jbezorg's 2018 AC TRD OR Build Thread

From the Factory


The first thing I wanted was some ditch lights. I figured it would be a simple and easy first mod. Then I looked at this and said "nope"


Getting wired.

I ended up with this. Lines color coded with fray-resistant expandable polyester sleeving.


Fuse block grounds to the sidewall. Power for the ditch lights parallels the cable for the wiper motor under the cowl. Eventually radios and everything else will come off this.


Thumb screws hold the lid on. Should keep mud, dust, etc., out of the fuse block. Lets me replace a blown fuse without having to find a screwdriver.


The empty will be a voltmeter that's on order.


Deutsch DT Series backshells mounted in the cowl for the ditch lights. There is another Deutsch connector under the cowl that allows it to be removed should the windshield need to be replaced.


And finally. The ditch lights that started this project.

 

Parts List

• @forty2's switch plate for 2016+ Tacoma
• PI Manufacturing ABS Plastic Project Box (7.27" (L) x 4.5" (W) x 2.6" (H))
• 12 circuit Blue Sea Systems ST Blade ATO/ATC Fuse Block
• Plastic Head Thumb Screws (you will need to tap the project box)
• SBR Rubber Push-In Grommets
• Nylon Pan Head Screws (black, of course) (Fill in the open grommets if you pre-drill extra into the project box)
• 4 Aluminum Female Threaded Hex Standoffs (Blue Sea circuit mount)
• M4 x 0.7 mm Thread, 14 mm Long 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Screws (Blue Sea circuit mount)
• 1 M8 x 1.25 mm Thread, 45 mm Long Blue-Dyed Zinc-Plated Alloy Steel Socket Head Screw (project box sidewall mount and ground)
• 1 Rubber Bumper with Unthreaded Hole (acts as a standoff between the sidewall and the project box)
• Zinc-Plated Steel Oversized Washers for M8 screw (sidewall mount, inside project box)
• Expandable Polyester Sleeving
• 14 Gauge Mil. Spec. Wire
• 8 Gauge Battery Wire
• Heat Shrink
• Ring Terminals 8 Gauge and Number 10 Screw
• Ring Terminals 8 Gauge and 5/16" Screw
• 90 Degree Flag Ring Terminals for 16-14 Wire Gauge and Number 8 Screw
  
• Deutsch DT series connectors
• 202213BLK Rigid D-Series PRO | Spot Midnight Edition | PAIR
• CBI Tacoma Ditch Light Brackets
• ch4x4 Toyota Push Series Switch
• MICTUNING 2.1A Dual USB Charger Power Socket with Blue LED Digital Voltmeter

In retrospect I'd use grip tape or rough up the ends of the rubber bumper that I used as a standoff because it's pretty slick.

 

ARE cap on. Didn't let them wire the cap brake light. Used a T plug for DIY trailer lights rather than T taps on the wire harness.






Also Added a waterport for showers and a half rack to use as a sleeping platform and for cargo. The rack is an aluminum dunnage rack from a online restaurant supply store. Hell of a lot cheaper than having something fabricated.

 

Where did you get the side rails? I wish mine were like yours and not the ones with steps (called predator tubes) as they scrape every rut when off roading.

 

CBI Offroad.

 

Catching up on my updates. Ham and CB installed. Cab platform installed.

I need to trim a quarter inch off my platform panels

 

You are great with the details. Do a tailgate lock. (Pop & Lock) That's a fairly cheap and easy one.
Your wire mesh is awesome.

 

The Diamond antenna mounts are really nice. An allen wrench can be used to fold them back to avoid overhangs and obstacles. However they are for ham radio antennas so to get them to work with a CB antenna I had to reduce a 5/8" hole to 3/8". They are the last 3 items on the parts list.

A nylon sleeve bearing and steel shim sandwich the 5/8" hole for a ham antenna. The steel shim provides the ground for the FireStik cable. The nylon sleeve bearing plus the 3/8" ID nylon insulating washer provides the necessary insulation for the CB antenna.

From the cabin inside.


And then back up to the inside the bed.






Materials

• 2x Scanstrut for 0.08"-0.31" OD, 0.63" ID
• 5' Plastic Conduit
• 1x 3/4 NPT Male, Straight Adapter
• 1x 3/4 NPT Male, 90 Degree Elbow Adapter
• 2x 3/4 NPT Locknut
• 2x Diamond K550KM Luggage rack antenna mount for minivan
• 1x Diamond C213SMA Antenna mount cable asm. UHF SMA 13ft
• 1x Diamond CR320A Triband Mobile Antenna
• 1x FireStik K4 Antenna Stud Mount
• 1x Firestik SS-3H Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Antenna Spring
• 1x FireStik FL3-B Three Foot FireFly Antenna With Tuneable Tip (Black)
• 1x Firestik Antenna FireStik MU8R18 18-Foot Single Antenna Coaxial Cable
• 1 Pack Spring Steel Shims
• 1 Pack Electrical-Insulating Nylon 6/6 Sleeve Washer
• 1x Dry-Running MDS-Filled Nylon Sleeve Bearing

Most any epoxy adhesive for the nylon conduit and adapters.
Silicon sealant for the cable pass throughs.

For the FireStik Stud Mount (and any other exposed connections)

• Antiseize, Electrically Conductive

 

Parts List For the radio boxes

• 6x M4 x 0.7 mm Thread 14 mm Long 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Screw
  
• 6x M4 x 0.7 mm Thread 18-8 Stainless Steel Nylon-Insert Locknut
  
• 6x M4 Screw Size, 4.3 mm ID, 9 mm OD 18-8 Stainless Steel Washer (left overs from the previous project box)
  
• 3x M6 Corrosion-Resistant Vibration-Damping Sandwich Mount
  
• 3x M6 Screw, 18 mm OD, 1.4 mm - 1.8 mm Thickness 18-8 Stainless Steel Oversized Washer
• 3x M6 Screw Size, 6.5 mm ID, 11.8 mm OD 18-8 Stainless Steel Split Lock Washer
• 3x M6 x 1 mm Thread, 8 mm Long 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Screw
• 3x M6 x 1 mm 18-8 Stainless Steel Nylon-Insert Locknut
• 4x Plastic-Head Thumb Screws Knurled, 6-32 Thread Size, 7/8" Long (left overs from the previous project box)
• 1x
  PI Manufacturing ABS Plastic Project Box (7.27" (L) x 4.5" (W) x 2.6" (H))
  PI Manufacturing ABS Plastic Project Box 7.27" (L) x 4.5" (W) x 2.6" (H)
• 4 pin deutsch connectors

 

T-slot framing materials

• 2x Railing 1.5" x 1.5" x 24"
• 4x Railing 1.5" x 3" x 48"
• 2x 10 pack Black-Oxide Alloy Steel Flanged Button Head Screw (16)
  
• 1x 20 pack LDPE Unthreaded Spacer (16)
  
• 8x Black Surface Bracket, 3" Long for 3" High Double/Quad Rail
  
• 2x 4 pack Dual End-Feed Fastener, 5/16-18" Thread for T-Slotted Framing
  
• 2x Snap on End Cap for 1-1/2" High Single Rail T-Slotted Framing
• $52 24"x48"x 1/4" (.250") ABS Plastic Sheet Textured Front Smooth Back Vacuum Forming THERMOFORMING Black
  1/4 ABS Plastic
• 1x 25 Pack Low-Strength Threaded Rods Zinc-Plated Steel, 5/16"-18 Thread Size, 1-3/4" Long (6 mount points along the back)
• 1x 25 Pack Low-Strength Threaded Rods Zinc-Plated Steel, 5/16"-18 Thread Size, 2" Long (6 mount points along the front)
• 1x 25 Pack Off-White Nylon Unthreaded Spacer 3/4" OD, 7/8" Long, for 5/16" Screw Size (12 mount points front and back)
• 4x Miniature Slotted Cam Latch Black Powder-Coated Zinc, for 5/16" Maximum Thickness

 

Oh yes!

 

Nice work. Excellent attention to detail. Thanks for the link.

 

Cali Raised Stiffeners replacing their hardware with stainless and added some sound insulation behind the molle rack. Masked and hit the back wall with a rattle can of rhino liner as well.

I have filter foam for the vents in the back wall. Just deciding how to keep it in place.

 

Someday I'll have a garage big enough to tear down a beater truck and tinker and not worry about my daily driver being OOC. Not today though. Lift was done by Iron Pig Offroad in Fredericksburg VA and sent out for the alignment at noon.

• OME 886 coils
• OME 90000 firm ride struts
• OME 60091 Nitrocharger rear shocks
• OME Dakar heavy full leaf pack
• OME trim packer for drivers side lean
• OME carrier bearing drop bracket
• Total Chaos UCAs
• Cooper Discoverer ST MAXX 255/85R16

Went with the tall and skinny tires. I'm still just above 20 mpg after the lift.

 

My man! I'm totally going to update my current plywood platform to this! Question, how did you secure the t slot frame to the rear? I'm guessing by the seat mount? But how did you bolt to the mounts? Did you secure the t slot frame to the bottom seat fold bracket as well? Interested in mounting details! I assume it is cantilevered and doesn't have support under the overhang on the front correct??

 

The 1.5" cap rails extend past Doc Loco's molle panel and the panel had to be notched to do so. There's L brackets made out of Home Depot 1" stock that I had in the garage. They reuse the outside seat mounts and bolt to the inside the cap rails using 5/16" end-feed fasteners.

After removing the plastic lids and bin from the underseat storage. The cross rails on either side are spaced at a distance to align the slots with the holes for the push-in retainer pins that held the storage plastic in place. The two outside, rear holes did not align so new holes were drilled. The 2 center holes in the back did not have enough space to slip a nut over the threaded rod. The 6 holes for the pins on the front line up fine.

Nylon spacer


6 of the 2" threaded rods for the front
4 of the 1 3/4" threaded rods for the rear leaving the 2 in the center empty.
10 of the 7/8" long white nylon spacers between the t-slot railing and the frame that boxed in the storage area to hold everything at the right height.

It is cantilevered but I am thinking of adding support to the front or perhaps supports on the inside corners of the storage area.

 

OP, is that a BMW I see in your profile pic? Also, amazing job and attention to detail. Just the way I like it! Im also really wanting to put on a hard shell cap on my truck. Is the wiring a pain in the rear? Or is it pretty straightforward? Also, if you open the back window of the truck, are you able to access what's inside your bed, or does the shell have a window that prevents that?

 

Thank you for the follow up! I am thinking the DC storage is different from the AC, as my rear mounts for the bins are 1 3/4" below the front of the bin mounts. I am going to go with longer spacers.

So you just used 5/16-18 nuts for the underside of the threaded rod to mount to the bin holes? That is the last piece I am trying to figure out, as I would like to keep the plastic bins, of course accessing the nut would be trickery!

 

A 2005 BMW R1200GS to be exact. The pic is from a cross country trip out to the Salmon Challis National Forest, ID to watch the 2017 eclipse.

The 3rd break light wiring isn't hard. Just look for a hopkins trailer wiring harness for your vehicle and just cut off the jumper for the break light instead of using wire taps on the vehicle harness. I didn't bother with additional lighting in the camper shell so I can't advise on how to hook that up. On the 2016+ there's a bed light option. Even though I don't have them I suspect the vehicle harness has the plugs and I could use those if I went with additional lighting options for the cap.

Depending on who makes the cap you may have several options for the window next to the cab. Sliding, tilt-down, or sliding tilt-down Window.


On ARE caps you can see the handle is on the outside of the cap facing the cab. That's so you can open the cab sliding window and then open the cap sliding window w/o having get out and crawl into the back.

 

Yep. 5/16-18 lock nuts and washers slightly larger than the diameter of the nut.

If the front of the bin is flat you could go lower in the front and not quite as high in the back.