Blue Thunder Build Thread with Danger Dave

Hey everybody!
Here is my truck as it sits currently.

I have had my truck for about 13 months and have wanted to make a build thread for a while. I finally gather all my photos up to date and will try and complete some DIY's.

Enjoy!



^The first day I bought her in October 2015



^Immediately got the front windows tinted at 20%



^4wheelparts.com has a 20% off and free shipping over Thanksgiving/Black Friday weekend. Method NV's 16x8. Wrapped with 265/75/16 BFG K02's.



^A cold morning in the parking lot in Skykomish WA before heading up to Stevens Pass for some skiing.



^A shot of my whips all shined up. Picture taken January 2nd, 2016. Sold my B5 S4 in September 2016.



^Right after getting my Leer 100XR canopy with the Adventure Sport Package. The Adventure Sport Package includes cargo net that hangs from the roof on the inside, roof tracks, Thule cross bars, Thule Ski Holders, 3-12volt plugs inside the canopy, LED light, and inside carpet headliner. Also had coupon for free upgrade to the removable slider window. Paid about $2500 after tax. Really love having the canopy and worth the money in my opinion. I have practically lived out of my truck at times. By choice of course on road trips and camping.



^Breaking everything in at the mountain. It has been great getting the wet equipment up on the roof and being able to keep all the rest of my gear stowed inside a huge trunk! I have had 4 people including myself loaded up and a great day on the mountain with plenty of room in the cab and all our stuff secure in the back.



^Comparison of the LED back-up lights I got off Amazon. Left side is new LED. Right side is stock. Really have been helpful at times when it is dark out.



^Couple shots after a cleaning and with the ski rack removed. It takes seconds to remove our install thanks to Thules foot design. Just push a button and lift.



^Put in some raptor lights that I got off Amazon. They ended up being cheap and the lenses fell off. I took them out eventually as I also had them spliced in not very well. I have received a new BAMF Economy Grill and ordered some Oznium's which are much nicer. They should fit better and I will look to document this upgrade soon.



^A camp trip from earlier this summer out near Mt Rainier in WA.



^The sleep set up in the back. This was on my birthday in August!



^A close up of my platform set up. It uses two 2x6's as cross support. Had to cut notches in the ends so everything sits flush. The boards are 4 pieces cut, 3ft long by 28.5 inches wide. Carpet wrapped.

 

Trips

Most recently I went on a road trip starting in Seattle and drove to Schweitzer mountain in Sandpoint ID. Then up to Nelson BC for 3 nights and 2 days of skiing at Whitewater. We then took a day off to drive from Nelson to Vernon where we stayed 3 nights and skied 2 days at SilverStar Ski Resort.


^SilverStar parking lot.

^SilverStar

^On the way from Nelson to Vernon

^Heading up SilverStar Rd

 

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Nice rig

 

Nicely done

 

Love it! You got this in October '15? Where from?? I got mine the beginning of that month, too, and I could not find a blue one anywhere in any model

 

Yup, right around the middle of October 2015 from Michael's Toyota of Bellevue. They had to trade it with a Seattle dealer who had it allocated to them. I had to wait about a month to receive it as well.

 

I love that color! Added accents in it to my MGM. My car was toast though so I couldn't wait for any! Oh well!

 

Did you get the shell from Leer's website?

 

I bought it from a local canopy dealer. I won't say their name because I would not recommend them. But there should be someone in your area that is an authorized dealer for Leer. I do love my canopy just not the people who installed it. Had several installation issues.

 

haha that's exactly what I'm worried about. There are about 2 shops out here and they both look like trashthe reviews say alot. Thanks man

 

I'm in for the best build title ever!!

And a great looking rig too!

 

Got a question about your Leer/Pop N Lock setup: Are they tied in together? i.e. does your Toyota fob unlock your Leer camper, or do you have 2 fobs? Thanks!

 

So I installed the pop N lock for my tailgate myself. Basically have to run the wire into the cab. Pretty easy to do on the passenger side and then under the passenger kick plate it taps into some wires for the trucks power locks so now my normal truck fob will lock/unlock everything. The leer installer basically followed the same path I did for the canopy's window lock. Sometimes when it is cold out the tailgate has trouble locking so i'll check it if I am leaving it outside overnight