HackD's ongoing 5-lug armored-slug build.

It's one of the small things that refine a design. I was originally thinking of getting a replacement air-dam made to better fit the roof line curvature and eliminate those corner gaps, but low-money necessity is the mother of invention. It'll certainly do for now!

 

The truck goes in for an 80k km major service this coming weekend - a bit overdue, with it sitting at 88k km.

I ordered in Hawk Performance LTS brake pads for the front end - that definitely needs to be done, before the rotors get chewed.

It's also scheduled for the Limited Service Bulletin Catalytic converter/exhaust replacement. Initially i was going to go in on an 18" Magnaflow muffler to replace at the same time as the LSB replacement, since the OEM muffler is now 6 years old with an unknown life expectancy remaining.. but thanks to advice on facebook from Tim, I was able to change out that order for a 22" Magnaflow instead (P/N 12586, 5" X 11" oval, 22 inch long body, 2.5" muffler for anyone interested). It likely won't be here in time to do that change-out at this point.

I'm also leaning towards going for a custom cat-back exhaust setup done by a good muffler shop, involving the Magnaflow and a 12" Vibrant Ultra Quiet resonator at one end, and an LCE header - when the OEM muffler actually rots out. I'll squirrel the parts to the side, until then. Of course, that will likely require a look at the intake side of things to increase breathing to match the freer-flowing exhaust setup.

Don't want anything too ricey.. just a bit more aggressive sounding on acceleration. It looks like that setup might have a side-benefit in lowering the effective overall torque curve in terms of peak RPM's, also.

I'm starting to drift away again from doing anything about increasing tire size on the next tire change - there is a heck of a lot of cost involved with that, and unless i can source a cheaper wrecking yard third-member from a base or SR5 4x4 or PreRunner, realistically, that's not really in the financial cards to be going ECGS. This thing after all, is supposed to be a ruggedized road-runner commuter and occasional toy-hauler - nothing more, nothing less. It is at the perfect height now, in order to slide my semi-crippled arse in without the need to either 'stoop' down, or 'climb' up onto the drivers seat - important things for myself to observe from an avoidance of pain perspective, in having somewhat troublesome hip-replacements.

Other parts ordered off of Amazon today, includes a 3rd brake-light sequential flasher unit to wire in and annoy the hell out of the brain-dead in congested highway conditions, as well as a few more dash switches - one of them being a 'camera' switch to finish off my rear-view camera install, mounted high up on the Prinsu roof rack.

Just a little bit of an update on my wee-beastie.. it's all about the evolution of a modded ideal.

 

Be interesting. To see what the header gives you with your extra weight. You added . I want one to see if I can get some more power back from my added weight.

 

As i understand the dyno figures, it shifts the torque curve down, generating peak torque output lower in the rev range by as much as 7-800 rpms overall. Definitely a good benefit there, for get up and go.

 

Just counting cars, at this time (furiously knocking on wood..)

3 rear-enders since owning this truck - two minor, and the one semi-major (for the car). I thought this sticker-pack was apropos.

 

I have been tidying up a semi-stalled project the past few days - the rear-view camera, is now fully functional, with switchable constant-on power to my Kenwood deck. Just need to replace headliner and trim to finish the project. Switch-gear stack works pretty well, and i think this pretty much addresses the desired electronic toys and gizmos, both inside and outside of the truck. I put an additional wiring hole in, under the drivers side headliner close to my Prinsu rack rear mount, through the roof channel. Needs to be sealed well yet, but gives enough room to run another pos (+) neg (-) wire run to roof-top easily, if necessary down the road.

Switches are red led MicTuning switches found on Amazon. Also wired in a USB Charge port in the bottom. Camera is a $45.00 180 deg plate mount type sourced off of Amazon also. Wiring has already been tidied up, as not shown in first photo

Gives a 'commanding' arse-end view of the truck's blind-spot, IMHO ..

 

Truck looks good! Are you ever going to get new tires/wheels?

 

Post-edit June 23/2017 - 235/85R16's coming up!

 

I can't decide if I want to save for a 6 lug or go all in on my 5 lug like hackd, the truck looks beatiful.

 

As of December 6th, 2016 - the OEM exhaust has been entirely reworked with the LCE "street performance" OEM length (not long tube) header, and a Magnaflow 22" muffler.

So far i am liking it.. a touch ricey, but muted enough to tolerate city or highway. It's got a bit of the Scoobie sound, minus the characteristic horizontally opposed-4 burble. Hammer the throttle, and you know it's there. Off-idle throttle, not noticeable at all.

More importantly, seat-of-the-pants dyno-wise - it feels more responsive to acceleration off-idle, and the torque curve has definitely got a bit stronger in the lower rev-range. Perfect - just what i was looking for. No need for a regear, if this is the fix, for this sizing of tires.

My OEM canister was indeed starting to rot out. The rest of the OEM piping was sound - some rebending, and some tube-expansions later, and the exhaust was put back together using the stock pipes. I left instructions to replace as new, as warranted .. but the muffler guy said what i had would work just as well.. savings of a bit of cash there, for sure. 3 hours billed Labour for the header install and rejigging of the exhaust system, and 3 pipe hangers at $7.50.

10/10, would recommend as a performance-based modification from OEM.

Will post up video of a pass-by or two and an in-cab comparison, soonest.

 

Good to hear that you got positive results. I'm looking to do the same thing sometime next year.

 

HackD -- why did you decide not to install the Vibrant Ultra Quiet resonator?

 

With my catalytic replaced along with the mid tube (including the OEM resonator apparently) i thought i'd give it a go as is without.

 

Sorry - this is the best i can do for a video for the moment - using my dash-cam in a night-time ride - the next few days into a week, we are expecting lots of snow - not exactly good conditions for smooth acceleration utilizing the full rev-range, for a camera-capture. I'm also going to need to figure out how to further goose-neck my cell phone holder in order to view the dash, and be able to do a lot more sophisticated/effective in-vehicle recording.

 

Windows tinted - 20% for the rear 3, 35% D&P door sides, none on the windshield.

 

Snowing in Hamilton, Ontario this morning. I've got to do some running around in a bit, so will have to clear things up a bit, obviously.

A minor update posting - I have 1.5" (38mm) wheel spacers incoming - I've been firmly sitting on the fence regarding this sort of change, for a long while now.. still somewhat suspect of spacers and potential for failure in a bad install, badly fabricated spacers, or extreme road conditions causing mechanical failure.. we'll see. I intend on using the rims that i have with +40 offset - the spacers in theory will stance out the tires to just beyond the wheel-well lips. I also have Coverking tactical covers (black) coming in for the front seats. My OEM covers are showing their age in wear and tear, and general overall grunginess.

 

Post-Christmas, I have my truck now fully paid off (finally) and have found myself with a surplus of cash, in order to start squirreling together another round of parts for the 'finishing touches'.

Parts so far ordered/obtained:

1. 1.5"/38mm machined aluminium hub-centric wheel spacers
2. Replacement 60.1 -> 73.1 hub centre adapter-spacers
3. PSI Wheel Well fender flares
4. T-Rex Grilles 20936B Horizontal Aluminum Black Finish Billet Grille Insert
5. 85-90 Land Cruiser 'Toyota' grille badging to go on T-Rex Grille
6. Replacement grille surround to use for T-Rex Grille project
7. CoverKing Black Tactical series seat-covers
8. Blue Sea 6-circuit fuse block
9. Outback Accessories Roof Console for Toyota Hilux
10. Material to re-wrap interior door arm-rests
11. Morimoto 40" LED Lightbar with yellow fog inserts
12. Prinsu replacement front air-dam with 40" Lightbar cutout

A little sneak-peak, on where i'm going with the grille.. i'm hoping to find another 05-11 grille surround that i can use for this project, rather than hacking my original up.

 

Near-future project for interior upgrade. This will also force me to totally remove the roof liner, install sound deadener, and put in reinforcing struts into the roof to support the console. What's in there now, is inadequate to support this behemoth. I'm following the lead of "Gramps" who put the Land-Cruiser version into his Tacoma - I'm going with the ARB RCH105 Hilux version.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-with-bs-thread.220278/page-432#post-13394921

In addition to the console needing a re-trim to closely match the Tacoma roof liner, I'm going to replace the provided switches with switch-gear that more closely matches the OEM Tacoma switches. There are a few other things i want to explore, as far as additions/mods to the console, before actual installation.

The project pile is certainly building up - waiting for better weather.

 

Came out to this, this morning... wonderful. No holes, no screws, no nails.. just flat. An obvious FYI, the as-provided bottle-jack is as useless as tits on a bull for even a mildly lifted 5-lug Tacoma. I need to rectify that. 2 hours later, flat was changed, and i was soaked rolling around in the wet driveway. Wonderful.



However, i still had energy once that ordeal was finished with. I installed the Coverking Tactical series seat covers in the truck - look good, fit pretty good. No complaints on them. If you have an animal that makes a mess of your vehicle, these are for you. I don't.. but i make a mess of my own vehicle on a routine basis, just fine by myself. They'll work. Lots of additional storage pockets woven onto the Molle back-panels, so i can find my stuff in the truck, rather than poking through unorganized cubby boxes.