aturk's mid-travel, double-locked, pavement princess

Those are all good products, but ya I agree, in a real world situation you won't be getting anywhere near as long as the companies claim.

I honestly think they suggest toppers and drying aid just to give the illusion that the coating is still going strong. I have Gyeon Evo MOHS and Skin here, but I still don't expect it to last too long. With that said, I should be good with maybe a light polish and not a full cut next time around. I have some of the super white flaking going on the inside of my fenders where you can't see, so I might just wait until the doors start to flake, get everything painted, and then start again.

 

How do you like your SSO bumper? I've been back and forth and I think I've settled on this model over full replacements.

 

I have sold it. They are not made anymore.

I liked the bumper and initially got it for it's weight savings. But there are things I did not like about it, once you cut that much of your fender liners and bumper cover to fit it, there is not much support for the rest of the bumper cover where your fog lights mount into. So because of this, your fog lights will show noticable vibration in the beam output on the road or the trail. Drove me nuts.

Also, SSO uses very thick frame to bumper brackets. Our frame horn brackets (where 6 of the bumpers 8 mounting points are connected) are very weak and thin. You should always run a secondary bumper to frame support bracket such as the one C4 or BAMF sells. BAMF does not fit with the SSO. I had a local make me one similar to C4. The problem is, there's not enough thread left (due to the thick SSO brackets) on the factory frame horn studs, so you need to cut them out and replace with longer grade 8 bolts. Kind of a pain in the ass. Overland Outfitters sells replacement frame horns that are much thicker and would be advisable. They do need welded on however after you cut the factory stuff off.

 

Thanks, this is helpful. I might keep looking.

 

Long overdue update, lots of things in the works.

About 10 weeks out from my 4th ankle surgery in 2.5 years, so that has slowed me up a bit. Got a few quick and easy mods lined up while I can spend more time on my feet/under the truck.

My audio upgrade path went like this:
Kicker/Subaru tweeters and Kicker CS speakers (front and rear doors) paired with factory headunit.
Same speakers but paired with the Kicker Key 200w amp behind the radio.

In the summer, I decided to upgrade to Kicker KS speakers, but only had time to do the front doors before my trip to Colorado and Moab, but the KS's were definitely an improvement (probably because I was driving them with an amp). Unfortunately I've never really liked the speaker brackets Crutchfield sends, they are cheap and the speaker screws strip with anything more than .2ft/lbs LOL.

Last week I finally pulled the trigger, bought the Kicker KS 6.75" rear door speakers, and DS18 tweeters. I also looked around for better speaker mounting brackets but was coming up empty except for Taco Tunes. They have a great option, but pretty pricey for what they are. Unfortunately I didn't want to wait and keep searching so I paid for the Taco Tunes brackets and installed them over the weekend. These things are super stout. And the speaker screws don't strip.

DS18's were a definite improvement, and the rear door speakers sound slightly better as well. Overall, it's a marked improvement over the CS speakers and "Subaru" tweeters. Not sure if the brackets gained me anything except peace of mind and knowing it's done right.

 

Couldn't let @AY_ARONTRD bump to a bigger tire and not follow suit...

Truck went from 285/75/17 C-load Ridge Grapplers to 35/11.50/17 C-load Wildpeak RTs. Truck was never supposed to go on 35's, but since I did the C4 fender liner kit (and already had a DRT FAB CMR) it was a no brainer.

These were chosen as they one of the few 35's in a C-load, they weigh almost exactly the same as my 34's as well.

They are right at about an inch taller, and even though the website had the widths exactly the same as my Nitto's, due to how the tread is shaped, they are about a half inch narrower where the rubber meets the road.

Size/shape difference in the first pic.

 

Also to note, wheels have 25k miles on them. They've always cleaned up well and were ceramic coated when I first installed them 25k miles ago.

This time around, I used Armour Detail Supply's wheel coating and ceramic spray topper. Two coats of ceramic and one spray of the ceramic spray topper.

They REALLY cleaned up the finish and brought it back to life.

 

Wow those legit look brand new.

 

Still waiting for my fabricator to get some time to get my truck in his shop, my truck is still my daily so it will only be seeing some small updates over the next month or two until I can drop it off for a week.

On the agenda:
New suspension front and rear.
JD Fab goodies. Frame brace, steering rack bushings, new cubby.
New swing out rear bumper.
Removing the drawers. They were built in mind for my big trip out west last year, most of my trips are only camping for the night, so I don't need as much space. If anyone is interested I will give you a great deal.
Solid engine mounts.
Weld on diff brace.
UCA double shear.
New lower control arms.

By the time the above is done, I will be close to getting my new daily, which means the truck will be "done" and the updates will slow way down.

This week I was able to do a slight pre-load adjustment (lowered the truck up front a 1/4") and a fresh alignment.

 

Figured I'd bump this with a little update, nothing super fun though.

Installed Wolfbox Rear camera. Nice little upgrade.
Went wheeling once in the last few months.
Pulled drums off to repaint to keep the show truck vibes.
Finally pulled/sold my drawers, which was kind of sad. I had tons of time into these, but the new setup is coming along nicely and haven't seen it in a Tacoma yet.
DRT FAB rear bumper/swingout should be here in a few weeks, that will probably be the next update.
Still waiting on my fab guy to get my truck into the shop for more updates talked about earlier.

 

Clean rig! I really liked that SSO bumper, but it looks like they don't make it any more.

 

deff one of the cleanest/well maintained rigs on here, cheers! You have any desire to SC this beaut at some point?

 

Thanks!

At this point, probably not. My truck is right at 6000lbs with me and a full tank of fuel (and should stay around there). I feel it drives nicely as is, and I don't really want to keep throwing money at it.

I will be ordering my next daily (these last few years are the first time since high school (24 years ago) that I haven't had a second or third vehicle) in the next few months, and that will get the performance mods.

 

Hell yeah. Whats the daily gonna be? Looking forward to getting a second car myself. a fun little project 5 speed 2 door coupe + the Taco is a dream set up for me. I love the MK2 MR2s.

 

Something new with a turbo and AWD and all the amenities

 

Installed the Revv Engineering Tacoma Ditch Light/Puddle Light kit. One of the nicer products I've installed in a while.

https://revv-engineering.com/products/2015-2023-toyota-tacoma-mirror-mount-rock-light

 

Ok couple of small updates, but noticeable.

Waiting for the DRT FAB Swing Out bumper to show up, this is going to add about 120lbs to the truck, so to prepare for the extra weight (I have a custom spec set of Alcan leafs, so I want to be right around what they were spec'd for), I pulled my drawers and sold them to a buddy. I loved the drawers, but they really neutered the ability to use the truck as a truck.

I don't really camp that much, but still wanted the storage the drawers provided. Some days I'll just go wheeling and some days I'll just go camping. Very rarely do I do both at the same time.

My way to solve this is with Milwaukee Packout totes. Expensive yes, but so many sizes available, and solid mounting solutions. Easy removal to get the truck bed back.

I bought a bed/gear plate from Aiden James Customs (unfortunately can NOT recommend them, I waited for a fancy piece of plywood for 6 months with every excuse known to man).

I asked for it without any pre-drilled holes, just the holes used for mounting. This way, I can only drill holes for accessories I'll be using. I used T-nuts in either 1/4-20 or M5 to bolt my accessories into the gear plate with.

I bought some sturdy metal packout base plates from Etsy, these were smaller overall and way beefier than the plastic ones you can buy at Home Depot.

I bought a few lengths of black anodized L-track from US Cargo Control. This will be used in lieu of a fridge slide, but also to strap down a cooler, a tote, or whatever really. Super convenient and low profile. My jack is just a 1.5ton HF jack with the 911 Motorsports conversion. Mounting brackets are from 911 as well.

This setup allows my 35" spare tire/wheel to fit in the bed if needed (until the swing out shows up). I also have a nice Dometic water jug and aluminum mount not shown in the pics.

Overall super happy with how it turned out and how much stuff you can fit into the packouts.

 

Do you have any pics of this? I’ve been looking at Wolfbox or going crazy and getting the Gentex GENFDM3LN since getting a Super Pacific X1.

 

What do you want pics of? I can get them for you.

I bought the mount that replaces the entire rear view mirror so it looks a little closer to OEM. My camera is on the inside of my Alu Cab until I get my new bumper, but may end up staying in the shell as it's nearly a perfect view, just a little too high for using as a back up cam.

 

It would be great to see pics of what the mirror looks like in the interior and what the quality of the rear view image looks like on the mirror. Thanks!