Deekyn’s build of Kevin the 2015 TRD Off Road Tacoma

X2POWER Premium AGM group 27f battery
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Battery gave out at 2 years (~105k) miles. Seems a little early to me. But I’m well out of any type of mileage warranty. So I wanted a new better battery. Preferably a deep cycle/ starter battery. Actually I wanted a daily battery kit. But that is for a mother time. So I ordered this X2POWER battery.

Fit in the stock location with a little bending of the battery hold down bar.






But what I realized after I installed the battery is that, because it’s an AGM battery, it actually needs to float charge 13.5-13.8V and cycle service 14.4 - 14.8V. In the paper work it says a lower charging voltage will greatly shorten the battery life. As such I have a voltage booster on order. I may look into an upgraded alternator or something later. But for now the $100 voltage booster will have to do.

 

I love the two racks. Huge area. You could land a helicopter on that enormous surface.

 

You probably could... Or put two kayaks, a gun case and other box, maxtrax, fuel, and more. Yeah. There’s a lot of space. But damn it’s nice to keep shit up and out of that way while you are camping etc.

 

Flare-less fenders
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Wheeling in Moab with my ~3” King/ Allpro Expo lift and 295/75r16 BFG KO2s I realized that all my trimming of the wheel well liner, fender and fender flare wasn’t enough. So I trimmed a little ore fender in Moab and took off my front flares for the rest of that trip. I really got to liking the Flareless look and began to research options and found this...

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...the-fenders-after-removing-the-flares.304366/

So that’s what I decided to do!
But as I found out that manufacture tolerances mean that with DIY mods like this, what may work for a few people may not work for you.

As it stands I pulled out the OEM flares, cut them with a dremel, sanded them. Then primed, painted, and clear coated them.





They look great, but only fit loosely in the square holes. They need a rubber washer.

Most people use these

$15 Hard-to-Find Fastener 014973285579 Washers, 5/16 x 3/4 x 1/16, Piece-50

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00L1IZL4A?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

But they do not work for me at all. Too damn thick. My clips will not allow for 1/16” of an inch. But it is impossible to find those size rubber washers any thinner.

In the end I ordered these eBay clips with attached foam washers and they worked perfectly.

https://www.ebay.com/c/17018316210

 

Energy Suspension Radiator Support Polyurathane Bushings
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Since my bumper is off for painting I decide to replace my radiator support mount bushings. They definitely needed it.

$28 Energy Suspension- 9.4101G UNIVERSAL MOUNT

$28 Energy Suspension 9.4101G UNIVERSAL MOUNT
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000CN9BZ0?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/polyurethane-radiator-support-mounts-cab-also.361346/

One was super super easy. The other... something was warped (frame? Radiator support? Who the hell knows... ) Had to use a pry bar to get the damn bolt in .

None of my truck projects recently have gone as smoothly as they could have.

 

Not to sidetrack but do you remember seeing how far back my wheels sat when you were here? I took my truck in to get the caster pushed forward today and they told me the caster bolts are completely seized. It's gonna cost ~$400. I'd rather just have a shop do it and I really want to make space for 295's though Endless money pit.

 

That seems expensive. What was your castor sitting at? Mine is 2.4 right now. It seems like it’s a Tacoma thing, that the whole ifs set up keeps the wheel closer to the rear that the front. I’ve taken mine in to two shops and they couldn’t figure out how to shove the caster anything beyond 2.4. Meanwhile tones of people on TW say it should be 3.

As to the money out aspect... I know what you mean. Seems like mine is eating me out of house and home. Besides having just had the front bumper sandblasted because the last salt infested Wisconsin winter fucked it up, and putting in my bedside cubby in for the compressor, right now I have three new ujoints, new rear brake shoes sitting in the garage that need to be put in. I need to also do the front brakes. The new rear leaf is sitting slight askew (like is it bent or something?) the rusting to hell expensive coil-overs will likely need replaced prematurely. Because I installed a super expensive AGM battery, now I need to add a voltage booster. Or a new alternator. Plus the like 100 other things I’d like to have...

 

I feel ya. I am going to redo all of my suspension, probably in the spring. At that time I'll go to 295's.

I did bite the bullet with the LCA's. Somehow they got the caster to over 4.5* on both sides. I have no idea if they have any idea what they're doing. It's hard to find shops in smaller midwest towns that have any experience working on Toyotas. In other threads people asked if I noticed worse handling, it might take a little more effort to turn in certain situations but it's nothing that's an issue. As long as it doesn't cascade to other problems.

A buddy with his stock 3rd gen and I are going to Colorado in a month to hit up some trails. Cannot wait to put the truck to use again.

 

Subbed

 

At the Helm plate bumper sandblasting and spray painting​

(She looks so much better now! )


After staring at the rust and the oxidation on my obviously shittly (locally) powder coated bumper had gotten in one single salt laden Wisconsin winter, I couldn’t take it any more.

Had the bumper sandblasted and was able to slap two coats of primer on the bumper same day. The truck lived without the bumper for like three weeks though cause I couldn’t get it just right. And it took a little time to figure out getting into all the nooks and crannies in the bumper.


Turns out spray painting perfect even coats on the bumper was nearly impossible. So I had some wet sanding and recoating days to fix it.


But in the end it turned out awesome!

Used Rustoluem self etching primer. Rustoleum professional grade truck bed liner spray can, and a top coat of Krylon Colormaster matte black spray paint.

 

Why did you mount the thick bushing on top rather than the smaller one? is that what it calls out...?

 

When I decide I want to change mine I prowled all over TW for help, as I always do. And found this forum post. Seems legit to me... he talk about mounting them like that in the OP part ways down.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/polyurethane-radiator-support-mounts-cab-also.361346/

 

And did you notice any change in the way anything worked, or how the front end sat up higher than normal..?

 

No difference in ride or noise. Though my oems were both torn. The only difference is that the steel bumper sits a little lower/ slightly bigger gap between it and the body. But that’s ok. When I was wheeling on Moab, I did see that the bumper (before the bushing swap) got damn close to the body when the truck was parked sort of flexed out. Now it won’t.

 

gotcha, thanks for the info!

 

HKB voltage booster ​

Installed my HKB voltage booster for my X2POWER group 27f AGM battery. Though a lot of people run this type of battery without any booster or alternator upgrade, I chose to follow the instructions clearly typed out on top of the battery calling for a higher charging voltage than our stock setup can give. The paperwork also mentions that lower charging voltage will significantly reduce the life of the battery. For such an expensive battery I might as well spend a little more to prolong its life. It’s a super simple plug and play product.

See this thread...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-northstar-agm-battery-voltage-booster-upgrade.604478/

Can be found here: (and eBay)
https://www.hkbelect.com/product/374-mk4-adjustable-alternator-voltage-booster-2015/

 

I have the bushings but still need to do the replacement. What method did you use to lift the frame away from the support mount? Thanks!

 

It’s easiest when you have your bumpers off to swap them. Just loosen the nuts that hold the bushing. Place a 2x4 on your floor jack and lift right next to the bushing. One of my came out super easy like that. The other one... something was bent and I had to use a pry bar while jacking to get it out. If both go easy, it’s like a 10 minute job.

 

Did you have to loosen the other cab mounts? Mine are "squished" and I'd rather fix it myself than make 2, 120mi round trips to a dealer for a warranty repair...

 

I didn’t have to loosen anything else. Just did them one at a time. One swapped super easy, the other, I had to use a pry bar to convince the bolt to come out and go back in. Maybe something was bent along the line somewhere due to the failed bushings?