Colorado Daily Driver Build Thread

Figured it's time for me to put together a build thread to get some of this stuff off my notes app.

Bought the truck brand new on 9/1/2022

 

Immediately got the Toyota TRD Lift Kit installed at the dealer. Evidenced by the blacked out Pro grille. In retrospect, this is my biggest regret with the truck. It cost $2800 after labor, as I think it was my dealership's first time doing it so it took them a while. Also, for a Bilstein 5100 lift, that's outrageous. If I did it over again, I would have done a 6112 with heavier springs up front, 5160's in the rear, and probably an add-a-leaf but am now looking at replacing the whole leaf pack because we almost always have 2-3 adults in the back seat off-roading to campsites.

 

Put raptor lights on because I was feeling basic. Not pictured - H9 headlight bulb upgrade. In the picture we are on top of Jones Pass.

 

Bought a used tonneau cover and put that on to drive back to MN for my wedding (9/23/22). Also added LED bedlights from CaliRaisedLED which was a huge upgrade (9/29). Put a mountain grill badge on because, again, feeling basic (9/29). Replaced the interior and license plate lights with LEDs from Amazon, also a huge upgrade for $20 (10/6).

THE BEST UPGRADE DONE SO FAR: Bigger cup holders from Runnin4tacos because my wife and I both have the 32oz water bottles that didn't fit in the stock cup holders (10/6).

 

CaliRaisedLED mid-height (for the aero) Overland Bedrack (11/16) with Thule Tepui Autana 3 RTT (11/22) and XBull recovery boards from Amazon. Took it camping in Gordon Gulch near Nederland in December and had 50mph winds overnight. Terrible first experience, but she held up great!

 

Dude do you live just on the south side of 58? I always see a great looking Lunar Taco when I cross the pedestrian bridge from the north. My wife always comments on it too. Great looking rig either way.

 

Threw in Bed Stiffeners from @CaliRaisedLed. Followed another thread on here to cut my bed extender and remount its pivots to fit with the bed stiffeners (12/28/22).

Then got behind the grille light bar mounts (1/23/23), again from @CaliRaisedLed, and Nilight ditch light brackets (2/11/23). Bought used Nilight ditch lights and 32" light bar from another guy on here (1/23/23). Love the OEM+ look of the behind the grille bar.

 

Got a hitch recovery shackle on Amazon and a 30' recovery rope, which I ended up using when I got super stuck wheeling with some buddies in deep hard pack snow. The stock tires were not helping me out very much.

Also added the Desert Armor Beast air compressor to my in-cab kit so that I can drop tire pressure on trails (2/23/23).



Pictured here at Rainbow Falls near Springs, aka Mini Moab, great trail.

 

A bunch of people in my apartment were having their catalytic converters stolen. Got the Talons Garage protector + transmission skid in 3/16" steel, black powder coated @Talon2006 (2/26/23). They were just starting their powder coating process, so I got this one for a discount.









Went back to Rainbow Falls because it was so fun the first time.

 

Did the AC drain mod to keep that off my frame (4/26/23). Got quick fist mounts from Amazon and a shovel from home depot to throw on the other side of the bed rack (5/21/23). First trip out to Moab was a blast.

 

Got a hitch skid plate from Amazon for the next Moab trip since I dragged my hitch receiver so much the first time around (5/21/23).

We did the first few miles of Fins n Things, but the other two guys had never wheeled their trucks before so it took a looooooong time and we ended up calling it and heading back to our campsite before finishing the trail. The stock tires surprised me with how well they performed, took them down to 15psi and they were plenty sticky.

 

Had a few snowstorms in the mountains over the winter which made me want to get some bright, yellow fogs. Got @Diode Dynamics SS3 Pro selective yellow fogs, and man they're fantastic (5/29/23)!

Before:


After:

 

I finally saved up and got wheels and tires! My priorities for every update to the truck have been as follows since my wife daily drives the truck downtown for work (I work from home):

1. Safety. Hence the fog lights for bad weather. For tires, needed to be 3PMS so that they were at least better than the stocks in snow. We are from MN so I know it's not the same as a dedicated snow tire, but for CO I think it will be good enough since we don't get the deep freeze that MN gets with impenetrable ice for 3 months straight.

2. Function. Wanted 33's for wheeling, but didn't want to CMC the truck. Also, wanted to prioritize puncture resistance but maintain as much MPGs as possible. Enter skinny 33's. However, for a skinny 33 that's 3PMS, had to go up to 17" wheels. All the 255/85r16's are MT's other than the coopers which aren't snow rated.

3. Appearance. If I have to get bigger wheels, they're gonna be some really nice looking wheels.

Ended up going with 255/80r17 Falken Wildpeak AT3W's which is load range E / 10 ply. Mounted on Relations RR6-H 17x8.5 -12 in black (7/27/23). With the blacked out emblems (5/13/23) I think the truck is in a really good spot right now. I do have some minor rubbing on the front bottom of my front wheel well when the truck is facing downhill and turning, which a viper cut would solve. Might just try to do as minor of a plastic trim as possible and see if that solves it before going with a bigger cut.

Immediately after getting the new shoes mounted


Mall crawler


Camping near red feather lakes


Heart attack hill on Kelly Flats road

 

Looks good, thanks for sharing !!

 

We almost always have 1-3 adults with us on camping/wheeling trips, and with the TRD lift being a block in the back instead of an AAL or just a more HD leaf pack, I'm on my bumpstops a lot more than I'd like to be. I think the next item for the truck will be an upgraded leaf pack. Looking at Deaver stage 2, but I reached out to ATS springs and they put together a custom solution for me for like half the cost of the Deavers, so I'll likely go that route. After the leaf pack, I'm likely going to get some used sliders and the anytime front camera.

Including more pictures from some recent adventures.

 

Man my 255 wildpeaks have been absolutely amazing on/off road so far. I’m even running stock flaps and no rubbing just a slight “touch” once in a while.

 

quote= Ended up going with 255/80r17 Falken Wildpeak AT3W's which is load range E / 10 ply. Mounted on Relations RR6-H 17x8.5 -12 in black (7/27/23). With the blacked out emblems (5/13/23) I think the truck is in a really good spot right now. I do have some minor rubbing on the front bottom of my front wheel well when the truck is facing downhill and turning, which a viper cut would solve. Might just try to do as minor of a plastic trim as possible and see if that solves it before going with a bigger cut.


looks mint!! do you think they wouldn't rub if the rims were more like a 0 or positive offset instead of -12? i think ill get the same size tires with the 2.5' ome lift. i appreciate it

 

I'd think they wouldn't rub if either I went 0 offset, or got better UCAs for getting back to a proper alignment. Over the weekend I pulled the front of the fender liner forward a bit by moving the bottom screw into the next hole forward, and cutting away the previous hole and surrounding plastic, and it seems to have eliminated the rubbing. Super easy fix.

 

Was this at Stevinson Toyota West in Lakewood? They quoted me $3,800! I'm only interested in going with the factory lift in order to fix my Pre-Collision System and Headlight System Malfunction issues I've had since replacing my grille with an aftermarket "TRD Pro" Grille.

Do you know if you are able to customize the lift with 6112/5160s?

 

It was East in Aurora. Not sure if you are able to customize it.