What Have You Done To Your 2nd Gen Tacoma Today?

It usually is!

 

Took a bunch of pictures for you. Don’t mind my rust spots where I need to go back and do some cleanup

First two shots are pulled open to 90 degrees from bumper, third is pulled open fully to the second detent position. Being a moron like I am, when I first welded the spring pin in place I had it fully open at 90 instead of the second detent, which pulls it away from the truck. Don’t make that mistake lol.

The next 3 images are of the release handle. This was the cause of an entire change on the build for me, but it wasn’t 4x’s fault. I had intended for the whole swingout to be level with the flat of the bumper, but the Pelfreybilt bumpers upper portions are almost perfectly in line with the tailgate where it drops down, so I had to drop the round bar portion that the handle latches around. I also had to mill this in a way that the left side was half cut away to flush with the bumper, the right side was cut to drop it lower, and the top was cut to allow the bumper to drop without hitting it. All while leaving enough meat for the the handle to latch. Also had to trim down the handle where it wraps around the round bar to where it would lock in place.

That’s a lot to basically say I had to custom fit this to make it work. I somewhat shot myself in the foot using 2x3 tube, the plate that the latching handle locks to and holds the spring pin seems to be made for 2x2 tube. The hinge end is relatively straight forward. This was another area where I had to custom fit for sure though, as the area where I attached it to the Pelfreybilt was on a negative angle, so I had to weld in some reinforcement to position it more vertical. The rust on the stainless steel glide plate is cause I’m dumb and welded with it attached .
The only other thing I got from 4x was the tire mounting plate. It comes with a nice gusset to weld between the tube you attach it to and the main swingout, but doesn’t come with studs so account for that.

As far as other build notes, I made the tire placement to line up with the right edge of the tailgate and the bottom edge of the swingout to not block the tail lights or lose clearance with the bumper. Make sure to only tack the spring loaded pins, then remove the plastic handle before fully welding it!!! Don’t ask me how I know . Also, make sure there’s clearance to allow it to be removed/installed as it has wrench flats.

Other than the custom fab required, which is probably going to be present in anything like this, I thought the 4x Innovations kits were great.

Edit to add: I am going to have to move my backup camera, which isn’t a huge deal as I’d wanted to get the Anytime Front/Rear backup cams in the future anyway. I’m also probably going to have to move my license plate, but I’ll probably hold that off until I get pulled over lol. I tried to make it in a manner where I can add Jerry can/Rotopax holders later, as well as a drop down table to cook off of. It was a fun build, I got in a lot more time on my MIG welder and relearned a bunch of technique I’d lost for lack of using it.

 

Today is our one year anniversary

Happy Anniversary baby...here's to many more

 

Same.

 

No write up. Install instructions for the light kit were straight forward with pictures. I chose to run the single max pod instead of the rear kit (two more lights to mount under the seats) and the only extra step was removing that rear panel to drill a hole. I just eyeballed a spot and ran with it.

Removing the rear panel: using a trim tool to gently pry, start at the bottom corners and work your way up.

Edit: here's another thread I started about the rear console panel, with additional pix.

 

100% better lol

 

Picked up some lightly used, less than 1k miles, and not even a year old falken wild peaks AT3's 285/70R17's for $350 woop woop

Just waiting for my TPMS sensors.

 

Changed the blinker fluid today. Was a little low.

 

Got the new (new to me) kicks on today and lovin it!

Before:


After:

 

Dibs on the old wheels!! I’m actually quite serious, if you want to sell them that is… pm me

 

What lift are you running?

 

beautiful. I miss this scenery and snow days

 

Nice 6 lug Rock Warrior wheels! Super rare and hard to get ahold of as I belive they are vin locked by Toyota.

 

Wow. Thanks for the great write-up. I really appreciate it plus adding in the lesson's learned is quite nice. For the tube, what wall thickness did you go with?

 

Don't forget, per Toyota our trucks take synthetic only. None of the dino junk.

 

Put gas in them

 

RIP to those leaf springs

 

PSA to those with roof racks and snorkels. If it's been a minute since you last visited the fasteners for these items, take a moment and a tube of RTV to reseal them.

 

Found the clear coat I wanted from where else??? Summit of course ROFL, 2 part mat finish, turned out almost Textured, exactly what I was hoping for! still have a bit of light buffing to do, then I Need to come up with Graphics for the bed...

 

It's that time of the year again