All Beef Taco’s 2010 Tacoma Build

Hey TacoRado, welcome to Tacoma World! I'd love to see how yours turns out. I did paint my wheels. There are a number of good tutorials on how to do that both here and at many other sites online, but I found this one the handiest:

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1612987#post1612987

Good luck and hit me up if you need any help or tips!

 

Here a some more pics from a recent wheeling excursion:

 

very nice truck

 

NICE

 

After a couple of years spent hemming and hawing over the thought of drilling through a perfectly good fender, I finally decided to take the plunge and install a Safari snorkel.

There are already a few detailed posts about how to do this elsewhere, so I'll skip the details, but here are some pics of my steps along the way. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. This was no small task and the project was filled with lots of weird little kinks and quirks to figure out.

I will share a couple of things I learned-- when drilling, definitely use step bits only. The sheet metal can be surprisingly soft, and regular bits can chew things up if you don't have the right technique/speed/touch. I lost a step bit at some point in the project and then tried to make due with a regular bit... it was not nearly as nice or easy! So that, and use a metal nibbling tool if you can get one for enlarging the large hole. I actually own one and completely forgot to use it, instead going with a small sawzall, which put a couple of small dings in my fender.

Anyway, here's the good stuff:


...and so it begins!


Using the custom Tacoma template as included when I bought the snorkel from Cruiser Outfitters. Kurt was great to work with, by the way!


Yikes, all the holes drilled out and everything went along just perfectly... at least until I unknowingly made a couple of small dings while using the aforementioned mini sawzall to elongate the big hole.


Stock air intake plumbing. As you can see from all the mud splashes, a snorkel was long overdue. I was blown away by how much dried mud I found in the intake hose and box... all the way up to the filter. Yeah, it was time for a snorkel. Did I mention, I like mud?


Newly routed plumbing all set. I followed Barlowrs' method from his snorkel install, hacking off the large box from the end of the OEM flexible hose and joining the snorkel hose to it with a piece of 3" muffler pipe and a 3x3" flexible plumbing connector . As you can see, my iPad came in quite handy for referencing that day!


Finally done!

 

Here's a little mod I added to my bumper that was cheap, functional, and easy. I found these diamond plate style rubber mats at Harbor Freight for about $5 a pop. They're self-adhesive backed, and each sheet will make a perfect set of two pads for the two large flat areas on an ARB bumper. This gives you a perfect grippy spot to lay tools, recovery gear, etc, on the bumper.

 

Very cool build man, how much have you invested total (not counting the cost of the truck)?

Also, how's business being an FFL in this economy? Speaking of which, you've shown us no guns so far. I am disappoint!

 

Eh, more than I'm willing to admit, although I can tell you I also saved hundreds if not thousands by doing all the work myself, minus the Toyota TSB springs. Oh and thankfully, being an FFL is always good business... especially around election years!

 

Did you make it all the way over that trail to the end? Even the rock garden at the top?

Where else on the Front Range do you go? I'm up in Boulder.

Also, where did you get the snorkel from?

 

Yep, I sure did. I actually came from the other side, past the Rock House and such on the way to the mud. I love that trail... it has to be one of my favorites. I go anywhere around our general area if it's not too far. I can usually only swing a day trip though, with my usual work/family schedule. How about you MSU? Feel free to shoot me a PM anytime! Oh, and the snorkel came from Kurt at CruiserOutfitters.com.

 

Is it easier coming from the other side? I've only done it from the Rollinsville side. And did you drag at all anywhere in that rock garden? When I did it I didn't have a good amount of clearance so I dragged a lot. Have you done any deep mud/ water crossing since getting the snorkel? I know of a pretty deep water one up off of the Peak to Peak Highway. I think it's called Saint Vrain or Conney Flats.

 

I would say it's a little easier coming from the opposite side, near Alice. That way more of the steepest parts (like the narrow sections coming down to the viewpoint overlooking James Peak and Little Echo lakes) are downhill. I have never dragged on any part of that trail, but then again, I also never tried it before I put in my lift and tires, either. I have yet to test the snorkel out since I just put it in the other day, but Middle St. Vrain/Coney Creeks is on the list-- there's some deep water around there.

 

Here are some more pics from another run through one of my favorite trails. Wish I got a pic of the Jeep guys' faces when they saw my "temporary tan" mud paint job!

 

Nice looking truck man!

 

Why have I not seen this build before!? It is like my ferternal twin!