Another Around the World Tacoma

Thanks for sharing! Won't be difficult to spot you, good looking Tacoma you have there.

 

It's an exciting time for the Tacoma.

A lot of money and parts are coming together.

Today was spent upgrading the rear suspension.

Here are the goodies:

Alcan rear leafs, built for 2" of lift at 1,200 lb of capacity.
Radflo 2.5" extended travel rear shocks with external reservoirs
U-bolt flip kit
Wheelers super bumps

Tacoma Work Round Seven by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

We started with this, the OEM rear leafs very close to sitting on the stock bumps while simply parked.

Tacoma Work Round Seven by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

OEM leafs next to the beautiful Alcan leafs

Tacoma Work Round Seven by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

M8 nutserts used to mount reservoir mounting plates

Tacoma Work Round Seven by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Getting ready to torque things down, as it's all in. Simulated the truck being on the ground by putting my jack under the rear diff and raising the truck until it came off of the jack stands. Torqued every bolt to spec.

Tacoma Work Round Seven by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

This just looks goofy now. Reverse squat, and the tires are comically undersized. The rear is now 4" higher than it was with the crushed OEM leafs. I like it, based on head clearance around the side hatches, and the height of the rear door where the kitchen will be.

Tacoma Work Round Seven by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Fronts go on tomorrow. And tires should arrive this upcoming week.

Very, very excited to see it lifted on the 33's. I will finally be able to appreciate all of these expensive parts coming together, transforming how this thing looks!

 

I may have missed it but which brand 33's did you go with? Truck is looking good.

 

Cooper Discoverer ST Maxx A/T, Load Range E, 255/85/R16 (Skinny 33's). Set of 5, matching TRDOR rim being mounted on back door.

 

Let us know when you feel like visiting SPI and Falcon State park @ALI3N_123

 

Only the finest, most polluted bodies of water in the entire state of Texas!

 

At least its not Austin

 

Got the front end lifted on Saturday.

Camburg UCA's, new UCA bolts to avoid bending sheet metal, Wheelers bumps in the front, and 2.5" Radflo extended travel coilovers, with 700# springs and compression clickers.

My friend Will @Sixthelement had a doctors appointment near my house, so he swung by and helped me install it all before we stood around and BS'ed for hours. This was convenient, as all of this stuff used to be his, so he knew how to get it installed and set up just right.

Didn't get any in progress photos, with two of us working things went faster, but the finished product still looks just as goofy without larger diameter tires.

Ditched the front sway bar as well. Will gusset the front spindles in the future, and you lose the ability to have a swaybar at that point anyways, so got rid of it now.

Tacoma Work Round 8 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Tacoma Work Round 8 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

The truck will settle, as it is nowhere near fully loaded in these photos. I'll measure to the frame to see how it compares with XPO's measurements, just for giggles.

Took it for a spin around the neighborhood with Will once everything was torqued down.

Holy hell. I've done a lot of driving on OEM suspension. And plenty on 5160's/6112's.

This is an entirely different experience.

It is not accurate to say it has no problems with speed bumps or dips in the road at speed. It is far more accurate to say that it is if they do not even exist. I am blown away. Forever spoiled. No more entry level suspension for me. Haha

Will and I wrapped up the day by figuring out more additions to the camper, and excellent ways to store things on it.

Spent Sunday preparing the C4 Hybrid front bumper for installation. Also picked this up from Will. Stripped it down to clean it up and remove surface rust.

Tacoma Work Round 8 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

It gets painted today, and hopefully installed this week, I'll see how my schedule looks and what trip I have planned for this weekend. I need to clean the winch and the (4) 4-pod lights that came with the bumper before it can be assembled.

33's should arrive this week. Then an alignment. I need a recommendation for a good alignment shop who understands increased caster, located in North Phoenix, if anyone has one. I can do lifetime Firestone, but I wasn't impressed when I took my 2016 in a few months ago.

 

Sub'd in here. Loving the progression and planning you have going into your truck! Add me to your list of contacts for up here in Show Low and surrounding areas if you need help on anything from spots to camp and explore or fixing anything on the truck and need a shop or tools.

 

Alright, some more updates since having the front end lifted to match the rear:

My 5 tires, Cooper Discoverer ST Maxx AT Load E in 255/85/R16's (skinny 33's), arrived on Thursday at Discount Tire after being shipped from another DT in CA.

Pulled the tires off of the 2021 and loaded them into the 2016.

Tacoma - 33’s Time by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

An hour later the new rubber was installed and balanced and warranted, so back onto the truck they went!

Much meatier, and much heavier.

Tacoma - 33’s Time by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Tacoma - 33’s Time by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

The spare fills the entire rear door. A 33" tire is the largest sized tire that the back door spare tire carrier from Alucab can handle. The door swings open much slower now, but gains momentum by the end of its swing. It's important for me to help it open gently so it doesn't wear anything out prematurely.

Tacoma - 33’s Time by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Before the alignment, no rubbing, even with Rekgen mud flaps installed. This was part of the reason I chose skinny 33's. No supporting modifications for them to fit, and you get all the offroad clearance benefits of the taller tire.

Tacoma - 33’s Time by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I took the truck for an alignment at Network Alignment, located near my home. They are very familiar with modified Tacomas, and came highly recommended from locals. Toe was way out. It drove much better on the way back home.

I took it to ride mountain bikes with the lady and snapped one photo on the way back to it. It is really beginning to come into its own.

Tacoma - New Stance by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Switching gears, my Bluetooth module for the Renogy Charge Controller arrived. This little module allows me to monitor what is happening with the system while driving or hanging around camp, and shares the house battery draw and remaining charge so I can begin to learn what my appliances draw from it.

Tacoma Work Round 9 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I mounted it to the power command center panel I made, right next to the charge controller. You can barely see the green light in the photo below.

Also, (2) 100W Renogy solar panels, rigid, were ordered and should arrive soon. They will be hard mounted to the roof of the ACCC using the built in tracks it came with.

A friend had an extra fridge laying around, so I snagged it from him to get a feel for the size and space my future fridge will take up. It takes up a decent amount of space, but it is so crucial that it can't be done without. Plus, it's quite exciting to finish some rock climbing, get back to the truck, and then immediately help yourself to some ice cream before driving away. Well worth the cost, weight, and space it takes up.

From the side:

Tacoma Work Round 9 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

From the back:

Tacoma Work Round 9 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I got the Adventure Tool Company kitchen bags installed as well. The one on the back wall, behind the fridge, is for toiletries, and can be accessed from both inside and outside of the truck.

The kitchen kitchen bag is located near the rear door, accessible from both inside and outside while standing/sitting at the stove.

I used M8 bolts and the tracks built into the ACCC to mount these bags up and off of the ground. Using the vertical space inside is crucial.

I also added a tan Trasharoo to the spare tire, and found places to mount my (2) 3.5 gallon Fuelpax to the outside of the camper, out of the way. I'll get photos of this soon.

While all of this was going on, I painted the C4 front bumper in gloss black, and covered that with gloss clear coat. Used 8 cans to get it as covered as thickly as I could. I let it cure for 5 days before installing it.

All hardware was cleaned and prepped.

We started out like this, after watching the C4 YT video on how to install their bumper. This is my second aftermarket bumper install, so I wasn't completely in the dark about this modification.

However, I was alone, which I knew would be tricky.

Last time with the unmodified front end:

Tacoma Front Bumper Install by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Fully tore the front end apart, as I was also reinstalling the original headlights from this truck, that I had BHLM'ed, and swapping out the BHLM set from a 2019 that I had been using for a while.

Untitled by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Moved the power steering cooler back with the supplied mounts, and cut everything. I folded the cut front edge of the inner wheel well liner up and out of the way like C4 recommends, and used M5 nutserts to bolt it into place.

Tacoma Work Round 9 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Installed the remote mounted winch controller behind the grill. It has an incorporated solenoid, wired to a switch, so I can easily kill power to the winch if it ever starts to run away with the line. I somehow skipped cleaning this, so I touched it up after the photo was taken.

Tacoma Front Bumper Install by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

All the OEM bits reinstalled onto the truck. The (4) Squadron Sport cube lights were bolted to the bumper, and the Warn Zeon 8S winch was also bolted in place.

Tacoma Front Bumper Install by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

It was the moment of truth. Fully loaded, this thing is over 200 lb.

Hoisted it up by hand, and after a few tries I was able to get the frame horn mounts to catch, and it was on!

Bolted it up, leveled it out, and installed the frame plates, a great addition, as the frame horns aren't sufficient enough when it comes to really hard pulls with the winch.

Tacoma Front Bumper Install by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Fully installed, but not wired at this time. Hopefully today or tomorrow. I have everything to do it, I just need the time to make it look pretty.

New Stance by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Impressions since the last time I shared impressions about the truck:

It drives so nicely. It is very comfortable due to the suspension, even with the tires inflated higher than normal. No swaybar in the front means that it can get a bit tipsy on sweeping back and forth roads, but that doesn't bother me at all. I find it fun in all honesty.

The balance between the length of the DCLB, the lift, and the tire size really brings out the best of the Tacoma. It looks so well proportioned now, much better than stock, and much better than it did before it was modified all the way.

This thing is a monstrosity now. Even though the tires are hybrids, I can still feel a chunkiness about them when slowing rolling away from a stop. It's exciting, but has detracted from the OEM experience (not a complaint, as I knew this before getting into this, just an observation).

It is much taller than before. 5.5" taller in the rear to be more precise. No more head clearance issues (I am 6'3") at the side hatches. It takes more effort to climb in to the cab and the bed, but I don't notice it much.

It is slower now. Much slower. And it takes a lot more brake pedal effort to bring to a stop. Gas mileage is now averaging 16.2 mpg. No gears (5.29's incoming), or KDMax tune yet, and I've heard those will help, so I look forward to getting them done. It doesn't have any issues getting up and going though, easily merges onto the freeway, passes slower moving traffic, and steps away from traffic lights effectively, you just have to lean into the skinny pedal a bit more.

It attracts a boatload of attention. I routinely see people craning their necks in their cars as I drive by them. Random people of all types will stop and ask me about it, whether in a grocery store parking lot, in my driveway, at the climbing gym, etc. I still haven't figured out how to describe it to people. Haha

Up next is the install of the solar panels, once they arrive. I also need to wire up the cube lights and the winch.

It's about time to get a fold down stove tray modified to meet my needs, as the kitchen hasn't received much attention yet, and streamlining that will make camping much easier and convenient.

Until next time!

 

@MR E30 Man I can not say enough for your commitment to your build and dream of traveling. So many mods and builds on this forum but stuff like this is truly inspiring! I hope it all comes together and I’m along for the ride via this thread! Cheers!

 

Thank you my friend!

 

I somehow missed this thread until just now…I’m sooo subscribed to this, awesome stuff so far!!

 

Thank you! It has been a blast thus far. Time to start putting it to use!

 

Alright, winch was wired up this afternoon.

I wired in a 15A 12V switch inline with the power wire for the solenoid. This extra bit of protection will allow me to quickly disable the winch if I ever need to.

You can see the switch in the foreground, simply installed in the plastic air shielding, and the silver solenoid is blurry in the background.

Tacoma - 11 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

You don't need either of these two things, but they are a wise addition. Flip the switch to off and the solenoid opens up, and no more juice to the winch.

I also wired the two large wires from the winch and winch controller, directly to my main battery. No running wires all the way to the house battery for the winch.

I tested the winch and it functions just fine. Spools out and reels back in flawlessly.

Fed out enough line to attach my Factor 55 end link to really button up the front end. Beautiful these pieces are, but very expensive!

I also added (2) shackles to the front bumper, and wedged 7/8" diameter black hose in between the shackle sides and the tab on the bumper. It's a tight fit, which is good, as I dont want them banging around. They just hang straight down now, no swinging.

Tacoma - 11 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

And, one final photo of the rear of the truck. Trasharoo on the spare tire and one of the 3.5 gallon fuelpax's mounted on the side. They just clear the side hatches, are completely out of the way, and look half decent mounted there. They do obstruct a bit of the view while driving, but so does just about everything else associated with this build. Haha

Tacoma - 11 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I love driving this thing around. Mileage appears to be holding steady at 16 mpg.

 

Great build you got going on. Being from AZ as well hope to see your amazing Tacoma on the road someday.

 

Are you planning to install a bigger fuel tank?

 

I keep an eye out for Tacomas everywhere I go, so I'll keep an eye out for you as well. I'll be going to as 4til4 car event on the 26th of this month, in Scottsdale, to show off the truck.