Woodrow F. Call's chuckwagon build and travels.

Here is the truck shortly after I bought it. Pretty simple.... Hankook Dynapro 245/75R16 on steelies and no fender flares.


First thing was to upgrade the tires with General Grabber AT2s in 265/70R16. Close to the same diameter, but 20mm wider. Tires were only a touch louder in the beginning, but after 35K miles they have gotten louder. Otherwise, they have been great and look good. I hope to upgrade to 255/85R16s and do a lift when these wear out.

 

The wife wanted steps, I didn't want to lose ground clearance. I figured that some Mobtown Offroad sliders at 0 degrees with filler plates would do the trick.

I ordered them unpainted and opted to rattle can them. I wire brushed any scale off and cleaned them with either brake cleaner or MEK. Etching Primer for a few coats then some flat black.

They are heavy at around 70lbs a piece and can be installed with the aid of jack stands a friend would be of good help.

As far as steps, they are too high to be good steps. They are good for reaching the roof though.


Also of note is the Gator Tri-fold soft tonneau cover. Going to a double cab, I lost the back seat storage that I had before. I was going to get a camper top, but needed something to get me by until I could spend the money. At $245, this fit the bill. Worked great, kept things dry.

 

High lift Jack mounts....
I bought some T-slot nuts for mounting. I cut some bar stock I picked up at the hardware store and bent it to fit. Drilled some holes, got some bolts and nut handles and put it together after painting. There is an extra hole that was my first try. Bungee cords just reduce rattle.

 

I wanted a way to mount my cell phone for navigation, but wanted full use of my vents. I opted for a piece of T-track and the Ram X-Grip set up.

I cut a piece of track to mount to the top of the radio bezel. I rounded the edges for a more finished look. I then used the T-track to mark holes in the trim and drilled the holes. Afterwards, I cut some small flat plates to sandwich the plastic between the head of the mounting screws and the nuts making the joint stronger and spreading the load along the trim. Painted the T-channel the truck color and called it good.



Sometime, I might mount a flush mount USB port through the channel, so the cord isn't hanging down when charging.

 

subd I like your view of the road, and your food pics make me hungry

 

Got some new shoes. General Grabber X3s in 265/75R16s



I wanted to try some MTs and was hoping these would be a good set. The AT2s were a great tire, but they needed a little help in the mud.... just when it got a little mucky.

Pros:
They work great in the mud.
They look great.
No rubbing in the 1 inch larger diameter

Cons:
About 23lbs heavier than the AT2s.
Definitely hitting 1-2mpgs worse.
Definitely talks a little on the highway.
I had a little squirreliness on the highway, but that seemed to settle down after coming down from 40psi (installer pressure) to 32psi

 

A review of the General Grabber AT2 Tires

These tires might be on the way out with the introduction of the ATX, but I still see them on General's site and can still find them online. I got over 60,000 miles on them and they were a great choice for a DD with a little more aggression over the stock tires. They did great in the rain and the modest offroading I've done. The only time I wished I had more was climbing up a trail at the deer camp after it had been raining. I couldn't proceed up the hill without a good bit of momentum. Somewhat expected with an AT tire.

60,000 mile tire no problem as long as you rotated and kept it aligned.

They were hardly louder than stock.

I could squeeze 21-22 mpgs if I kept my speed slow and steady. If I didn't fight traffic, I could 19-20 mpgs on my commute to work, which involves some interstate and some stops and hills.

I did have a couple of staples in the tires requiring plugs.

 

Great build thread, enjoyable. Love seeing a Tacoma doing what it was made for, having fun.

 

truck looks great....what roof rack is that? I'm looking for something similar myself

 

Sorry I didn't see this sooner. Factory ARE rack.... Yakima cross bars.