Clean, Purpose-Built 3rd Gen SR5

Last Updated 06/02/2025
List of places visited in Post #480
(page 24)​

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“There is nothing on my horizon, except everything.”
-Dwight K. Schrute






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I plan for my truck to be a no-frills (okay, maybe a few frills) rig with almost all of my modifications serving a specific purpose. I will attempt to keep the frills to a minimum.

I’ve done a few minor cosmetic upgrades but this truck is intended to be my daily driver/adventure vehicle/road-trip workhorse and I plan on having it for 20+ years. I keep it maintained meticulously and would love for it to be a truly high mileage taco one day.

I am going to try something different that I don’t see much around TW; I’m going to attempt to keep this build armor-free. I don’t plan on doing any real wheeling/rock crawling, it is really a long haul highway rig designed to also do a lot of light-to-medium trails during those long haul trips. Think, Atlantic Ocean to Montana and back with a week’s worth of trail riding in the middle.

We’ll see if I regret the no-armor plan, but I want to keep the truck light and (relatively) fast.

I started my build thread to track my progress. I figured maybe it can help some people out if they have questions about any of the stuff I’ve already done as well.

I wanted the most reliable truck possible and all signs pointed to the Tacoma. I went with a 2021 SR5 because I planned on doing a good build and needed enough money to make my truck perfectly dialed to my needs, which I wouldn’t have had if I went with a TRD Off Road or Pro. I also don’t do any serious wheeling so I really didn’t need rear lockers or crawl control (I’m not gonna lie to myself and say I do).

I don’t have any social media besides Tacoma World and you won’t find pics of my truck with 3 shovels (I only have 1) and 12 rotopax of gasoline strapped onto a RTT with maxtrax hanging off the side. This truck is a vehicle for my family and I to see more of the world, not something I have to look “cool”. That being said, it is my main hobby and I spend a lot of time on TW lol.

I don’t like buying new things but unfortunately my last truck was no longer safe and it was actually cheaper to buy a new Tacoma than a used one when I was in the market. So here we go…

Modifications:​

-Ionic side steps
-Prinsu cab rack
-BillieBars bed rack system
-Bakflip MX4 bed cover
-Ready lift rear 1inch block kit
-SOS off-road concepts sliders
-Yokohama Geolandar g003 M/Ts in 285/75/16
-General Grabber ATX tires (E rated 265/75/16)
-Maxxis Razr MTs (E rated LT265/75/16)
-Rough country 2 inch leveling kit
-Icon Vehicle Dynamics 1.5” AAL
-Headstrong Offroad 1/2” Shims under
Icon AAL.
-Bilstein 5100’s (front and rear) w/ stock springs
-A.R.E. CX color matched bed cap
-Window tint (front matched to factory rear)
-OEM Toyota exhaust tip (black)
-Black Rhino 16x8 stadium wheels
- Yokohama Geolandar AT4 tires (LT285/75/16)
-Exterior Chrome Delete
-TRD Pro style grille
-Tacoma emblem blackout package
-LED tag lights
-Front air dam delete
-SR5 debadging
-KDMax Tune
-TRD Pro CAI
-Diode Dynamics (red) map & dome lights
-Diode Dynamics SS3 amber fog lights
-Diode Dynamics amber 30” light bar
-Diode Dynamics SSC2 Pro ditch lights
-Cali Raised bed stiffeners
-Meso Total Tail Stage 1 kit
-Desert Does It seat jackers (driver and front passenger seat)
-Professionally sealed and rust-proofed frame.
-Morimoto XB LED headlights with amber DRLs
-WeBoost Drive Reach
-East Coast Gear Supply (ECGS) clamshell bushing
-Goose Gear Full Rear Seat Delete
-Paid off mod
-Hypertech Speedometer Calibrator
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Current setup:




Previous iterations:








The night I purchased the truck and the journey began:



Various past stages of the truck:









The many forms of my truck on the way to finding my perfect setup….

Before the ARE cap:



The setup when I had BillieBars:




Before the BillieBars, with the Prinsu cab rack:

 

Truck looks great. We share the same idea. I also went with a 2020 SR5 knowing I could make it more capable for less money. I ordered mine with the tech package so I have almost all the options without spending the money for the TRD decals. I’ll follow your build.

 

Awesome! Yeah I wanted to add my own touches since I plan on keeping it for forever. Thanks for the kind words.

I see our trucks look very similar as well

 

They definitely do, that’s what caught my attention. I like seeing similar trucks and what the owners do with them. I get a lot of good ideas. The build definitely becomes addictive. I currently have a ATH rear HC bumper waiting in the garage for an install.

 

That sounds awesome, I was actually just looking at rear bumpers the other day but it’s not really on my short list. I think next for me will either be the TRD cold air intake or a ceramic coating for the paint.

I know there aren’t many performance benefits of the TRD CAI but I love the Toyota heritage and the idea of sticking to OEM stuff under the hood. I’d like to keep the warranty as in-tact as possible.

 

I did the KDMax tune that I’m sure you seen the tread on. It did wonders for the performance of the truck. Increased my milage slightly and corrected the gear hunting. I also swapped my ignition coils for a set from RIPP. And replaced the factory exhaust with a turn down one. I now average 22.8 mpg with a little more power and a lot less transmission gear hunting. Those are a few inexpensive mods that return big benefits.

I am going to add the TRD air box as well. I like the look of it and it’s an easy “plug and play” option. And it works with my ARB compressor. A lot of the other air intakes take up too much space and require more modifications then I want to do under the hood.

I haven’t had any issues with my warranty. So far the engine mods have not caused any concerns when at the dealer for service.

 

Interesting, that’s a lot of great info. I don’t know much about those engine mods but I’m definitely going to look into it now that you mentioned those MPG increases. My truck got great MPGs until I added the Grabbers and the Prinsu rack. Oddly enough, removing the air dam actually increased my MPGs.

 

Here is a different side profile of the truck; anyone have any opinions on black lugs vs. these silver ones?

I was supposed to get black (I’ve already done a full chrome delete on the truck) but the wheel place sent me silver by mistake. Put them on until I could find the correct black ones and I think they actually compliment the center cap really well…

 

I should also add that I run this Garmin dash cam…if anyone is trying to find a good one. I highly recommend it.

$219 Garmin 010-02062-00 Dash Cam Mini, Car Key-Sized Dash Cam, 140-Degree Wide-Angle Lens, Captures 1080P HD Footage, Very Compact with Automatic Incident Detection and Recording

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R638L8N?_encoding=UTF8

 

I’m interested in understanding the benefit of the coil swap.

 

following for this also

 

Increased spark, less resistance, slight increase in performance.

 

https://rippmods.com/products/toyota-tacoma-3-5l-v6-coil-packs

 

Thank you

 

any other engine mods? after reading through the thread below I'm skeptical about these. I however, have not run them or know anyone personally that has besides what has been written here and RIPP website that you linked.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ripp-high-performance-coil-packs.666292/

 

Just a cold air intake and the KDMax tune. Swapped my factory exhaust for a larger turn down exhaust.

 

I think this might have turned into your build thread

 

Sorry didn't mean to hijack the post. Carry on and love the truck

 

hahah no worries at all man! I’m glad it started a conversation That’s what it’s all about

 

Sorry bud, just answering questions. Definitely, still about your truck. It’s awesome that people are checking it out. That’s the same thing I used to do when I started building mine. I had a little knowledge of what was available for the Tacoma and the forum conversations definitely helped me. I just try to pay it forward by helping the next guy locate parts he may be unaware by of.