2017 mods- lift, tires, silenced.

Hello. This is my first post on the forum. Aiming to share things I have learned from my first few mods on my 2017 sr5 4x4 long bed crew cab tacoma.

Lift-
Installed newest bilstein 5100 adjustable shocks to front. Highest notch gave me 3 inch lift. Still rides really nice. I have done spacers in the past and will never do that again. I put them on myself from you tube videos. Easy and fun driveway project. No need for a coil compressor. I just used a floor jack and it was way safer in my opinion. Next I added a 1.5 inch leaf to the back end also myself. I have yet to extend the break lines but I think I will just for insurance. The truck rides better to me. Now as washy in turns but not stiff either. I stayed with stock 16" wheels on with new265/75/r16 toyo open county AT. Nice pattern. Some noice on the highway but that's to be expected. Big brand tire did the alignment and tires for about $900. I test fit 285 but I am really glad I stayed with 265/75 size. No rubbing. Good height gain, and my mpg was only hit by about 1.5 mpg as I have calculated so far. All lift components purchased at wheelers off-road. Great prices and service.

Cab silenced-
- I have to recommend this if you haven't done it yet, I spend $120 on a roll of BQuiet ultimate 50 sq ft sound deadening mat. Worth every penny. I did the back wall and floor boards. Also I am trying it on the underbody of the entire cab. Cut the highway noice in half. Maybe I will do the doors in the future but I am really happy with it as is. Also used 4 cans of the rubberized underbody spray to cover entire cab and wheel wheels. I live on the central coast of California and didn't want the sea air to be a problem for the truck.

I have on order a sug top rebel with slide windoors on the sides. Set me back $2500. The quality at the shop side by side comparison with leer made me go with snugtop. It will be on the truck by my next post.

No issues to report about abs or traction control after the lift. Very glad I did it myself. Rewarding feeling.

Pictures show before and after lift and tires.

 

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what was the install like for the mat?

i just did a big stereo project and the only thing i left out was full coverage of the floor and ceiling with Dynamat, because it's such a PITA to do right. for audio stuff you really need to remove the seats to do it right, which is why I've waited. just wondering what this solution is like. I'm not trying to kill road noise, really looking to kill resonance from the subwoofer so i will probably have to go all in.

 

curious about the floor matting also, how was removing the carpet and reinstalling?

Truck looks great. I like your mod choices.

 

I did the floor removal for the floor boards.. I am interested in the "underbody of the entire cab". Are you talking about throwing pad up from under the truck? I would love to see how successful this was for you, I hadn't thought about that as an option.

 

I'd like to know more about the install process.

 

Sound deadening install. The back wall is a must. Remove the back seat, the back plastic cubbys come out pretty easy too. The B quiet product is super stick. Cut it into pieces that will fit the area you ar working on. I didn't need gloves. And it did not have any odor. Honestly about an hour to do the back wall and floor boards under the back seats. I did not do any carpet removal from there forward. Instead I sprayed the underside of the truck with rubberized paint. Waited a few days to let it cure. Than Inused the remaining roll of sound deadening mat and did the underside of the truck. It's so sticky I really don't see it coming off easily. It's been a week now. Non has peeled off. I think I will also grab an extra spray can of undercoating and cover the mating as well. Just as added protection at the seams of the mat tape. Taking my truck out of decommission with the entire interior removal was not an option for me somI think the undercoating was a really good compromise. My wife noticed the difference in the road noise reduction immediately. I can't comment on stereo upgrade stuff. I'm not changing any of that. Hope this helps. Here is a picture of the underside of the truck before I sprayed it again to cover the sound deadening mat.

 

Thanks King3523... very interesting.
I too am looking for sound deadening from road noise, not for stereo purposes. I'll have to take a look around and see what others are doing for carpet removal... just another option.

 

I have been pondered using sound deadening on that back wall too, figured it might help cut some road noise.

 

Hmm... sound deadening on the underside of the truck have not seen that before. I have seen people use it on the firewalll of classic cars, makes sense. Also surprised more people on here don't use that rubberized undercoating, it really keeps corrosion at bay when done right. Nice truck OP.

 

Sound deadening is a great mod. Thanks for the info

 

How do you like those tires? Looking to replace the tires on my TRD Sport.

 

Do you have links to the materials you bought for this?

 

Nice

 

The sound deadening material is from a company called B-quiet. As far as the tires go. I do like some things, but not others. First they ride well on road, they don't walk or give a bumpy ride. I was surprised at how much power lose I felt moving up from stock to a fairly meaty style 265 75 size tire. It did hit the mpg as well. So consider looking into the weight of your tire choices. I love the look of the tread and there off-road handling. Much better than the bfg ko2. The tire guys even said they can't balance those bfg tires so I stayed with toyo. Just hate losing mpg. But it's a truck and a Dam well built machine. I think the best thing about toyo AT is how long they can last. So even if the tire weight costs you gas money, you won't need 3 sets of tires if you go with something cheaper. Also they have a 500 mile try it out or return them deal. Good luck with your choices.

 

If you are still looking for info on interior deadening, Inhave a picture walk through up here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/my-silver-gsu-build.460083/page-4#post-15503347

@King3523 that looks like an awesome addition on the underside. I think I am going to give that a shot during some down time. What did you spray back over it after the install?

 

What kind of MPGs hit have you taken on the truck?