Jsmarine's Build Thread

Jsmarine’s 2005 Toyota Tacoma, Crew Cab Short Bed

Purchased in June 2011. The truck was formally owned by ARB.

Below are the details.

Owner: Jsmarine
Location: Dallas, TX
Year: 2005
Make: Toyota
Model: Tacoma SR5, Crew Cab Short Bed 4x4

Engine: 4.0L V6 engine
Trans: Auto
T-Case: Stock
Front axle: Stock Gears/ARB Air Locker
Rear axle: Stock Gears /ARB Air Locker

Suspension:
Old Man Emu

Wheels & Tires:
Tires- 255/85/16 BFG KM2
Rims- 16x7.5 Stock

Armor:
ARB Front Bumper
Slee Off-Road Sliders
CBI Bushmaster 2.0 rear bumper

Electrical:
Warn 9.5k XP winch
Cobra CB radio
IPF 900XSHD lights

Accessories:
ARB On board air
Rhino Rack roof rack
Weather Tech floor mats, front and rear


Photos courtesy of Scott Brown.














My truck in the 2008 ARB catalog.

 

Last week I got some new shoes for the Tacoma, I decided to stay with the size it already had, 265/75/16 in BFG A/T's.

I also picked up some new TRD wheel caps from TRDparts4u.com.

 

I also ordered a snorkel from TRDparts4u.com, hope to get this installed in the next coming weeks.

 

I bought some redline hood struts and got them installed last week. I actually painted the strut body and mounts white before installing, I think it gives it a more OEM look.

 

About a week and a half ago, I took off the front ARB bumper to have it re-powder coated, it was starting to chip and rust in places and looked like shit IMO. Today I picked it up, and had my brother help me put it back on. The powder coating came out great! Looks flawless, they really did a nice job with it!

The process is pretty cool, they put the bumper in a giant oven and burn off all the old powder coating, and then they blastit down to bare metal and then powder coated it.

I also called ARB directly and they sent me a new emblem free of charge for it as well. (Thanks Mitch from ARB!)

Heres a few before and after pictures.

EDIT: I still need to get new turn signals for the bumper, the old ones were not working and were corroded inside.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

Before

After

 

Well, I got some turn signals in the ARB bumper again, I found some at Northern Tool & Equipment. They are just their standard LED oval turn signal, mainly used on commercial trailers and equipment. But, I was able to make them work by drilling two small holes on either side of them, put in the screws and sealed with some silicone. Wiring them up was no big deal either, and they work as both turn signals and marker lights.

I like the brightness of the LED's, and the fact that they can easily be replaced again if need be. Heres a few pictures I took tonight with my iphone, the quality isn't great but you get the idea.

 

I finished building my tent rack yesterday. The rack sits on top of the bed rails and bolts to the existing rails along the inside of the bed. The rack is supported by the bed rails, not from the hardware; the bolts just keep the rack in place. I was also able to utilize the existing hardware from my bed cover which makes changing from the cover to the tent rack very easy.

I also mounted my shovel and hi lift jack on the sides of the rack, I used hockey pucks as insulators from vibration for the hi lift jack.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

you should color match your grill surround, i think it would look clean with the ARB bumper

 

I just might do that, thanks!

 

get your tracking number?

 

Yes I did, thanks!

 

I decided to paint the back of my IPF lights white, to match the truck. The original paint was starting to fade and chip in places anyways. I didn’t take any before pictures actually, but the lights were a gray color. The process was pretty easy, disassembled the lights and painted them with Rustoleum Semi Gloss white. I really like how they turned out.

 

I also got my new ARB high output compressor installed that I bought from norfords08. I had the smaller ARB compressor, but it was only for the lockers, and I wanted to be able to fill up my tires as well.

It is so hot here in Dallas, and I was just trying to get it installed as quickly as possible; that I forgot to take some installation pictures. But, it was pretty straight forward, I just followed the instructions. Heres a few pictures of it installed. I mounted it in the same place as the old compressor, under the hood on the driver’s side, behind the battery and fuse box.

 

Glad to see it being put to good use!

 

i like those LED lights in the bumper...nice rig dude

 

Thanks man, and thanks for shipping it to me so quickly.

 

thanks!

 

Well I feel like I am moving pretty quickly with this build, it helps that I bought the truck with a lot already done to it.

So I cut out a little early this afternoon from work so I could put my snorkel on. Other than it being hotter than hell here in Dallas, it went fairly smooth; I just took my time lining everything up. I won’t get into the installation details as TACODOC on the expeditionportal.com has already blazed that trail. http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/tech_2ndgenTaco_snorkel.html

But, I did do something a little different for hose fittings; I cut the stock hose off near where it would go into the fender, and then used a small piece of flexible air duct I got at Pep Boys and connected that to the stock air hose, and to the rubber hose that was provided with the snorkel.

I think it will work well this way because I like having the flexible hose for when I have to change the air filter.

 

Sweet ride!

Will you "white-out" the snorkle?

 

Thought about it ...but my girlfriend said it would look horrible! Shes probably right.

I was also going to get door white handles and mirrors, but again she thinks I have enough white, so Im done with the color matching.