Iowa Tacomas (Idiots.Out.Wandering.Around)

Oh, here is a good before and after on my truck. The before is actually lifted about 3/4" in the front because of the 3rd gen TRD OR suspension.

 

Sweet truck

 

Thank you! It's been my attainable dream truck for quite some time and slowly making it my own. I'll have it forever unless the next generation Tacoma blows it out of the water. When I would do test drives or PDI's at Toyota of Des Moines I knew I wanted one (quit there 2009 and been full time USAF ANG since). It wasn't until late 2016 I could actually afford one. At that time I was comparing the 3rd gen to the 2nd gen. This one popped up for a great price with low miles and I snagged it up! Wasn't sure about Pyrite Mica when I first got it. But now I love it and don't see many on my side of the state.

 

Are you on Vors?

 

Nope, the are FN Wheels Six Shooters 17x9 (discontinued width, only 8" wide now) . Picked them up used locally (all 5 for $600, then sold the tires that were on them and ended up only spending $150 total). They were black and scuffed a little from trail rash. But that didn't bother me since I'm going to do the same likely, not on purpose of course.

I didn't like the black since EVERYONE has black wheels and I don't want nice wheels to look like every other black wheel from 30ft away, no point in spending good money on wheels if you can't tell! haha Anyways, I gave Plasti-Dip a try. Got Gold/Bronze from DipYourCar.com and went to it! I've never bother to prep well with dip before, this time I did and shows! They've been dipped for about 2 years now with no peeling and no fade! I'm really impressed!

 

I've been thinking about Vors VE37s (rebranded blems) and PC'ing them Blue to match what I currently got going on. Going from +30 offset to 0 will be nice for clearance. I got about ~1" from the coils to my 255s and I plan on going 285s next time around... I only asked because they look pretty similar.

 

I did look into those, I like them too! I love the blue idea. I like the Volk’s in blue on silver, grey and white ones that I’ve seen. I just could never justify the cost for Volk’s, especially knowing I’m likely going to scratch them at some point. Lol

Mine are 5.0 backspacing 0 offset. I love the Goodyear Duratracs, only Goodyear I don’t hate. But I think my next tire is going to be the 33x10.50r17 Kenda Klever RT. A local has them on his Tacoma and he’s been pretty impressed. He’s been through a ton of AT tires in his 250k+ miles.

 

Also, just took a photo of the bump stop set up for anyone interested.

 

Spotted at Dimensional Brewing in Dubuque on Friday. You on here?

 

I haven’t run into that one out in these parts.

 

Officially retired the Taco from DD duty. She had a long run but frame rot is making her unsafe. Going to keep her off the road/trail until I can get the frame fixed.

My T4r is my "new" DD.

 

Well I went with the Dobinsons kit, are there any good shops around the Quad Cities to have it installed?

 

Not that I’ve heard of. I did mine myself.

I just went off this video

 

Did you ever get your pro suspension put on?

 

Had some physical ailments and then the cold weather that prevented me from getting to it. But it might be on my list to get done this week though. Thankfully I haven’t put many miles on the last 6 months, so the stock suspension hasn’t had a chance to bother me

 

I’ve put 5000 miles on mine since I put it on in September lol feels like i hardly drive any more.

Gonna start racking them up here soon getting people tuned.

 

Yea, I’ll be getting some miles put on this spring and summer again, so definitely want to get that done and update the tune/TSB.

 

But the trade-off is you can't put a price on smiles per gallon

 

Should be a fairly easy DIY job to install them. Just have a good shop do the allignment after. If it were my truck and I wasn't up to doing it myself I'd look around for a buddy that knows a thing or two and is willing to help. I'd offer to help you do it but I'm working on building a new garage. Otherwise there's a few shops that come to mind. My favorite used to be DK 4 Wheel but last I checked they're permanently closed. Spot Truck Specialties is another option. QC Auto Service in Moline had a good reputation last I checked.

 

When you go to do this (can't access @Shellshock video on my work computer) there are a few things you want to make sure to do. This can be done in your driveway or garage very easily with pretty basic tools.

-Disconnect the front sway bar while doing the front the front to allow everything to move easily.
-Mark your lower control arm bolt marks with a reference on the subframe so you can get it close on reinstallation.
-Remove your lower control arm alignment bolts (one at a time) and put some anit-sieze or marine axle/wheel bearing grease on the bolt and washers and re-install. This keeps them free for future alignments as they are known to become seized, especially with our awesome road salt.
-Also add the same anti-seize to the lower strut bolt and other items you are tightening.
-To get the lower control arm to move freely so you have plenty of room to remove/install everything.
-Do one side at a time so you have a reference if you forget where something goes.
-Before lowering the truck back on the ground leave the lower strut bolt and lower control arm alignment bolts HAND TIGHT. Then tighten them once on the ground. This keeps the bushings from binding.
-The rear is pretty straight forward, just make sure to re-torque the U-bolts after a couple days of driving if installing lift blocks or AAL's.