EnginerdPA's Build Thread

Figured it's time to work on a build thread. Been lurking on this forum since I got my Tacoma in 2012. It's been hugely helpful as I've learned to do almost all of the work on my own. Anyways, here it goes...

 

My Tacoma is 2009 4dr, long bed sr5 with 153,000 miles on it so far.

• Leer Topper
• OME 885 springs with 90021 shocks in front
  
• OME Dakar Heavy Duty leaf pack with 60091 shocks in the rear
• 265/75/16 BFG KO2

Recently replaced brakes, wheel bearings, and headlights in addition. Just used NAPA wheel bearings due to their warranty and some cheap headlights from RockAuto.

Most everything else is stock.

 

Things I wish I knew before starting down this rabbit hole:

1. Alignments are expensive. Find a place like Firestone with lifetime alignments as you most likely will need more than 1.
2. Something else is always going to need to be done.
3. Don't search for perfection.
4. Working on gravel sucks. Find a concrete pad to work on.

 

I did a lot of work on things this summer as my truck approached 150,000 miles. Turns out things need replaced eventually. One of the first things I did was my headlights. My old ones were full of water, so I just replaced them with cheap headlights from RockAuto and places silicone around the edges.
Before:
After:

 

Water in my old headlight

 

After changing my tires out I noticed that things were really loud. I didn’t think I had that aggressive of tires and then I started to notice a metallic grinding noise leading me to replace my wheel bearings. I went with the entire component rather than pressing bearings and used the part from NAPA due to the warranty.


Part: https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NDP77010691?searchCategory=c3.s9&searchIndex=Universal
Warranty: https://media.napaonline.com/is/content/GenuinePartsCompany/1488003pdf?$PDF$
Pretty easy to change out. Mostly followed this as a guide:

Much quieter ride after replacing them. Must have needed it for a while.

 

I also replaced my brakes this summer with some basic parts kit from RockAuto. Really easy to do.
Followed this video as a guide:

 

The tall topper looks a little dorky, but it has really served me well. I can fit a bike in the back standing up and strapped in so I don’t have to use the bike rack and it doesn’t lay on its side. Also has been great for camping. I bought the topper used on Craigslist and the sell had built a sleeping platform for it which has worked perfect. I can fit almost anything beneath and still have a great place to sleep. Not much room for sitting up but it works great. Love to watch people’s faces when my wife and I climb out in the morning.

 

Replacing the suspension went alright. The front was relatively easy. Replacing the spring pack in the back was a pain to try to get the brackets lined up. I had a seizes LCA cam but I was able to lower the LCA and replace the suspension. So I tried to see what my alignment was like but the shop couldn’t get it adjusted so I had to replace the LCA. That was a pain because the LCA that I purchased from RockAuto just barely fit in the brackets but had to be line up just perfectly to go in. I returned for alignment numero dos to find out that I needed new UCA in order to get my alignment back. Finally I replaced the UCA months later and went from OME 885s to 887s. I’m pretty happy with how it sits now. Rather level with the topper on it.
885s
887s