Deekyn’s build of Kevin the 2015 TRD Off Road Tacoma

This is from December... just wanted to add it to my build page...


Man I’m amazing. The best Tacoma mechanic that ever lived!

or not... But my steering rack swap went so well it was shocking. 2.5 hours yesterday to remove it and about an hour to install it today. I can’t believe how well it went.

Steering wheel is straight, the truck tracks straight. And it fixed the elusive clunking I couldn’t quite figure out. With the wheel off there was some play on the passenger side.



Turns out it was the inner tie rod




Since it took less time than I thought, I changed the front and rear diff oil too today.

Out with the old.


In with the new


So shiny!

 

Drove a couple hours so the wife (Jen) could pick up her new 4Runner. TRD Offroad premium. The blueberry.

We a Toyota family now!

 

Nothing on the roof rack, mixture of freeway, state highways and city, typical NM windy day 13.1mpg on 295s stock gears

 

Heyyy that’s better than 12 mpg!

 

I was just rummaging through your build page and I didn’t realize you had put poly bushings here. Now I’m wondering if this could have helped cause that big crack in the radiator support sheet metal. The factory bushings use a softer rubber, which is not great for longevity, but it does absorb much more energy than the harder poly bushings.

I wonder if it’s worth it to move back to the factory soft bushings especially since that one side with the crack is now weakened

 

Dunno. Maybe. I could try it I suppose. I’m mostly hoping that since I mitigated any rubbing on the inner fender by my 295s that’s good enough. But there are several threads about this and I think it happens with stock bushings too.

 

yeah it looked like it was really thin metal on that radiator support so toyota just didnt do a great job of designing that for hard off road use. but the softer bushings will definitely absorb more of the forces that are travelling up into that support, so might be worth swapping em the next time youre in that area

 

Man she looks different without her camper shell


vs

 

WOW

 

Just read your whole thread. Awesome build and good inspiration thank you. One thing I did notice is, You are Dustin, I am Dustin, your wife is Jen, my wife is Jen. If your last name is chase its gonna be really weird.

 

Ha! Nope. Turns out we are not the same person in some alternate reality. Nelson is my last name

 

Whew! That's good to know. Ha ha. Awesome truck man. I'm jealous of your outtings too. I "lived" down in Carlsbad for a year and a half but never had the chance to go wheeling anywhere with only none day a week off work.

 

Went off roading for a couple hours today for science!! (Or to test the flex of my new rear shock relocate). And see how she rides empty with the heavy duty Deaver u402 stage 3 leaf springs

She’s pretty bouncy without all the weight... but...

That bitch flexy!



Turns out when she’s flexed this much...⬇️ the frame is so twisted it’s actually hard to open and close the door, gets hung up on the access cab door.



Plus got her ass in the air a little bit.

And scuffed up the drive shaft a smidge.



Then managed to break off a valve stem, and had to do a trail tire swap. Good times!

 

It’s funny my wife just got her 4Runner.

She said she didn’t want to lift it, but the more 4runners and Tacoma’s she sees...

She said “I guess everyone must mod their Toyota’s huh? I thought my 4Runner would look burlier...” . Guess we may be modding her 4Runner after all.

Her parked next to mine doesn’t help. Makes a stock 4Runner look so wimpy

 

A little follow up on my Archive Garage rear shock relocate.

Flex for days! I am super happy with my rear set up! hammer hangers with cross bar, deaver u402 stage iii, king 2.5 12” smooth bodies. Still need to get a limit strap though.

I do see that I possibly could squeeze more flex out of the stock shackles if I added poly bushings, but not with these deevers and 12” shocks. They are maxed out at this shackle angle. Guess I should have ordered and 14” short bodies.




With my 3.5” BS -25mm offset SCS wheels with 295/75r16 BFG KO2s the off set is damn near perfect. At full unstrapped articulation, they do not rub. I will need a space when I jump to 35s for sure

 

How are you liking the stage 3 U402? Doing some rough math we are close in rear weight give or take 50lbs. My rear setup also closely matches yours, although I may change my order to 14" King's after seeing that.

 

I like the stage 3s. I’d say honestly I’m a little under weight for them. I was in between. My napkin math puts me at 550lbs over stock. The stage 3s say 700-1000. But the 2s were to 300-500 lbs or something.

But the truck rides great. I assume will break in a little with a few more loaded camping trips.

I spoke with Eric at archive about my 12” Kings and the stage 3s. I know I can get more flex out of the hammer hangers if I put poly bushings in. But as it stands I already am getting the full 12” out of the shocks, so there’s no point, without rewelding the lower mounts.

It seems to me that a 14”, especially a 14” short body would give you even more flex assuming you have hammer hangers and poly bushings in the shackles.

 

Good info on the Deavers. I'm in the same spot weight wise and have been going back and forth on which stage to get.

 

Jen and I just did a quick Moab trip. Poison Spider Mesa and Chicken Corners / Jackson Hole. Nice temps, but windy in the afternoons, sandy AF. Glad we didn’t camp this time.

Seeing all these jacked jeeps/broncos/ SAS’ed tacos, makes me realize how small potatoes all the mods I’ve done to my truck and 295s are pathetic and tiny.



Next step... full cage, bed bob, rear three link, SAS, 40s. . I wish.

 

Wife got an OEM Audio + subwoofer for her new 4 runner, so I inherited her old JL Audio powered subwoofer. Seemed like a good time to upgrade my HU to a KENWOOD DMX9707S with wireless CarPlay.


I got the harness ready service from Crutchfield for $25, so it was all plug and play. However I could not fucking get the HU to fit with the oem harness, the RCA wires for the sub and the aftermarket harness to use steering wheel controls. In the end I detached the factory harness from behind the AC controls and crammed that and all the required wiring in the empty space just right of the AC controls. Now it’s almost wire free directly behind the head unit and it fits like a dream.


the subwoofer was:

But to be honest, I wanted to bolt it to the floor for cleaner bass, and wanted a platform. My solution was to drill holes in the floor and insert rivnuts. And build a simple little wood frame so the box could be mounted upside down, while protecting the sub itself. Now I’ve got pretty damn good bass, and a level platform behind my seat for storage. and the whole thing is bolted down to the floor.