cheuer's "No Lift Build" and Adventure Thread

Purpose
What's the point of a build thread with no lift, you say? I've added several smaller mods and stuff that I thought people might be interested in seeing. Been meaning to create a "build thread" to post in but haven't gotten around to it until now. I don't plan on getting a lift anytime soon, I like the stock ride and suspension on my BBP '16 TRD OR. But I'll post all of the other things I do to it.

I've been wheeling with my family (most of whom have 4Runners) a bunch of times, so I'll also be posting in here with trip reports and the like. We're not into extreme rock crawling but we love camping and seeing the sights, so there'll be plenty to look at.

The Mods
Ham radio antenna mount
Rear window security bar
Plugged LCA holes
Mobtown Offroad sliders
Diff Breather
Ham radio (Kenwood TM-V71a) installation
Grill plasti-dip
DIY tailgate lock actuator
Ham radio antenna relocation
Maglite flashlight mount
Tailgate letter inserts
OEM bed mat
Ham radio faceplate relocation
Redline Tuning hood struts
Speed sensor disconnect
Rear camera anytime
Front camera
DIY shovel and axe mounts
Ditch lights

The Adventures
White Rim Trail June 2016
Bonneville Salt Flats August 2016
Eye of the Whale / Cathedral Valley November 2016
White Rim Trail March 2017
Alpine Loop August 2017
Cathedral Valley October 2017
Moab Area November 2017

State of the Thread
Updated 1/6/2018
Since I'm just starting this thread now, I have quite a bit to catch up on. I'm going to be posting these one at a time and I'll update this thread with links to each post as I catch up. Going to take me a while to go back through all the pictures and figure it out, so please be patient.

 

Since every thread is worthless without pics, here's one of when I bought it and one of my favorites:





Stay tuned for more!

 

Ok here's the first real post. I bought the truck in April 2016. First real mod was in May, when I added a mount for a ham radio antenna. I actually did a whole separate write-up thread for this one, so I'm just gonna quote that here:

 

That didn't count as a real post. Also in May 2016 I added a sliding window security bar courtesy of @mattgecko.

Sliding Window Security Bar by MattGecko

 

Nice! I like you ham installation and just got a Kenwood tm d710ga! I think I am going to go for a tailgate or bed rail mount. Do you notice any rusting from your ditch mount. I had rago fabs ditch mounts and they rusted pretty fast when I removed the powdercoat to ground my cb antenna.

 

Also in May 2016, someone figured out that there was a whistling noise coming from the LCAs. They eventually issued a TSB for this, but I opted to just pick up some plastic plugs from Lowe's. Here's a couple threads with more info:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/solved-howling-noise-between-35-45.410480/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/lower-control-arms-tsb-is-a-thing.435490/

And here are the parts I bought for my own TSB:

 

Thanks! I've got a post coming up for the actual installation of the radio, and I have since moved the antenna to the other side and then removed it (pending reinstallation to work with my ditch lights). Didn't really see any rusting, but I didn't remove any powdercoat. I wasn't worried about the ground since I didn't need super-long reception or anything.

 

Added a sticker to the rear window. Super important mod. Last one of May 2016.

 

It's slider time! I purchased these from Mobtown Offroad on 4/17/2016, only 3 days after I got the truck. They shipped out on 5/20, and I was finally able to pick them up on 6/1.

No Drill Bolt-on Rock Sliders by Mobtown Offroad



I was originally hoping they would slide in under the tonneau cover but they didn't fit so I just took it off and laid it in the bed.

Got them home and unwrapped. These are for a DCSB, no kick-out, with fill plates and powder coat. They made them at a 0 degree angle at my request so they would make better steps for my (then) 6-year-old twins.



The install was a little rough. I had a couple issues, but Mobtown was very responsive to questions and even ended up mailing me a replacement part, one of the nuts welded onto a metal plate wasn't quite lined up:



So while I waited for the new nut I ran with only the driver's side installed:



I got the replacement nut and installed the other one 9 days later:



And I'm still super happy with them. They haven't really saved my rocker panels yet (and I haven't had to touch-up the powder coat from rubbing off on rocks), but they've provided lots of peace of mind and function wonderfully as steps.

Here's a few more shots of how they sit:

 

Lighting this morning isn't great but I ran out and took a couple. Hope this helps. The gap is bigger towards the back because the sliders are flat against the frame, which doesn't sit parallel to the bottom of the doors.

 

Following for inspiration!

 

Diff Breather

Parts Used
90930-03136 Plug Breather from Elmore TRD Toyota Parts
90404-51319 Union from Elmore TRD Toyota Parts
5/16" fuel line
Hose clamps

After looking on a few sites the one listed above was cheapest after shipping. The breather and union (didn't take individual pics, sorry) were pretty cheap, around $10 total before shipping. I picked up the 5/16" fuel line and hose clamps from a local auto parts store.



Hooked up the union to the diff and attached it to the fuel line. I zip-tied it in a few places, making sure to leave enough slack for suspension flex, and ran it up to the driver's side bed cubby:



The hole is smaller than the top of the breather, and it's clamped on the other side of the box with a hose clamp. All in all, a pretty easy mod.

 

Ham Radio (Kenwood TM-V71a) Installation

I previously posted this in another thread but I'm re-creating it here with higher-res pics (sorry a lot of them are still blurry). This mod was done on 6/18/2016.

Parts Used
Kenwood TM-V71a from hamcity.com
Kenwood DFK-3D Separation Kit from hamcity.com

$14 Roadpro RP-108C 2-3/4" CB Extension Speaker with Swivel Bracket

Roadpro RP-108C 2-3/4" CB Extension Speaker with Swivel Bracket from amazon.com

I also bought a NIFTY brand mini-manual for the radio from hamcity.com. It has been super handy, much more portable than the manual that came with the radio.

Zip-tied the bracket under the driver's seat:



Both pics of this I took came out super blurry, sorry. Radio mounted on the bracket and all cables connected:



I put some split loom tubing on this part of the power cable, seemed sensible. It runs under the carpet to the channel under the driver's door and up to the firewall:



Out through the firewall and to the battery. The wire it came with ended up being too short so I had to extend it with some other spare wire, which is why the negative wire turns blue:



The speaker is mounted on a bolt I found way back in the passenger footwell:



The wires for the speaker, antenna, and control unit all come together and run through the center console:



Then come out here under the seat:



I mounted the faceplate on the left side over the useless pocket using two medium size Command strips (not the velcro kind) that I cut down to size (sorry for the weird angle on this pic):



And instead of using the provided screws I drilled three holes in the center console side for the mic hanger and used bolts, lock washers and nuts (had to cut away a bit of the plastic on the inside of the console to make this work, sorry I forgot to grab any pics of that part). This way I don't have to worry about the force on the bracket pulling those screws out:

 

White Rim Trail June 2016

(Repost from another thread. Original here)

Had lots of fun on the White Rim road in Canyonlands, UT this weekend.

Friday night, stayed in Horsethief campground, just outside of Canyonlands:



Descending into the canyon on Saturday morning:





One Taco amidst a sea of 4Runners (two 3rds, one 4th and a 5th gen) and a Ram:



Ominous warning, but the rangers told us that it should be passable now:



Climbing up Murphy Hogback to our campsite:











At the campsite. Collected lots of red dirt already:



Coming back down Murphy's Hogback in the morning:





I hit 2222 miles during this trip. MPG not so great on the trail, but that was expected:




And here's the "impassable" section. Really wasn't bad at all:



Climbing back out of the canyon Sunday afternoon:



Didn't really have any trouble, used crawl control on a couple tricky parts but nothing was really that technical. Had a lot of fun, can't wait to get out on another trail!

 

Grill Plasti-dip

This mod was done on 8/4/2016. Didn't take many pics of the process, just one while the grill was out.

Parts Used

$15 Plasti Dip Plasti Dip11203-6 Black Rubber Coating Spray - 11 oz.

Black Plasti-dip spray can

I did 4 coats (if I'm remembering right) at the interval specified on the can. Only took one can.

 

Bonneville Salt Flats August 2016

We went out to the salt flats for an annual model rocketry event dubbed Hellfire. My dad got way into this hobby and dragged some of us in with him, and it's a pretty neat thing to see so I dragged the kids out there that year.

This is quite possibly my all-time favorite picture of the truck:



Unfortunately, driving on the salt just coats everything in it. And it reflects the sunlight and burns you underneath your hat, and shorts, and everything. Sunscreen is an absolute must.







Even had to drive way out there to pick up my dad's rocket.

 

Great trip photos, looks like a lot of fun, I'm looking forward to the upcoming camping season!

 

Im interested in doing a radio setup in mine. Would you recoomend a cb or a ham? If you have ham and others have cb there is no cross communication correct?