brettf's Third Gen Taco Build, Adventure, and BS Log

Finally getting around to putting together a build thread!

Among each of the Taco generation sub build forums on TW there are some rad trucks.
I've taken inspiration from a bunch of them. Hopefully some info I share inspires
someone to build some cool things into their truck!

Third gen Tacoma time!
2016 4x4 v6, Double Cab, 6-speed TRD OR model.

I'll update some of the details as I go on, but here are some of the highlights:

• Suspension: Bilstein 6112 Coilover and the rear Bilstein 5165s. OME Dakar leafs.
• Gears: Nitro 4.88 F&R. Excellent upgrade over the (already lowish 4.30:1 for manual trans) OEM gears.
• Locker: OEM rear e-locker, front ARB air
• Toys: ARB dual compressor, Prinsu rack, Bedslide brand slide all hacked and frankensteined up...

A couple years back at first sight:


Today:

 

The first thing I did was get this thing home and test fit some 2013 4Runner SR5 wheels with some 265 70 17 KM2s.
I always loved the wheels so it was good chance to do a test:



(Interesting to note that this is a couple years back now (trying to catch up the thread). I HATED the third gen stock wheels at the time
and couldn't wait to replace them. I don't mind them as much now, still not a fan, but funny how time changes those things. Still
stoked on my SR5 wheels though!)

Aaaaand sold on fitment. Found a CL deal on some SR5s, picked those up and a quick purchase of rubber:



Didn't have to wait long for the first snow test here in Colorado:



I've been a fan of the AT KO for years. I believe the new K02 tires are better in all conditions. Snow, slickrock, dirt, on road even.
Really digging everything about the new BFGs.... except I think they wear faster, which is to be expected I think given how sticky
they feel compared to the previous version. Good tradeoff? I think so, but time will tell!

 

One of the next things I did was to get rid of the black film between the front and rear windows on the B pillar. Drove me crazy and I couldn't
wait to tear it off. Looking back now, I don't mind it as much! Still glad I did that. Took a couple hours with Goof Off and a heat gun:

BEFORE:



AFTER:

 

First puncture, plug, and repair didn't take long... like DAYS after getting the new tires. Sigh.

 

Started putting "things" on and in the truck. Car seat, infant, topper, rack, bike rack... started thinking about upgrading the suspension pretty quick.

Settled on the TRD Baja Pro kit, which is really a TRD branded Bilstein 6112 Coilover with Bilstein 5165 rear shocks.

Getting the front coilovers in, rear shocks in. Both sides done:





Resulted in a 2"? lift(ish) up front. Second gen trucks would be a little higher. Note the rear is not lifted; I'd look at that later.
Happy with the damping and spring rate from the coilovers and really happy with the rear dampers over stock.

 

And then some adventures with the truck out of state:



Returned to more snow, some trees crushed, and a bunch of cleanup:



And more snow:



But we made the best of it:

 

Sometime as winter was moving into spring I picked up a RTT. Blair Witch Project style picture:



And eventually got my butt in gear and installed some OME Dakar leafs:









I also seemed to be on a mission to attach as many things as possible to the Tacoma!

 

Adventure time!

Some northern New Mexico travels:



American Basin, Odom Point on a San Juan trip:





Summer camping with all the things on the Taco:





Late Sept adventures. Near Moon Pass accessed from La Garita:



San Juans near Blowout Pass. Drove in from Cumbres Pass through Platoro, had some great camping then over through some passes eventually landing in Del Norte.

 

Somewhere along the line I put a plywood cutoff in the back of the bed and trimmed it to fit
tight with the bed closed. I put some ripped 1" by 1/2"(or maybe 3/4"?) strips on the bottom as
runners and fit those between the composite bed ribs to keep things straight. Super budget
bed-slide setup. That did exactly as advertised. It was in the "bed" and it would "slide". Not
well, but remarkably usable for el-cheapo setup. I mounted some randoms scraps to keep
things I used often in place, to mount bike for mounts, and some other items like that.

I used it it for at least a year; it just kept working and a price of exactly free wasn't bad. I just
dragged it out onto the tailgate and it worked for me. Little rough pushing it back in when on an
incline though! Here's the old setup:


Eventually I wanted something a little better and found a used Bedslide brand slide that had
been installed on a wrecked truck - like days before it was totalled out. A good score. I
mounted a slotted profile to the front (err, back) of it, which I added the fork mount to. This
was just a temporary setup. Well, it's all temporary until it's perfect (it's never perfect!)...

Here you can see the slide when I was installing it and test-fitting how I'd have to angle my bike
to fit. Shorter bikes can be straight. The slide itself fits between the wheel wells decently, but
eats up a lot of space. I was worried it would use too much, but I ended up really liking it from
day one. The added height of the "mid-rise" Leer topper helped keep some utility lost due to the
height of the slide.


(Looks like the slide install was exactly TWO Ska Mexican Lagger units in duration!)

Used that for a bit, but hacked it up and replaced some parts with some extruded Aluminum
t-slotted rails to fit my needs a little better. Below is a shot that shows current rail in the back
with where the cooler more or less lives when it's in the Taco. I use some ammo cans to hold
often-accessed items. Two are mounted to the slide, so they come out when I slide it out.

Still figuring out where I want to mount a stove for transport and also for cooking. Might install
slide out "drawer" thing for the cook stove (or a newer/better stove) that slides out from under
the cooler, but still not sure how I want that to be. For now it scraps to the cooler tie downs for
transport and on a box on the ground for cooking.







Here's how it looks today. It's quick and convenient to remove things and still use it like a
truck. This is what it looks like most of the time. The orange anodized fork mounts come out
easily if I need a little extra room, but those are there basically 100% of the time.



This shows how the left-most can slides in with the bed slide and the right can stays where I can
reach it quickly through the side window OR through the back of the truck. That can has air
accessories and tools. Can grab that quick and air up/down tires, set a bead on tubeless mtb tires, use air tools for impact etc.



Here shows the amount of height I lost installing the slide itself. Almost 4 3/8" total
height, which is a lot... That's one of the major downsides to using a slide. However,
I think the tradeoff has been worth it for me. In the future I may pull apart the
frame and see if I can reduce the height of the frame or of the sliding deck, but this
is not a priority for me given how useful this thing has been and how less often I've
had to crawl into the back of the truck!




In case anyone is curious how I mounted the rail, there deck frame structure is based on angle
steel. I mounted a 1.5" extrusion to this using the little 90* corner brackets shown.
This turned out to be really rigid and I'm happy with how strong it has been.

 

Someone asked me elsewhere about my compressor and how it fits in the third gen, so I'll share that here as well.


The ARB dual compressor isn't large for what it is, but space under the hood comes at a premium. I picked up the Slee
bracket to fit the dual compressor horizontally near the firewall on the passenger side. Here is a shot showing where it
currently lives:




Here's the bracket from Slee:




It fits, but it's tighter to the hood than I would prefer. The steel hose doesn't rub the hood, ever. The fitting for the hose
fits fine when running it with the hood open. I was thinking I'd want to create some more space and reconfigure that
for some reason, but I can't think of a reason I would have THAT kind of hose connected with the hood closed. I would
use a different configuration if I were running a tank... which I haven't found the need for while running small tools or
airing up truck tires (or mounting beads on tubeless mtb tires). Here's an angle showing how high the braided line runs:




I swapped out the shallow cubby above the knee to the left of the steering wheel with a 3D printed switch panel that I
found on Shapeways. It's made by a third-gen owner who created one for his own truck and sent the design to the
Shapeways site. If you order, Shapeways prints it, ships it, and (I think, hope?) gives a kick back to the designer...

Here's the direct link: 3rdGen Cubby Switch Panel I don't remember it being quite that expensive, maybe the prices
have jumped. IIRC there are some options for different configurations if you snoop around. Here is an exceptionally
terrible photo that shows where I put the switch and the two blank spots. I filled those with blanks:




Here is the switch I used from CruiserHeads store:

Direct CH4x4 link

 

As much as these threads are about the gear and the truck. I am going to try to make an effort to show pictures from adventures as
much as include info about the truck. Here are some shots from here and there along the way. Trying to catch up to current.

Loads of Ouray/Silverton/Tellurude-centric shots get posted to Expo from the summer, but fewer from the winter:




Near Aspen Ridge between Salida and BV from February:






Some more San Juan mountain exploring from the summertime:








That one spot!




From a drive over Breakneck and Browns passes before driving over Weston Pass into
Leadville. Start driving young!




Above Buena Vista:

 

Had some questions from fellow mtb riders on how bikes fit in the bed so I took some pictures
to show how one bike lives when it's in the back of the truck inside the topper. I figured I'd share
those here:

Some photos showing how the bike is mounted, the slide out, the slide in, and overall height of opening:






This shows the overall opening is ~32 5/8" from the top of the deck to the top of the topper door opening.

 

Rad build. I have the same suspension, works well.

 

Love that topper and bedslide setup, sub'd!

 

Sweet build, I dig the Santa Cruz too.