Unplanned Mild '19 Sport Build

When I first got this truck the intent was simply to keep it stock as it was my first new vehicle, maintain it, and use it primarily as a DD while hauling the dogs, mtn bikes and materials for house projects. I had no intentions of changing anything on the truck as I was more into cars, and track days at the time of purchase but with a build thread starting you can se that didn't go as planned.

This "build thread" will run through my previous mods and small trips from when I first got the truck in Jan '19 to it's current state and hopefully track future changes and trips.

Current:


A little background on how I got the Tacoma in the first place, I had lunch with friend who had been eyeing up third gens to replace his first gen SR5 that he had been driving for a while, we caught wind of a local dealer having a 6MT sport on the lot, he was adamant on getting another manual as that's all he has ever owned so we headed up to the dealer so he could take it for a test drive and get a feel for the new transmission. I made the mistake of driving that day, I was currently driving a 2011 TRD Offroad Tundra once we pulled onto the lot we were attacked by salesman trying to buy my truck from me. After some time we got to take the Tacoma for a test drive and I exchanged information with a salesman. After a month of ignoring calls and informing them I did not need a new truck or payment they made me and offer and deal on a new Tacoma that I couldn't refuse.

So this happened on New Years Eve 2018 before meeting some friends for dinner and drinks.
(photo curtesy from my now wife)


Old Tundra:


Now at the time I was not very interested in trucks we just needed one for life, I did not see the point in paying all the extra money for crawl control features I would never use, I never had been or had an interest in off-roading so the TRD Sport seemed like the logical choice for a new DD. I do not regret getting the Sport but now as I fall further don the tacomaworld rabbit hole and start wheeling more a locking diff might be nice but I'll put one in if needed in the future.

Current Mod's

• Eibach Pro Truck 2.0 Coilovers
• Matching rear Eibach shocks
• SPC UCA's
• Icon RXT leafs (setting 1)
• ECGS bushing
• OE Bedmat
• Faux Pro Grill
• 0* sliders locally made
• TRD Pro Skid
• RCI Aluminum Transmission Skid
• RokBlokz mudflaps
• RRW RR5-V (17x8.5 +0)
• 255/80/17 Falken Wildpeak AT3
• N2 designs remote start
• Husky Floormats
• Access Tonneau Cover

The truck stayed stock for a while until a friend showed me Tacomaworld, the mods started slow with a faux pro grill my wife bought me for Christmas.

Then the TRD anniversy sale happened and i picked up a pro skid plate and decal for the hood scoop to try and eliminate the god awful glare on my morning commute.

The Tacoma stayed this way for most of the year as I decided to sell my 2006 wrx wagon as I was just loosing interest in it and wanted a new project. So I sold the WRX and picked a 2002 AP1 S2K.

Old WRX and new to me S2K


At this point i was very happy with the appearance and functionality of the truck, then i found a preorder for RRW wheels at a really good price so i placed my order, this sparked the question of if i would keep the factory tires or change to something else when the wheels showed up so i headed back to TW. after reading way to many threads and reviews on tires and sizes I landed on Falken Wildpeaks in a 265/70/17 as a more aggressive but still relatively stock size that would require no mods to fit.

New Shoes

The Wildpeaks were great in the snow that winter, they performed better on dry pavement and snow than I expected. I am from Northern WI so its cold and not too many changes happen over the winter due to not having a heated garage.

The following spring of '20 I did a couple more small aesthetics' like derping the flares, running boards, and adding a tonneau cover still trying to not fully fall into wanting to modify the truck to much. Most importantly some friends finally talked me into going to a local OHV park, since then I was hooked

Couple pictures i had on hand of the OHV park






The truck spent the summer as a daily driver and mtn bike hauler while I started to think about what I would do to the truck next.



Then my friends and I started talking about how cool it would be to do a week long trip somewhere to do some wheeling, after a night just spit balling we made the decision we were going to head to Moab in the spring and see what it was all about. The planning started and so did some fab work.

First up was a set of bolt on sliders made by one of the friends going on the trip and fellow Tacoma driver.













Fitment was spot on and the tread plate came out better that I hoped I didn't grab any pictures but after the sliders I picked up an RCI aluminum transmission skid and an oem TRD offroad gas tank skid, having a sport I had to tack studs to the gas tank straps in order to mount the skid plate.

 

I decided since I didn't know what to expect in Moab or if the trip would go as planned, the armor was all i was going to do until I got the full experience. Fast forward to May of 2021 we hit the road heading west after a half day of work.

Loveland CO



Made it from WI to Moab


Day 1 first trail we started slow with Long Canyon








Day 2 we visited Courthouse Rock



















Day 3 we hit Fins N Things

not bad for a stock suspension sport




Group of jeep guys had this dog with that was enjoying the trail






First trail damage of the trip


















Day 4 TOP OF THE WORLD

Although I was feeling confident making this far in the trip in my essentially stock truck I felt top of the world's ledges would be too much so I was on spotter/camera duty for this trail. ps if we do this trail again in '22 I'll be getting that iconic picture at the top.

















Day 5 Hell's Revenge











Hell's revenge was a long day and 4 of the rigs in our group climbed hell's gate. While out on the trail the wind steadily picked up through the day and while airing back up it was like having sand thrown in your face. after a long day we returned to camp and found that our tent poles had broken and ripped our tent, everything was covered in sand. Originally we planned on one more night but with our tent done for and everything covered in sand we decided to pack up and start the long drive home.

Moab was great a great experience with incredible views and great people. I learned a lot and had a much better understanding of what was needed to make my Tacoma more capable and enjoyable on trail. In case anyone was wondering Long Canyon, Court House Rock, Fins N Things, and Hells Revenge can be done with an essentially stock truck just go slow and pick good lines and add some armor tho just in case.

 

Freaking epic post man!
So what’s the next big trip with all the guys?

 

We're heading back to Moab in the spring since we barely scratched the surface of what's out there. We are hoping to do one big trip a year for the foreseeable future.

Have a suspension upgrade and some small day trips to local trails to post yet.

 

After Moabi was really impressed with my truck it did better than I would have ever expect, but even with it there was room for improvement

My biggest complaint over all was the ride quality on trail even aired down the stock sport suspension was extremely rough but on road its not bad but I needed a suspension upgraded. I spent a lot of time here on TW trying to determine what work best for me I wanted more offroad performance, improved ride quality on and offroad with a slight lift. I was looking at complete kits from headstrong, R4T, etc but in the ended decided on piecing together my own.

What I ended up with Eibach Pro-Truck 2.0 Coilover's, rear shocks, SPC UCA's and Icon RXT on stage 1 also did the ECGS bushing while I was in there









Comparison after the lift vs my friends offroad on tall skinny 33's


After an alignment, adjusting the front coilovers down a little and settling I got an 1 5/8" of lift front and back keeping the 1" of rake. I have sliders and aluminum skids so not to much extra weight. I did try to run no sway bar for a while but with the softer suspension i could not get over the body roll on my daily commute so I took the swaybar from the cement offroad above and out that in instead of the thicker sport one. This made the on road characteristics of the truck way better then before and was really close to the overall goal of what i wanted in a suspension upgrade. Will give a better review once i get some more miles on it.

While I was ordering and installing my lift my wife started talking about consolidating her vehicles into one, she at the time had a 370Z and Rav4 but really wanted to get into a 4runner, especially since we have been going to fewer track days and car shows over the years and spending more time biking, and outdoors. Somehow with the crazy market we found a Trd Offroad premium with no additional features for under msrp at a dealer a couple hours away. So we sold the Z and traded the Rav in

2021 TRD Offroad Premium 4Runner


Old cars

Not a bad looking garage with a hidden honda


Shortly after getting the 4runner my wife was set on some new tires for her new rig and winter, this actually played out in my favor as my 265/70/17 wildpeaks did great in the snow and happened to be the oe tire size for the 4runner so I ordered some tall skinny (255/80/17) wildpeaks and donated my 265's to the 4 runner.

 

Amazing post man. Truck looks awesome, its so hard to stay stock when there are so many possibilities to make it your own. Also sweet profile pic.

 

After getting the lift and tall skinnies installed me and a couple friends went out for a little day trip to a local area called the Barrons





Got stuck, hit a soft spot and was sitting on the slider




The wife wanted a couple things for her 4runner so we ended up doing amber lamix on the fogs, black emblem overlays, pro rep grill, and RCI 20* sliders.

 

Thank you and yes once I started looking all the different options and routes one can go with these trucks I was hooked. Its been a fun change from low modified cars to something I can take anywhere.