My Rally Sweep Build

I decided that I should start one of these for my Tacoma.

My Tacoma is a 2012 double cab long bed 4 wheel drive base model. I bought it in March of 2012 in Texas while I was in grad school. I primarily use it to transport my friends and I for rock climbing adventures. We usually take lots of gear hence the long bed. It has been filled most of the time with crash pads, ropes, trad gear, shoes and the likes. I occasionally will sleep back there too.


Current


This was taken at New River Gorge where I camped for the night then tried and failed to find the rock climbing.

StockThis is the closest picture I have to the day I picked it up from the dealership



These were taken at shelf road in CO.

Then later, about April, I purchased a Leer top. This totally helped with moving back to CT for my job.



I then saw a bunch of people de-badge their Tacos and decided I would do the same to paint a couple logos (sorry no pics since it was pretty unremarkable). I experimented with paints and had bunches of trials until I got the Tacoma and V6 badges painted just right. They are pained a flat blat with a matte black clear coat. I found that 3 coats of primer, 3 coats of paint and 3 coats of clear finish worked the best. So I took that formula and applied it to the front badge except this time I used semi gloss to offset the flat black grill filler.



While, I was doing all that I ordered armor from Demello Offroad via Custom Coach here in CT. I also had them spray in some bed liner in the bed, on the fenders, the rocker panels and the armor. I also had PIAA fogs installed into the bumper. I think the results speak for themselves.

Front


Rear


Slider


Chris at Custom Coach also made a 4 Wheel Drive decal for me that is the original '73 Hilux size. The rear badges are also visible.


This is what it looks like in the drive way today (6/1/13).


There are a few minor fixes that need to be done on the rear bumper since in CT our rear license plate needs to be lit. I also have a couple other mods I've done but haven't taken any pictures of yet. Things like Weather Tech floor liners and a garage door remote mounted in the center arm rest console. Those pictures will come soon be patient.

Future Mods:
-BHLM
-Black grill sash which I will be experimenting with dyeing it. Which if that doesn't work I'll paint it.
-Three inch (3") lift. I really want to do Billstein 5100 with Eibach coils in the front and a 1.5" AAL with 5100s in the rear.
-Dunlop tiers need to go. I'm looking at the Toyo Open Country tiers.
-Rear lights
-Baja rack on Leer top.
-Maybe some headers for the engine.

Decided to end with awesome rock climbing pictures!





Okay so the last one isn't rock climbing. It's crate stacking. My record is 22!

 

I've been pricing out lifts... This is a shot of my spreadsheet.



Let me know if there is anything else I need to consider.

 

new rims

 

I was actually thinking of paining the rims semi gloss black where the chrome is and flat black where the grey is. If not I was going to go with the Level 8 Mk 6.

 

The Level 8 Mk 6 would look sick on your truck, I guess if you painted your rims it wouldn't look so bad either

 

Yea they would!

But I've been thinking (dangerous... I know) that the OME 886 with the 90000 shocks up front and a rear AAL is probably the best option to control all the new weight on the truck. I still have to price it out with the tiers and wheels and try and keep it all under $2000. At least that's my goal.

 

Ordered Billstein 5100's and OME 886 with some new wheels and tires... Soon very soon.

 

Level 8 Mk6 Wheels


Toyo Open Country A/T II


OME Spring Set


Bilstein 5100 shocks (front and rear)


All on order and all going on the truck... the anticipation is palpable.

 

Short Story:
I went to go get my 25,000 mile service visit at the Toyota dealer, my last free one, a few days ago. While I was waiting I was looking around and saw one of the new FR-S cars. It was smaller than I thought it would be. This story isn't really about that but it looked okay. So once it was done the Toyota Service Advisor came out and went over what was done, which I'm going to start doing at home now. He finished telling me about the service they did and then added "Oh and the technicians all love your truck". It was my first compliment on my truck. It felt kind of good.

Just thought I'd share that.

 

You should have paired the 886 coils with OME's nitrochargers. They are the only OME coil for 2nd Gens that aren't recommended for use with the 5100's. They are a stiff coil and I'm not sure how the 5100's will do dampening them. Hopefully it works out for you, but if it's not too late, you might want to reconsider your shock choice for the front.

 

I've seen a couple other people with the OME and Bilstein pairing on TW. I don't know if they get a stiffer ride or not. I know I need to keep the Bilstein front set at 0 with the 886 coil... other than that I'm in the dark here. Thanks for the heads up.

I guess a plan B will be change the springs since that's less expensive than all new shocks if I encounter such a problem.

 

Using 5100's with either 883, 884 or 885 coils is very common but it is generally advised that when going up to the 886's that you pair them with the Nitrocharger shocks instead of the Billies. Your rear setup will be fine, no need for all new shocks. Just figured I'd give you a heads up if you could change the order or before you got everything assembled. I'm sure there are still a few people running 886's with 5100's, it's not like it's going to break on you immediately, I was just trying to give you a heads up in case swapping out without losing any money was an option.

 

Yea I gotcha! Sadly it isn't. I could always re-sell the springs if I decided to get new ones. And thanks for looking out for me. This is my first time...I'm a build virgin... and it turns out this not to be too gentle on my wallet.

 

If you need 886's to support a heavy bumper and winch, don't swap the coils because you'll need them to maintain your lift height.

 

Damn! Any other bad-ish news you want to spring on me? Like a P-metric tire won't support the extra weight?

And here I thought that I would be nearly done after this.

 

Lookin good!

Sweet rock climbing pictures! Where were those at? Our rock in AK isn't the best for climbing... but we do it anyway

 

Thanks!

The bouldering pictures are from Hueco Tanks in El Paso, TX (I lived in College Station for 3 years for grad school) the one with my buddy and I on the side of the mountain is from Turkey Rocks outside of Colorado Springs, CO. The place I am really hoping thaws out is Antarctica. I've seen some of the mountains there and they look awesome. It could be better than Yosemite if it were habitable.

 

Sorry! I wasn't trying to pick apart your build! P-metric tires will hold up just fine. LT tires can be useful off roading because of the stronger sidewall but P-rated tires are rated for more than the Taco can legally haul anyways (they just might get a little squishy at full load).

Do you have a winch up front or just the Demello bumper? With just the DO bumper, you probably could go with a softer spring. The 886 coils are designed to carry the heavy ARB bumper a winch with steel line and some body armor (over 200# hanging over the front end). Most other aftermarket bumpers don't weigh as much. If they're order, see how you like them. It's not like the truck is just going to blow up because it's not generally accepted you use 2 products together. They'll hold up alright, the 5100's might just wear out a little sooner than expected.

 

No need to apologize I was being a little facetious. I know the truck won't totally explode with the set up but it sucks to know I've compromised the suspensions durability in my mind. I don't have a winch up front... yet. I also, don't know if I'm going to get one since I haven't really done much heavy off-road traveling. But my father seems to think I should get one so I can tow him or my mother up the driveway in winter.

I also like your truck. Especially the topper you've got. If I had had the extra money I would have gotten one of those. Although you should check some of the Carrie Boy ones out (http://www.carryboy.com/). They have wiper options!

 

Those look nice! I was going to fumble around with trying to fit a rear wiper on it but it wasn't worth the risk. I grew up driving stake body trucks so I'm used to not being able to see out the rear window The shell I have I was fortunate yo stumble across on here. A member in NY bought a used truck and he didn't want it. It was priced well and the right color and everything! Another story of how TW helped me spend my money!