Raz's '04 Tacoma TRD build

yep, I considered looking into a .44 Mag when i was in the market for a new rifle. I ended up settling on .357 because it's a little less expensive, more common, and you can run .38 special through it. the other thing is that in the future whenever I end up getting a bear gun/ bigger bore revolver, it'll more likely be .357 than .44 mag. even though .44 is more powerful, .357 has plenty of power and is still a pretty common caliber for grizzly defense. The only reason that I ended up with the Mossberg Patriot in 30-06 that i got was because a family friend gave me a good deal on it. A Marlin Model 1894 or a Winchester 1892 Carbine is on the list still, but not for a while since i just bought a new cap. i'm just trying to recover from that atm, then i'll think about some new toys.

 

Yeah, I don't consistently carry more than 2-300 pounds so i thought i might be able to get away without the AAL, especially since the lighter leaf pack does ride softer than the heavier one. unfortunately though the non AAL pack compressed too much with just the weight of the empty bed so it wasn't tall enough to keep a healthy amount of rake. it also likely has something to do with my rear springs since they are taller and stiffer than the OME springs for the first gens. I was a little worried about having a harsh ride but after putting a few thousand miles on the springs and getting them broken in they really aren't bad. the OME shocks are great but i don't know that they're a whole lot better than the Bilstiens. I ran 5100s on my last truck and couldn't tell too much of a difference when i put the OMEs on this one. I think that as long as you stay away from the really cheap shocks it's hard to go wrong. there might be small differences here and there but you probably won't see too much of a difference unless you really upgrade to a Fox, ADS, or an Icon unit. I thought about removing the sway bar but any wheeling I do doesn't require too much flex and the on-road benefits outweigh the off-road ones. I use my truck to go places that i might not be able to otherwise get, but I don't take the hardest line or obstacle possible.

 

yeah, I was really hoping to avoid cutting the exhaust too, hence why i installed the OME exhaust hanger. it clears as is for the time being, if only by a hair, so i think i'll leave it. I personally just like the way a side-exit exhaust looks. even though an axle dump is more utilitarian a side-exit just looks more classic.

 

I basically went the same way, would have preferred a .41 mag, but less bullet/load options, and already had a .44 revolver, and so it followed that the carbine should be the same. Nice to keep the types of ammo to a minimum, and sticking with common calibers makes for easy resupply. The ‘06 is a fine cartridge, but again I already had a .308 and it is no slouch either.
Another plus is the .44 is a good brush caliber, and great for moose as well, out in the open plains in the Rockies I like a 6.5 Swedish Mauser, straight shooting and accurate for deer and antelope. The .308 for most anything else.

Well partner, you have started down the rabbit hole, building a rig will be satisfying and fun, and a great weight loss program for your wallet. Enjoy it, your rig is looking good, and you have a good non rigid plan, which is what it takes.
Cheers

 

Sold the cap today, now my mom can actually put her car in the garage! she says it's the first time she's been able to do so since like 1987. now i'm just waiting with baited breath to pick the new one up.

 

pretty happy with where the truck is currently at. next up will be the canopy, then it's going to be pretty static for a while. that said though, i can't help but think of the next round of mods. this is what i'm thinking, and i've grouped them by which ones will happen at the same time.

Smittybilt Gen3 Synthetic 9.5K winch
Skid Row Offroad front skid plate

JBA upper control arms
extended front brake lines

U-bolt flip kit
shock relocation
Wheelers superbumps in the rear

Air compressor- ARB or Smittybilt

in order, these will probably be the UCAs and brake lines, followed by the winch and skid plate, then the air compressor, and finally the U-bolt flip kit and ect. None of this will happen while i'm in Montana, except for maybe the air compressor (i can wire that kind of thing up+ build a mount in a parking lot... or perhaps another TW member from MT would be willing to lend their expertise and garage...). I'm banking on all that getting done over the christmas break when i'm back home from school, but we'll see where my wallet is. for now, i'm just trying to recover from the dent that the canopy made on my bank account. I also bought a new guitar so that set me back a bit too, but i've almost broken even so that i'll be about net zero from where i started. i've also got some more expenses coming up like new boots and some other things... but we'll see what happens. more than likely, most of this will get done a year from now over the summer between my first and second year of school. of course, that might change if we get sent home early from all this Covid shit but fingers crossed that won't happen. I move in mid august, it's going to be the longest trip i've ever done with the truck. were going to try and make the drive to Bozeman from Seattle in one day, 650 miles which is over twice as long as i've ever done in one day before. I think that the furthest has been around 250, but that's just a guess. we'll see how it turns out. I have no doubt that the truck will make it, but the question lies on how well the driver (that's me lol) can do the 11 hours straight.

 

Something to remember as well is it is now road construction season. Drove over from eastern Washington to west of Bozeman, not a lot but there were a few necked down stretches. Drive carefully, and watch out for idiots....

 

thanks for the tip! I drove out a few years ago with my mom to visit family and remember tons of construction. as my aunt who lives in the Bozeman area once said... "In Montana there are 2 seasons: Winter and Construction". hopefully there won't be too many slowdowns or detours.

 

Copy that, we say the same thing up north, the only time the roads are smooth is when they are snow packed, then you keep an eye out for moose...

 

gave the truck a good cleaning today. after i got it washed off i used some of that Lucas quickmist stuff to put a nice shine on her and then treated the windows with RainX. truck wasn't that dirty but i realized that this is my last opportunity to wash the truck for 4 months since i'm not taking my cleaning supplies to school. i also wiped down the dash and vacuumed up the floor matts.

 

I don't think I could get mine that clean again.

 

haha, what the picture doesn't show is all the rock chips and such that blend in from 15 ft away with a cell phone camera. i'm planning on buying a touch up pen, but i'll wait until i've settled into my dorm at college since it won't get to my parent's house before i leave. funny thing is, i had a whole other box of detailing stuff that i dug into to grab the RainX out of... turns out, i had some of that F11 stuff kicking around and I didnt even know it. if i wash it again when i'm back in December i'll use that stuff instead of the cheap Lucas spray... but i digress.

 

Your going to Bozeman right? We will have to meet up sometime, I'm right below you in eastern Idaho.
Truck is looking clean, nice job.

 

yep Bozeman, yeah we should deff meet up. Not sure when i'll have time but once i'm settled into school that would be awesome!

 

rotated the tires today, nothing much to report and I didn't bother taking pictures since it was relatively routine maintenance. the tires only had just under 2k miles on them but since i won't have the opportunity to rotate them in Bozeman i figured that I should get it done now. In other news, i re-evaluated my priorities on next mods and this is what i came up with:

1. UCAs
   1. JBA units
2. extended front brake lines
3. EBC brake kit
4. timing belt, water pump, and block heater
5. Winch
   1. smittybilt gen 3 9.5k w/ synthetic line
6. Katzkin leather interior
   1. planning to get heated seats installed as well, potentially the combo heated/vented system but i don't really want to get perforated leather.
7. auxiliary fuse boxes- interior and exterior
8. new front lights, BD LP6

so far, i'm thinking that i can get the UCAs and brake lines done when i'm back from school for the winter break. there's a shop in Bozeman that i plan on getting the timing belt done at... it's a bit more involved than i want to get while working in my driveway. i might be able to get it done but for the peace of mind i will gladly pay someone to do it. that will probably come sometime in January or February. i also plan on getting the shop to install a block heater... since they'll already be in there and have the coolant drained. I also might do the EBC brakes when i'm back in December but i'm still unsure whether i'll need to. i'm not planning on wearing these pads all the way down before replacing them, but i don't want to replace the pads when they are still at 75% or better (my guess on where they are now based on looking at them today). I would also do the Winch this winter but that's going to be a bit more involved since, on recommendation of @ToyotaDriver, i plan to beef up the frame endcaps. i don't want to run my old A/C stick welder with that, so i now have a perfect excuse to buy a MIG welder. on the other hand, now i need to get the money for a decent quality MIG machine. because of the added cost of a new welder and the fact that it will likely be a couple day project, that's going to get put off until next summer. i'm also hoping to get a Katzkin leather interior installed next summer, and potentially some auxiliary fuse boxes. the interior one just needs to be a piggyback one that will give me some extra ACC fuses to tap into. the exterior one on the other hand, will need to be a bit more complex, since there aren't any ACC fuses on the exterior box (that I can find). that will be to get my AAC Trigger system finally off constant power, as well as setting up for some new lights. the mod after the fuse boxes is going to be a set of Baja Designs LP6 driving lights. the reason that i am wanting to wait until I get the secondary fuse box in is so that I can run the LED running lights that the lights have off the fuse box.


after this stuff i don't really know. the logical next step once i get everything else sorted is a rear bumper, but that will involve frame reinforcement which i don't want to do quite yet. at that point, i might do a set of weld on sliders since i'll already be welding on the frame but all this is so far in the future that it's tough to say what will happen.
and, as with all the other mods i've got plenty of other ways to spend money... so we'll see what the actual timeline ends up being with this.

also, just to clarify: all of this^^, is mainly just writing down my thoughts on stuff so that it's recorded somewhere.

 

When did you leave Colorado Jake?

 

Beginning of May, came up here for school.

 

checked the oil today in prep for the drive tomorrow. Did the visual, feel, and smell tests. all of it looked good. oil level was perfect too.

 

Sub’d!

Nice truck!

 

Drove over to Bozeman today. truck did great, felt the altitude up some of the passes and tougher grades, but the truck as expected. not surprised as i'm running oversized tires, wider/heavier tires, was hauling about 400-500 LBS, and also had an extra passenger. it really only had trouble on some of the steeper grades at higher elevation in Montana. even then, all it took was downshifting. here are some of the pictures that i took on the way over:
rest area in Eastern WA:

Stopped for a stretch and bathroom break in Northern Idaho:

And arrived in Bozeman!


the beamer off to the side is my dad's car. He and my mom both drove over and are going to drive back together. was nice to have some company on the drive. planning on calling the canopy place tomorrow to get a status update on that.