Leppz Overland Build and Trip Reports

Your setup is pretty much exactly what I want for my truck.

Although I want to use Bilstein shocks instead of the OME Nitrochargers. I could definitely use some dakars to handle the additional weight in the bed when I go camping. I load the truck up pretty good. My ultimate goal is to replace the stock suspension before I need to buy a set of new tires so that I can upgrade to 33"s

If a buy a set of Bilstein 5100's for the front I can set them at 0.85 or 1.75 to compensate for the bumper sag. I can use these later with a set of OME 887 coils and LR UCA's once I can afford a complete suspension setup. I wouldn't necessarily be wasteing any money on parts this way.

 

why do you want billie's? just curious. That's my one regret was getting tires first (though i really really needed them... the old ones were toast.) so i went with 265/75r16. which have been great, but i really want to go up to 255/85r16 instead... when these wear out i guess. and couldn't afford a spare, so still running the stock spare which kinda sketches me out, but i don't want to get a 265/75 spare if i just go up to 255/85 anyway... so when these wear out i guess, i dunno.

coils aren't too too much, if you could splurge a little to get the coils at the same it would save you all the effort of pulling the struts apart twice... it was a bit of a pain cramming the 887's in there without a spring compressor! might not be as bad on the bilstein's though

 

My reasons for choosing billies over OME shocks is that I've read a lot of posts from people being unhappy with their Nitrocharger shocks. There seems to be a problem with them going over speed bumps or similar bumps on or offroad where the shock bottoms out and becomes fully extended and results in a loud "thud" noise. @Crom has explained the issue in great detail in his build thread

I have 265/70/17's on my truck right now. I didn't buy a 5th tire and change out the spare when I bought them. Looking back I wish I did. I've considered still doing it but with my tires being about half worn out and wanting to upgrade to 33"s I am having a hard time justifying it. I do carry a really good tire plug/repair kit and compressor with me in the truck at all times. In the event of a flat I'll try and repair it before I resort to the spare. If I have to run the spare, I'll run it on the front and possibly have to swap some tires around to make that happen.

Here is a photo of my repair kit and compressor when they were brand new.

Viair 88P and Smittybilt Tire Repair Kit



Speaking of repairs and tools I received my new tool bag in the mail today from Amazon.
It is a Klein Tradesman Pro Ulimate Electricians Bag. For those that don't know me that well I am a Red Seal Certified Journeyman Electrician. I take great pride in my work and I think the tools a tradesman carry with them says a lot about them and their work.

Here's some pics of it fully loaded with some of my tools.


While some these tools are meant just for the electrical trade there are a lot that can also be used for working on my truck and also repairing anything around camp. Before I head out on trips I will go through this bag and remove a few things and add a few different things from home meant more for working on my truck. I'm in love with this bag already. It is extremely heavy duty and well laid out to provide easy access and organization of all of my hand tools and room in the center section for cordless tools, meters, sockets and anything else oversized. When properly equipped with the right tools it will be a great addition to bring along with me in the truck.

 

Yeah I'm in the same boat of not being able to justify a spare that I'll probably never use, and then have to switch it out any way. I've looked at tire patch kits, but never pulled the trigger. Definitely will get one and hard mount a compressor when funds become available though.

I read through that thread a bit, I do have the top out clunk over speed bumps and other sudden drops, but it never really bothered me. I don't think it will break them as they are obviously designed that way. But yeah, it is definitely there. I barely notice off road, it rarely tops out hard, and when it does there's so much other noise any way (me yelling "shhooooot! BUMP!"). I can totally see the concern and annoyance it could cause though!

Also, he mentioned Dakar squeak, but I haven't experienced that at all (knocking on wood!)

I think either are comparable in performance and price any way, and certainly better than stock... Can't really go wrong. In fact, if you're ever in my area (new West) you're welcome to come for a quick test drive if you want

 

PS. Not trying to sell you on one, just relaying my experience

 

Yeah, I figure if I can avoid unnecessary noises by going with a different shock then I mine as well. I was considering going with the All Pro Expo Leaf pack because they have proper isolators between the leafs but then I've read other problems with people being unhappy with them with them loosing their lift and sagging. I'll think I'll stick with Dakars once the time comes. There are enough solutions for the Dakar squeak floating around that I don't think it's that big of a problem.

In other news,
I ordered a set of flush mount LED pods for the ARB front bumper.

http://m.ebay.ca/itm/2PCS-24W-CREE-...-Flush-Mount-/351671380427?txnId=780983854022


The damaged ARB bumper is the model without the fog light cutouts. I didn't want to lose having fog lights so I will have these cut into the ARB bumper and wire them up to my stock fog light harness. This will probably be a good time to also do the fog light anytime mod that I've been procrastinating about.
I think the bumper may actually be easier to repair if a hole is cut into it as you may be able to rig something up to pull the dent out that way. For this reason I'll wait till these lights come in before I give this bumper and the lights to a metal fabricator to fix.

 

Was able to get a little bit of work done on the truck today. I got the electrical ran for my fridge/freezer. I added a 12v socket near the rear passenger seatbelt spool. This was the most convient and out of the way location for the fridge plug and cord.



All my materials and tools ready to go.

I used the following:

- Carchet flush mount 12v socket
- # 12 AWG stranded wire (black and red
- 1/4" split loom
- Misc. crimp on connectors
- red + black heat shrink
- black electrical tape
- zip ties

The circuit will get fused at my blue sea fuse block mounted inside my control box mounted to my bedrail. My auxiliary battery is mounted underneath my sleeping platform. I don't have the platform or the battery in the truck right now so I have left this final connection undone untill I re-install my platform and battery gearing up for the upcoming camping season.

I started work today by removing the piece of strut that I added to level out and hold down my slide platform. Because I used two factory bolts to hold this peice of strut down it is on an angle and unfortunately covers the factory grommet hole underneath the rear center seat. I simply drilled a 3/4" hole with some step bits and added a 3/4 grommet to the strut.




I then inserted the wire into the split loom and taped it up with black electrical tape. Because this is a part of my auxiliary system and is ungrounded I needed to run both a positive and negative wire all the way back to my fuse block (Instead of just running the negative to a ground on the truck).

Removed the grommet and starting running the wire.


I ran the wiring with the stock wiring harness along the frame.

Cut a small hole underneath my control box in the bed and fished up the wire.




Once I had the wire in I zipped tied it with the stock harness along the frame.


punched a hole in the grommet, cut a slice in the carpet remounted the strut with the wire ran into it.

I also added the spring bolts that I didn't have last weekend when I built the platform. I ran the wiring along the inside of the strut.


Now I needed to begin mounting the 12v socket. I removed the plastic trim peice that covers the seatbelt spool. This is what I would be mounting the plug inside of. In order to remove this piece you also need to remove the door sill plastic.



With the panel removed I ran the wires into the metal box out for the seat belt spoil and then added connectors and heat shrinked them.



After some careful measuring, cut in the socket with a 3/4" stepbit.



Because the socket is a very tight fit between the metal recession for the seatbelt spool and the seat belt itself I wrapped the entire connection in electrical tape to prevent any shorting. It clears without a problem but better safe than sorry.

And here's everything snapped back into place.



I should also mention how I drilled the holes for the 3/8 bolts that go into the strut spring nuts to hold the platform down. Because it's ran on an angle measuring where to drill was sort of tricky. So I abandoned the tape measure and cut some pointed posts out of 3/8 rod.




Screwed them into the spring nuts and then pressed the platform down onto these spikes and drilled out the marks/dents on the platform. Way easier than measuring!

All bolted up


Then I threw in the fridge to see how the cord worked out. I'm happy with it and the location of the plug.

The next project I'm hoping to get done before I take a trip on the easter long weekend is painting my sleeping platform, sliding it in and then re-hooking up my auxiliary battery system.

 

Pranked a few of my friends and family today.

A buddy of mine bought a new 2016 Tacoma. Told him to stop by today so I could check out his truck and get a first hand look at the new third gens. The local dealers haven't had much to look at. It's a 2016 DCLB TRD sport in blazing blue pearl.




I ended up selling him my old Weather Guard toolbox that's been just sitting at the side of my house for about a year now. We threw the box on his truck and then I snapped a few photos of his truck in my driveway. I sent off the photos to a few of my other friends and close family asking them what they thought of my new truck. I told them I traded in my 2014, I just really wanted the blue colour. Most couldn't believe it but I had them all going for a while before I told them I was joking. Too funny.

No plans to get rid of this truck anytime soon, especially for a third gen!

I must say though that I'm loving the new blazing blue pearl colour. I also like all the new tech features. Other than that, I still prefer my second gen!

 

Nice writeup! Enjoyed reading that. I like the location of the +12v plug.

 

Awesome build!

 

Well after about 3 and a half hours and not nearly enough beer I managed to get the first coat of paint on the top peices of my sleeping platform. Took me way longer than I anticipated and this is still only the first coat!

Before (only some of the peices are shown)


After first coat (all top peices shown with hinges removed)


For the bottom slide in section I have something a little different planned. Because I'm constantly sliding gear in and out from underneath the platform I don't think paint will hold up as well to the constant abuse. So I've picked up some "deck plate patterned" rubber/vinyl flooring.



I'll use an adhesive to glue it to the bottom of the platform and paint the rest of it black. I considered adding this flooring to the top platform/hatches that I started painting today. I'll wait and see how the paint holds up before I add any more of this flooring to see if the extra weight of doing the entire top section is necessary.
Each roll weighs around 5 pounds and I'd need around 3 rolls to do the entire top portion. For now, paint will do and I think it will really clean up the look of the platform while also protecting the wood from any water that somehow makes it way inside. Im having an issue right now whenever I park on a fairly steep angle pointing downwards water drips into my canopy from the back hatch. Still have to sort out where exactly this is coming from and if I can fix it.

 

Another thing I did today was change the cabin air filter. It was wayy overdue as you can tell from the photo.

Freaking nasty!!

Before and after


Thank you @Crom for tiping me off on these cheap filters from TYC.

$17 TYC Cabin Air Filter Compatible with 2006-2020 Toyota Tacoma

TYC 800038P Toyota/Pontiac Replacement Cabin Air Filter

They seem to be exactly the same quality as the OEM ones that Toyota wants a small fortune for. I ordered 4 of them and will be changing them out more regularily in the future.


And in other news, I just won a bid on eBay for a CTEK D250s Dual for $120US



A little about the CTEK 250s Dual for those that don't know about the product.

I've wanted one of these for about a year now ever since @Crom recommended it when I inquired about his solar setup before he started his own build page. I think this will really take my auxiliary battery system to the next level. I've been watching Amazon and eBay for a while now and I think I got it for a steal. Hopefully it arrives all good NIB (new in box) like the seller said.

I've already started coming up with ideas on how I can mount my current solar panel over my shell before I get myself a cabrack. More to come on that in the future.

 

Welcome! Good news on all accounts! Great price on the CTEK!

 

Just a little update.

Between helping my GF parents move, taking a big load to the dump for them and celebrating my GF's birthday over the weekend I didn't have much time to work on the truck.

I've been working late every day this week after work to get my sleeping platform painted and back together before I leave for a trip this long weekend. Still lots to do, and I'll update with pictures before this weekend.

I also had to take my truck into Toyota yesterday for some warranty repairs. My stock Entune/radio/GPS deck died on me while I was on the way to pick up a utility trailer from my Sisters Fiancé. I checked the fuses for the Radio and everything was good. Sucks because the one time I had to tow something and could have really used the backup camera to hook up the trailer my camera wasn't working. Toyota checked it out and the radio is defective and they need to replace the head unit. They won't have a replacement untill next week sometime so it looks like no music and no backup camera for this upcoming trip

I also had Toyota check and tighten all of my bed bolts, the front passenger side was loose. Been meaning to get this fixed for a few weeks now but haven't had the time. I could have done this myself but since it was already going in for warranty repair I let them deal with it.

 

Shit.. dont forget the earphones than! Thats a bummer about the head unit, but good thing it happened sooner than later.

Can't wait to see the trip report and pictures! have fun man

 

I have a spare head unit you can borrow. No screen, but it will play music

Is off a 2010

 

Aren't the dashes/head units different on a 2010 versus my 2014?

Thanks for the offer, but even if it does fit I don't have the time to install it before Friday. Got my hands full already finishing off my sleeping platform and getting all of the electrical hooked back up for my auxiliary battery. I also need to install a lock for my fridge slide. I have a package I have to pickup after work today, I hope it's the locking pin for my fridge slide. I order so much stuff online it's like Christmas when a package arrives cause I have no idea what it could be.

 

Christmas year long is the best feeling ever.

 

They are slightly different, but I think they fit okay enough for a temp fix! But no worries!

I have a package at the border as well, but won't be able to get it today before 6.... Pelfreybilt front and rear!

 

Good news and bad news.

The bad news is that package I talked about earlier didn't end up being the locking pin for my fridge slide.

The good news is I won't be entirely without a radio this weekend.

My Baofeng BF-F8 + UHF/VHF handheld radio arrived from China. I wasn't expecting to receive this till at least April so I'm pleasantly surprised.

I took an Amateur Radio course about a month ago and I just received my certificate and card in the mail a few days ago.

I ordered a battery elimator for it as well as the Baofeng programming cord.



This is my first UHF/VHF radio and I'm super excited to learn how to use it. The ultimate goal is to install a mobile UHF/VHF setup in the truck before a 9 day adventure on Vancouver Island in September. I wanted to start small and learn the basic of operating a radio before I ultimately decide on the mobile setup that is right for me. This handheld will be a great item to bring with me on hikes and adventures without the truck.