Build Thread-Minerva; 09 Tacoma DCSB V6 6SPD

Bilsteins didn't go on yet... the truck needed an alignment (steering wheel was 3-5* to the right when going straight) The tech also pointed out what I thought I was hearing around 35-40mph which is bad front wheel bearings. I ordered a pair of them yesterday from @05Taco4x4

My plan now is to swap the front wheel bearings and throw the bilsteins on within the next month, then get a realignment.

 

Ooof Mgoof I have been swamped with work and running up to my cabin in Bedford, pa on the weekends to get work accomplished up there.

I swapped the front wheel bearings/hubs a couple weeks back, it was my first time tackling that type of job and it couldn't have gone smoother...no problems. I will say I was having an issue with removing the VSS from its hole, per the directions I used it said to remove, but after fighting with it for a few minutes, and not wanting to break anything I moved forward with disassembly. Once I got the original hub assembly off I could see inside and where the VSS was sitting/placed... I don't see where any damage could occur is leaving the VSS in.

 

Swapped out the 4-ohm kicker comp c that I had in the truck... after 2 months of it I could tell the cxa300 wasn't giving it enough juice to push the woofer (150watts @ 4 ohm)

I went with the 10" kicker CVT 2ohm. This was the ticket! @ 2 ohms the amp is sending 300 watts to the CVT which is perfect. really hits hard, and I'll have the gain set low for another week until its broken in.. Ill update with pictures this afternoon.

 

Trucks lookin good. How do you like the 255s ? Just got an mgm dc and lookin for ideas, wanting different tires but theres so many choices. Like the speaker and box set up. Is that a package made for the tacoma ?

 

Thanks man! I wasn't sure if anyone was looking at my build

as far as the 255 dynapros; I think I made the right choice in going with the 255/75 on my 17" 6-shooters. I picked this tire for a few reasons, 2 of them being overall weight (39lbs a pc/ I don't off-road much so the added weight of a 265 wide tire didn't interest me) and plus they gave me a little more ground clearance when compared to the 245/75/16 my sr5 Tacoma came with. They ride very quiet, quieter than my worn our OEM tires were.

The speaker box is a "pre-fabed" set-up from kicker, I wouldn't say it's designed for our trucks...Yes is slips in behind the back seat with no issues with hitting the back on the seat, however I cut out the metal bracket that comes off the back of the cab (where the bolts go into for holding the plastic storage pieces) Obviously my storage compartment on the passenger side is out, so there was no need to keep the bracket in. (its thin metal, I snipped most of it away in minutes, and then cleaned it up a little with a dremel, it got covered in sound deadening material afterwards. I will say I'm thrilled with the box itself, and it took less time for me to cut away that metal than it would've taken me to spec and build a box to fit around it. we don't have much room back there and kicker designed the ported box well (4 13/16" depth..so it fits plenty of 10" subs, no need to worry about needing a shallow mount) my CVT 10" hits harder than I expected it to.

I plan to pull the speaker and amp out some point soon to finish off the back of the cab (covering it in black fabric) not much of a fan for exposed aluminum backed sound deadening material, lol.

 

Still waiting for suspension pics....

 

@thelate1 come help me this weekend and ill have them on in no time

 

Curious on your mpg with those wheels, you have any idea what your getting. Saw you habe a cabin in bedford. I do as well south of everett. Did you put the speakers and amp in yourself. I have a kicker amp sittin around that use to be in a boat. Thinking of putting it in.

 

Meant mpg with those tires

 

I have iDatalink/MaestroRR hooked into my OBD2 and avh600 pioneer unit, so I have the gauge output(and steering wheel controls) on the head unit screen; with that said I do watch MPG, and have kept tabs on it since I bought the vehicle last October. I was getting 17-19 mpg when I bought the truck (OEM tire set up was 13 lbs. heavier per corner than the wheel/tire setup I have currently) now my average sits at 18-20 mpg (I have swapped the wheel bearings, as well as the spark plugs around about the same time, which likely had an effect on MPG as well) At the end of it all, being mindful of where the RPMs are seems to be key....I can average 22mpg at 55mph, as the truck cruises at 2,000 rpm, but anything over that and you going to dip into that 18-19mpg range quickly..

I did put the amp/speakers in myself. I've done a few stereos now for myself and friends, makes for fun weekend jobs.

Yeah, cabin is right off rt.30 and 160. Near all them windmills....

 

Small world. I ride at that park and live near windber. Thanks for info on mpg, was what I was looking for.

 

I had time yesterday to knock out a couple small projects; I removed the back seats, and finished off sound deadening/proofing back there with foam over top of the deadening itself. I ran down the rabbit hole quick with this one so I grab some pictures after most of it was apart.

 

I ordered splash guards from Gear tech customs about a month ago from @cnote4l I snapped some shots to compare the factory ones(2pc) to the much better (1pc) design GTC designed. This took 8 minutes each side, 2 minutes of which was spent picking up the pieces of OEM plastic clip that broke on to the ground.

Do yourself a favor and and get the "upgrade mouting clips" GTC offers.. much better design for application install and removal (when needed)

cheap OEM clips, not sure how that really come out without breaking, but its cheap piece of mind to buy new hardware and just go in there and pop them out, instead of trying to finesse them and preserve them for re-use.

 

Thank you for taking time to do a quick write up. We appreciate your support, Shaun! Enjoy our custom Splash Guards

 

Finally got the Bilsteins on today! The stock setup was showing some rust and gave me issues with removal. for that reason pictures weren't really taken as I was covered in rust and anti-seize. I took fender height measurements in 3 stages so far in my truck; Stock (w/ 245/75/16) vs Stock (w/255/75/17) vs. Bilsteins (w/ 255/75/17) I will list the measurements below for people to reference.



Middle photo in collage is stock, Bottom photo is stock with upgrade wheels/tires, and Top photo is Bilstein suspension and upgraded wheels/tires.

 

Hope everyone had a nice weekend with your families, I hope we all took a moment to remember freedom isn't free, and to always thank a veteran for the sacrifices they made. I smoked a pig on my fathers spit he handed down to my sister and I; this is our 2nd annual pig roast.

 

BACK TO THE BUILD THREAD!!

I am still working on doing PM to the truck, at the same time my family is going on a Disney cruise next month, so I staying on top of that..

I was able to do long overdue fluid changes (diffs,trans) as well as the usual 5w-30 motor oil


They all went really as easy as they could have.. I know the manual calls for 75w but all the auto parts store had was 80w.. I haven't noticed any negative results since the swap that would make me think 5weight would affect anything. On the positive side, the trucks rear diff is much quieter, as well the transmission seems to slip into gears a bit easier (call me crazy, but this might be the trucks first time for fluid changes!!)

 

Pig roast looks awesome. Love the jack stand. You motivated me for some pm. Looking at my vehicles maintenance records I dont think the major fluids have been changed. Got get that on the to do list.

 

I had one side of the driver side front caliper freeze up on me earlier this week, which has made fixing that a priority. I ordered two new calipers that i'll put on with the powerstop brake kit shown on the 1st page.




also had a check engine like p0012 'oil control valve' earlier this week....no drive ability issues; in fact it turned off later in the day.. will investigate a little bit as I mine as well replace them when I do the intake manifold spacer.