Eatpocky's 23' Taco Build

Goals with build:
To be blunt, if you're looking for a killer build with LT's, 35's, etc, this won't be the one. With that in mind, there were quite a lot of lessons learned, both good and bad, from my 4th gen 4runner that have made me carefully plan out my build. Paired with responsibilities of adulting(unfortunately), my goals are to carefully balance a truck that's capable to comfortably travel to remote areas while being just as capable accumulating miles from daily driving. This build thread will document ever going changes to my Tacoma and hopefully as a way to help others in the community.

An intro:
I'm no stranger to modifying cars, and especially no stranger to Toyota's. Came from AutoX and modifying a 2013 WRX and 93 Miata. My previous rig was a 2007 Toyota 4runner. It was an amazing rig, but after miles of offroad abuse, age and changes in my life, I had to let her go. Fast forward a few years later, and I'm back in a Toyota. This time around in my dream truck. Originally was going to wait out on the 4th gen Tacoma's, but after seeing the prices, getting a quote on a build from my friend who's a sales manager at a nearby Toyota dealership and even test driving one; I just couldn't pull the trigger. After weeks of waiting, a 3rd gen 2023 TRDOR DCSB with MT got traded in, and I couldn't say no to it. Rushed down to the dealer on a friday night, got the paperwork done and got home late.





Morning after picking up from the dealer

My 4th gen 4runner

 

Modifications

Armor:
RCI Sliders + Engine/Transmission skid plate

Drivetrain:
Bilstein 6112/5160 with Torch Offroad AAL
Falken Wildpeak AT4W 255/80/17
SCS Ray10 17x8.5 -10mm in Dark Matte Bronze
ECGS Bushing
Accumulator Delete Mod (ADM) w/ Firn Disk

Exterior:
Side Step Delete
Lomax Trifold Urethane Hard Tonneau Cover
RCI Offroad Bed stiffeners

Interior:
Husky All Weather Mats
Window Tint w/ Llumar IRX
Viofo A129 Plus Duo 2Ch Dashcam
Interior LED Lighting
Shift Boot Mod + Shift Knob
OEM Powered Tailgate lock - PK3B6-35JS0


Trips

• May 2024 - Mojave, CA + Sedona, AZ + Pismo Beach, CA
• May 2024 - Shasta/Trinity Alps National Forest + Lava Beds National Monument Trip

 

nice truck! welcome

 

Much appreciated!

 

Well, the truck definitely needed some new floor mats. In my 4runner, I had some garbage walmart special floor mats. They held up during my ownership, but wanted to treat the Taco much better. Balled out on some Husky All Weather liners. Was quite impressed with how rigid these things were, but you can definitely tell they were quality pieces.

 

Next up was tint. Even with the factory tint in the rear, it felt like I was back in a fishbowl again. Ended up going to my trusted tint shop, Mr.Tint in the Bay Area. They're the only shop I trust for tint, and highly recommend them if you're looking to get some work done.

Went with 25% Llumar IRX Ceramic tint all around, minus the front windshield. Overall goal was to get the rear's as close as possible to 5%, so 25% over the factory tint % was perfect.

 

Today's an awesome friday. Pumped to find some time to get all this installed.

 

With all the crazy drivers in the Bay and having some free time, figured I'd first tackle a dashcam install. Was heavily debating between Blackvue, Vantrue and Viofo, but ultimately went the Viofo route since it was highly recommended on Reddit and I liked it's more "stealthy" form factor.

Opted to get a hardwiring kit as well, in order to have parking surveillance. Well worth having, since it seems hit and runs are now becoming more of an occurring thing too

Here's the Viofo A129 Plus Duo. I thought it was a good middle ground between great recording quality, optioned out well, and priced well. Definitely some more costly dashcams, but for just a few "nice to have" options, I didn't think it was worth it.

Shortening the hardwire kit. Insane amount of mustard wiring. Utilizing solder sticks to put everything back together.

Routing the wire up through the A-pillar and hiding some spare wire underneath the overhead panel. Makes it way easier to route wiring too!


This was one thing I couldn't easily find, so I hope this helps others out.
- The interior fuse panel uses micro fuses. Not Mini fuses. Mini fuses do fit, but they will stick out. If you caught it, I did use a Mini fuse style add-a-fuse on initial install since that's what I had at the time, but will get a micro add-a-fuse at a later time. That said, even with a mini add-a-fuse, the fuse panel cover will not be able to fit back on due to how low profile the cover is
- There are 2 constants that are unused - USB and AM1. I utilized AM1 for constant 12V.
- There are a few ACC 12V lines, but I opted for the washer location. No real reason, but felt like if a line were to fail, a washer isn't the worst thing to have fail on you

 

One of my gripes has been the interior lighting. It's not bright at all, but it doesn't help that our other car is a Tesla Model 3. Opted to upgrade the interior lighting with an LED kit.
Replaces all the interior bulbs and license plate bulbs.


The tape trick is really helpful for removing the map lights.


And now I can finally see inside the cab at night. Might consider adding footwell lighting later down the line, but for now, it's perfect.

 

I just stumbled across your build thread, I’ll be following along! I’m all about the more low key builds that don’t have 35’s and LT setups

The old 4Runner looked awesome just based on the one pic!

 

Appreciate it! Yea as much as I'd love to ball out on 35's and LT, there were a ton of lessons learned from my 4th gen 4runner especially since most of it's miles were commuting. It's definitely had me plan out how I build my Tacoma this time around and even had me on the fence of what to purchase next.

Thanks! Definitely miss the 4runner, but onto newer more awesome things with the Taco

 

I’m in the same boat, mine is a daily driver and I do a ton of really long trips with it so I have to keep it tame or I’ll go broke paying for gas haha.

 

I totally get it. One big thing I'm thinking about next is tires, since I already have my lift kit (just waiting to get it installed). On the 4runner, I originally was on 285/70/17 in C-load and that was very doable for daily driving and MOST trails I did... I ended up biting the bullet on E-loads since I cut into 2 c loads when I was offroad solo, a few miles from help and that just sucked. Used that fear to just convince myself e-loads would be worth it, and basically hated driving anything but off the pavement since that point. MPGs were awful. Power delivery was awful. Ride quality heavily affected. It just got to the point where we just drove our Model 3 in most cases unless we were thinking to be off the pavement. Yea, I could've opted for a regear to counter act the MPGs and Power delivery, but given the fact that I was working fully remote due to covid and prices were inflated, I ended up just selling the 4runner for a stupid good deal I couldn't pass on. If I kept 4runner, it'd probably be regeared by now, but i'd be missing out on being in a taco with a 3rd pedal.

 

Haha that totally makes sense! I love a good tire discussion. I run E rated 265/75/16 Grabbers. I have about 50K on this set so far and I purchased them new.

 

Yea at that size and range, it's probably very similar in weight to the 285/70/17 c-load I had.

This time around, I've been considering a few options:
- 255/80/17 - Love that there's no CMC, no trimming. From the side it looks great! Any other angle, the skinnies just look wayyy to skinny for my liking. But Tinkerer Designs has definitely made me think if I'm willing to go with function > form, the skinny's will be a good move.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wAJAOxh8LE
- 265/70/17 - OEM plus basically, but feel like i'd regret not going larger
- 275/70/17 - on the border of needing/not needing CMC and trimming... might as well just go with the 285/70/17's
- 285/70/17 - CMC required, trimming required. But they look sick. Great mix of form and function.

Now that leads to the range question. More ply's = better off road especially harsher terrain. Less ply's = better on-road long distance.

Then even the question of SL and LT tire. I even had a chance to chat with Mike who is Driving Line's videographer since he also rocks a 3rd gen Tacoma and he says he hasn't had issues with his SL C loads.
hhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LH2t9GqU6o



Definitely hesitating worse than a teen asking someone out to the homecoming dance, just to pick out a tire.

 

Ugh man I feel you, I’ve probably spent days doing tire research over the last few years lol

I wish I knew more about 17” options but I’ve had 16” wheels the entire time I’ve had my truck. I will say that I have loved the E rated tires and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a SL tire. I might do the 255/85/16 AT4Ws which are C rated, but that’s the only non E rated tire I would consider since it has the duraspec sidewall still.

What tires are you considering?

 

I hope it doesn't take me a few years to figure out what tire I'm getting next. Already have a few wheels in mind, but figure I'd wait to order them until I commit to a tire. Might be better that way since a sale could come up in the mean time

As much as I'd love to go MT, I'm planning to stick to an AT. The lack of snow rating, generated road noise and additional weight for a comparable AT tire are what are steering me away from the MT's.

I have my eyes set on the AT4W's as I had the AT3W's on my 4runner and they were amazing.

Some other options...
General tires - at least the set I had on my 4runner, they wore in about 35k miles so I was a bit disappointed with that.
BFG K02 - more expensive than the Falken's and I've heard of chunking and traction in wet/snow being an issue so I've stayed away from them
Toyo Open Country AT3 - Have heard they aren't as great in wet/snow.

 

Those are all solid options! You probably already know, but the K03 has started rolling out already so that could be a good option as well. I love, love my Grabbers. They are wearing so well it’s unreal. ~50K miles and they’re only at about half tread life. I also used run the Yoko g003’s. They were killer but like you said, the all terrain Grabbers were a much more responsible choice for me because of how much I drive the truck. Here’s some eye candy:

With the g003’s:



My 265 Grabbers vs the 285 g003’s before I swapped:



How it sits now with the Grabbers:

 

Actually didn't know about the KO3, only the KM3. Man looking at the side by side of the Grabber vs G003s make me wanna be irresponsible. I'm actually quite shocked the 265/75/16 fill up the wheel well real good. Was expecting the 265/75/16 to look a bit smaller. Factor in that it's no CMC/fender trimming, it's definitely higher up in the options

 

The 265’s do look a bit smaller in person than in the photos so you were right in thinking that, but yeah I still have the urge to be irresponsible and go back to 285’s lol. If I did ever go back up to a 285, it would be an all terrain.