Millsy's Simple & Effective Build

How it sits as of October 2022


The day I brought it home:


I bought this 2013 DCSB 4x4 used from a local dealer with 68,000 on the Odometer in October of 2017.



I also owned this 2001 Ranger that I bought back in 2007 that became a 2WD go-fast build. I put quite a bit of dirt miles on this truck, but it was starting to give me trouble in it's old age. I retired the Ranger a year or so after purchasing the Tacoma. I wanted this new build to be a bit of a sleeper, loaded out with the essentials, but not drawing much attention. The purpose of this build is to be highly capable of exploring the deserts and mountains and getting lost from time to time, yet remaining humble in appearance.



--- THE LOADOUT ---

Front Suspension:
Fox 2.5 Remote Reservoir Shocks
650 lb. King Coils
Camburg Balljoint UCAs
Sway Bar Delete
Energy Suspension Bump Stops
Crown Extended Steel-Braided Brake Lines

Rear Suspension:
Fox 2.0 Performance Shocks - Stock Location
Icon RTX Leaf Springs (Stage 1 Configuration)
Wheelers U-Bolt Flip Kit with SuperBumps
Crown Extended Steel-Braided Brake Lines
Stock Leafs with Wheelers Add-A-Leaf - REMOVED

Wheels & Tires:
265/75R16 Yokohama Geolandar X-AT G016
Pacer Nighthawk 166SB Wheels 16x8
Bora .75" Front Spacers

Lighting Solutions:
Diode Dynamics SS3 Amber Sport Fog Light Kit
Diode Dynamics SSC2 White Sport Combos on Winch Bumper.
KC C2 LED Floods on Cali Raised Lo Pro Ditch Brackets (Installed prior to trips)
3 Light Chase Box behind cab. (Amber Dust Light, White/Amber Alternating Strobes)
20W Flush Mount LED Floods in Rear Bumper
20W Amber Fog Lights with Cali Raised Fog Bracket - REMOVED
Amber/White Amazon LED Dust Light Bar Independently Wired - REMOVED
KC 6" Halogens with Spread Reflectors Behind Grill - REMOVED

Electrical / Comms:
Blue Sea 12 Circuit Fuse Block
100 Amp Circuit Breaker
80 Amp Circuit Breaker for Rear of Cab
Ulincos 19mm Push Button Switches
Always Hot Quick Charge Dual USB Outlet with Voltmeter, and 12v Plug
Rugged Radios VX2200 UHF Radio Mounted in Center Console
Tech-Deck with Ram X Phone Mount
Cobra CB Radio Mounted in Center Console Cubby - REMOVED

Exterior:
US Offroad Low Profile Winch Bumper
CR Front Steel Skid Plate
Custom Car Grills Insert
Stubby Radio Antenna Replacement
Trailer Harness Relocation
Tail Pipe Chop Above Axle
Rear Diff Breather Mod
Uni Filter Mod
Intake Reroute using Ram Air Scoop
Modified Smittybilt/N-Fab Light Bar - REMOVED

Short Bed:
265/75r16 Matching Spare in Stock Location
Bed Mounted Tool Box with Race Jack, Tools, Misc. Gear
DIY Solar Shower with Electric Pump
OBA Secured in Lockable Ammo Can Mounted to Bed Rail
DIY Tailgate Semi-Anti-Theft Mod
KB Voodoo Bed/Tailgate Caps
Cargo L-Tracks and Mounting Points
4x Innovations 4" Rise Bed Bar
DIY Pressurized Road Shower on DIY Rail Mounts - REMOVED
OBA Mounted Above Passenger Cubby and Tapped into Bed - REMOVED

Double Cab Interior:
Silver Trim Painted Flat Black
Husky Front Floor Mats
Quick Release Fire Extinguisher
60% Dog Platform with 60/40 Back Panel

Modifications Sitting in the Garage Waiting for Install:
Rear Shock Relocation Kit
BAMF Front Bumper Reinforcement Brackets


Future Plans:
Front Windows Tinted
Synthetic Line Winch

 

reserved

 

Welcome and nice build!

 

Great looking build and welcome!

 

Love the understated build -- that is what I am wanting to do with my 2012.

Bunch of questions:

The Tech Deck -- did you get the heavy duty version or the standard? I was going to install one as well, saw the the heavy duty version install is quite a bit more involved, but appears straight forward enough with modest DIY skills.

The always hot USB charger/volt meter: did you remove one of the lighter charging sockets and replace it with the dual charger? Did you wire it to the Blu-Sea fuse block or did you connect to the cigarette lighter wires?

Is this the type of

$14 YONHAN 12V USB Outlet Quick Charge 3.0 Dual Charger Socket, USB Cigarette Lighter Socket with LED Voltmeter, Waterproof Aluminum Car Charger Adapter DIY Kit for Car Marine Truck Golf Cart RV, etc.

charger you installed?

Thanks,
DJM

 

@djm68 For the Tech Deck I got the heavy duty one but haven't installed the extra support bar yet. I have my phone mounted 99% of the time and a small tablet only when camping in remote locations for GPS. It's held up well with no shaking of any kind with it just bolting into the sides of the head unit.

For the USB charger, I actually installed that exact one from Amazon. I removed one of the stock lighter sockets and cut away some of the plastic as the charger needs a slightly larger hole. For the wiring, it is connected to the daisy chain of pos and neg cables that jumps from each of my 8 aux push switches, then back to the blue sea fuse block.

 

Love this build! I think the 'sleepers' are pretty cool, I mean as much as I like light bars mounted to every surface and all...

Side note: Do you have any detailed pictures of your bed storage? I've been looking at low profile ways to store everything and haven't found a great way without spending a lot of $$

 

@Millsy Thanks a bunch for the addition info -- most appreciated.

Cheers,
DJM

 

@troopah43 Here are a couple photos of the bed box. The box contains a floor jack, tire iron, wood block, wheel chocks, large bolt cutters, small shovel, hatchet, jumper cables, recovery gear, tie downs, and basic tool box. I still have a good amount of space left over for more gear when I need it on a trip.

 

Spent a few hours this weekend getting my air compressor permanently mounted. Was a bit of a pain in the ass to get it bolted down, but the end result is clean. Mounted the compressor to the top of the storage cubby so it sits between the bed and fender behind the tail light. Then ran the air line to a quick connect in the bed.

 

This thread could use some updated love. I have done quite a bit of work/mods since last I posted:

I went and built a dog platform for the rear of the double cab since my pup rides back there more than human passengers. I removed the stock storage bins to allow for more storage space for extra gear.




I think she likes it!


Not too long ago I replaced the strap on the vertical piece with some rubber hood latches I grabbed from Amazon.



I was cleaning out the garage and stumbled upon a few items. One was a mounting kit for a mag-lite, that I mounted to the drivers seat.


and the other was a clamp on exhaust tip. So far its held up and hides my butchered sawzall job.


Some time went on and I decided to build a pressurized water tube and mount it to the bed side.


It was nice addition...but then having to pull the compressor lines out to pressurize, and turning on the compressor got old real quick. I decided to change things up and add a 12v pump to it.



I cut and modified the tube in order to attach a hose and added an on/off switch for the pump.


I picked up a cubby door and added a lock to it.


Hose and spray nozzle all locked up.



Because I added the 12v pump, I had to relocate my OBA Compressor as it was mounted above the cubby in the fender space. I figured nice and simple was the way to go. I had a spare ammo can lying around and mounted the compressor inside. The mounted the can to the bed rail.


Then to keep honest people honest, I installed a can lock.



A little ways down the time line I picked up a few items:

A tailgate mount from Cali-Raised, for a new CB coax and antenna I ordered:





A battery tray to secure my yellow top:




And some Husky Floor mats for the front seats:




A few months go by then I ordered the Bed Cap Kit from KB Voodoo and man did that clean up the bed lines!





Shortly after I ordered an Add-A-Leaf and U-Bolt flip kit from Wheelers to get rid of the Bro-Lean. Now I need some new bump stops.



Slight rake but it will settle.



And just recently I used a 3M kit to restore my headlights, which was much needed.
Before:


After:



I also installed a usb extension for my phone to clean up power cables hanging on the console.



And then installed some ABS to clean up the aux switches as well as a dimmable RGB LED strip to give some lighting to the console area at night.



I got a few things ordered and waiting arrival, so I'll update this again once those are completed. Quarantine is getting boring/expensive.

 

This thread could use some love...

I was able to get quite a bit of work and modifications done to the truck during the pandemic.

Soon after this thread's last update, my set of At The Helm bed stiffeners arrived and since I was working from home I had them installed the same day upon delivery.





While I was at it installing the stiffeners, I finally got around to installing the rear diff breather mod (the parts had been sitting on my work bench for almost a year)





With the pandemic giving me ample time to clean out the garage, I stumbled upon a shift knob still in the box (most likely for the Ranger, since I needed a thread adapter to use on the Tacoma) Feels pretty good compared to stock.

Stock:


Not Stock:



A couple months go by, and after a day trip out to Anza with a buddy, my steering wheel had finally begun to deteriorate. I ordered a wrap off Amazon and spent a couple hours sewing it in place. The new wrap made a world of difference. I also painted the side panels black to eliminate the oem silver.



Next on the modification list was a throttle controller. I went with a SpeedFrom Controller given the decent price point and overall good reviews. I am thoroughly satisfied with this modification. The truck now had solid acceleration and no bullshit electronic delay.





I eventually got tired of the Cali Raised Fog Light Bracket and Pod and ordered a set of Diode Dynamics SS3 Sports to replace them. Luckily I kept the OEM fog housings and reinstalled them once the SS3's arrived.





On the topic of light replacement...I've had these KC SlimLites for nearly 15 years on multiple vehicles and they are still going strong. I decided to replace the original Spot Reflectors with Spread Reflectors to open the light output more.

Old Spot:


New Spread:



Later on I replace the OEM front bump stops with a set Energy Suspension ones.





After a bit of time, I decided to work on improving the interior of the truck. I sound deadened the rear of the cab and began to install carpet over the matting. I had extra carpet left over from the dog platform.





I also added a rubber mat that I cut to size for the dog platform to give my lab more comfort.




I think she is happy with it!



Continuing with the interior work, I wanted to clean up the control console area. It was still bugging me having rushed the install of auxiliary switches. I picked up a new OEM console piece from my local dealership for a decent price.

I then spent a good week taking my time with drilling, dremeling, wiring, soldering, and cable management to make the console as clean as possible. I installed a new USB/Voltmeter that showed red lighting, as well as a new 12v Plug (both being always hot...drove me nuts that the truck had to be on to use the outlets). I moved the OEM USB/Aux plugover and installed a dimmer knob to control interior red LED strips (One in each footwell, and one below the tech-deck)

I installed the new console and properly labeled the switches.







The Control Center!



Moving on... I then installed a set of L-Tracks to the bed. You can never have too many tie down points.

 

This was a fun install! My wife surprised me with a 56qt fridge for valentines day!



Having a fridge for camping meant I now had an excuse to get solar!! and the wife did not object!

I purchased a Victron MPPT Solar controller to install next to the battery. (I am not running a dual battery setup, just a single deep cell agm) and added a quick connect cable for the panels.


I then installed a fuse panel and 12V outlets in the rear of the cab.



Followed by securely mounting the fridge to the dog platform behind the driver seat.



Ordered a 100W Foldable Panel Kit, then put it to use on a group trip out to JT BLM. This setup did not skip a beat!

 

Over the weekend I installed a larger secondary fire extinguisher on a quick release mount.



And the Amazon emergency led lightbar I modified as a chase bar finally crapped out on me after 2 years. We had a spare trailer light box laying around the warehouse at work that I was allowed to take, so I ordered some LED trailer lights and put together new chase lights. The left amber is on its own switch, while the white and right amber are on another that's connected to a strobe controller. I like the old school/race truck/utility truck looks of it.

 

Here are some photos from pandemic trips.

 

Some more projects completed/WIP.

Cut the back panel of the dog platform into a 60/40 split to give better access to items stored behind it when I have my fridge installed behind the drivers set.





Then added 2 more hinges to give more stability and replaced all the chrome screws with black ones.




Bought a flush mount plug extender for the solar set up. Installed the plug into the nfab lightbar to give easy access when plugging in the solar panels.







Decided I wanted to redo my On Board Water set up:

I bought a compressor box to replace the oem cubby that was currently housing the 12v water pump and hose/sprayer. The box allowed for more internal storage room which is what I was wanting as the oem cubby was at it's limit.

I ordered a selectable valve to toss in the water line. This allows me to pull water form the DIY solar shower tube, or an external water source like my scepter can.



Installed a quick release to the out-port of the pump and the hose.







Just need to swap the latches with locking ones.

 

Dig your build!

Maybe I missed it… but what box did you use for your AUX fuse panel? Thinking about redoing mine and would love to enclose it away from all the dust in the engine bay.

 

Thanks man! Yea I went with an enclosed box since most of my adventuring is mainly desert. Here is the link to the box I used:

$28 BUD Industries CU-3286 Plastic Style A Utility Box 10.15" L x 6.15" W x 3.13" D, Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T5AQPA?ie=UTF8

 

awesome! Just what I needed! was planning on redoing my set up to add a few more fuses and I think I’m going to go this route. It will let me clean everything up, move the relays inside, and just make everything more accessible. Thinking I might add a quick disconnect bulk head plug too it too to make for quick easy removal of the panel for future wiring.

thanks!

 

I've been working on the rear suspension getting it dialed in. Ordered a set of Icon RTX's in December of 2021, picked them up locally in late February 2022, and found time earlier this month to install them.

Currently have them set to Stage 1 configuration:





After getting them installed, the OEM bumps were an eye sore so I ordered a set of Wheelers Super Bumps to replace them.

Old:


New:




I also rerouted the air intake to a front scoop to make room for my compressor that I'm planning on relocating, yet again, to the engine bay. My plan is to tuck a quick connect on the inside of the nfab mounting bar.