LeadFoot "Build"

Meet Douglas​

First Week

Current

2015 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 6MT

Exterior:
Badges Removed
Dealership Front Window Tint
5% Tint AC Doors
Front Mudflaps Removed
eTrailer Locking Tailgate Handle
4x Innovations Hidden Front Hitch

Camper:
*SOLD* Ranch High Roof Shell w/ 2 Sliding & 2 Static Windows - 5% Tint
Universal Bolt On Roof Rack
"Tacoma" Bed Mat
DIY Drawers/Sleeping Platform
*SOLD* Undercover Hard Shell Tonneau
Snugtop Hi-Liner w/ Sliding Windoors, Sliding/Folding Front, Carpet Lined, DIY Unistrut roof rack
Thule Board Mounts
Bicycle fork mount
*SOLD* CVT "Mt. Baker" RTT


Electrical:
Generic Auxiliary Fuse Block
Ground Out TPMS Light
Trailer brake controller w plug and play harness

Audio/Radio:
Stock Head Unit

$150 Rockville RW10CA 10" 800 Watt Slim Low Profile Active Powered Car Subwoofer Sub, Black

Rockville RW10CA 10" Subwoofer/Amp
Pioneer 6x9" w/ Generic Frames/Wiring Adapter
Cobra 19 Ultra III w/ Aftermarket Mic
Firestik 4' Antenna w/ HD Spring
CaliRaised Driver Tailgate Mount
Right Channel 10w External Speaker
Right Channel PA Speaker

Interior:
White 6 Speed Shift Knob
LED Interior Bulb Kit
WeatherTech Front Floor Mats
VW Passat Rear Monster Mats
Seat Back & Visor Organizers, Cocoon Grid Organizer
Rokform Windshield Phone Mount
Center Console & Glove Box Dividers
DIY 1" Front Seat Risers
Killmat Through the Cab

Suspension:
Bilstein 5100 Front & Rear
Toytec/Eibach Coils
Deaver Stage II Leaf Packs
*SCRAP* Toytec AAL
Toytec Diff Drop

Wheels:
*SOLD* (5) SCS F5 - 16x8 4.5" bs - Light Gold Finish
*SOLD* (5) Hankook Dynapro RT03 - 295/75/16
Tacoma Steelies - 16x7 - Painted Metallic Charcoal
Cooper Discoverer - 265/75/16

Drivetrain:
UniFilter Mod
Clutch Accumulator Delete

Recovery:
Tow Strap - 30'
Shackle Mounted to Spare Hitch
Shovel
Jumper Cables
HF 150PSI Compressor
(2) ABC Fire Extinguishers

General Gear:
*Stolen* Homemade First Aid Kit in Plano Box
Compass/Maps
Flashlight/Headlamps
Hatchet/Hammer
Machete
Truck Specific Tool Kit

Plans/Wish List:
URD Fuel Pump w/ Serviceable Filter
Diff Breather Relocation
Full Set of Skids/Sliders
Extended Brake Lines
Put in 6.5" Speakers in AC Doors
Kicker Tweeter Upgrade
Aux Lighting Up Front

 

First post! Welcome to TW!

 

Howdy. Been lurking and learning here since July 2018 when I got my first Tacoma. 2006 "poverty package" with 32,000 old guy miles. Great truck that I put 40k miles on and took on a USA loop before selling it to get something a little better.
In March 2020, I was looking to get into a bigger truck with 4x4. I was toying around with the idea of a new Ram or Tundra but really did not want to give up having a manual transmission. That brought me back to a Tacoma. I really wanted a DC with a standard but since a 5ft bed is useless to me, I "settled" for the AC. I started looking around FL and came across a 2015 AC, 4x4 V6 6MT with 13,xxx miles in Orlando. I knew this was my truck because it already had the high roof camper and some paint imperfections.

Through April and May I put in the bed mat, changed the shift knob, put in my CB with a new 4' Firestik w/ HD spring, a generic brand roof rack, swapped my sub from the old truck and put in Pioneer 6x9s.

I took my first 3 off road trips to Citrus WMA to splash around and test out my new found hobby
Also towed my bus to get painted before I left for boot camp in June.
After graducating boot camp in August, I got stationed in Sacramento. I got to go home for a few days to pack up some things. I spent some of my travel days at home with family and friends and then took 4 to high tail it across the country. I was able to stop at a couple national parks and a few various roadside stops like "Big Dune" in NV.
Since moving to Sac, I have delivered a Geo Metro to a buyer in Reno, built some bed drawers/sleeping platform, did an oil change, and froze sleeping out in Tahoe for a night.
The immediate (next 2 months) plans for the truck are to put some finishing touches on the drawers, insulate and carpet the interior of the cap, do the AC rear seat delete, put a seal on the tailgate, build a flat tailgate panel, get a tailgate lock, and do the Uni Filter mod. Over the next 6 months or so, I will be gathering parts for a 3-ish inch lift with 16x8s and 285/75s. I am going to do the run of the mill 5100s with OME coils and an AAL. I haven't decided what UCAs to go with quite yet. This "build" isn't going to be anything extreme or even that exciting, just trying to document progression of the truck and make it a little bit better for off roading; plus writing threads is quite fun.

 

Congrats on graduating boot camp! I like those drawers, what did you do for rollers?

 

Nothing actually. I countersunk the screws and it actually slides really well even with all the weight of my tools. I’m thinking about getting those thin plastic strips and gluing them on the base and drawer bottoms but not sure I really need them.

 

Awesome! Between the wood, carpet, and hardware, about how much did it cost to build it?

 

$200 and some change. Will probably stain or paint in the near future so add another $15-30

 

Dang, that's way more cost effective than the manufactured ones. Something to keep in mind once I get a topper

 

Picture Dump
Drawers organized

Cockpit

Center Console Divider

Patches/Visor Organizer

 

Finished up the rear seat delete. I thought I left enough space for the hinged pieces to fall snugly into place with the carpet but I did not. They don't fit flush but my staple gun is a POS and I did not want to take out all the staples so I could make the gaps bigger. Until I get a better stapler, I can live with how it turned out. I am also not a fan of my subwoofer location. I plan to put sound deadener on the back panel and in the doors eventually so once I take out the upper parts of the back seats and have access to the structural pieces, I'll come up with a better mounting for the sub.
Before

After

I sit with my seat all the way back and I keep the passenger seat all the way back as well so I am not worried about the platform sliding forward under hard braking.
Overall, I am satisfied with how it turned out. I have a couple of tweaks to make and if I were to do it again, I would have made the platform longer to sit closer to the doors. It is not bolted to anything so it would take 1 minute to remove and maybe 10 minutes to reinstall the jump seat bottoms and the seat belt receivers.

 

Got the drawers stained. Just used black, turned out alright.

Also got the cubby caps from https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bed-cubby-caps-for-sale.496396/ I guess the OP deleted his account or got banned or whatever, but the Google form and ordering is still live. I got mine a few days after placing my order. Super simple to put on, but I had to use a little persuasion to the the cubbies to line back up with the mounting points. Probably user error. Hopefully these work well for keeping dust/debris and cold drafts out of the bed.

Going to pick up a set of wheels and tires next week. I'm definitely going to need a lift to get them mounted so I will have to convince myself to drop another chunk of change after a couple of paydays. Looking forward to seeing how the truck looks in a month or two.

 

Wednesday November 18, 2020 - Journey to LA

It was a dark and stormy night......just kidding, I'm not going to draw this out. (But it was dark and stormy)

0035 - Myself and my foster dog set course for Pasadena to retrieve a long sought after set of parts.

0615 - Sunrise peaking through the Angeles National Forest.

0945 - Loaded up and trucking - Thanks @rocktaco02

1000 - Mileage milestone!

1400 - Safe arrival after a 14 hour non-stop trip from Sacramento to Pasadena to Sacramento. Been up for 34 hours now, time to catch some ZZZs.

Decided to go with the Eibach/5100 setup and an AAL preassembled from ToyTec for an approximately 3" lift. Should be placing that order here in a week or two along with UCAs and extended brake lines just to be safe.
I have longed for the soft edges and classic shape of the F5s since I first laid eyes on them. However, my fingers apparently aren't the fastest in the west and I have not been able to land a set. I was pretty sure that I never would so I was about to "settle" for Motegi MR150s in the same specs (16x8 4.5" bs) with 285/75/16 tires. That was before I stumbled upon an almost 2 year old classifieds ad that had gotten a recent *bump.* The wheels are the sizing I wanted but the tires are 295/75 so we will see what kind of chopping/slicing/BFHing/cutting I have to do (hopefully minimal...at best, none). Worst case, I take the tires off at the auto shop at work, sell, and get a size that will fit with less permanent modification.

For now, this is their home until the lift arrives (set of 5, left 1 in the truck to test fit on stock suspension at work).

I have been planning a trek through Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Slab City, and some ghost towns around the Salton Sea using the expertly crafted GE route planning thread by @turbodb
My goal is to have the lift and wheels dialed in by mid-January and ready to spend some time in the desert in either late January or early February.

 

Lift has been ordered. Wallet is feeling very light. Heart skipped a beat when I clicked "Place Order."
Now to set up camp outside my front door and wait for the delivery driver.

 

What a great week it has been! My senior citizen foster dog got a forever home, helped a buddy redo his backyard, had a nice Thanksgiving with said buddy, sold my camper shell, and the lift came in (part of it)!

As mentioned, I ordered the Toytec/Bilstein 3” kit with an AAL. I had it preassembled because why not. I was told the next day that the top plates were back ordered and the lift wouldn’t ship for a couple of weeks. Bummer.

Well, the next day I get a shipping notification email. Nice!

The lift (part of it) finally got delivered after hassling with FedEx. There were 2 shipments. Both were supposed to be delivered together per the tracking numbers but neither showed up when it said (Saturday). After a quick call with customer service on Saturday night, I was told I could pick them up in the morning at the local distribution center. Sunday morning comes and I head over there to find out that the boxes are in 2 different trailers/trucks and they don’t do unloads on weekends and to come back Monday. Well, on my way home from selling the camper shell, I get an email that 1 box was delivered. Great! It was the rear shocks, AAL, and diff drop. I scheduled to have the 2nd package held at the center for me to pick up after work today.


Super stoked about the kit and everything looks stellar so far. I am going to get all the stuff in the rear installed today and should be able to knock out the front coilovers and diff drop tomorrow after work if all goes according to plan (famous last words). I still haven’t pulled the trigger on UCAs yet but I’m looking at the Tuff Country ball joint UCAs.


Read a couple threads on them and they seem good enough for what I am trying to do and are quite friendly on the wallet. The F5’s and Hankook’s may have to wait until I get the UCAs and a proper alignment. No sense in tearing up brand new tires. Also, I am going to hold off on extended brake lines because I don’t see myself doing anything too crazy that would warrant longer lines (for the time being).


I decided to sell the camper because it does not have carpet and windoors are not available for it. I found the exact topper I was looking for and I should be picking that up next week. In the meantime, I picked up an Undercover rigid tonneau to keep me from having to pull out the bed drawers.

 

Everything Went According to Plan

The lift is now on the truck along with the wheels and tires! Starting fender to ground measurements were 33.75-35.25” with just a tonneau and my bed drawers full of tools. After the lift, all four corners sat at 37” and with the wheels/tires, 39”.

Install day one day included the AAL and rear shocks. It was very straight forward but there was definitely a learning curve with leaf springs. The first leaf pack took me about 90 minutes while the other side only took about 35-40.


As mentioned in my previous post, I still needed to pick up the front coilovers at FedEx by 2000 and time was not on my side. After tightening the last shock bolt, I had 35 minutes to get the wheels on, clean the shop, and drive 20 minutes to FedEx. Piece of cake, right? Wrong. As I’m torqueing the lug nuts, I feel a pop and I think “Shoot, I just stripped a wheel stud.” That’s not a huge deal, I can still get 5 lugs on and be “safe” enough to fix it tomorrow. Well, it was worse than that, the POS spline key that came with the truck had a huge crack in it. I thought I was done for because I still had the other wheel not even on the car. I was able to crush the key back together in a big ol’ vice and managed to get the other wheel tight (I use that word loosely….pun intended) and prayed to the internal combustion gods to keep the wheels on the truck until tomorrow where I had new lugs/key waiting for me.

Thankfully, I made it.


Install day 2 went smooth as silk with the preassembled coilovers and diff drop kit. Super straight forward process and way easier than the rear.


I was able to get the old rear lugs off and boy were the not tight at all to replace them with all new SCS lug nuts. The SCS spline key is hefty and I don’t see it snapping on me. After all four wheels were on, I stepped back to admire my handy work. It’s a whole new truck!

 

Snow, Parents, and Charlie Brown

My folks came into town a couple hours after I finished up the suspension install. The first thing we did the following morning was put the SCS F5s on the truck.


WOW! The truck is now looking better than I imagined and I am super stoked with the results. I took it to get aligned knowing that the shop may not be able to get it perfectly dialed in. To my surprise, the tech knew Tacomas and 4Runners and had worked on a few lifted ones. He was able to get everything into spec even with stock UCAs. It now drives better than it did before the lift.


I got a lifetime alignment so I plan to drive the truck around for a couple thousand miles and take it back to see if the stock UCAs hold the specs before I pull the trigger on anything aftermarket.

We have always had a fake tree growing up so when I found out you could cut your own, I was all in! I got my permit and on Friday, my folks and I piled in the truck bound for Tahoe National Forest. We turned down a snowy dirt road on the hunt for my perfect “Charlie Brown” tree. Being a Floridian, this was my first time driving in snow and what a blast it was! We did get to a point where even in 4LO with snow rated tires, the Tacoma couldn’t get traction. After a 9-point turn and some good spotting by my father, we were able to get turned around to try a different road. We stopped at a dispersed site for a snowball fight and a PBJ & Fritos lunch before trekking through the snow to find my tree. It didn’t take long and my Harbor Freight bow saw made quick work of the trunk.

 

New Camper Shell and a Smoking Hot Deal

As mentioned, I sold my shell and rocked a tonneau for about a week until I could pick up the exact shell I was looking for on marketplace. The seller agreed to hold it for me until I could get up there in a few days (yesterday). A day or so after confirming the shell sale, he offered me a smoking package deal for the shell, a RTT, and an awning. Now, I have never been a super big fan of RTTs and really wasn’t sure if I wanted one, but with an offer I couldn’t refuse, what could it hurt? Yesterday morning I hit the road North. The Cascade Mountains are something else but nothing in comparison to the Redwood Forest that lines the 101. After arriving, the seller, a couple buddies, and myself got the shell/RTT/Awning combo transferred to my truck. I bid them farewell and hit the road back to the Sac. Since there was still some daylight left, I hit the scenic route through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, and stopped at a cliffside beach for a PBJ and to watch the sun set over the Pacific.


If you haven’t figured it out already, I am always willing to make a 15-hour roundtrip to pick up car parts. Hopefully, I don’t have to drive to SoCal anymore because that drive sucks but I am already planning to spend a fair bit of time in the Redwoods and Cascades.

 

I like the hinged storage lids. I'm doing this project tomorrow. Did you see any place to bolt it down?

 

I’ve had no need to bolt the platform itself down. My front seats are always all the way back so nothing slides around. I want to mount the subwoofer in between the two jump seat uppers but I haven’t gotten around to taking all the panels out yet.
I suppose you could make the platform wider in the sections where the bottom of the seat bolts in and use those to keep it secure

 

I'm jealous. My dad is from Ukiah. I've always loved visiting that part of Cal.