Vanguard's Slow Addiction Build

Here's how he sits today


11/17/16


12/17/15





10/25/15





4/6/15






2/10/15









Current Mods as of 1/21/15:

Exterior:
LED Hood kit, bed kit and rocker panel kit (@tacodane)
TRD VANGUARD bedisde (@CBoy808)
BHLM (thanks to @squint0241 for the free housing swap)
Spec D Anzo Black LED tail lights
Grillcraft black mesh
Stock rear tow package add on

Performance/Under hood:
AFE Stage II CAI
Magnaflow 3.0 Catback system with resonator
Optima Yellow Top
Blue sea fuse panel
ARB CKA 12 compressor and custom bracket mount, thanks to @xmods


Front Suspension:
Icon Extended C/O's non resi
LR UCA's

Rear Suspension:
OME 60091
Dakar leaf pack
All Pro U-bolt flip kit
Timberens

Wheels, Tires and Body:
SCS SR8's 17x8.5 Matt Black
285/70/17 Duratracs
Bushwackers color matched
All-Pro Heavy Duty Bolt on Slider @ 10 degrees

Interior:
Wet Okole's front and back
Husky Liner All Weather floor mats
Tint 15% front 5% backs
Audiocontrol L7 OEM adapter w/bass knob
JL XD300/4 mid amp...currently running my stock seperates up front.
ZAPCO 500 sub amp
Rockford Shallow P3
Ultraguage

















http://youtu.be/CDfmz_8WQZM




Decided to plastidip my skid plate. I didn't like how the silver stood out from everything white an black



OME install done by a friend and I noticed that he installed the driver side spring perch upside down. Not to mention that just like my Bilstien set up even with the 1/2" top plate spacer's the front is still only getting about 2" of lift. I want to be closer to 2.75" - 3" so that there's not too much rake with the Dakars in the back. So, I'll just add another 3/8" spacer up front and see what it does. This has been a nightmare from the beginning. I can't figure out why I'm not getting the heights that everyone else is achieving with the same setup.



BHLM



Spec D Tails





Grillcraft install



Painted black



Cutting process. I got to use my X-mas gift





Finish product



Magnaflow 3.0 Catback system. I don't think it was meant for 4x4's as the resonator sits on the CB crossmember. I just got the approval from Magnaflow to have the resonator cut and moved over and they'll refund me the cost to do it. Awesome kit though and overall I'm happy with it.







2/13/15
Cab mount chop session. Thanks to Mike for all the expertise and Rick and Rylan for the extra hands.
TW SN: "Luka", "Squint0241" and "rka"

This is what we started out with. The black marking on the cab mount is from my tires.


Let the cutting commence




A little Katy Perry goes a long way!
http://youtu.be/mUkAw5uLjvk

Mike giving me a pedicure. Who knew he was part Asian!




Finished product!


I clear my cab mounts now and just need smash the pinch weld a little more and then I'm golden. Well unitl I put on my bushwackers anyway.



Blue sea panel and ARB Compressor with custom bracket.



New Pelfrey Aluminum, hoopless and with square fog cut outs front bumper and aluminum IFS.





I'll post more pics soon as I make any progress. Sorry but this first page is going to get super long!

Thanks everyone for sharing your inspiration and wisdom of Tacomas.

 

I think I might have seen u between niu valley and kuliouou one day...u were going into hk stuck in traffic lol..sick truck man, how u like the billies with ome coils? im thinking of going that route using 884s for my AC 4cyl

 

hi Brooks.

 

Good job on the lights!

 

That was most definitely me . I'm in HK like 2-3 times a week lately. As for the billies/885's, I got my billies from Deeez and they work good. But, I bought my 885's from Amazon and am only getting 1.5" of lift. If you look good at my first pic you'll see how stuffed my 285's look in the front fenders. So, I'm totally bummed about that. Good news is amazon gave me a full refund without having to send them back. So I used the refund to order me some Spec D Black tail LEDs and then ordered new OME Nitros/885's for the front from the Boss4x4 GB. I figure that I might as well go with the setup that was designed to work together. Plus OME doesn't warranty the coils if you're not using them with their struts!

Thanks Dana! the rocker panels took me a while last night. And I don't think it helped that I was either . Now I have to relocate all these damn wires I have coming off my battery.

It's definitely a work in progress. I can't wait for the Boss4x4 group buy to come in so I can install all my new parts

 

I updated my main page with some recent add ons and changes I've done. There's a few pics missing but I don't really get much opportunities to sit down and spend time updating and making this thread nice like som of the others that have given me much inspiration.

And, I swear nothing seems to bolt right up correctly. First my front suspension heights and then my Magnaflow system. I guess it's a learning process. For the fronts I wish I just saved up and went with a coilover from the beginning. But, I just didn't think my daily driving constituted that level of performance or cost. So, I'll make my OME setup work for now and then upgrade later.

On a brighter note I can't wait for my SR8's to come in and to have some time to install my Rigid SRQ's and D2! Hyper spots. Then I need to order a pair of BAMF sliders. I really can't wait to have enough cash to drop on those. For the most part I think that will satisfy my exterior mods for now. I do have Palfrey envy seeing as I wasn't able to participate in the last big group buy. But, when the wife saw everyone's front bumpers she didn't care for how much the front hoops stuck out. So, that may be a while before I get permission to throw those on.

 

love your truck man, nice job!
how did you wire the rocker lights up? I assume somewhere off the fuse box alarm fuse?
Im going to be doing the same thing but was going to run it off the dome light wire that is under the step guard. If I did that, Im not so sure the rocker lights would come on via keyless entry. Only if I opened the door.

 

Thanks! I used the dome light ground. I tapped into it in the driver side pillar. It's the only blue wire back there. Some people have done it under the dash. Either way as long as get get that ground it'll work like mine does.

 

awesome! thanks so much for the quick reply!

 

Nice truck. Considered those rims when looking to buy. Stance is good with lift and tires. How much trimming did you need to fit the 285s?

 

Thanks! With the stock UCA's they only rubbed a tiny bit at full lock. After I installed the LR UCA's it's all good. The FJ rims have the perfect width and backspace to fit 285's without trimming. But I know I'm going to have to chop the cab mount for the SCS SR8's I just got in.

 

No trimming sounds good, but the SCS will look better. DCLB FTW!

 

Sick SR8's Brooks! Can't wait to see those on. Rocker lights are cool. I might have to add that to the list. One day we'll get our BAMF sliders. And what krob said... DCLBFTW!

 

Oh Yeah DCLBFTW! Yeah the rocker lights make a huge statement at night and it scares away the boogie man from under my truck! Plus, it's a failry cheap mod.

 

Vanguard making its TV debut!

 

Haha! Nice!

 

I got the hookups on the set

 

Finally put on my new shoes! Gotta trim and do a CMC really quickly cause it's making all kinds of noise turning at low speed moving forward and rubs the CM in reverse at full turn when reversing into my driveway. And, I'll definitely need to get bushwackers as they stick out almost an inch.

 

Do you have a link to those Spec D Tail lights? I'm just wondering because the one's I've seen are the black ones and I'm not sure if those are the right ones. Thanks!

 

yeah for sure...

Spec-D Tuning LT-TAC09JMLED-DP LED Brake Light

http://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Tacoma...a&keywords=2013+tacoma+spec+d+led+tail+lights