Daily Driving - the cheapskate build edition

Meet “Trudy”. She’s a 2020 SR5, Silver Sky Metallic, Double Cab, Short bed, 4x4. If you were curious, I named her after my first good horse in Red Dead Redemption 2 coz I'm kind of a nerd.



Exterior Stuff:

• Debadged, all the way around (free)
• Exhaust pipe axle chop to help me ease into doing stuff to a brand new truck (free)
• Yakima crossbars (moved from previously vehicle)
• OEM bed mat (new) $109
• Those little round stick-on blind spot mirrors (new) $1
• AVS in-channel window deflectors (new) $50 shipped
• Removed b-pillar vinyl (free)
• Black Softopper (used) $400 and a Jackery 250
• Front Runner RTT with 6” rise tube steel bed bars (used) $500
• Wilco Hitchgate Solo High-Clearance w/ Hi-Lift mount (used) $500
• 8” rise Billie Bars (used) $160
  
• Hooke Road tailgate panel (used) $40
  
• Gator ETX Soft Roll Up Tonneau (new) $250
• DIY Half-bed single drawer (free-ish)
• Front Runner Quick Release tent mounting brackets (new) $135
• Prinsu Pro cab rack (Christmas gift from wifey)

Interior Stuff:

• RESQME emergency car escape tool (new) $18 shipped
• Center console organizer (new) $14 shipped
• 7r41lbr34k3r's Custom Billet Shift Knob (new) $144 shipped
• Nexar Beam GPS 1080p Dashcam (new) $98 shipped
• Flatirons Overland ceiling storage net (new) $50 shipped
• Midland MXT275 GMRS radio (used) $135 shipped
• DIY 2/3 rear seat delete (free)

Recovery Gear:

• SmartStraps 10,000# recovery strap (new) $60
• X-Bull recovery boards (new) $59 shipped
• SmartStraps tree saver strap (new) $15
• Badlands soft shackle (new) $29
• Shovel
• Factor 55 HitchLink 2.0 (new) $39 shipped
• Factor 55 1/2″ Standard Duty Soft Shackle (new) $28 shipped
• Smittybuilt 2781 5.65 CFM air compressor (new) $104 shipped
• Ironman 4x4 America 9500# winch with synthetic rope (new) $524 shipped
• Rhino USA 7/16” soft shackles (x2) (new) $35 shipped
• Rhino USA 3/4” bow shackles (new) $28 shipped
• GearAmerica winch ring (new) $65 shipped
• Ironman 4x4 America kinetic rope (new) $105 shipped
• Bulldog 48” Farm Jack (used) $40

Electrical:

• Diehard Platinum AGM (new) $288
• Coated marine battery terminals (new) $9
• Blue Sea m-Series 6006 switch mounted with LambTek Innovations - Winch Switch Bracket - Protect Your Investment! (new) $120 shipped
• Euhomy 47qt 12v Fridge/Freezer (used) $110
• EcoFlow Delta 2 w/ 220W Bifacial solar panel (new) $678 after sales and discounts

Armor:

• @Jerneyman sliders (used) $450
• Body Armor 4x4 Desert Series Front Bumper (used) traded Free
• RCI steel skid plate package (new) $888 shipped

Suspension:

• Eibach Pro-Truck 2.0 Coilovers (used) $700
• Eibach Pro-Truck Sport Shocks (used) $100
• Icon RXT Mulit-Rate Leafpack set to heavy load option 3 (used) $300
• Headstrong 3 Leaf AAL (used) $100
• ECGS Bushing (new) $60 shipped

Tires:

• 1st Round - Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015 - P265/75/16 (new) $157 x 4, $135 x 2
• 2nd Round - Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 - LT255/85/16 (new) $293 x 4 w/ certificates, $316 for the spare
• Discount Tire 1-Piece Lug Nuts (new) $100 for the set

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And here's the newest member of the stable. No name yet. 2024 KLX300 dual sport in Camo Cypher Gray.

 

Bought the truck new at the end of April 2020. Once I decided on a Tacoma, I started the laundry list. While I daylight as a technical theatre college professor, I needed to be able to haul materials more easily than I could in my SUV. But since I moonlight as an avid backpacker and camper, I needed the tuck to traverse forest roads and trails for hunting and camping in rural Alabama and wherever else a whim might take me.

Must Haves:
4x4
Double cab for my 3 dogs
Silver or white
Minimal "technology"

Wants:
Rear Locker

The list wasn't that long. I didn't want a whole lot of bells and whistles in an everyday-driver-work-truck-overlanding-light-semi-"built"-rig. I ruled out the Sport pretty easily. I just don't see enough benefits to justify a fake scoop and an extra few thousand dollars. I started at the dealership looking for an OR, but ultimately the price and the availability landed me an SR5. Anything I didn't get in the OR was probably something I'd want to upgrade one day down the road anyway. And I didn't have any delusions of any hardcore wheeling.



Day 1 (04/24/2020), after signing paperwork

Of course, I took the silly air dam off the same day and headed out to get her broke in.

 

I've tried a few different configurations of my knock-off gear. First, I put a harbor fright basket on the crossbars and ran that for several months.


(04/18/2021)

I didn’t really care for it in the long run, so I made my own bed bars and put the basket there.




(05/09/2021)



Turns out, the T-nuts I used were very crappily powder-coated and corroded real bad, and the el cheapo basket kept dripping and slinging rust all over the place. Plus, the set-up was making moving furniture and plywood a whole pain in the butt, so I eventually just took that stuff off and stowed it.

 

For over a year, whenever I needed to move big furniture/scenery or go get sheet goods, I would either have to take the the toolbox off or just have the materials delivered. One day, I had enough of the hassle and just welded up my own "custom" bed extender.


(08/09/2021)

 

The shift knob. This thing is awesome. Props to @7r41lbr34k3r for the great work.


(06/25/2021)

 

Thanks to @Kluckmater for the hook up, I finally got a little protection put on. Picked up these sliders yesterday. Honestly shocked that I was able to get them bolted up by myself in my gravel driveway.

 

Well, I decided to swap some stuff around over Christmas vacation. I will NEVER buy another crossover toolbox. I've just always had them on my trucks, but I realized I don't need the space and I was just frustrating myself dealing with the hassle. So it came off, and I decided to try the crossbars and basket on the bed again. Will need to fine-tune the system a lot more if I'm gonna stick with it. Looks cool, but doesn't handle corrugations very well at all. This basket simply just sucks. I did pick up the other header bed rail though, so that's awesome. Lucked out and found the only one at Hoover Toyota.


(12/21/2021)

Then we got some snow this morning and of course I couldn't resist the photo opportunities.


(01/03/2022)

 

Put her to work hauling scenery for a film shoot the other day.

 

Food for thought! Nice truck, thanks for sharing!

 

p.s.-How do you like your tires?

 

Thank’s! It’s nothing fancy for sure, but I’m trying to make sure everything is functional on a tight budget.

Honestly, more than I thought I would. I was going to put on KO2s, but at the time they were back ordered with no ETA. I decided to roll the dice and give these a shot and I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised. They’re GREAT on the road. I’ve never felt any slippage driving through any conditions on pavement. The only “off-roading” I’ve really done has been muddy dirt roads and rough gravel fire roads, so nothing heavy like a lot of folks in here do. That being said, I’ve never needed traction and not had it. My main concern at this point is just longevity. Not sure if I’ll get the full 60,000mi out of them they claim to be warrantied for.

 

Good deal..thanks!

 

Sub'd

 

Got this cargo net from another member on here. Nice work @zDirtyDeedz. Been casually looking for one for a while now and when he posted up, it seemed like exactly what I wanted. I’ve been pleased so far.

 

Thanks for the share and the link! I like the basket, too bad it broke on some hard trail runs

 

Picked up some goodies this week. Can’t wait to get this party really started.

 

I like the pinstripes. Is that something all SR5’s have?

 

Thanks man! I think it's a thing only certain dealerships do on the SR5s. Probably just an excuse to upcharge, but I dig the classic vibe. I've seen some ORs with shorter pinstripes that end at the bedside decal though.

 

Picked this up on their 25% off an item sale yesterday. Seemed like a good enough excuse to give it a shot. It’ll at least be nice to use it with the ARB recovery point up front instead of having to hook a steel shackle to it.

 

If I were to do this, my truck would be named Hoofhearted.