AStinkyBumb's Build Thread, Now with trailer build bonus content

Took my truck back through an unfarmed area behind my parents house that follows a creek. Nothing crazy, essentially a service road style area. On my way back I saw 2 coyotes running along the corn so I had to go look for a den. Wish I would have had my rifle with me.

 

Havent updated this in a while but I have been doing a bunch of small things, I started work on my aux fuse panel. Purchased all the hardware and some cable. It is 16 gauge steel bent and cut with an angle grinder and a bench vice/dead blow hammer. Also had to install a new pop n lock tailgate latch because mine broke in 100+ weather a while ago.
Installed a BirdDawg Industries mirror riser with ram ball mount. This thing is pretty cool. Raised my mirror up so I dont have to hunch to look under it so hard to see past it. I plan to mount a scangauge to the ram ball in the future for quick access.

 

Installed Denso Iridium tipped spark plugs tonight. Last week I installed a Voltmeter/USB charger to replace one of the 12v plugs in the lower dash. Finished my AUX fuse panel, got everything wired up.
On the under side there are 4 relays that are all switched relays powered by the Master Relay on top. These all turn on when the truck turns on then run to the terminal on the top right for quick connect for future items. So far I have my dashcam hardwired to one of the relays so it doesnt stay running while my truck is off, Also so I can hide the wire that was previously taking up one of the two 12v plugs in the lower dash. Wanting to install the voltmeter/usb socket was the main reason why I wanted to hardwire the dashcam so I can free up the now only 12v socket left. Since my Amazon special fog lights have their own relay I spliced and lengthened the cables and bolted the relay that came with it right to the top of the panel just so I didnt have to re run/solder/shrink wrap the cables. I really enjoy this thing it has made the electronics so much easier in my truck and sets me up to be able to add quite a few more things in the future without the risk of running out of breaker locations.

 

My Rago CB Antenna bracket was delivered today so I decided to install it even though I dont have any of the other CB parts yet. Install was super simple, 3 bolts backed out. 2 Bed frame and 1 that holds the taillight in place.

The area where it is bent to get around the tailgate rubbed when my tailgate was up but just slightly (where I am pointing in the one photo) So I took a hammer to the bend on the tailgate to tap it back in further so it doesn't rub. This chipped a decent amount of paint off the bend so I had to touch it up with my touch up canister. Cant wait to get the CB parts, Just gotta get the approval from the wife first.

 

This is awesome! These electrical mods seem to be beyond my grasp. Great Job!

 

In all honesty I have been researching them since early spring because I thought the same exact thing. There are a ton of good threads where you can piece together the information. I had never soldered before this either so it was a great learning experience tackling that as well.

 

That's even more impressive. I am wanting add some additional USB plugs and ideally want to wire a dash cam directly to the battery or a set up like you have, i.e. not have a wire running to the USB port but definitely fear damaging my truck. I'll keep reading up until I feel more comfortable

 

I have a rexing camera so I got

Rexing Mini-USB Hardwire Kit for V1, V1P, V1 3rd Gen, M1, M2, M1 PRO Dashcams

this which is a hardwiring kit to do just that. Its all set up with everything that is needed. Basically just hook to hot/negative and you are good to go. I got a little more advanced and threw in a relay that is tripped by ignition power (Simple add a fuse to a powered fuse in the dash) and the camera comes on as soon as the truck is turned on.

Great thing about the hardwire kit is you can find one with almost any sort of plug so if your camera is mini usb you can get one prewired one end mini usb. If its USB-c you can get that as well.

I went a little over the top in building the fuse panel mainly because I plan to add many more things in the future and wanted to be sure I didnt have to rebuild/wire this thing more than once.

 

Damn, that is the perfect set up and definitely done right! It would be nice to add more stuff. You may need to do a write up for us noobs

 

I read through every page of these two posts to gather most of the information I needed:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/show-off-your-aux-fuse-panels.308677/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-build-and-install-a-bussmann-rtmr-fuse-relay-block.399454/

First one has a lot of ideas and tricks/tips from people who are doing them, Second link is a crazy in depth write up on a fuse panel a guy built that is beyond anything I have ever seen before. Its so professionally done its insane. The downside is most of us average joes cant compete with that write up but its great as a guide of what you need for different parts of the build as well as why you would use them. A separate fuse panel can be done as easy as a 100amp fuse and a fuse block or you can get crazy and add relays, buss-bars, dual batteries, switch panels. You can really go all out or you can keep it simple.

 

Since my last post I figured out my CB radio and mounted a 2' firestik with spring on the rago mount, bought and installed a softopper, and installed some LED bed lights. I mounted a plastic Mic hook right beside my knee on the center console to hold my CB Mic out of the way as well.

 

Yesterday I ordered dash mounts from balls out offroad, ram ball, arm and xgrip for my phone.

Finally got around to installing a few quick fists I have had sitting on my toolbox for about a month. Fabbed up a fire extinguisher mount (current extinguisher was from my old race-car, I will be upgrading to a larger one soon) and 2 shovel mounts. I plan to test them out tomorrow before I rip them apart and paint them. Metal was leftover 16 gauge steel from my aux fuse panel. May be a bit thin and allow things to wobble around but I put rubber feet on the shovel mount to keep them off the wall of the bed. Also left room to potentially put a second set of quick fists to add an axe in the future if I go that route.

I also downloaded the ARRL handbook for the technician exam and picked up a cheap

$20 UV-5R VHF/UHF Dual Band Radio 144-148MHz 420-450MHz Transceiver

UV-5R to start messing around with. In the event I do go mobile HAM I will get a legit mobile unit and use this one for hiking or any time I,m away from the truck.

And finally I installed a cheap PA megaphone under the hood because it was $7 on Amazon and I have always wanted one, so why not.

 

Thought it would be wise to update since its been a while. I havent done a whole lot to the truck being winter and cold here I am just trying to maintain and save up until summer when I can actually work on it.
Packed away most of my winter stuff and a 5gal spectre eco jerry can. Took a trip to Gatlinburg TN over christmas and kept it for emergency use. Tote is full of my snow gear, kitty litter, de-icer washer fluid, and a quart of oil. The strap has held the two in place all winter long with zero issues.


While we were down there we hiked the Rainbow Falls trail which was a ton of fun. The next day I was pretty sore and had some blisters from my new hiking boots not being worn in properly so I took my sister, her boyfriend, and my mom to hike Alum Cave trail and on the way back snapped this photo on a pull off. The scenery is amazing down in TN, makes central Indiana really look boring.


My sister bought me a 32" light bar for christmas. (cheap Amazon nilight) and I bought some hidden bumper mounts and a button from caliraised to set it up. Need to finish the wiring for the "Bumper Light" words to light up when the truck turns on but the light bar on/off functions as it should for now.


I also bought a set of ram ball dash mounts from BallsOutOffroad. He makes a killer set of slim flush ram ball mounts that get mounted next to the hvac controls. Hardest part of the install was taking the dash out. Everything lined up great, had to drill the holes 2x but that's because I didnt mark them properly the first time. I added an x-grip for my phone and grabbed a 6" USB cable to plug it into the voltmeter below. This mod made using my phone as a GPS for the TN trip super easy. Waze got us there an I was able to see everything perfectly. The best part is it keeps the phone out of the way of the stereo and controls so its not difficult at all to mess with the radio with my phone in the mount.


Then to top everything off when we returned from the trip the government was open long enough to get me a call sign for my tech class license I passed. I bought a mount from Kiddmen57 over on the ExpeditionPortal forum to hold my UV-5R and did the A-pillar ram ball mod. Just need to get an external antenna and mount and this should be good to go. I get poor rx being inside the vehicle as well as the windshield bends the taller antenna way off course and kills reception. I hooked up a Comet GP-1 at home in my attic and bought a handheld mic for the radio to practice on until I get the mobile antenna. Going to definitely be saving up for a much stronger radio in the future.

 

Future plans are to replace the furnace in my house, then build a deck for my wife. Once those are done I got the green light to build some sort of semi-offroad roof top tent and trailer combo. Originally drew up a large teardrop but now with funds taking a hit due to the furnace taking a dump so I am thinking of getting a 5x8 utility trailer, doing an axle under swap and 235/75r15 tires to lift it up a bit. Then making a rack and mounting a roof top tent to it. Then I can store all my camping gear inside totes in the trailer and have quicker setup of a tent when we get to campgrounds. We love camping but setting up/tearing down our 8 man tent every time is becoming a pain. RTT on a trailer would make setup quicker, allow us to set up a base and take off with the truck for daytime activities. Plus I would like to start traveling further to camp as well as maybe attempt an off grid camping trip. Wife isn't too keen on no electricity, shower house or running water toilets so that trip may be down the road quite a ways until I can get some amenities built into the trailer.

I think I will be going with the Smittybilt Overlander XL for two main reasons. 1) The price is pretty good for a weekend warrior tent as well as being a good first tent to test around with. 2) The XL will sleep my wife and I as well as our two aussies or possibly a couple small children in the future for a short time.

I have been gathering ideas from expedition portal, tnttt, and Ih8mud for ideas on a simple trailer build, probably something along the lines of these below but with the tent sitting much lower. Basically sitting the tent just above the deck. I want to be able to get both our dogs inside the tent as well as my wife hates ladders so I need the tent more of a crawl into than a climb into. Also trying to minimize drag as much as possible so I will be shortening the rear gate into a flip down table.

 

Just installed these LED reverse lights, They are much brighter than stock bulbs.

 

I believe I have seen you rolling around the Noblesville/Fishers area. You on the north side?

Nice truck btw!

 

Thanks! Yep I live in Noblesville so its probably me you are seeing. So many Tacomas around this area I am always looking around wondering if they are on Tacomaworld. So far I haven't seen another with a softopper so I am probably easy to spot and remember. Now I am going to think every black 3rd gen is someone I have talked to on here haha

 

Ha, your softtopper is a dead give away. I’m around 96th and Olio area. In Noblesville all the time, I have seen you several times, a couple times on 146th I believe.

Lots of black 3rd Gens around, Im the one with the Pro grill and black 4Runner Pro wheels.

 

Started prep work for tomorrow. Dropped the hitch and rear bumper. Wire brushed and sanded the steel on both in prep for rust prevention and new coat of paint. Then got it on on jack stands and spacers removed in prep for pads and rotor replacement tomorrow morning.

 

After 6 hours I finally got my new rotors and pads on. Pins were completely seized on the driver side so I tried cutting and drilling it out. Didnt go so well so I ran to O'Reillys and got a replacement. $87 later I now have one silver and one black caliper. Thought I was going to have to replace both but broke the passenger side pins free right before my wife got home to take me to replace the driver side. Tried bleeding the brakes with her but things are still a little squishy so I need to get a vacuum kit to finish them off. Just waiting for the primer to dry on the hitch receiver before hitting it with some black paint. Got the lawn mowed and am too tired to do anymore work on the truck. Luckily its a 3 day weekend so I can finish up greasing zerks and inspecting the rear brakes tomorrow.