Cap's Old Man Tan '05 Access Cab

Current pics, or at least fairly current:


37s

33s





Older

 

Forum keeps deleting my text as I type and preview so this may take a few posts

Current Mods

Front suspension:
LR UCA
OME 886 Front Coils and struts

Rear Suspension:
Allpro Expo leaf pack
Fox 2.0 shocks

Armor:
SOS Gen 1 steel bumper
SOS Frame plate for front bumper
SOS Gen 1 Rear bumper w/ swingout (soon to be replaced with Gen 2 HC)
SOS Sliders

Tires:
Maxxis Bighorn 255/85/16s (3rd set) w/ matching spare

CB:
I'll post this later, can't remember at the moment

Storage:
Cross bed box
Side boxed
Weathergaurd PackRat

Recovery:
Recon 10,500lb winch

 

At the request of a few locals, particularly Eddy from SOS Concepts I am creatingthis build thread. First of all thank you to Eddy for doing all my fabwork up to this point and in the future. I have a tendency to overcomplicate things.



Backstory: I bought this truck in 2006 with 60,000 miles on it. I traded in the RX8 I had before that AND my 95 Integra GSR to return to myTexan roots and get a 4x4. there was little to be had on the used marketat that point as the 2nd gen was only a year old at that point. I luckedinto this 05 Access Cab TRD Offroad with a 6-speed (wanted an auto but I'd beendriving manuals for years already so I figured what the hell).



I'd modified all my previous cars and when I got the truck I swore Iwouldn't mess with it. The plan was to just drive it and leave it aloneto have reliable transportation capable of getting me anywhere a stock 4x4should go. And that is what I did.



From 2006 to about Dec of 2013 I drove it and left it stock. By thatpoint it had seen almost 200,000 miles without incident. I put gas in it,changed the oil and am on my 3rd set of 255/85/16s. Other than that Ijust drove it.

Late last year I went on one trail riding trip with some ofthe guys from Expedition Portal in NC and I was hooked. I knew before I left that stock was no longergoing to work for me and that’s when the fun began. Pics from that trip:





This trip set the tone for my build. I live in Charleston , SC where offroadingand camping require a few hours ofdriving before you even getstarted. So a spontaneous weekend tripis somewhat out of the question unless your gear is pretty much loaded andready to go ahead of time. Being as therental house my girl and I are in doesn’t offer a lot of room for storage orworking I figured it best to build with the intention of having everything Ineed to wheel and camp in the truck, ready to go, most of the time.



To that end I started looking at storage options. At the same time I knew I would be carryingsome real weight so I ordered a set of OME 886 coils/struts , and Allpro Expo leaf pack with Fox shocks for therear. I made a mistake here and letsomeone else install it. DON’T DOTHAT. They fucked up half of theinstall, and it was a complete waste of money. At the same time I picked up this gem off of Craigslist inColumbia. I picked it up for $300 andbrought it home (2hr drive) ratchet strapped into the bed of my truck.




Picture after lift (looked taller in person I swear) :

 

Off to dinner, I'll post more later. This is to hold my place

 

And sooo The stress of your build continues

 

At the same time I decided I need a drawer system to keepthings in the bed of my truck. Beingthat I wasn’t going to spend $2-3k on a truck vault and I consider myselfmildly handy I decided to build my own. Laid everything out on paper one night and started building the next day:




A trip to Lowes and a couple hundred bucks worth of lumberlater I had this:






Prepped the cap to spray while I was at it and order Upol's Raptor liner to coat both with



Wasn't real happy with how either can out. Maybe it was the product, the gun or my technique but it all came out with stripes:


There were two bigger problems though. One, the cap required that I take off my tailgate. I realized during the project that I love my tailgate. I use it as a workbench constantly and that simple wouldn't do. Worse that that the plywood I used for the box was NOT exterior grade, despite what Lowes told me, and it started to delaminate in just a few weeks. I didn't get pics of the delamination but I did of the drawers molding. So the box got shoved into my backyard, $400+ down the drain and the cap got sold. I was back to square 1 on storage.

Moldy drawer after just 2 weeks:.

So I got back on Craigslist and found THIS. No more water problems here $250 score:

Then these:

Loading up for a trip to NC

 

Helped Eddy design a front bumper:




Then got one of my own:

along with this:


Finally got the winch installed after a major PITA of relocating the contactor:


Now I'm back to square one on storage. I need to add a rack, I have an RTT on order. And the drawer has to go as it weighs 383 EMPTY and I'm losing 2" of lift in the rear with it. The side boxes wont work with the rack. So ALL the stuff has to find a new home:





So that's were I am now. How do I carry all the stuff I need, plus the rack and RTT without adding too much weight. and keeping the water out.

I have ideas, but I'm open to suggestions. More to follow.

 

Looking good cap.

 

Sub'd in, to see how you solve your dilemma. I'm thinking bed cover or soft top cap.

 

Problem with the soft topper is it puts the RTT over a 22" rack if you run the RTT. That makes off camber stuff tricky to say the least. Bed cover would be great but they sit on the bed sides just like the rack. So you can have one or the other, but not both

 

Random pics including a stuck moment.

 

Only thing i can think of to make the spray on liner have those stripes is the way you sprayed it, going from left to right made it sit like shingles on top of each other

 

Probably right. It was so sunny I could barely see my overlap with the glare

 

Yea, I know just thoughts. From what it looks like, you have a lot of gear to store. If you're going to use a RTT, then you could build custom bed rack that keeps the RTT level with the cab. Then, enclose the bed rack sides. Kind of like a short shell with side door and a back door. That way you have your gear safe and a lower center of gravity. I can picture it, just don't know if I can draw it, to make it look right.

 

We have a basic idea of the route we're going with this rack lol.

 

Looks good. Subbed to see the rest of where this build goes.

 

You care to share?

 

I think I know what you're talking about and I've had similar ideas. I definately want to keep the rack low. I Think 12" puts it even with the top of the roof. SO something in the 12-14 range. I gotta check with Eddy on that one