Hello! from me and my Access Cab

I have used this site frequently and figured it's time to try and give back to the community, if only in a small way. Thanks to everyone who has helped make this an amazing resource. I wanted to start adding my experience with the Access Cab Long Bed model since there seems to be way less build info on them.

2013 TRD Sport ACLB v6 6Spd Manual Spruce Mica 109k Miles

my not-entirely complete list of things done so far

-de badge
-removed mudflaps
-Bilstein 5100's front (set at .85") and rear (non-adj)
-OME 1.5" Lift Coils
- Deaver 1.5" aal
-SCS Bronze wheels
-BFG AT KO2
-Wheel Spacers
-Custom made rock sliders
-Some black spray paint on the grill



I just finished putting on my lift this afternoon, and am planning on getting my alignment done tomorrow. The ride enhancement is already HUGE over the stock Bilsteins even without it being properly aligned. Before my truck would wander very slightly on the highway and even a couple friends mentioned that it could be hard to stay in a lane at highway speeds. That is no longer the case, even before alignment. I can't say enough about the customer service at Headstrong Off-Road. So far this seems to be an excellent budget lift (less than $900 including paying a friend to help with the install).

There's more I'd like to do like build bumpers, maybe a softtopper, and eventually

 

Welcome nice truck .

 

Welcome to the Forum and Congratulations on a very nice Truck!

 

Welcome aboard. Love that color. Here's one to ya

 

thanks guys, I got 10 hours in my front bumper last night and some today. I was kind of wary of how it looked at first, but with a couple more days of work I think it'll come together pretty nicely.used a hydraulic tube bender for the inside curves, then mitered the outside ones for a little diversity...mounting directly to the crash bar mounts. I just used the plates on the crash bar as a template and then figured out where I wanted my lower horizontal bar to sit on the front end. I spent way too much time trying to get everything to sit perfect, when I should have just waited until I tacked it together to make small adjustments.
bling bling skipped a couple of steps but basically the top horiz bar is a copy of the lower, just left longer and with miters on the ends to wrap the headlights a little bit better. Fully welded, end caps on, ready for test fit. I did my best to go slow (keep it from getting super hot) welding to not distort the material and made sure when I tacked it up to put the tacks in locations that might want to pull more, but it still warped some and I had to die grind out one set of holes on the mounting bracket...
test fit looking pretty good, I chopped the plastic wheel well things and am planning on using my flood light wires for some upgraded lighting that sits in the bumper. My idea is to get steel mesh to fill in most of the negative space with two lights behind it, and run some type of skid guard down to protect radiator. That cross bar for the original skid plate will probably get chopped as well. Will probably use duplicolor truck bed liner to match my sliders, I really like the way their finish came out. any ideas/critique greatly appreciated!

 

waiting on two round lights to ship that will mount behind the expanded mesh in the middle, then need to figure out what I'm going to do for the lower portion that goes down over the radiator toward the skid plate

 

moved back to Western NC, havent gotten too much more work done other than some lights. Starting to look for new tire options, cooper maxx's, duratracs, or other AT tires that are good on the road. I live on a farm with really steep property and some hard to access areas for work. Have 265's on it now and I'd like to size up a little. Gimme a holler if anyone's in the Boone area!