Bravinci's Build Thread

Figured it's finally time to make a build thread... I'm terrible for taking pictures while I'm balls deep in a project, but I'm trying to get better. Maybe this build thread will motivate me to take more pictures.

I sold my 3rd gen tacoma and bought my 1st gen tacoma early 2022, when Toyota Tax in my area was at an all time high (mostly due to covid). Overall it was pretty clean, but the frame was cooked.

And as she sits now:


Here's my 3rd Gen before I sold it.



Here are some pictures of the 1st gen frame before I replaced it.

One of the previous owners patched it with 1/2" plate without fixing or grinding out the cracks underneath












I knew the frame was bad when I bought it, but in my naivety (one might call it ignorance), I figured "I can weld, I'll just fix it!". After taking a much closer look when I got it home, I thankfully made the decision to swap the frame.

I have a buddy that owns a local salvage yard, so luckily he had a frame for me with some very light front end damage! Took the new frame home and got to work reinforcing / boxing the back-half.



I also added UCA gussets "while I'm in there". The angles didn't quite turn out like I had hoped but it was close enough for me.


I also wanted bolt-on sliders, and I had taken the sliders off my 3rd gen tacoma before I sold it, so I welded some nuts on the back of some 3/16" plate, and welded the plate on my frame and voila, bolt on sliders! I don't actually have a picture of them finished so you'll have to use your imagination...



Once everything was welded, it was off to get sandblasted and POR15'd at another buddies shop!






After that, it was back to my shop for re-assembly. I needed new brakes, so I did the tundra big brake upgrade. You can also see the tweaked front bumper mount, this is all that was damaged on the "new-to-me" frame.

Engine set in the new frame:
Ended up finding a low mileage transmission so I swapped that in at this point.

Got the cab back on:


I couldn't get it to start, so I took it to a local shop and they found the tank was about 50/50 water/fuel

After draining the tank & putting in a new fuel pump, they were able to get it running. However, water in the fuel meant water in the engine, which meant some of the valves were rusted open. Two cylinders had no compression, one cylinder had 70psi, and the other 3 were around 175psi. The mechanic wanted to swap the motor, and I said f that, so I brought it home, red-lined it for a couple minutes, and lo and behold, the valves freed up!

Got everything buttoned up, and went wheeling! Got super stuck on the bald street tires, and ripped off the rusty exhaust, but made for some good memories. It had been about a year since I bought the truck, so it felt really good to get out and abuse it.



Bought some 35's on fb marketplace:


I built a back bumper for it. I like the plate bumpers, but I didn't want it to be super big and bulky, so I designed my own. I took inspiration from King Fab and Offroad on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@kingfabandoffroad8203


I was in a big hot rush to get this and the 35's on before a wheeling trip I had planned, so I never actually finished it completely...

It started snowing on the mountains as I was prepping for the wheeling trip, and at this point I still had the bald street tires on the truck. I had everything I needed to install the 35's, but I had to tub the firewall. So a couple late nights and a lot of beers later, I had 35's!


This was my first "real" wheeling trip with this truck. I had 10x more fun in this truck than I ever did in the 3rd gen. In the 3rd gen I was always paranoid of breaking / denting / scratching the truck, and all of that went away with the 1st gen. It was incredibly rewarding to see all my hard work pay off.


Unfortunately, I didn't have skid plates on it yet, and I smashed the rad on a rock...

Luckily my buddies were coming up to camp that day, so they brought up a new rad with them. Filled it up with lake water, and we were on our way!

Quick snow wheeling trip:

 

Added a dorkel since I don't have inner fenders anymore, and my airbox was getting wet every time it rained.


Swapped in a 4 banger rad, flushed the lake water out, and built some skid plates.


I felt like steering was always tighter than it should be, so when the rack started leaking, I was pretty quick to swap it out with an OEM rack, and 333 fab billet steering rack bracket. We also welcomed my son into the world around this time, so truck projects will be taking a back seat for a while...


And then my most recent project was a rear axle swap. I wanted something wider so I didn't need spacers anymore, I wanted disc brakes, and full float axles shafts. So really, I had two options: Full fabricated housing, or an 80 series Landcruiser rear axle. I ended up with the 80 series rear, since it was way cheaper.


Rebuilt the hubs and brakes on the new axle:


Sandblasted & painted with POR15:



I also swapped in some chevy 63's at the same time. I haven't done a shock relocation yet, so I'm still limited by shock travel significantly but here's the droop without shocks. (This was before the leaf perches were welded in so the pinion angle did not stay like that lol).


All in all, I'm super happy with the rear axle / brake setup now. I am looking forward to a shock relocation and get the most out of these 63's, but for now, I'm just gonna enjoy the truck as it is.

 

Nice work!

 

Keep the posts coming. Cool build.

 

Aight, we can be friends. Nice work!

 

Thanks guys! It's been a long & slow process to get to this point. Putting it all on a build thread reminded me how much work I have into it lol.

 

Nice work!

 

Thanks man! I was talking to you on IG about axles. Couldn't justify a fabricated 609 axle at this point, but my goal is a SAS with 609's one day.

 

Ahh this is all making sense, I need to pay more attention to names haha!
I’m starting to build some 609s.. just not doing fab housings like I originally wanted. The dollar is too bad.