Mikes Silver Bullet B & BS

After 2 years of owning this truck it’s time for a build and BS thread!


Current:










History:

After seeing the new styling of the 3rd gen Tacoma’s I decided to sell my 2000 Tacoma 4x4 and upgrade to something more modern. I picked up the new truck on 9/12/15. IIRC I was the 2nd one on TW to get a 3rd gen and started THIS THREAD to show misc pictures and impressions. That thread received over 280K views. The thread still shows tons detail pictures and video’s.

Within the 1st 500 miles while testing the truck in the desert, I ended up popping one of the tires on a rock. At the time I thought it was from cactus in the side wall but once at Discount Tire they showed me a ¾” slice in the thread. My 1st mod was 265/75r16 BFG AT’s. They served me mostly well for 2 years and 20K miles.

2nd mod was a pair of bolt on sliders from Avid Offroad. This was the 1st set he built for a 3rd gen. I had him angle the steps upwards to tuck them closer to the truck and prevent them from rubbing my leg when exiting the truck. Brandon at Avid says he has had numerous requests for the same set-up. Lots more info in THIS THREAD.

I added a full set of RCI skid plates, truck tool box, a bed mat, and a couple extra tie down points in the bed and this truck has served me well.

2 years later I finally decided it was time to upgrade the suspension. I wanted King shocks and came across a great deal on a set of 4 shocks with reservoirs and compression adjusters. SDHQ hooked me up with a set of Camburg upper control arms. They feature the larger 1.25” uni-ball. I picked up a set of used OEM rear springs with an add-a-leaf already installed. These suspension components added 2.5” of lift.

I found a great deal on a set of 4Runner sport wheels with similar colors as the OEM Offroad wheels and added a set of 285/70r17 Falken Wildpeak AT3’s.

Misc Video's:

• Testing Crawl Control
• Testing truck and tire failure-Seeing what the truck could do after purchase.
• Devil's Staircase in Sedona, AZ

Current Mods:

Suspension/tires-

• King front and rear shocks with reservoir and compression adjusters
• Icon rear leaf in stage 2 with Wheelers Offroad U-Bolt flip kit and bump stops.
• Camburg uniball UCA's.
• Falken Wildpeak AT3 285/70R17
• OEM 4Runner Sport wheels
• Full size spare
• Avid Offroad cab mount chop

Armor-

• Avid Offroad frame mounted sliders-tucked and tight
• RCI skid plates-full set

Misc-

• Prinsu roof rack and ARQ4WD awning
• UWS low profile toolbox. (TBS-63-A-LP-BLK)
• ARB Dual Compressor
• KB Voodoo HD bed cross bars
• Total Chaos bed stiffeners
• Redline hood struts
• Baja Designs wide cornering fog lights.
• Mac’s quick release anchor plate tie down points
• LED interior bulbs
• Weather Tech floor mats
• Wet Okole seat covers
• Tint all around
• Aux Fuse panel.
  $13 True Mods 10 Way Blade Fuse Box for Automotive [ATC/ATO Blade Fuses] [100 Amp][LED Indicator] [Protection Cover] [10-30V DC; 12V] Auto Marine Fuse Block
  Fuse Block.
• Front camera. Plug&Play-Harness
  $27 iNewcow Car Front View Logo Embeded Camera for Toyota with CCD Waterproof IP67 Wide Degree (Middle)
  Camera
• ECT always on mod
• AR-15 always on-board mod

Current:



These POS springs have been replaced with Icon springs. They are much better than All Pro!!


4 Runner sport wheels seem to go good with a silver truck.




I like how the valve stems are recessed into the wheel:








Older pic’s:






More to come!

 

Few older pic's before the lift:

Box Canyon:


Couple Sedona trips:




Decided to back out of this one since the sliders weren't installed yet:

 

10/15/17
Went out behind Lake Pleasant to test the new lift. Amazing ride difference over stock!
I do have a random clunking somewhere in the front end that I can't pin down.
I'd checked that everything is tight and can't find anywhere where parts may be hitting.

 

Reserved!!

 

Upgraded the Negative battery terminal and fab'ed an aux fuse panel.
Prepping for a compressor and to properly wire the front camera.

 

Aux fuse panel almost done. Need to add a solenoid between the battery and breaker.

 

Still talking to myself I guess

Prinsu rack and ARQ4WD (find them on Facebook) awning installed, only took 4 months for everything to come together!
Decided back in June I wanted an awning for some shade while out in the desert plinking.
Ordered the awning and was going to have a simple mount for it made locally. Decided I wanted a full rack and ordered the Prinsu. Finally ordered in Mid August and it showed up Oct 20th.







Had to add these braces in the C-Channel of the frame. Since I mounted it closer to the middle the ends where the awning supports swing out seemed flimsy to me. These braces stiffened it up quite a bit.








Comparison of the mount rings from C4 )on left) and the ones mentioned in the Prinsu extra hardware thread. The 'M6' ring uses a t-slot nut in the channel. They can be removed without having to pull a cross member to slide the nut out like the C4 fender style bolts.

 

I'm here Mike

 

A visitor!

 

Love the awning and 4runner wheels, subd!

 

Added an ARB dual compressor under the hood.

Used a Slee Offroad mounting bracket. This bracket is is designed to be used with the optional air locker solenoids which would allow the use of the air hose connection to be mounted to it on the left side of the compressor. If you're not using the solenoid the air hose fitting can be mounted to the top of the compressor but it won't allow the hood to close

I went to Hose Pros and had them make me a steel braided line to run from the compressor to a bulk head fitting that I mounted to the Slee mounting bracket. The ARB air line fitting attaches to the bulk head fitting (F-NPT /M-JIC Bulkhead P/N 2705LN-04-04) and I topped it off with a dust cap from Hose Pro's.

Ran the wiring to the aux fuse panel then into the cab to a switch mounted in a black location left of the steering wheel.

Slee Offroad mounting bracket:


Can't close the hood:


Mounted:


Cap (P/N QA16DC) and air hose fitting mounted to the mounting bracket:

 

Very well done. The slee bracket definitely makes things easier. Are you going to be running a front locker off that too?

 

Maybe someday. Be overkill for what I do right now with this truck.

 

Hey man great write up. I thought the cap is a great idea and I have been looking online for it but nothing. Do you have the link where I can get one? Thanks

 

I don’t have a link. Guy at Hose Pros found it for me.

 

Nice shots! Did the klunk turn into anything?

 

The klunk was 2 loose bolts on the sway bar. They didn't get tightened all the way.

This air compressor works amazing, very quick fill up!

 

Few pic's from our Thanksgiving trip to Lake Havasu.

Got to try the compressor for the 1st time after Bison falls. Aired up from 22'ish PSI to 38 PSI in about a minute per tire. 2 woman sitting in the truck while the compressor was running liked the 'vibes' is was giving off through the truck seats

In front of Parker Dam:


Bison Falls near Havasu:

 

I like that air compressor mount

 

Mohave Wash near Lake Havasu.