Jason’s ‘15 access cab daily

Figure I’d better get a build thread going before this thing is too far gone!

How she sits today
02/24/2020


Purchased a 2015 access cab TRD V6 6 speed in December of 2019 with 25,000 miles on it to alleviate the daily driver duties of my beloved ‘04 while it’s being built up. Also wanted a daily driver I can escape to the mountains with. Check out my first gen build page!

We’ll put a current mod list right here!

Purchased with:

-Some sort of spacer leveling kit

-Possibly arched factory leafs?

-TRD Beadlock (Beadlooks) wheels (for sale)

-cheap running board steps (removed)

-Roll up tonneau cover

Mods I’ve completed:

-Energy Suspension Bushings

• UCA
• LCA
• Steering rack
• Sway bar

-Stock wheels I picked up off of craigslist

-265/75/16 Laufens I took off of my 1st gen when I put the 33’s w/beadlocks on

-Unfucked the underside of the pickup (removed rubber undercoating previous owner sprayed with reckless abandon over dirt and grime and rust. Probably right before he traded it in. I’d like to get my hands on that bastard)

-Ground all of the slag and rust off of every weld I could reach without taking the cab off. (I did take the bed, the gas tank and the brake lines off to accomplish this) repainted the outside of the frame rails, welds and everything under the front wheel wells with Chassis Saver paint.

Future mods in theoretical order:

-2WD Low mod from @Up2NoGood (Thanks Jaimes! Received it yesterday, 2/19/2020, hope to install it today or tomorrow.)

-Bed mat

-fire extinguisher

-Relentless Fab tailgate reinforcement

-Sliders...

-ECGS front diff bushing (May get bumped up if I start feeling vibration)

-Some sort of adjustable coil overs with heavier springs to take the weight of the bull bar/get rid of the jenky spacer leveling kit

-UCA’s

-Bull bar. The deer are thick around here. I like the looks and function of the ARB on my ‘04, but kinda want to try something different. Also want to get something with a receiver in the front so I can have the option of a winch in the front or the back, or throw it in my garage, or let a buddy use it, or put it in the receiver of my ‘04. Open to suggestions! it won’t be a dedicated off road rig for a loonnnnggg time, so I’m not worried about approach angle with a winch sticking way out there.

-LED reverse bulbs

-Topper with windoors (I keep cruising craigslist in the Lewiston, Boise, Spokane/CDA area. If you see something close to me, let me know!)

-Or a softopper (Decisions, decisions...)

Wish list beyond those mods:

-Interior LED bulbs

-20 inch spot/driving combo Light bar (because deer)

-Ditch lights (because deer)

-external reverse LED light pods

-onboard air

-u-bolt flip

When the 1st gen gives its last breath, I’ll start modding it a bit more for 4wding and heavier touring, but hopefully that will be another 10 years or so.

Here it is a couple of days after I picked it up with a set of used beadlocks and 285/70/17s for my first gen in the bed!

12/11/2019

The thing that almost made me walk away from this pickup was the rubber undercoating that was sprayed on it and that it obviously came from a salt region. (Was originally sold in Canada)

Didn’t notice it on the test drive, probably because of the shitty roads in Spokane, but the steering wheel had an intermittent shake to it at highway speeds. Would come and go without rhyme or reason. Steering also felt really loose. Like driving an old Cadillac. Everything up front felt tight, but the bushings seemed really weathered for their age, so I decided to put poly bushings in and get to work on removing the rubber undercoating. Before I did tear it apart, I took my wheels and tires from my ‘04 and put them on the ‘15. Went for a drive and no more shake... the old tires looked very new, the old wheels looked very new, so I’m not sure what the hell. Found a tire shop envelope in the glove box with a warranty form, but no invoice or anything giving an indication to the milage on the tires. Maybe a separating tire? Kinda hesitant to sell them to someone if that was the cause of the shake.

Here it is with the 1st gen wheels and tires on it

12/12/2019

and the front end all tore apart for bushings/undercoat removal and repainting:

12/20/2019

I tried all sorts of shit to remove the undercoating. Started with a heat gun and a scraper, a flap disc on a 4” grinder, roloc scotchbrite pads on a die grinder..... finally found that very liberally spraying diesel on it with a spray bottle over the course of a couple of days and then scraping it with a plastic putty knife and then scrubbing it with a kitchen dish scrubber was the best/fastest/least amount of impact to the frame. Very messy though. Having recently done them on my ‘04, the bushings were easy minus the steering rack. I did manage to get it out without having to completely take out the ac compressor, but it took a lot of finagling and a lifetime’s worth of swear words. I did cut the UCA through bolts and put new ones in backwards. I couldn’t stand the idea of bending the hell out of my pretty fender with a set of channel locks.

Went back to work on the east coast Jan 3 for 30 days, so the project sat idle with the front end work completed and paint done under the front fenders. The rest of the painting and undercoat removing would have to wait until I got back from work in February.

02/20/2020

About ready to put the bumper back on, and the bed. Just have a little touch up paint to do and I’ll let it sit most of the day before I pull it outside to put the bed on.

I’ll try to keep this thread updated regularly with pictures!!!!


Cheers!

 

Side note that a lot of the mods that I want to accomplish are from lessons learned from daily driving/using my ‘04 for going on 9 years. Such as the sliders, because of the rocket damage on my ‘04 from logs and limbs getting kicked up, heavier springs to support the bull bar. The stock springs handled the ARB fine until I put a winch in.... then it was 4 years of hitting the bump stops every day. And so forth. Always open to suggestions!

 

Tried to put the bed back on by myself.... messed with it for 20 minutes or so before I decided it wasn’t worth it.
didn’t work out too well. Had to wait for someone to run the skid steer.

Ended up putting in my 2 low module from @Up2NoGood.

Works great. Get them while they last!

Finally got it back together once help arrived.alignment scheduled for tomorrow. Get the skid plates back on and then (hopefully) it’s time to drive it for a while.

 

Got the alignment done on Friday and put about 250 miles on it over the weekend. The alignment tech wasn’t able to get the caster in on the left side, and it shows going down the road... I’ll be removing the leveling spacers and getting another alignment done. I’m just not ready to start putting a bunch of money into suspension/control arms until I have a bumper and winch figured out. But, it does needs stiffer shocks, so I’ll probably end up getting some Bilstein 5100’s or OME Nitrocharger Sports for now. Will wait until I get back from work in March to tackle that. I Went to the local grain elevator and weighed the truck. 4,580 with no skid plates, an empty bed, a full tank and myself in it.

 

Ordered a rammount motorcycle handlebar mount to ditch the suction cup I’ve been rocking for years in my vehicles and mount it to the a pillar. Looks like there are plenty of good write ups on it here on tacoma world. Going to order the same motorcycle mount to put in my ‘04 and another xgrip so I don’t have to change the one between vehicles. Looking into running designated power through the a pillar on both pickups too.



This picture was the test fit. I pulled it off to spray paint the exposed silver metal black so it doesn’t catch your eye as well.

 

Man, am I bad about updating my stuff... I took the spacers and the add a leaf out back in March, which are for sale! Got the alignment done and the alignment tech didn’t get my steering wheel straight. It’s now almost July and I still haven’t fixed it. I will when I get home in July. The pickup drives well though! Needs shocks and a bed mat.

 

Done a few little things to the girl in the past year. I’m going to be better about updating this as i should start working on it a little more.

put a softopper on it Thanksgiving of 2020. I’ve been really loving that!

don’t have any pictures right now, but I mounted some Rago fab ditch light brackets and bought some BD squadrons in driving pattern to put up there until I have a bull bar and some big lights to mount on it.