Raz's '04 Tacoma TRD build

Picked up the new tires today and got them put on. very happy with how they turned out, i didn't even have to trim very much. i just had to remove the front mud flaps and cut a little bit of the inner fender liner. my utility knife went through it like butter! i did have to beat back the pinch weld a bit though. they went on without a hitch but they are definitely heavier than the stock tires. i'm planning on driving up to snoqualmie pass tonight so we'll see how bad the power loss is, as well as how loud the new tires are. i'm not expecting much since the KO2s are generally considered to be pretty quiet, but we'll see. i'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking:

Tires in the bed after picking them up from 4WP:


off the truck, ready to go on:


this was all i had to cut out. not bad at all!



slightly taller:


Before:



after:




I also drove the truck after the AAL for the first time on the way to get the tires. tough as nails...but i suspect that it'll break in a bit.

 

took the truck out on a drive tonight, here's what i noticed with the new tires:
1) there is definitely a power loss. it's not noticeable except when starting and going up inclines in 5th but it's definitely there.
2) the truck doesn't wander as much going down the highway. i was suprised by this but it actually seems to track better. i think that this is mainly because the track-width is wider now. seems like it's more stable.
3) i am definitely going to have to either get a new speedometer gear, or re-gear the truck. if nothing else, i don't want to have to worry about making the conversion between speedometer speed and actual speed whenever i am driving. anyone know what the correct tooth-count is for 33s with 4:10 gears?
4) No Rubbing! turns out that 4.0 BS and minor plastic and pinch weld trimming pair perfectly with 285s! doesn't even kiss the frame.

at this point, i am going to get a quote on how much re-gearing would cost (both with parts alone if i do it myself, and with labor included should i decide to have a shop do it). we'll see what i decide to do but for now i'm just going to sit on it. i'm planning on driving it as is for at least a year, as I have more important mods/maintenance to do before that will come around. those are mainly the canopy rebuild, the timing belt, Block heater, the EBC brake kit, a Winch, and perhaps some more lighting. and of course, i've got some other ways to spend money too, like a Marlin Model 1894 in .357 mag.. and i suppose i should save some money too. as i said, i'm going to drive it as is for now, but re-gearing is definitely in the future.

 

Hi-Lift arrived today, so i finished up the mount. not the most glamours job but i just wanted to get it done. I took a bit of inspiration from @Deathbysnusnu and @jbrandt on the mounts. i thought that the use of wheel lugs to mount the jack was a really good idea, so i did that... but i only had one lug stud so i used that for the rear, and then came up with another idea for the front. i just took an old tent stake and drilled a hole before plug welding it in place. then i drilled a hole and bent some heavy gauge steel wire to make a retaining pin of sorts. i also tied on a piece of paracord on it to make pulling it out easier. for the back, i also took a cheap crescent wrench, drilled a hole, and tied it to the rear bracket so that i will always have a wrench there to snug it up or loosen the nut.

as far as the brackets themselves, they are just riveted to the bed. i took a page out of @jbrandt's book for the design of the actual brackets, pretty pleased with how they came out. i still need to buy a handle keeper for the jack but overall it's as good as i can ask for.



close up of rear mount:


close up of front mount:

 

ordered another bolt to replace the one i couldn't fit for the front bracket of the sliders. this one is the same style (5" tap bolt, coarse grade 5 thread) but instead of being 1/2", it's 3/8". I should be able to get it into both the holes now, since it's smaller and will therefore have a bit more room to play. it wont be near as strong as a 1/2" bolt, but it should be plenty skookum and it'll make sure that the pressure is applied evenly. at some point, i'll also have to unbolt the fuel tank, and slide it over some in order to install the sleeve on the rearmost bracket on the driver's side. i couldn't get it in there to begin with due to the tight tolerances that area has. right now it's just snugged up, but i'd like to be able to torque it down to 50 ft. lbs like the rest of the slider bolts. bolt is supposed to be here in a week or so. Scangauge arrives tomorrow so i'll be interested to see how my fuel economy actually is. so far i've put about 120+ miles on the new tires and am loving them so far. the truck is definitely more stable on the highway and feels less susceptible to all the bumps and potholes that i can't avoid. Also may be worth noting that after i installed the Dakar AAL, the rear springs started popping again like they did when they were new. i made sure to avoid tightening down the guides too much but after putting a couple of miles on them, they are already quieting down. i'm assuming that will just get better as the springs break in a bit more, just like the leafs originally.

 

Scangauge arrived today so i installed it. the toughest part was figuring out where to put it, but i ended up sticking with my original plan, which was to mount it on top of the steering column. it looks like it blocks a lot, but in reality it only blocks the airbag light, the seatbelt light, and the part of the odometer that says ODO. i can see all the numbers on the odometer and everything from the E-Brake light and over is visible. vertically, it only blocks the very lower part of the spedometer (less than 10 mph), and the 8,000 RPM mark on the tac. i think that if i reach that many RPMs i won't need the tac to figure it out. so far, i've got it set to display RPMs, Intake temp, Instant MPG, and average MPG. it's not calibrated yet but tomorrow i'll go and top off the tank to start the first tank calibration cycle. i'm also going to set the color to display the same orange that the taco's stock gauge lighting is so that i'll look like a real part of the truck instead of an add on.




excited to see what this thing can do! so far it's a cool little gadget.

 

gave my sliders a test run with my hi-lift today

looking at the picture now it doesn't look like the tires are actually off the ground... trust me, they are. and the best part of it all... the sliders are solid as a rock! no flex at all

 

Looks clean! I like the wrench/pin idea.

Definitely get the jack handle separator; otherwise the entire jack and handle will squeak and clang on each other.

I had mine mounted on the bedside where you riveted, using the Hi Lift mounting bracket.
One thing I noticed was that the lift was very exposed to the elements, so I bought the aftermarket neoprene cover.
The cover worked well for a bit until it got exposed to sun damage and started to split; tossed that in the trash.

Now that I have a different mounting strategy under the RTT on the bed rack.
Less exposure but I have to zip tie the wing nuts to the jack.
And these jacks are heavy enough to bend 1/2" bolts (wing nut came loose on aft mounting point, jack was supported by one bolt and eventually was bouncing enough to bend the bolt)
Once you get your canopy working, you should be in a better sitch.

 

yeah, i actually don't have the jack in the bed ATM. i was going to but given both how noisy it was and the fact that the powder-coating comes off real easily, i decided to leave it off until i get my canopy sorted. i've gone up to the mountains a couple of times since i finished the mount and each time i've thrown it on for the trip, then taken it off and put it back in the garage. works for now, but once i move to a dorm for college i wont have a spot to keep it off the truck, so the bed will have to be it's permanent home. hoping this covid stuff doesn't throw a wrench in those plans tho.

actually planning on going to The Home Depot today to pick up some carpet to do the canopy. planning on getting the windoors ordered soon too. as far as bending the 1/2" bolt, i'm not surprised. given how heavy these jacks are, and the amount of leverage that the length of them can exert, it makes sense that they could bend it. if i can bend a 1/2" gr. 5 bolt with a cheater pipe and not too much effort, then one of these jacks bouncing up and down should be able to easily to it too.

 

took the truck up to the Hansen creek trail today. performed great, suspension was pretty stiff but that's to be expected given the springs i'm running and the fact that i still have the sway bar on. here are some pics... finally remembered to take some on one of my little excursions. perhaps it'll stick.

 

finished carpeting the canopy tonight, going to wait until i have the new windoors to re-install the sides though. pretty happy with how it turned out... the seams aren't the prettiest but they work.

 

If you don’t mind me asking, did you get the windows new and we’re they stupid expensive?

 

i haven't bought them yet but they will be purchased new from a range rider dealer. i wish i could buy a used set but they're so damn hard to find.. especially since Range Rider isn't all to common of a brand. the new Windoors will run about $350/side. it's a steep price but to me it's worth it. i've wished that i had the side access often enough that i'll pay that for the added convenience. and even though i'll be paying $770 with tax for the new windows, that's still less than 1/3 the price of a new cap with everything that i'd want.

 

350 isnt too bad. I need to get in contact with leer. I have sliding windows with screens, but windoors would be much nicer for me on my tundra. Sucks crawling up to the front to get things out of the 8 foot bed

 

agreed. that's the whole reason that i'm replacing mine. the windows that were in the cap originally are sliding windows just like yours, but after crawling into the bed to grab stuff a few times i was already looking at new canopies. Range rider quoted me $2,000+ and ARE quoted me $3,000+ so that option was out. i went to a cheap Amazon tonneau for a while and i loved the visibility, but the beds are so shallow on the first gens that it just wasn't functional. so that brought me back to my current cap.

 

Nice rig!

 

thank you very much! it's a work in progress!

 

Aren't they all?!?!

 

if they aren't your doing it wrong

 

put the tonneau cover back on, and made some "mods" to the Hi-Lift handle keeper to help it fit under the bed rail. Hi-lift kind of interfered with one of the tonneau clips. looking forward to finishing up the canopy so i can put that on. Ordered the Windoors, new seals, and new T-handles/locks from Canopy West in Auburn. Was going to stick with the original T-Handles but i wanted to only have 1 key between the windoors and the rear locks. figured that this would be an easier way to go and the convenience would be well worth the $60. All in for the canopy mods i'm at around 1k. Supposed to be here relatively soon. they said next week but we'll see. the factory is up in central BC so its not too far, but they're a solid day away if the truck driver just goes direct between the factory and Canopy west.

 

pulled off most of the timing belt cover bolts to take a look at the condition of it, overall it looks pretty good, deff will hold for another year. it's well within the mileage of the current one but it's been 10 years so i wanted to make sure that it wasn't dry rotted or anything overall looks good. time to put the timing belt on the back burner for this next school year and invest in some better tools.

I was originally going to get a winch as a big summer install, but with everything going on i'm not really able to get a buddy to come over and help me install it, at the moment i'm just going to finish up the topper and then i'll probably install a set of Ditch lights. then she'll be pretty static until November when i'm back from school for the winter break. at that point i'll probably do a winch or maybe some UCAs, maybe both.