RLx02's build with 5.29s and 35s

January 2022









- Ordered and waited for a month and took delivery September 2016.
- All packages except for JBL

Suspension/wheels/tires
- Icon Stage 1 with Icon progressive leaf pack
- SPC UCA rattle canned silver
- KMC XD129 Holeshot 17"x9" wheels
- 35/12.5/17 Goodyear Wrangler MT/R c-range
- 285/70/17 Nitto Ridge Grappler c-range
- 255/85/16 BFG KM2 e-range

Armor
- CBI T3 aluminum front bumper with mid hoop
- 4x innovation weld-on sliders
- ATH (At the helm) steel high clearance rear bumper with swing arm

Drivetrain
- 5.29 Nitro gears
- Oil catch can (to be installed)


Lighting
- Hylux HID with 4300k
- 20" LED bar
- Auxbeam LED highbeams
- Hyper yellow halogen fog light bulbs
- Morimoto fog lights with yellow laminex
- Auxbeam 32" light bar with caliraised hidden mount brackets
- Auxbeam pod ditch lights with CBI brackets
- Amazon flush mount reverse pods
- CH4x4 bumper bar light switch
- CH4x4 ditch light switch
- CH4x4 rear pod light switch

Interior
- MESO LED map lights
- MESO LED dome light
- OEM all weather floor mats

Accessories
- Warn VR EVO 10-S winch
- Softtopper
- Rekgen mud flaps
- AVS in channel visors
- Customcargrills.com grill
- Locking extra large bed cubby
- OEM bed mat

Other mods
- Fenders trimmed for 35s
- Axle dump exhaust chop
- Cut/hammered pinch weld
- CMC with total chaos fill plates

Future mods
- Chevy 63" leaf spring conversion with 14" shocks
- Extended brake lines
- IFS skids
- OVtune + Dump tube

How to remove trail pinstriping - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-remove-trail-pinstriping.504693/

Auxbeam 32" 5D light bar review - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/auxbeam-32-180w-5d-led-light-bar-review-bumper-mounted.534542/

Auxbeam F16 LED high beam bulb review - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/led-lighting-conversion.436865/page-84#post-17233751

 

My first wash and wax for my truck. Probably about a week after I brought it home.



On my old XJ I crunched the cab wheeling so the first mod was the 4x innovation sliders. Weld on; stronger and lighter than bolt ons. Also way cheaper. $280 shipped.



Took it out to the mountains for the first time for some pow pow action.



In early 2017 I decided to go with Icon stage 1 shocks because A) Primarily will be my DD and mall crawler and I wanted to get rid of that super soft stock suspension. B) Not doing any highspeed desert stuff that the big 3 companies are doing C) Good price point.



So far I haven't broke the top hat or had any issues leaking. They've been great for all the bad press they get on this site.

 

Thought I was going for the broverlanding life so I bought some bars, but ended up selling them since I didn't want to rock a RTT all the time.



After the lift and sliders were installed went wheeling for the first time with the truck. It did great at Tahuya. Sliders saved me from banging into a tree.

Derped the grill at some point. Still holding up great 2 years later with no peeling.





Went to a lake in Eastern WA and did a little exploring.





Borrowed my buddy's spare skinny 33's and we did a overnight wheeling and camping trip. KM2s are great off road tires but sucked on the road.





Super steep hill climb













Got a set of new SPC UCAs for a great deal and painted them silver because why not.



My cab isn't correctly aligned so installing one side was a breeze while the other side was a royal PITA. In hindsight, I should have just bought the extra bolt and just sawed off the original one.

 

Looks good!

 

Nice Truck!
I too have been avoiding making a build thread...

 

Got some new wheels. KMC XD129 Holeshot wheels 17x9. I got them for a screaming deal so I couldn't pass them up.



Also got hooked up on some Nitto Ridge Grapplers in 285/70/17 c-range. Great tire thus far.



Not too much later went snow wheeling for the first time. They were awesome! Also picked up some AVS in channel visors at some point.



Started working on my brolighting. Looked into different light bars that didn't cost an arm and a leg since I would barely be using these. I looked up caliraised and found that they are exactly the same as auxbeam but just rebranded and over 2x the price. I believe I paid a little over 80 for the 32" bar while it's close to 300 for the exact same thing from caliraised. I did end up going with caliraised's hidden mount for the 32" bar since no one else had one at the time.



Went with CH4x4 light switches and placed it in the blank.



Managed to get a set of MESO custom LED map lights. Way better than OEM or aftermarket bulbs.



Got the matching dome light as well.

 

Picked up a used softtopper at a great price. One of the best mods I have for the truck. Keeps things dry on the inside, folds down flat in a minute and only weighs a few pounds. Visibility isn't the best when it rains since you have to look through 2 plastic windows and there are no side windows but just check your blind spot the old fashion way and use your mirrors and you're good.



We sold our family beach house many years ago but still loved the area. Rented a place north of Cape Kiwanda in Oregon with some friends and hung out the beach.



Did some wheeling at Sand Lake a little further north. Shoulda aired down for the super sugary sand, but whatever. Had a blast.

 

Did a 3 night, 4 day overland and wheeling trip through the bottom half of the Washington State Backcountry Discovery Route (WABDR).


Started at the Bridge of the Gods crossing the Columbia River in Oregon into WA.







This was my buddy's last camping trip. He was getting old and was able to get him into one last trip out with the boys. RIP Kiba 2006-2019

 

Ran into a log during the wheeling trip. We were able to punch it back out and amazingly there was only a minor scuff. No spiderwebbing or cracking in the paint. But I knew that this would be a pain point later on so I took the plunge and bought an aluminum CBI T3 front bumper. A local shop had them in stock actually so I didn't have to wait. I didn't have to pay for shipping either, so I basically got the powdercoating for free.




Had to take off the old 32" light bar but it was well worth it. I bought some CBI ditch light brackets and put in some auxbeam pod lights at some point in time too.



Did a Christmas tree run with my fam and my buddy.

 

Got rear ended November 2018 by some dude rubber necking an accident at about 25-35mph. Amazingly only my trailer hitch was scratched and my driver side corner was busted/scratched.



His minivan needed to be towed away. State patrol was amazed on how little damage there was for how hard he hit me. They witnessed the whole thing fortunately since they were there for the existing accident.



After a while I decided on ATH's high clearance rear bumper. I drove without BSM turned on for a month and realized I don't need it before I pulled the trigger. I believe I was on the first people to have a non prototype version of the bumper and for sure, the first one in WA state.



This was the first time I'd be using a paint gun instead of rattle canning. I think I did a pretty decent job for using a cheap harbor freight gun.







Drank buncha beer, had some friends over and made the plunge and cut my bedsides.



Also did the axle dump cut on the exhaust.






Bought some el cheapo Amazon flush mount flood lights. I took them apart and sealed them outside and inside. We'll see if they get condensation on the inside or not.



Finished painting the swing arm and mounted it on.

 

Nice build!
How do you like the SPC?

 

They're great. I love that they're adjustable and it fixed my positive camber issue. Also I'm thinking about taking a little castor off up top to make space for the tire since I still rub a bit. I don't jump or go on the whoops at 50mph so no need for uniball UCAs that squeak and need lubrication every 2000 miles or whatever.

 

Very nice build. How much does the T3 ALU number weight in? Considering going that option as well.

Cheers,

B_C

 

Thanks! I believe the aluminum one is around 40 pounds and the steel is 100 or so. I didnt have to adjust my coils at all when I installed my front bumper.

 

Took a day trip out to Poulsbo to pick up some wheel spacers from another member. Looks like winter gas is over and I'm getting a corrected 18.6mpg with all my mods. Not bad.

 

Great weather here in the PNW and it was bath time for my truck.

 

Rear bumper is sick

 

Thanks! I need to do just a little fiddling with it though. I think maybe drop it a 1/4" inch or so, the bottom of the tail light is rubbing just a little bit on the the bumper and has rubbed off some of the paint leaving the primer exposed.

How much longer until you get yours?

 

Thanks for the tip. Im in iraq and wont be back till February.. so i told him basically take your time and have it arrive when i get back

 

Ugh, I was there 9 months for OIF III back in the day. That's one deployment I don't miss. Stay safe.