k3g's third gen build

Oh, and here's a pic of the truck since everything is better with pics:

 

Nice! Looking good

 

Looks great. You ever get the title mess sorted?

 

Nah, the whole mess is ongoing.

 

That blows.

 

Welllp, looks like they're going to buy it back from me, since they just can't seem to figure out the title. Price is tbd, but I'm pushing for fair compensation for every part and hour I've put into this truck.

I still need to decide if I go find another Taco, or do something different (maybe JLU, maybe Bronco?).

 

Oh, I'd be pissed and push for full reimbursement. If you sold me something you shouldn't have and it's purchase causes me to buy additional items, I want a full refund plus the extras at a minimum.

Even if you don't do another Taco, stick around and keep us posted on the adventures.

 

Well, I can close this thread now I guess. Today they took the Tacoma back, and handed me a settlement check. Bummer to have to start over, but I've got something else in mind that should be pretty fun.

 

You could just keep this going as a historical record of what led you to whatever comes next. My Tundra build page is a mess like that.

 

Alright, round two, ready fight!


Everyone meet Twoco! 2023 Tacoma, TRD Offroad, MT, with all the tech stuff.

 

Badass! Clean slate on which to build your masterpiece.

 

Thanks! I'm planning a different direction than last time. Right now I'm planning to:
1. Replace the suspension. Icon Stage 8 is coming shortly, unless I change my mind there.
2. A sealed bed and camper solution is preferable. Last time my tonneau cover was great for keeping dust out, but I wasn't efficiently using the bed. I think a GFC is in my future.
3. Tires: I loved the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss tires I had on the last one, so I'll be grabbing a set of those asap.
4. idk that's about as far ahead as I've thought. I figure I should focus on the best mod: miles.

 

Stage 8? Good grief!. What does that do? I didn't know they had that many tiers.

GFC. Love that idea.

Tires are a rabbit hole. You like the bajas bosses? I have no data on them beyond marketing I've seen.

 

Things are in motion for Twoco the second taco!

I've ordered an Icon suspension system, and should be installing that this coming weekend. I'm choosing out wheels/tires, and am currently leaning towards KMC trail's and 285's.

In the "broverland bullshit bolted to a truck" department, I took a really quick scan of my truck with my phone, and modeled the iKamper Skycamp Mini to get a sense for the size:


Juuuust right. I'm working a smartcap/gfc ish platform design to support it. All three sides will have doors for bed access. Like last time, this one will be mostly laser cut sheet metal with a few surprises built in.

 

Tent: Check.

Way to mount it: Still hung up on parts of the design, but it's coming along.

 

Icon Stage 9 installed yesterday:


I'll get better photos this coming weekend when I take the truck out for its first trip. It's entirely too clean, some sand and mud should fix that nicely!

The difference in how it rides is really incredible. I can take speed bumps at 2x their speed and the truck body stays flat. I've got a lot of work to do on tuning the damping, but overall I'm blown away with the suspension system.

 

I gotta ask, what's the MSRP on a stage 9 Icon suspension?

 

The kit is ~4300 on 4wheel parts. I did the install myself, which took most of the day. It includes 2.5" coilovers with remote reservoirs, high speed and low speed compression adjustors on all four corners, upper control arms, and the RXT leaf pack which has three configurations for meeting your load, up to like ~600lbs. Don't forget to budget for a good alignment: Suspension this good comes alive with the right understanding of vehicle dynamics.

----

Tires and alignment for me are coming first week of January. Tires will be Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT's, in 265/70R16, on a rim with a bit more offset than I'm running right now (maybe the ikon "not beadlock" rims?). I want to keep the overall wheel size near stock for acceleration, wheel weight, braking, and articulation. It's plenty big for the places I go, and a better rim will let me air down lower than right now. Haven't picked out wheels yet...

I'm also still plugging along at designing another bed rack. This one should be entirely sheet metal, with a few neat features. More to come on this one later. One certain part of the design will be two load bearing crossbars. For those I'm using this front running slim rack:

It's going to work just fine for the short term trips while I wrap up designing the new enclosed rack. I'll saw down the crossbars to their final width once I have the rack parts in. Final height will be 14" between bed rails and the roof tent (pictured is 9"), which should put the flat face of the ikamper mini completely behind the cab. I'm no aeromagician, but even I can get that a big fucking block will have more drag than a smooth roof, so keeping the top slick is to my advantage. No need to make this pig any more wasteful. The whole thing should be pretty light too, I think I can use the floor of the ikamper as the ceiling with some creative bulb seal use.

I'll be putting three aliexpress 50w solar panels that are like 10x47" on the three longitudinal surfaces of the ikamper. That 150w should be more than plenty to keep my delta 2 charge, and my ~35w fridge happily cooled. Gotta make a new 60% seat delete to anchor the fridge down, though. I sent it flying getting a wee bit sendy on a road this weekend, and I'd like to ensure my fridge stays in the right place.

One thing I can't decide: the grille. It's not a favorite feature of the truck, but the pro grill is everywhere and whilst I am rather basic, I am not that basic. The BAMF grille is rad, but doesn't support the cruise control sensor... I think the only option will be to mimic the BAMF grille and add a mount for the sensor?

 

Gonna be sweet to watch this evolve, but I spent all my money up front so I wouldn't have to mod the suspension and such. Did that on my Tundra, and kind of regretted it.

On the topic of wheels, have you looked at the SR wheels from the SX package or the TRD Pro wheels? I think both look great, and I think the Pro wheels might have a little more poke than the TRD OR ones. I might be wrong, though. Don't know about the SX wheels, but I like the look of them.

 

I've been absolutely blown away by the Icon system so far. The difference between the TRD OR suspension and this one pretty massive. There's less brake dive. Less porpoising when cruising over rutted roads and medium sized rocks. It's definitely a big jump up on damping of large bumps. Only negative I've noticed is the small bump compliance at <25mph is a tad stiff. I can tune that out with some adjustment, but I think I'll wait until I'm aligned and have the final weight on the truck (cab/rack, winch, and solar).

My first taco had the black sema rims, and I think those had a bit more poke. I wouldn't mind owning a set of those, the stock-ish look is usually a good look.