13 DC TRD - Post Jeep Build

Nope, no control arms, turns out I didn't need them after all. The wheel spacers were causing my ride quality issues it turns out. Removed them and everything rides nice and the steering wheel is nice and responsive, not "mushy" like it was before.

 

12-06-2014 -- HID Headlights / Foglights
These are SOOO much better than the stock lights!!! (link)

I went with the following from Slimcubby and am super happy with the color & brightness so far:

• Headlights: H4 Bixenon - 6000K Hyper White - 35W - Slim Digital Ballast
• Fogs: H11 - 6000K Hyper White - 35W - Slim Digital Ballast

12-06-2014 -- Replaced Baja Rack with OEM Roof Rack
I pulled the Baja Rack off and installed the OEM Roof Rack as a MPG experiment. I haven't used the Baja Rack nearly much as I anticipated.

My average MPG with the Baja Rack -> 14.1 MPG
My average MPG with the OEM Rack -> 16.6 MPG!!!!!

Sooo..... Keep your eyes open for a barely used Baja Rack in the for sale section soon =)




12-07-2014 -- Diff Breather Tube Extension Mod
Super quick and easy for peace of mind. Low breathers + mud is how I demolished my front Dana 44 and rear 8.8" axles in my '92 Bronco. (link)


12-08-2014 -- LED License Plate Lights & 3rd Brake Light
Got these from csjumper2003, highly recommended. link.

 

Just a note. Did the same lift as you and just got my truck back tonight. Its a 2015 Tacoma TRD Sport DC.
We did the UCA's and all I can say is that even with the tires way to high it still rides bang on even with all the stock wheels in the back.
The alignment shop said it helped a ton with the alignement as well.

Just a note.

 

Thanks do you have any current photos of the truck without the spacers?

 

Side View

• CBI Sliders w/ Kickouts
• Replaced Baja Rack with OEM Roof Rack

Front View

• Spacers removed. Stock TRD wheels now with no spacers.
• HID Headlights / Foglights
• 32" LED Light Bar mounted behind lower grill

Back View

• Rear Facing LEDs (between tailgate and bumper)
• LED License Plate Lights & 3rd Brake Light

Bed View

• N-Fab Sliding Channel Mounted Tire Rack

 

HID Headlights


HID Headlights + HID Fog Lights


HID Headlights + HID Fog Lights + LED Light Bar


LED License Plate Lights


Coming Soon:

• Redline Hood Struts (link)
• LED Rock lights
• LED Under-hood lights
• Trailer Harness Relocate (link)

 

12-18-14 -- LED Reverse Lights
Installed a set of LED Reverse lights I picked up from Amazon (

$15 JDM ASTAR Super Bright AX-2835 White LED Bulbs For Backup Reverse Lights

link).

New LED on left, old bulb on right:


New LED on bottom, old bulb on top:

 

Very nice truck! What lights did you use between the tailgate and bumper? Any pics of what they look like on? How well do they light things up being tucked up in there? Looks like a great idea!

 

I used these:

$23 Shoreline Marine LED 8" Strip Light, White

Shoreline Marine LED 8-Inch Strip Light, White. There is a very definite lower cut-off where they are blocked by the bumper, but they work pretty well to add extra light when I'm hooking up to a trailer at night.



Here you can see the cut-off pretty clearly, this is from about 15ft away from the wall with no other lights turned on.

 

12-21-14 -- Center Console Switches in OEM location
I ordered these from aironboard.com. They fit perfectly in the OEM locations (where the heated seat switches normal go).

I used the passenger side heated seat harness that was present to pull +12V, GND, and Illumination +12V (when headlights are on). I shared that between both switches and ran each output to 2 Relays in my Power Distribution Center under the hood.

Unfortunately I left some pry marks when removing the filler blanks




12-21-14 -- Under Hood LEDs w/ Hood Pin
I installed most of a 16.4ft strip of LEDs (

$9 LEDwholesalers 16.4-Feet Waterproof Flexible Ribbon Strip with 300xSMD3528 LED in Silicone Sleeve 12 Volt, White, 2047WH

link) and wired them up to turn on automatically via a hood pin (

$10 INSTALLATION TECH 8607 PIN SWITCH

link) that I installed just to the left of the Drivers Side headlight.

Went from no light at all, to tons of light! It spills out from the hood area too and might even be enough to change the front tires in a pinch.

Also, I didn't realize I ordered a 5-pack of hood pins, so if you are in the Austin, TX area and want one for free, just let me know, I've got 4 extras!!!

 

12-22-14 -- All-In-One Key / Remote Combo
I picked up an all in one key / remote from ovnisf (web-store link), a.k.a. neneago (forum link).

I went and had the key cut at Home Depot (they did it for free since I was buying other stuff). Then I programmed it using TechStream and the Mini VCI cable I bought (link to cable). Finally, programmed the lock/unlock/panic (instructions link) and it all WORKS!!!

Great quality key based on first impressions, and now one less thing on my key-ring.

 

12-22-14 -- Finished up Onboard Air installation
I used the VIAIR 200 PSI Ultra Duty Onboard Air System (

$589 Viair 20001 PSI Ultra Duty Onboard Air System

link). I mounted the air tank and compressor under the bed where the spare tire originally sits.

Today, I finished everything up by routing the final air hoses, painting some brackets (not all, but most) and tidying up a bit.

I still need to do a little more painting of the steel air tank mounting brackets, and build / attach a splash shield to protect the compressor from the elements, but other than that, it's pretty much done.

Warning, long post with lots of photos below:

Compressor brackets primer and paint
These brackets were bent from some 1" flat steel using a bench vise and a BFH. They run from the driver side frame rail to the spot where spare tire lift hoist was originally mounted.





Frame mounting location holes drilled, primer, paint
The red arrows show the new holes I drilled in the frame to mount the compressor brackets.

You can also see in the first picture where the original spare tire lift hoist mounted to the 4 other small holes (obviously hoist is removed now so I can mount these brackets here).





Air Compressor & Brackets mounted
I used the mounting hardware that was included in the Viair kit for the compressor to bracket connections, and all stainless steel hardware for the bracket to frame connections.




2.5 gallon Air Tank Mounted
The air tank is mounted to two square steel tubes, each of which are then mounted through the bed. I used the square tube because the air tank mounts didn't line up nicely with the indentions in the bed.

This way, I could drill my bed in the low parts (top side) and mount to the steel tube, which is then mounted to the air tank. Again, all stainless hardware used here.

I still need to pull it all back out, sand, and paint so the rust on the steel doesn't get out of hand.





Pressure Switch and Air Out
I mounted the Pressure switch (165 PSI on, 200 PSI off) directly to the tank. The Pressure Switch controls the air compressor power.

I can also turn on / off power to the Pressure switch (and subsequently the compressor) via 8awg cable run to a relay under the hood which is actuated by a switch in the cabin. This way I can leave it off most of the time without the pressure switch randomly switching the compressor on / off.

The yellow air out hose routes up to the passenger storage cubby.




Air Out Hose
The yellow air out hose comes from the tank through a hole I drilled in the bottom of the passenger side storage cubby. I've got the hose held in place via some zip ties so it doesn't slip back through, and I can coil it all up inside of the cubby and close the door completely.





Air Accessories and Compressor Intake / Filter
I mounted the compressor intake / filter in the Drivers Side storage cubby, which should keep it dry, cool, and clean. The rest of the cubby holds the 30' coil hose and tire inflation gun that were included in the Viair kit.

 

Sub'd...Clean setup. Good job OP! Glad to see you're planning on building a "skid/ splash guard".

 

01/02/14 -- Pop a lock (

$101 Pop & Lock PL5400 Black Manual Tailgate Lock with Bolt Codeable Technology for Toyota Tacoma

link) & Receiver Hitch D-Ring (link)


01/07/14 -- High-Lift mounted on N-Fab bed tire carrier

• FourTreks Aluminum Modular Hi-Lift Mounts (link)
• Daystar Jack Handle Isolator (
  $35 Daystar Jack Isolator Handle Black
  link)
• Hi-Lift Neoprene Jack Cover (link)

01/24/15 -- ECG Fabrication Raptor Grill (link)
Old vs. New:

 

02/02/15 -- Hood Crushing Shelving Epic Fail
So, my garage shelving collapsed overnight, smashing my hood. About 300lbs of crap resulted in some serious dents and scratches. Body shop quoted it at $700 to fix, stealership wanted $1475 (seriously!?!?!).



02/10/15 -- New Scoop Hood Arrived
I ordered a scooped hood (Martin's Hood; Part Numbers: 5330104210, TO1230223; eBay link) & the scoop insert (with all seals & hardware; eBay link) for around $325 total. Estimating another $200-$300 for paint.

It had a few bent edges from shipping (drivers front corner and front lip next to grill on passenger side) but the damage was really pretty minimal for LTL truck freight. I was able to bend everything back into place by hand and now everything lines up nicely.



02-14-15 -- Scoopz!!!
I transfered all of the gaskets, bumpers / spacers, and washer fluid nozzles / clips from the old hood to the new and it all fit perfectly. The big hood standoff bumpers screw out, everything else has those pesky clips, but I've got a decent set of interior panel clip tools that made the clips pretty simple to get out without breaking.

I got the new hood and scoop insert test fitted. Looks great! Now I just need to get it painted (once the tax return gets here).

 

Really love your build, congratulations!
Considering upgrading to 255/85R16 tires on my stock OR wheels like you did - is there really no way to keep the spare in the stock location? Prefer to carry two spares off road, not really possible to have two in the bed.

 

You could probably keep the spare in the stock location. You will have to trim the stock spare tire brackets off (see earlier in my build).

Mine was also getting cooked by the exhaust, you could easily add a heat shield too and that should do it.

 

02/28/15 -- FJ Illuminated Fog Light Switch

I hated the fact that I could never tell if my fog lights were on or off unless I looked to see if the switch was physically depressed.

I swapped out the original switch with an FJ switch since it has a status LED. Part Numbers I bought from toyotapart.com:
1 x PT297-35070-AS AUXILIARY SWITCH FJ
1 x 90980-10933 HOUSING, CONNECTOR, FEMALE
2 x 82998-12340 TERMINAL, REPAIR W/ WIRE

The "Terminal, Repair w/ Wire" were the extra two wires needed since the FJ switch has 6 positions and the Tacoma only has 4. These are the two super thick green wires in the images below.

The FJ switch came with a green LED for the status indicator and an amber LED for the illumination. I swapped the amber LED with the green LED from my OEM Tacoma Fog light switch so that everything matches. They just twist out / back in super easily.

Installation was super simple. I pulled apart the lower dash, released the 4 x wires from the Tacoma connector (using a little jewelers screwdriver to push up the tabs holding in the wires), plugged the wires into the FJ connector, added two extra wires and jumped them over. These 2 extra wires are used to power the status LED. I followed the following wiring scheme when connecting the FJ connector:

Pin 1: Green
Pin 2: White / Green
Pin 3: Blue
Pin 4: Black / White
Pin 5: Jumpered to Pin 1 Green
Pin 6: Jumpered to Pin 3 Blue





Fog Lights On, Status LED Illuminated:


Fog Lights Off, Status LED Off:


All Lights Off (on stalk), Fog Light button still depressed, LEDs off:

 

^^^ That is freaking rad.

EDIT: is there a step by step thread for removing the lower dash?

 

I figured it out by trial & error, but it looks like this thread has comprehensive instructions & pictures. Follow those, but stop when they start using the file to open up the holes.