to get it out in public. Can't wait to get it at an event and on some trails again!

Immediately next is both improving the strength of the steering and doing a lot of front inner fender wall clearancing. A lot. I've now been working on the steering for two straight weeks as an actual product that we will be selling. Due to this I won't be sharing anything about it for a while It's Feb 5, the next wheeling trip is March 8, and I haven't started on any clearancing yet. This short month will be a long one for me.

@steele-taco You sir have great taste in truck color

January 16-22, 2018: Miscellaneous pics around and about town

Random pics enjoying the new setup

1/16: Carrying an 8-foot folding table back to the shop



Cropped version of the above

 

1/18: Nice lunch time pic...



...where I went to the far end of a parking lot just to park near another 3rd gen