JTFisherman's 2004 DC

The timeline of my 04 double cab 4x4 Tacoma.

4/21/2022 setup:


11/12/2020 setup:


8/25/19 setup:


I got my first Tacoma (impulse red pearl 2003 extra cab 4x4)winter of 2016 and it was my grandfathers before mine, but it met an unfortunate demise the day after I finished finals winter of 2018.

I was heading to deer hunt early morning, and a doe jumped in front of me when i was going around 65 without enough time to react. busted radiator and radiator mounts, bulged fender flares and a destroyed front end ended with the truck being totaled.

The aftermath:

That winter break I found a lunar mist double cab with 145k miles in good shape with a clean frame close to me, and the rest is history.


Current mods

Suspension, Wheels, and Tires:
17" TRD Trail 4 runner wheels
35x10.50 Kenda Klever R/T
4 Spidertrax 1.25” spacers
GONE - Goodyear Wrangler Authority 265/75r16 E rated
GONE - Stock wheels

FRONT (BE5-D558-TO) REAR
Bilstein 5125s 170/60 valving, 8.5” travel (drop shipped from wheelers) Armor:

$1,102 ARB Deluxe Bar (Black) - 3423020

ARB Bumper
RAT Products 3/16 rack coverage skid
Custom rear bumper with dual swingout
4x HREW sliders

Lighting:

GOHATI Replacement Headlight GTYTC01-A4 Black Housing Amber Reflector Clear Lens & Black Trim Corner Light Combination Set compatible with Tacoma Pickup Truch 2001-2004 OE # 81150-04110 81110-04110

Replacement amazon blacked out housings

$29 Nilight 2.5" LHD H1 Bi-Xenon HID Projector Lens Low High Beams with Shrouds for H4 H7 H11 9005 9006 9007 H13 Headlight,2 Years Warranty

2.5" nilight retrofit projector
35w h1 5000k hid kit

TIDO 2 Pcs White 110MM COB Angel Eyes Car Halo Ring for Headlight,COB DRL Halo Ring Angel Eyes for Motorcycle,12V

Halo rings

$11 XtremeVision Universal HID Battery Wiring Relay Harness 12V 40 AMP 35W/55W - H1 H3 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 9005 9006 5202 880 881 9140 9145

H4 to H1 HID relay

$30 Auxbeam LED Light Bar 4" 18W LED Pods 1800lm Spot Beam Driving Light Offroad Lights with Wiring Harness (Pack of 2)

Auxbeam LED pods spotlight

Lumitek 2x 185w 9" Headlamp Lamp Black Round 5W CREE LEDS Spot Beam Work Light Slim Off Road Light Bar Fog Light Driving Light Roof Bar Bumper for SUV Boat 4x4

Lumitek 185w 9" round LED

Other:

$670 Smittybilt X2O GEN2 10K Waterproof Wireless Winch with Synthetic Rope - 98510

Smittybuilt X20 10k
Factor 55 flatlink

$90 Midland 75-822 40 Channel CB-Way Radio

Midland 75-822 Handheld CB

$34 Firestik (FS-3BK) Black 3' 650W Tunable Tip CB Antenna

Firestik FS-3BK antenna

Firestik K-8A Fire-Flex 18 Ft. Single CB Radio Antenna Coaxial Cable

18’ Fire-Flex coax

$30 FireStik SS-34AH Combination SS Heavy Duty Spring & Stud Mount

Firestik HD spring and stud mount
Custom aluminum low profile bedrack
Overland Pros Anza 1400 RTT

 

Will be updating as I have time with more information on mods.
Pics from different stages-

Right after bumper install

I tournament fish for bass for Mississippi State, so towing this is my half ass excuse for not getting 33s


Right after spending a couple nights at G.T.'s to finish up the lift

Bumper and gill off to replace headlights and black out grill

New low beams


High beams

Gave myself a reason to get some sliders over the summer...

 

First mod I did soon after purchase was ditch lights in hopes if seeing deer before it was too late this time. I bought cheap lights on Amazon that had good enough reviews and made my own mounts out of aluminum strip mounted to the hood hinges. They were meant to be a temporary fix, but 15,000 miles later they are still holding strong and I haven't had any trouble with them bouncing around too much or coming loose
@chuckers here are the mounts
Mounts:

With lights on it reflects off the hood but it is not bad at all from the driver seat because it stays on the edges of the hood past where it dips down.

 

Congrats on starting a build thread dude! Thanks for posting the mounts. Those are simple. Might copy.

 

Any recent pics? In the very first pics I'd like to know what headlights you installed and how you like them. Also, same pic, did you end up getting 33's after all. Good luck with build, have fun.

 

Headlights I built myself. It is honestly pretty easy to do and everything is plug and play except for the Halo DRLs. It took me probably 10 hours all in working slowly but an easy 2 hours of that is into halos and another 2 for sliding my bumper on and off 3 times becuase it didn't want to line up or the nut clips would come out.

Everything I used for the headlights except for a relay needed to wire up halos is listed under lighting in the first post(I chose to have them always on except for when headlights or parking lights are on to help with heat dissipation)

I still got 265/75r16 tires (32") and will probably stick with them for a while becuase they do what I ask.

I'll try to grab some pictures today when I go out to scout deer, but unfortunately it isn't all together becuase when I took it to get an oil change yesterday (should have done it myself but my apartment complex would be mad) they took off the skid despite the giant hole to drain oil through then when they told me they were done they only had put back 1 out of 3 front bolts , I asked them to fix it and it came back out with half the bolt washers missing and the 2 previously missing nuts were only sandwiching the skid plate, not actually doing anything to support the skid. I sent it back in again and told them they need to put the nuts in the right place, and I watched them this time but turns out somewhere along the line they busted a bunch of the nuts that clip to the ARB so they can't clip anymore. They finally said they will just refund me the cost of new nuts and let me put it back together so I need to call into arb today and figure that all out.

 

Wow!! on the building of the lights, not sure I have those skills. Of course that make me wanna try shit lol. Sorry to here about those bolts they messed up. I have a pile of bolts and nuts doing this arb bumper install. Took it to a shop I go to and told them to call me when they start so I can help. They tried to start without me and later called. They were like," these instructions suck"....I was like, I know, i told you to call me. I have researched inside out and it was still different than what I was hoping once the old bumper was off. I think we got it last night. The updated bracket cross member and crush cans aren't working on my 98. It's more like the Timmy tool times 4runner install on youtube. Well, I'll be finding out soon if it's right.

 

Yea the ARB install instructions arnt really any help. I struggled on the install. If you have any questions let me know and I can probably help or take pictures of what mine is like now since it is all exposed with no skid plate. I'll try to do a write-up in here about the headlights to show how much work it is sometime this weekend.

 

Thanks. My cross-member bar that held the stock skid plate was rusted so bad we cut it off. Wife ditched the skid plate long ago on an oil change when I was outta town. Wish she would have kept it. After bumper is installed I will be trying to figure out how to get that protection back. We left meat on the old cross-member to weld on something later if needed.

 

When I put on my bumper the cross bar/bumper thing came off I honestly don't remember what the skid bolts to. My stock one was bolted to the cross member on the ARB that the back of the splash pan goes to, same one my aftermarket bolts to in 3 places, and the rear 2 bolts go just inside the rear LCA bolt where the stock one was supported
The 3 bolts at the top is where both my skids have bolted to.

Current skid and said big ass access hole

 

Oops, try again, last reply was in your quote. Anyway, thanks, great pics. I need to get that cross member back in there. I like the new skid, is that custom? Sorry in that was already mentioned somewhere in build.

 

No worries. Bought the skid used from a member on here over the summer. A forum guy used to make them. It is the RAT products 3/16 rack coverage skid

 

Bumper turned out great and I will need to weld a cross member back in to fit that splash guard. One last question, I think lol. In your "Click image for build thread" pic, which is a cool pic btw, are those the 265/75s. I'm liking the idea of 32s or 31.7... It seems to me a really good size visually and functionally. Appreciate the pics and feedback.

 

Yes they are. I have had them since mid summer when I popped 2 tires in under 24 hours
Got 5 for a full size spare and to do a 5 tire rotation

 

I brought it to a dealership to have them check the frame before my 15 years was up and they said I was all good to go. I spent some time looking under it the other day and that and one other spot have paint coming off but the surface is barely rusted

 

Finally washed all the junk off the truck after a couple weeks of rain... I also built a dual swing out rear bumper in December. I’ll update with better pics soon

 

Time to update this junk it has been too long.

Some pics of my rear bumper I built over the winter.

4x2” 3/16 wall main tube with 1/4 plate where needed. Swingouts are a 3/4” bolt and 2 heims on either side made with both 2x2 3/16 wall and 1x1 1/8 wall tube. They are Held closed by 2x 3/8” pins

Main tube before all the other junk








Closeups of the heim pivots. It is cheaper than a big spindle and more importantly to me it is adjustable.

 

Sliders went on in May. Long overdue but I wasn’t overly excited to weld them into the frame. They are welded at a bit over 18 degrees because that left the kickout about an inch from the door when open.

3 coats of primer and 3 coats of satin paint


Welded on- strong enough to keep me happy.

 

Glad I took the time to paint them so thoroughly. Went wheeling the next day with @TacomaDad18 @Sasquatch3153 @uploadadventure and took some paint off both sides... I should probably touch it up or something

 

I need to touch up my sliders too