Average 08 trd slow build

Hey guys,

Picked up my 08 TRD access cab about two months ago now. Been trying to familiarize myself with all the second gen Tacoma stuff. This is my first Tacoma. I come from the miata community and have a track built 92 miata. The plan for the truck is a light trail capable truck.

I just wanted somewhere to keep track of my own progress really. Follow along if you care.


Exterior :
Blacked badges + TRD badge
Rago Fab ditch mounts and LED pods
Relentless Fab flag / CB bed rail mount (set up with chase LED)
Single quickfist bedrail mount (for shovel) dual mount in the works
Trasharoo sometimes.

Little Stuff :
Diff Breather relocate
Fog lights anytime mod
RAM mount on the A pilar handle.

Suspension / Tires :
5100's at all corners (w/ driver side spacer for lean correction)
OME 887 springs up front
Deaver progressive AAL (w/ wheelers 3 degree shim)
Sway bar delete
Mickey Thompson 17x9 in wheels
BFG AT KO2 285 70 17

Interior :
Some patches
Tool kit + survival stuff.
Recovery straps and shackles

 

I have started piecing together some survival and recovery stuff for the truck and its adventures.

 

Some not very exciting things happened this week.
New battery before our trip to Sand Mountain.
New inner tie rods after the trip.
Fog light anytime mod done.

 

Threw some Rago Fab ditch brackets and LED pods on last night.

 

Any pics of how much trimming needed for the brackets?

 

Not too much, I did it with some dikes.

 

Picked up some quick fists to do a shovel and axe bed rail mount. Had to set it up as a single for now just to play with it.

 

Little update on the gear so far. Added some tools, bungies, lots of zip ties, guerilla tape, oil, 5 gallons fuel, 7 gallons water, some river shoes, a fox outfitters double hammock, some additional maps, smittybuilt machete (not pictured) and some other misc tools and what not.

 

I heard patches were cool? So I got a few.

 

Picked up an AAL from craigslist, need to order up a u bolt flip and we will be in business to get the block lift off the truck. Made up some driveshaft carrier bearing drop shims last night, need to throw them on tonight to help with the vibration that is either getting worse or getting on my nerves more. After the drop I will decide if I want to shim the axle as well.

 

Some little updates. While my girlfriend was on her way to Burning Man with the truck (without me) something hit the inner sidewall of the tire and caused a slow leak. E rated KO2s. So I picked up 2 new tires to throw in the front of the truck for now and get a full sized spare going.

Ordered a trasharoo before we took off for the trip.

Set up a Ram Mount for the cell phone to help run Gaia and keep it visible while on the trail.

And of course some more patches.

 

Since not knowing the last time the plugs were done in the truck, I went ahead and did those over the weekend. They were all gapped out to over .5. Replaced the air filter with a K&N unit at the same time after the trucks trip to burning man and breathing in playa for about 2 weeks after . Hoping to bring the MPG up to a reasonable point.

 

Finally got around to putting my AAL in, decided to run it without the overload and put in a Wheelers axle shim. Goodbye blocks, and no more driveline bump.

 

Finally got the spacer lift off the front and the horrible shocks off the rear. 5100's all the way around with 887 springs up front.

 

Did my first set of drum brakes in my life. Coming from cars with disc at all corners, this was a "fun" learning experience, a bit of cussing and it all goes ok. I'm assuming these were the OEM shoes and the truck has 150k on it now. Had about 1mm of pad left.

 

Built a storage drawer / sleeping platform over the last week to get all my tools and spares out of the cab of the truck to free up some space for my dogs. I've never built anything from wood before and kinda combined a bunch of ideas I saw on TW. I wanted to be able to sleep on it on solo trips without my wife. Still need to finish up some detail stuff and put a face on the drawer.

 

Thought this was pretty nifty so I did it for myself.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/grid-it-center-console-lid-organizer-no-drilling.352463/

 

Ton of work just done on the truck in the last month or so, got me a bit excited about this thing again. The truck has been living mostly daily duties and some easy camping trips and moto trips for the last year or so. 4x4 actuator went out last winter during a snow storm on my way home. Front end has been blown out. So I went all in and did most of the front end. New steering rack with poly bushing replacements, lower control arm poly bushings, changed the spring rate on the front from OME 887s to 886s and replaced the struts at that time. Installed some wheelers off-road super bumps in the front. Replaced the leaf pack with a 3rd gen pack and transferred my progressive AAL over. Installed a ubolt flip kit and Timbren bumpstops for the rear. Replaced the 4x4 actuator finally, and changed the front diff oil. Cut back the pinch weld and plastic trims to help clear the 295 70 17s that I put on about a year ago. Turns out I took absolutely no photos during any of this. Took me about 3 days of work total.

 

My wife and I have been planning a 10 day trip for Christmas and we are tired of setting up a tent so we were on the hunt for a soft topper, they have been crazy hard to find and we did not want to pay for a new one. Found a used aluminum tradesman style shell for too cheap to pass up. Now we are planning a camper set up for this.

 

I've had this roof storage basket on the side of our shed for a year or so now so I'm going to see if I can make it useful for this build. I threw a piece of wood to give half the basket a floor and a board to help secure our water and possibly fuel. I'm not sure I like the placement on the fuel can all the way up top on the truck, even with it laid over.