'Never Enough' Build'n Chat

My Youtube channel has video's of most of the cool stuff I have done off roading in the rig.


'You can have any truck' is what the wife told me when we start looking for trucks. Raptor, Tundra, Tacoma TRD Pro, did not matter. It was up to me to get what I wanted, that was going to do what we wanted. Full size pickup was just not what I needed. I don't have any large toys to haul around, or a trailer so I just did not need a big truck. The Tacoma TRD Pro was nice, but I could not see myself with all that fancy interior. I also had to get a TuRD gen to have a TRD Pro and I did not want that. It narrowed down very fast to the 2015 TRD Off Road Access Cab.

Bought the truck brand new with 25KM on it in January (Jan 2016). At the time I did not know, or really since it was my 1st vehicle was just unaware that I was purchasing the best TACO I could ever imagine. This 2015 was created in the last 3 months of 2nd gens being built, so it was one of the last 2nd Gen Access Cab Off Roads created. It had all the TSB applied from factory. It has not given me not 1 problem from factory, that I did not cause myself with mods.

I really like the black/orange look and just keep adding more.




How she was on day 1



How she sits today

To quote the wife "This is not at all what I pictured when you said 'Modify the truck slightly'"

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Mods

Wheels and Tires
I purchased some 17x8.5 black iron aluminum rims nice and cheap locally from someone who took them off their Taco. The more abuse they take, the better I feel about how cheap I got them

• Summer - Full set of 5 Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx 255/80/R17
• Winter - Full set of 5 Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 265/70/16

Drive Train

• FJ Cruiser Manual Transfer Case (2008) modded for twin sticks
• ADD delete
• 4WD ECU delete

Trail Armor
Do not ask me why, for some reason I have an armor addiction. The more I put on the rig, the better I feel when off roading.

All-Pro Off Road

• IFS skid plate - Powder coated orange 05/28/21
• Transmission skid - Powder coated orange 05/28/21
• Transfer Case/ Exhaust Skid (modified to be flat, no longer a 2" exhaust protection drop down) - Powder coated orange 05/28/21
• Apex rock sliders - Powder coated textured black for traction as a step for the wife. The color came out the exact same color as the vinyl wrap.
• Rear Braided Stainless Steel brake line extensions.

Marlin Crawler

• Electric Locker Motor Guard - Next on the list for sandblasting and repainting, it sees a ot of abuse from road debris in the winter and got rusty fast.

Total Chaos

• Stock lower control arm skid plates - Powder coated orange 05/28/21

SDHQ

• ABS Sensor skid plates

Mobtown Off Road

• Front Hitch Receiver - Removed 05/29/19

ARB

• Deluxe Bull Bar Front Bumper (ARB p/n 3423130) for 2005 - 2011 Tacoma. Modifications were made to the truck for perfect fitment of this amazing piece of armor.

Trail Toys

• Gas tank skid made of light weight UHMW

Suspension

Front

• SPC 25470 UCA's
• Elka 2.5 DC Reservoir shocks w/ 700lbs springs 04/13/21
• Old Man Emu 2885 Coils Upgraded for ARB bumper 04/30/19
• Old Man Emu 2886 Coils
• Bilstein 5100 Front Adjustable Shocks (Set at the stock 0 setting)

Rear

• Bilstein 5160 Rear shocks 01/20/21
  
• Timbren ABSTRFK Active Off-Road Bumpstop kit with U-Bolt flip
• Old Man Emu EL095R Dakar pack (Medium Duty)
• Old Man Emu ESB108 bushing kits
• Old Man Emu FK29 Driveline Carrier Bearing Drop Kit
• Bilstein 5100 Rear shocks Assspolded 01/01/21

Other Mods

• Rear diff-breather Relocated into the driver side bed box.
• 12V Always On
• Birddawg clear view rear view mirror riser Being 6'3" I was constantly ducking to see under the rear view mirror. All fixed.
• Bed rail mounts Got some rail mounts from @Zac of all trades. Added some quickfists from Amazon.
• Hi-lift Jack rail mounts Got a set of custom made hi-lift jack mounts that @tacoma16 fabricated
• UNI filter secondary air filter
• Painted the Toyota logo On the front grill orange, and added a TRD logo painted orange as well. Redone when ever they are chipped.
• Sparco mud flaps removed 04/01/18
• Vinyl wrapped The entire truck to help preserve the stock paint. I like matte black better than the stock gloss. With the vinyl wrap I had custom TRD decals ghosted under the vinyl for a very discreet look. Removed all stock decals
• Sil protectors From @G Tek Fab, my wife was attacking the sil pretty hard getting in and out. Of course got them powder coated orange.
• ARB Twin Compressor I ran 25' x 3/8" airline with 1/4" NPT fittings on both ends from the compressor to driver side bed box, same spot my diff breather is located.
• Slee Off Road ARB twin Compressor engine bay mount
• Exhaust Reroute The All Pro Transfer Case/ Exhaust Skid was giving me rage. I hit it on everything, when off roading. I had the exhaust rerouted and the skid modified flat to correct the 2" kick-out on the skid.
• Exhaust Chop Removed a section from the rear to allow a larger spare tire to fit under the truck
• Full Size Spare Fit the 255/80/17 in the stock location under the truck
• Small D-Rings in the bed Added these to the rear as they will be perfect for keeping stuff from moving around
• Small D-Rings in the cab I think these are the best thing ever, have them all over my truck.
• Access Cab Interior Removal Need more space in the back to fit an ARB fridge so I removed everything I could.
• Cheap Recovery Boards I got the cheapest recovery boards I could, now I have started to upgrade them. 06/01/19 The cheap boards all exploded.
• Access Cab Folding Rear Shelf This shelf is perfect for the dogs, and the ARB fridge. Fixed all the problems in the back.
• ARB 50Qt Fridge Needed something better than a cooler for my insulin, this solved it. A day at the beach or going camping. It works for it all.
• Larger Jack I realized that the stock jack no longer gets my 33's off the ground in order to change the spare. Added this to the tools in the rig, and made it fit snug and secure.
• Husky WeatherBeaters After seeing how highly rated the huskies where on TW I got a set. 2 years after having these it is clear they should have been the 1st mod.
• Molle Panel I wanted to get a bunch of stuff out of the center console, so I bought a molle panel that mounts to the back of the passenger seat, and started attaching things.
• RAM Mount for my mounting shiz on both the side pillars, one for me, one for the navigator.
• Army Surplus 'Trasharoo' Picked up some 'Italian Ruck Sacks' from a local army surplus, they seem to fit on the tailgate perfect for a cheap trasharoo
• Access Cab Door Latch Covers These look really good, love how they make everything pop when you open the door.
• Rear Brake Line Armor Had to correct an issue with the rear brake lines rubbing on the Dakar leaf pack hangers, made some armor for them.
• Firestik Mounted on the ARB Bumper passenger side antenna mount.
• Cobra 75 WX ST CB I failed to ground my antenna correctly when I moved it to the ARB bumper, along with choosing to delay tuning the Cobra once I moved the antenna, I killed this device.
• Dobinson Snorkle Wanted my rig to stand out a bit more, managed to get my hands on one of the new Dobinson snorkels on the 1st release nice and cheap. Got to cut the body of the rig for the 1st time.
• ActionTrax Recovery Boards Got the new recovery boards in, they feel 100% different from the cheap ones I had.
• Fender Hole Fillers Found the perfect panel retainers for filling the holes left after removing the stock fender flares.
• Flexy Fender Flares Got a good deal from a fellow TW member on large amount of Low Range off road flexy fender flares in the 2.25" wide version
• Warn Zeon 10-S A fellow TW member sold me a winch he could not get to work correctly. I got @TjAeCeOpMAmiah to rebuild it and now its perfect.
• FJ Cruiser transfer case I have got the idea I require twin stix and the ADD delete. Doing it. Started 04/19/21. Completed 05/21/21
• Rocket Launch Toggle Switches These will over ride the (1) locker anytime mod, and (2) spare
• LikeWise Transmission shift lever/knob action satisfaction. I could not shift into Park while in Lo gear. This new shift lever fixed it.
• AUX Switch Bank @Shveet pointed me towards the AUX switch bank for an F-series Ford truck.
• TPMS light disabled using the mod for 2012+ trucks in this thread
• Rigid D-SS Pro LED fog light replacement in the ARB bumper

 

Hey Wes

Great looking build! I love the ghosted decals.

 

Hi Tristian,

Yea I really like the way the decals look as well. You gota be looking right at it to even see em, but then they pop.

I love the way the rig is turning out so far.

Next up is suspension lift!

 

great looking build, i am partial to access cabs myself

 

Late to this party. Subd

 

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Added the ARB twin compressor to the rig, need to get a shot of the wiring and switch install. Could have got a different switch so I didnt have to dremel the hole out as much, but I liked the ARB rocker switch that lights up.

I installed it with the Slee off road ARB twin mount, its a nice mount. Even has a plate for the ARB manifold I am not using currently. So I will drill a hole and tap it to thread in the 90 degree fitting that comes with the slee mount. Then I can have the ARB quick connect disconnect mounted temporarily up at the compressor. I will be running 2 lines with quick connects one out the front somewhere, and one to the rear. That way I wont even have to pop the hood to air up. Just flip the switch and bam.

 

Nice! How was shipping in the slee mount? Thinking down the way when lockers happen. If....

 

Not to be "that guy" but it's "never too much"

Anyways, nice looking truck!

 

That goes hand in hand with the saying "it's done". Lol that will never happen.

 

I know, did it for those 'not to be that guy' guy's.

 

The shipping was $45 USD, I went with USPS instead of UPS. So it cost me $30 CAD when I picked it up for tax. Would have been $50 for UPS crossing the border then $30 tax with it.

 

Awesome. I'll try and remember that when/if I go that route. Crazy how a project can add up so quick. Anywhere I can save I want to lol.

 

Spent Saturday working on the rig. Got all the things airline and compressor done.

Cleaned up the wiring for the compressor. Redone with black zip ties.



Modified the Slee off road ARB twin mount for my needs. Then mounted it.



Ran a 25' x 3/8" airline with 1/4" NPT fittings on both ends, from the compressor to the rear of the truck, mounted in the bed box right under my diff breather with an ARB quick connect.


Could not be happier with how this turned out

Dreamed about it for weeks, then made it happen just as I saw it laid out for me.

 

Looks awesome. Nice work!

 

If I did it over again, I would not use the ARB rocker switch, I would get a flush mount button for beside the A-TRAC button.

I liked the idea of a light up switch and stuff, but I had to dremel the shit outa the hole to get that thing to fit. No going back lol.

 

I hear ya. I put two switches below the hvac controls. I don't mind em.

Plus the no going back deal....you get use to it.

 

I hated the way my sil's looked before I put the @G Tek Fab sil protectors on. So I decided to redo them, sand em a little and a few coats of black, with clear finish came out really well.

 

All I can say is WICKED!