Yukikaze's build and BS: Utility Package AF

1st day of ownership, May of 2016:


May '17:


January '18:


April '18:



2016 SR Utility Package, 6AT, 4x2 with the 2.7L 4 cylinder, baby!

Mod List

Engine/Drivetrain:
LCE Header
AVO Turbo World Silicon intake pipe (Adapted to fit from Subaru WRX)
Diff Breather

Wheels & Tires:
Enkei RPT1 16x8" Gunmetal Grey
265/70R16 Continental TerrainContact AT

Armor/Accessories:
Retrofit TRD Off Road Fuel tank Skid
RCI Metalworks front skid and lower A-arm skids, 1/4" Aluminum
Avid Off-Road weld on sliders
N-Fab LED light bar mount w/no hoop (T1630LD)
SDHQ ABS Guards
Hella Sharptone horns
RokBlokz mudflaps
Total Chaos fab bed stiffeners

Lighting:
Retrofit TRD Off Road Fog Lights
Switch-Pros 8100
Baja Designs S2 Sport wide cornering lights in CBI Ditch light brackets
Baja Designs Squadron Sport combo amber lights on N-Fab Bar
Baja Designs XL Sport spot lights on N-Fab bar

Suspension:
Front: Retrofit TRD Off Road Bilstein suspension
Rear: Fox 2.0 w/remote resi and adjustable damping
Toytec 1/4" front spacers
Archive Garage Hammer Shackle Hangars
OME Carrier Bearing Spacers

Exterior:
Retro Vinyls designed by yours truly
Headlight blackout
MesoJDM headlight fill pieces
Bed canard delete
TRD Pro Grille
Color matched front bumper (Paint matched)
Color matched mirror covers (Toyota OE parts)

On the way (ordered or to be installed):
Nothing right now

Future plans:
Switching over to ADS suspension
Chase Rack
More BD lights!

 

My plans for this build are nothing spectacular, it is a "Prerunner" after all, but I want to build it into a capable mother ship for dirt bikes but also something you can take out on its own to go shooting, and maybe even camping.

I don't really want to sacrifice too much on-road manners, and also I'm extremely fussy about clean, integrated solutions. "Use a self-tapping screw to ____" is not part of my vocabulary.

I'm gonna use this as a log of all the stuff I've been doing to it.

 

Starting up the process of putting my flares on. First order of business is to turn them matte! I found a deal on a set of gloss black flares, but after trying them on I decided they didn't match well with the rest of the truck having matte accents (grille, mirror covers, bumper caps, and so on). Plasti-dip makes a matte clear coat which I've seen looks pretty slick, plus it adds a layer of protection to the existing paint.

Down side if I don't like it is a $10 can, so it's pretty low risk. Dip is great though, minimal prep and you don't ruin what's underneath.





I got them cleaned up real nice (Adam's waterless wash FTW) but my patio is western exposure so the sun was starting to shine in on them, I'll have to start doing coats once the sun goes down or in the morning!

(EDIT: The dip looked really meh so I peeled it back off before install.)

 

Looks good, would love to see more pictures.

 

Added the gloss black flares. Liking it a lot so far but I'm sort of on the fence with where to go with the color scheme. Definitely want to swap the matte black mirror covers for white color matched, but also thinking about doing the door handles in white too, and getting some sort of vinyl design for the side. My inferno tow hook is a nice splash of color, but I'm not sure any other inferno accents would work. Grille letters or the hella horns maybe, if anything.

 

Got her nice and dirty at Four Peaks today, took her back down, went to the wash, and noticed I had gotten a stone chip on my driver's rear flare.

 

I just read your flare tutorial, wow ... that is a lot more involved than I expected. I appreciate the write up, as I probably would have butchered the job doing it by myself. I tend to avoid modifications unless they are done properly, so you are really helping me out in a huge way. Thank you!

How do you like the TRDOR take offs? I'm looking at suspension options, and that seems to be the cheapest route for me to take for a less bouncy ride. I also need to do something to counteract all the weight I'm putting on the truck.

Never thought I would say this, but my own build thread might have to get started.

 

Looking good.

 

The flares were quite an undertaking but I like to make things as close to stock as possible- you could certainly add them by pulling off the little bedside trim and just throwing it away, and/or grabbing self-tapping screws from a hardware store, but to me that doesn't fly.

As far as the TRDOR take offs, they are a great option for those not looking for a lift. Cheap, somewhat plentiful, very good for an OEM shock.
I would like to get Fox 2.0 shocks someday as a further upgrade, but not because I hate the TRDOR billies.

As far as the extra weight you can look at sumosprings or an AAL.

 

Samesies. I have modified mustangs in the distant past (poorly), and I like to think much was learned from that. If high quality information isn't available to me, the mod is passed by. You certainly provide some of the highest quality information I've seen on here.

I'm doing your foglight mod very soon, already have most of the parts. Flares will definitely be done now that you have it laid out, but first I need to be lucky enough to find them used.

Ride-rite air bags are definitely in my future (I hear the sumos ride pretty harsh[?]) ... just haven't decided what shocks I will get, or if I will lift or not. Just need to go one step at a time, and figure out what can be sacrificed "here", to gain "there". Everything that I read shows that ride quality is poorer in a lifted and/or reinforced vehicle.

Factory TRDOR take-offs are available cheap and local, but it's too early in the game for me to jump on those. Still won't have my armor on for another 6+ weeks. Sure is tempting though, thank you for the input.

 

did you use the old tpms sensors that came with your original steel wheels?

 

No, I bought alloy wheel TPMS sensors from the dealer for use with the SCS F5's.

 

Awesome looking Tacoma my brother, how do you like the 2.7 L 4 cylinder so far??

 

Loving it. Looking forward to the OVtune, but more for the "soft" aspects of the tune like throttle mapping and shift points more so than any added power. It's already got enough. Not any extra, but enough.

Bumping since I have a few mods and changes in the pipeline once again!



First and foremost I went back to stock with my flares. It was a tough choice but I'm gonna let my base model pride show, and just roll with it.
If you care to delve deeper into my warped psychology read the spoiler.

Spoiler: Nitori is a strange human being

I felt like neither color matched nor dark OEM flares would fit with my build, not to mention I had lots of matte black plastic clashing with my gloss black flares. When you add a black colored flare over the wheel well, it makes the wheel well appear much larger, which in turn makes your tires look smaller. If you avoid this by color matching them white, I feel like you lose the aesthetic appeal of the OEM flares which is "owning" the fact that they are add-ons in a very low key sort of way. Seeing a matched while flare stuck over a body seam on a white truck just seems like it's making an unsuccessful attempt at hiding. By owning the "flareless" look I feel like I actually set my truck apart more. I will eventually be getting larger tires but nothing that will poke out any further, so I'm thinking this will be the way it stays. Look forward to a splash of color with some vinyl though, coming soonish.

I also finally got around to mounting up my Vision X dura minis!

I love these little guys even though I still haven't gotten to see them lit up! They're a tad smaller than most pods, which is exactly what I was looking for. Plus the 60 degree wide beam should fit the bill pretty nicely for a good flood light.

Speaking of why I haven't lit them up yet, I took my dash cubby panel off to SDHQ for a quick mod...

I don't have the switch-pros just yet, but I am planning on mounting one up to control my lights soon!

 

Lookin good w/out the flares.

I smell what your steepin in there!

FWIW...

This truck belongs to @VLocos24 and yes the no flare look is very very nice!!!!

 

This is an excellent build! Would do the exterior very similar to yours! I also read your post on the fender flare install, well done! Thanks for doing that write up.

 

Been busy off and on, now I'm sitting at home sick so I may as well post up an update!



Switch Pro has been acquired, but I still need to work out how I'm mounting the main part under the hood, along with terminals to hook up stuff.

Been working on a little DIY mod, inspired by (and with some excellent guidance from) @mesojdm 's build:


His first go at making the "smooth" grilles for under the headlights rubs a little (close clearance in there) so I am working on making flush-mount which is turning out to be a pretty deep rabbit hole!

Got two laser cut templates made out of acrylic, but I need a heat gun and a file to properly shape them so they drop in to the recessed area smoothly. Looks like once that's done I will need to adhere them in there, then add some body filler and sand before sending it off for paint. It's a lot bigger of a job than it first seems!

Let's see... if I wasn't sick I'd also be installing color matched mirror caps and the parts for a diff breather mod.


And finally, a 5 second mockup of the bed stripes I'm thinking of doing. Imagine it in Blazing Blue Pearl instead of "generic blue"...

 

Added my colored mirror caps today!

 

Making progress, under hood mounting tray is on order now as well.

Also realized I could use the white acrylic template I got cut to get a general ballpark idea of what my headlight mod will look like:

 

Awesome build thread! I just bought a 2017 Taco SR almost identical to yours. What method did you use to get white front fenders?