2023 MGM TRD Off Road (mildly modded)

I "Dyna-matted" the rear wall this afternoon with 80mil material.

Before:


I unbolted the window motor and parking sensor module and matted behind both.... very easy to do. I also tucked the mat as far forward as possible without removing more than what's shown. I also mat'ed the backside of the plastic panels because I had some extra(no pics).

 

That sound deadening came out awesome. How much work was it to remove the back seat and under seat compartment?

 

It wasn't that bad. I only removed the back seat backs and rear plastic. I wish I would have put Dynamat on the bar that goes across and the bar that's right under the window. The video I watched didn't do that and I didn't either. I've since saw at lease two videos that showed doing it. I'll likely add to those areas in the near future. Also, now that i've done the rear wall and under the backseat, I can easily remove the back seat bottoms and continue on forward if I want to.... kind of in stages.

This video doesn't show the back seat removal but does show the material applied across the beams like I've mentioned above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZqm0pFKBLo&t=11s

 

Nice ride!

 

Thank you. I'm really enjoying it. It's quite the change from my 2000 Tacoma with 360k miles.

 

Nice that sounds pretty straightforward. I’ve done my doors so far and I’m planning on doing the back wall next and eventually the floor. In stages as well like you said.

Truck is looking nice so far! Cool to see you still have the 2.7L 2000. I miss mine, wish I would have kept it.

 

Thanks James. I'll likely do my doors too. It's cool to run into you in the 3rd gen area after working through projects and issues on 1st gen trucks. Your avatar helps me remember you. I'm leaning toward keeping my 2000 Tacoma for a while. It's such a great truck. Main reason I purchased the new Tacoma is because I need more towing capacity to pull the 3400lb(dry weight) camper we bought. The 2000 2.7L did OK pulling it but it was borderline.

 

How quickly things can change. I was planning to wait to lift but the 265/70r17 tires has pushed me to go ahead and do it. I've ordered Bilstein 5100's and plan to use 4th perch to get 1.55" in front. I've also ordered a Headstrong 3 leaf AAL for the rear. This should provide a 1.5" front/rear lift. I've ordered a ECGS bushing and will swap it out while I'm there.

I played around with floor jacks in the garage to simulate a 1.5" lift. These pics helped me decide on lift height. I'm wanting to keep truck pretty close to stock.

 

Holy crap, Hot Shot Offroad is amazing. I ordered these 5100's early yesterday morning and received them TODAY. Great price and truely amazing experience.



Gotta wait for the Headstrong progressive AAL and the ECGS bushing.

 

You’re going straight to work! Nice dude .

 

Thanks. The 5 months of waiting gave me plenty of time to stack up parts, Lol.

 

Digging the build. I'll get the ECGS tool in the mail to ya Thursday.

 

Thanks Phil.

 

I did the A/C drain mod because it was so cheap and easy. For those that dint know, it basically extends the A/C drain so it doesn't leak onto the frame. One plastic 1/2" PEX coupling and a piece of 1/2" ID thin wall rubber hose and this looks like it came from factory. No clamps needed. I did use one zip tie to keep the tubing in position.

 

Can you please comment on the road noise before and after the sound deadening on rear wall? Thank you

 

I'd consider the difference minimal but I feel the results would have been a little better had I covered the two horizontal braces. I'll likely do that at some point since it will require only removing the two rear panels.

I intend to do the "pool noodle" mod next with a piece of pipe insulation. I had a hard time finding info about this because the info is embedded in some of the sound deadening threads but it sounds like a piece of 3/4" pipe insulation wedged at between the bottom of the bed close to the cab can help with road noise considerably because it blocks a lot of road noise that enters the two vents on the back wall.

 

Truck looks awesome!

 

Thanks for the feedback! I have done a my own version of the pool noodle mod. I first tried the hollow ones from Home Depot and lowes. I used various thickness and tried them in a couple configurations. I tested each configuration over a few days. None of them seemed to make that big of a difference. Keep in mind I have a Runnin4tacos high clearance exhaust that dumps right under the cab / bed gap, so it’s pretty loud in the cabin. I bought a 3 pack of SOLID 2.25” black pool noodles to experiment. In the end I now have one solid 52” pool noodle just above the bed lip seam. In order to fit it in the pool noodle needs 1/2” of material cut from the top. Picture putting the noodle though a thickness planer and only taking 1/2” off. This makes it possible to squeeze and tuck the noodle over the lip seam and between the cab and bed. You will need a long rod to help over the gas tank as it’s very tight quarters. This dropped the noise level very very significantly! Huge difference. I’ll call it the pool noodle 2.0 mod haha. Hope this helps ya!

 

Great info. Glad I haven't messed with this yet. Where did you get the solid black pool noodles?

 

I bought them on eBay, item number 353353699268 . Unfortunately they only come in a 3 pack and it $28. I had to waste 2 to get the cut correct. I kept taking off too much material. If that happens then the noodle with not fit snug enough in the gap. With 1/2” of the noodle it fits perfect and tight in all the bed/cab indentations. And you can keep the noodle at 55” long. I mis spoke when I said it was 52”.