drizzohs '21 off-road build

Sounds pretty incredible tbh.

Debated going with the OEM+ setup for that car too, but just worried it won't be enough with the wattages they spec. 200w for a sub is not enough lol. I'll probably go custom, I like being able to fine tune my amps.

My coworker has the Kicker KS in her truck and I am not a fan. Marginally cleaner than stock but still pretty garbage and even more imbalanced than stock. Never been much of a Kicker fan anyway. I do dig the tweeter mod, but those door speakers are trash lol.

 

Finished deadening the doors this weekend with Second Skin Damplifer Pro. Impressed with how much quieter it is in the cabin for only being a base layer, especially considering how much less this weighs vs the cheaper stuff I've used on other vehicles. Can't even feel it when opening/closing the doors. My tC's doors feel like boat anchors in comparison with Noico (I have sheets of both products to compare side by side in the garage). Also addressed some other rattles in the door panels themselves and secured all the harnesses better. It's so nice to not have the doors rattle at all now. Audio does not sound any louder, but it does sound cleaner without as much background noise filling the cab. Glad I picked this up, well worth the time to do on every vehicle. Each front door took ~3.5 sheets (~6 sq/ft). The worst part was unplugging the harness from the driver window switch module. Tbh that was worse than doing the UCA bolts. If anyone has to pull their driver door panel, pop off the switch module before removing the panel and your day will be significantly better. I bought 20 sheets total for the doors and rear wall and have 3 sheets leftover - might apply the rest under the rear seats/storage area next time I get bored.

Before. Lol @ the tiny rectangle of factory deadening.. if you can even call it that:



That's better:

 

Love the build so far! What color did you paint the calipers?

 

Thanks Jack! For the brakes I used Duplicolor high heat primer as a base layer (same base I used painting the interior trim), VHT black caliper paint and topped it with Rustoleum high heat 2000° clear. 3 coats of each. Came out really clean. Have used this combo on a few vehicles and as long as you prep them well you shouldn't have any chipping or bubbling.



*Removed the sway bar right after this pic was taken.

 

Magnaflow Overland Series SS Exhaust installed this weekend. Took all of 15 minutes to put on with my buddy after we got done installing some parts on his Supra. So nice to finally do a modification on this truck that installs as painless as it should. Fitment is absolutely perfect and has no clearance issues w/ the 33" spare w/ the Hodakaguy relocation mod (have about 1" free clearance all directions). The volume even at it's loudest option is only noticeable when accelerating and does not drone AT ALL. It might be slightly louder if I didn't deaden the cabin, but what I applied usually doesn't do too much for exhaust noise - need a sound blocking layer to dampen those frequencies. I'm happy with my purchase but hope this packs in over the next few hundred miles because it's very quiet so far. I suppose my neighbors won't hate me and it will be nice for when I eventually swap out the y-pipe and manifolds though. It's so nice to not have that stock eyesore of an exhaust pipe hanging out anymore. The back end of the truck looks so much cleaner.

 

This weekend I swapped out the Powerstop Z23 Evolution brake pads that I threw in a few months ago for the Powerstop Z36 Extreme's. The Z23's were decent but still left a little to be desired. They basically made the brakes feel like they should have felt from the factory but I was looking for a serious braking upgrade. Now the truck brake performance feels very similar to my tC's (which is on the Z23's but weighs considerably less). The brakes are much more confidence-inspiring with the Z36's. So long as these don't dust like crazy I think I'll be sticking with them.

 

I have the Z36's on for a few months, they dust just a little more than OEM pads. But it's a toss up based on my memory. I used some new Wagner rotors at the same time. Pedal feel and braking is about the same as OEM for me, UNTIL you get some heat in the brakes, and then they are quite a bit better than stock. I can lock mine up and engage ABS at almost any speed now. Going from 32's to 34's so we will see how they do with ~20lbs extra per corner.

 

Oh man I always thought the factory brakes were incredibly weak on my truck, like scary weak and I had to stand on them every time to even start slowing the vehicle. I have no issues with my coworkers stock 2021 4x2 SR5, fwiw, so it may be related to weight, but the performance was still extremely unacceptable. After installing the Crown brake lines front and rear, Powerstop d/s front rotors, Z23 front pads and ATE brake fluid, I felt that upgrade got me to about a 25% stronger feel than OEM which got the truck to about where it should have been out of the box. Still had to pretty much stand on them when cold though to get the truck to slow down - almost engaging the ABS. After swapping to the Z36's I'm noticing these feel about 20% stronger than the Z23's and so far these have great bite when cold. I'm running 33's but C load and on TE's so I only added ~7lbs per corner since I dropped 8lbs per wheel. Stock braking should have been adequate with this config but I never found it to be satisfactory even when I first took ownership of the truck in August. I'm finally happy with my setup. Factory pads dusted horribly but the Z23's were basically dustless. Will be acceptable if these are somewhere in the middle, that's my only concern so far but the performance is so good.

 

Yup, I think the Z36 combo with good rotors/fluid would make the stock truck work real good.

I think the only way to really get "good" braking will be a big brake kit. Couple options out there but I need to do more research. I'm doing a big road trip from the east coast to Colorado and back at the end of this summer. If I go big brakes I need to make sure I chose something before my trip.

 

Can't go wrong with a BBK. But these brakes are already pretty big and they should be more than enough with this config, especially considering I haven't added any significant weight (braking actually improved with the NRG's over stock). IIRC they are the same size as the last gen Tundra brakes, which many other Toyota platforms upgrade to. Hoping these stay feeling nice because right now they are very responsive even when cold and the cold bite and is one of the most important aspects of braking to me. So far I'm getting exactly what I was hoping for from these pads, just worried about the dust with the power increase. Might balance out though since the braking distance is greatly reduced from the Z23's (and immensely reduced from stock), time will tell.

 

Realized there's nothing but bare metal under the rear cargo tray area so threw my last 2 sheets of Second Skin under that this weekend. I thought I had 3 sheets but since I don't know where the third went I had to put some Noico over the center section in order to get complete coverage (the Noico is amazing value, but the Second Skin is lighter and outperforms it without weighing panels down). Glad the cargo box covers everything because that inconsistency would otherwise drive me nuts lol. It did not nearly require as much disassembly as expected which made the install pretty quick and painless. Truck does sound a little quieter.



While I had everything apart I noticed that the plastic lids for the cover have no form of rattle-protection so I applied foam tape to the underside of the tops to help quiet things down even further. So far it seems like that has also helped remedy a random rattle I had back there.



Updates on recent mods:

Brakes are still feeling significantly better than previous configs and are much more confidence-inspiring. Dust does not seem to be an issue so far.

Exhaust is breaking in but still nowhere near annoying and still no drone whatsoever even in it's loudest configuration. Starting to sound pretty nice and grown-up - and the cold start with a clean exhaust will never get old. I suspect I will have to quiet it down after doing the URD Y-pipe but gaining some efficiency is more important than noise with the recent fuel hikes.. so OVTune is next. I absolutely love it on my tC so I have pretty high expectations for the Taco.

 

Just some new cell phone pics of the truck after I got done biking last night:

 

Those RXT's starting to settle in at all?

Just did my option 1 last week, new shocks, hammer hangers, etc. It's pretty tall in the back. Even with my dad sitting back on the tailgate (220lbs), it only drops about a half inch.

 

Only about 1/4" from original install so far. Not even enough to need to need to drop the front a turn yet on the coilovers. Officially 1k miles on them finally, but the rear end is still too high. They have broken in a bit ride-quality-wise at least, but hoping they settle at least another 1/4". My tunes from OV should be here soon - hopefully I'll put some more miles on it once I'm not pissed @ the trans lol.

 

Ya right now my RXT pack feels about the same ride quality as my stock pack with a 1" block. Maybe a little stiffer, but also did hammer hangers at the same time. The hangers definitely "tightened" up the rear end, rides better so far even if it's a little stiffer. Once everything settles in it should be riding smooth. I'd like to see it drop about a half inch total, then I can hopefully drop my front a little bit to get more droop travel and a better ride too.

 

The hammers are on my list. They're supposed to drop it a hair too vs stock. The rear end of the chassis / frame could use some stiffening up but I'm really not interested if it makes the ride rougher - suspension-wise it's still a little too stiff for my liking. Been playing with the tire pressures to see if I can get this to be more comfortable. Significantly better at 32psi (C-load NRG's) vs the 35 I was running at originally, but will probably drop a bit more. Need to borrow some sidewalk chalk from the kids next door and see how my wear is with going lower.

 

I just meant that the new setup rides stiffer than the old setup. I changed shocks, leafs, and added hammer hangers. I'm sure the little increase in stiffness is due to either the new shocks or the leaf pack, but the hammer hangers have made it ride tighter. Hard to explain, but if you read their reviews/testimonials it all makes sense once you drive the truck afterwards.

Old setup:
Stock leafs, 1" block, Eibach Shocks

New setup
Fox 2.5 DSC's - Accutuned, Icon RXT set at option 1, Hammer Hangers and Cross bar.

Once everything breaks in and settles it will definitely ride smoother than it did before.

 

That's what I've been reading, which is why they're on my list lol. Reducing the little shimmy back there would be nice. I'm just trying to get this to ride closer to the stock O/R setup. TBH I thought it rode fantastic - I just wanted it bigger for fade resistance being in AZ. The 2.5" ADS / RXT setup is noticeably stiffer on the small bumps even with the extra soft custom valving. Big hits are divine though as is the rear flex with this pack, especially paired with the Superbumps.

 

Been playing with my tire pressures lately. Chalk testing great down to 30psi (haven't gone lower yet) and the truck is a significantly nicer place to be without being squishy. Rebound still feels a bit stiff but I do not hate being in the truck anymore which is a huge plus.

Also finallllllllly got my tune packs from VF Tune this morning so flashed their 87 octane 33" tires w/ increased throttle response tune on my lunch break and the truck is a completely different animal. After running their fully bolted premium octane tune on my dd for 4+ years I had high hopes for it on the Taco and it did not disappoint. Truck feels like it's supposed to feel and the throttle response is fantastic. I thought the shifts were smooth before but this makes them almost unnoticeable. So happy I don't have to throw the whole truck out due to the 2-3 super short shifting issue, this is amazing. Excited to see if the mpg increases at all and curious to see how long I'll be able to hold out before putting on the premium fuel tune.

 

Can you share more details on the suspension re-valving or who you worked with at ADS? PM me if that works better. Thanks!