Igc's BBP Build thread and trip log

New here to the forum, but thought I would post a build thread to keep myself a bit more organized. Bought this truck Thanksgiving weekend 2017. It took a while to locate what I wanted because none of the local dealers really seemed interested in dealing with an allocation or dealer trade. In the end I found the truck 150mi away in San Diego. 2017 Trd Or, 6mt and no extras. I had to play in the dirt a little bit on the way home.

 

A trip in December to Sedona, Az ment I had to get my bedrack and bike racks mounted up. I thought I was going to be able to move my rack from my 2013 over to the new truck but that wasn't happening. Toyota changed the bed just a bit. So I got to work on a new one. Bent up some new cross bars, tried to keep the tent height in line with the top of the cab. You lose a little bed space height wise but I think it looks much better not sticking way up in the air. Next up was the cross members and mounting up the bike racks. I was pretty happy with everything after test fitting the tent so off to a good friend of mine for some powder coating. I decided to get the aluminum trays for my bike racks coated too. I built these about a year ago but they have just been raw aluminum. I thought they would look better black.

 

The day after Christmas I packed up the dog and the bike and headed to Sedona, Az to hangout a ride for a few days. This seemed like a good spot to camp for the night off of schenbly hill rd. Woke up the next morning and headed down SH into Sedona. Had to stop and enjoy the view from the vista for a few minutes though. The truck parked on the top of the vista point. This was the first time I have driven Schnebly hill rd. Pretty easy trail but fun to get out and explore areas I haven't been before.

 

After a few days of riding bikes in Sedona, I thought it would be a good idea to get the truck into 4x4 and explore some other trails. Decided to run Broken Arrow to Chicken point. I've been to Chicken point numerous times via pedal power but never in a truck. Broken Arrow was pretty tight but anyone with a bit of off roading experience should be able to handle it in a stock truck. The slick rock has tons of traction when its dry.

 

Welcome to Tacoma world. I'm liking the bike rack system. Smart idea putting them on the sides like that. I had a similar idea to that but instead with a bed canopy/camper. May have stolen the idea from someone who drove by in one of the original gen 1s. Looking forward to seeing the truck come along. Good luck.

 

After getting home from Az, there were a few things that needed to be addressed. I bent both the stock tow hook and skid plate on the broken arrow trail. I decided to replace the tow hook with a shackle mount that didnt hang down as far.

I also started to build a replacement front skid out of .25 aluminum.

 

I hate chrome so I dipped the grill and painted the emblem.

 

Thanks Zarot, I really like the side mounted racks compared to a hitch rack system. Easy bed access when all my gear loaded, and I like the fact that there's nothing hanging behind the truck.

 

Added a mole backrest to the driver seat for some extra interior storage, and made a simple shovel and hatchet mount for the bed.

 

Forth of July weekend we departed on a road trip to British Columbia for a few weeks of camping and mountain biking. First few nights were spent in Bend Or. Our camping spot in Bend. I really enjoyed being in Bend it's now on our short list of places to move. The rest of the trip was excellent but only a few pics of the truck. We found a pretty excellent camping spot in Washington off a forest service road in the Cascades. And we found this great camping spot a few hundred yards off the beach in Central Oregon on our way home.

 

I've never been comfortable with a vehicle off road without some decent rocker protection, so the next project was a set of sliders. Most sliders I've built before have been weld on type, but I decided to make these bolt on. After I fished with them I realized that was probably a waste of time. Haha live and lean.
These were built with. 120 wall 1.5" dom tube and .25 frame plates. Material acquisition- I wanted these to be pretty tightly tucked up too the body have a slight upward angle and a bit of a kick out before the rear wheel. I got to work mocking up where I wanted the tubes to sit. After I was satisfied with the basic layout I got to bending tube.

 

Next up was starting on the frame plates, probably the most time consuming part of this build. After all was said and done I will weldn-on next time. Onto the mill the plates went for hole drilling.

Stack of frame plates ready for welding.

After everything was bent and notched it was time for my favorite part of any fab work...Welding. I prefer to tig weld as much as I can so these will be 100% tig welded.

 

First up was getting the main tubes welded up.
Then they went back under the truck for a final mockup. Adjusting height and angle alittle at a time until I was happy.

 

I then decided to switch gears a bit and get the nut plates made, a few different sizes were made to fit in various places on the frame.

 

Next up I made the legs and tacked everything to the frame plates, once again checking the fit under the truck. After everything was double checked for clearance it was time to finish up all the welding. First was the legs too the frame plates. Then I wrapped all of the tube junctions. Wepon of choice for steel, CK air cooled torch, and a fupu 12 pyrex cup.

 

The finished product ready for paint. I decided to just use Flat black rattle can instead of powder coat. Figured it would be much easier to touch up when needed.

All painted and bolted up
Super happy with the way they turned out, now to get out and use them.

 

Decided to take a day trip up to Big Bear to do some wheeling. We ended up running Rattlesnake canyon and Heartbreak Ridge. It was a great day to be in the mountains. Truck did excellent even on stock tires. Rattlesnake canyon is very beginner friendly, but still plenty fun and scenic. Heartbreak Ridge is supposedly rated as a black diamond trail, but I didnt think it was very challenging even for a mostly stock truck. I do recommend sliders though as I put them to use a bit on HR. My buddies H3 in the background as well. Plenty of cattle in Rattle snake canyon.

 

Impressive fab skills! Love the 1up bike rack you made! Can't wait to see your rig with bumpers you've made one day!

 

Love the sliders! Good work!

 

Thanks guys.