IronPeaks Forest Road Cruiser

Here is my old 07 SR5 DCLB tacoma, ARB bumper, 886s, 285s. I had plans to keep it as my dedicated 4wd truck but it had a rough life and because of that significant problems were cropping up here and there. You can see from the tires and body (yes that is a ratchet strap holding the hood on) that it spent a lot of time on dirt. Chewed up you could say. So i sold it with 160k on the clock, shortly after I purchased my 2015. The truck lives on in BAJA mexico.




So on to my 3rd tacoma, and what I have done to it and plan to in the future. Here she is when I bought her:




And how she sits now:

My goals with my third tacoma build are to keep it functional and light. My purposes are as a DD and also as a forest road romper. While I sometimes encounter technical sections on my trips more often I am blasting over gentle whoops/drainage berms, and spending miles on private and forest service roads with washboard type surfaces.
Thanks to everyone here on TW for the inspiration and guidance during my build so far.

2015 Toyota Tacoma TRD sport DCLB

Suspension:

Front: Old Man Emu BP-51 adjustable bypass coilovers
Rear: Old Man Emu BP-51 adjustable bypass shocks
OME Dakar leaf springs, isolators installed in each leaf
OME carrier bearing spacer
Light Racing upper control arms
Wheelers front SuperBumps

Interior:

Coverking neoprene seat covers
Kurgo seat cover (rear seats)
seat belt extensions, for comfort, and to kill the seatbelt/dog in front seat beeper.
@ImMrYo mirror riser
LED interior lighting, including red LED in passenger map light
12v anytime relay mod
Foglights anytime mod

Electronics:

UltraGauge
Cobra 8100 dashcam

Exterior/Mechanical/Bed mods:

RCI ifs skidplate (aluminum) modded to leave the factory support braces
Leer 100r shell with windoor, Thule racks, cargo netting on inside roof
Sealed off bed boxes/100v area
Sealed tailgate (mostly)
Smashed/Relocated trailer plug to bumper between plate and plate light, upgraded to a 7 round 4/5 flat combo from hopkins
Extra matching sport wheel for spare
37.5w halogen bulbs replaced reverse bulbs
Fumoto Valve
Aftermarket front recovery point , thanks to @EatSleepTacos
Co2 tank , mounted with Amerex bracket
Fire extinguisher, mounted with Amerex bracket
Mobtown tailgate reinforcement
2x LiPo battery jumpstarters
Diff breather relocate
Military d-rings added to each bed bolt


Future mods:
CMC >done, thanks @Bentrodder
Taller rear bumpstops
Full aluminum skids
TRD wheels with less backspacing/more offset
255s/285s > done, 255 toyo at2s

 

Front SuperBumps
Installed fronts, if you don't dismantle the suspension, yes you have to cut 1 1/4" off the long portion of the hex wrench. Other than that ez install. Nice and soft when connecting with the bumpstop on the trail.

 

Sealed the bed boxes
I used metal tape and black silicon. yes that's my sweat and tears metal tape will cut you

 

Attempted to seal the tailgate against dust. I used these 2 things, hasn't been long enough to know if they work well/stay applied.
edit, 3 months in , so far so good. the top portion of the seal where it "folds over" a bend has come unstuck, but that's all.

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Co2 tank and fire x mounted in bed,
Bracket by Amerex, mounted with 6 pre bulbed rivnuts, grade 8 hardware

 

I installed the tailgate reinforcement awhile back and I love it , thumbs up!!! You can see what happened to my unreinforced 07 tailgate below: @Mobtown Offroad

 

the Devil Hound Mod, red led in passenger map light, thanks to @Crom for the suggestion. Got all three (2 maps and one overhead) from superbrightleds.com. My boy Kezar looks a lil confused.

 

RCI alu ifs skid, modded to leave the support braces from the oem splash plate.

 

Diff breather relocate. Because I added a two way breather and it's dusty as heck behind my taillight, added a few droppersfull of lube to the fuel line. Hopefully this catches any dust that might intrude. Prolly OCD overkill lol

 

I had my Dakar leaf springs broken down, drilled and isolators installed, before installation. Springworks Santa Rosa, 10$ a pop, 80$, . No squeaks!

 

In.

 

Interested to hear about your tailgate sealing.. hate how dusty mine gets now that I have the shell and it's harder to clean.

You keep anything in your bed boxes? I have ratchet straps in mine and noticed they got some mildew on the nylon while being stored. Makes me hesitant to seal the boxes up or if water would get in somehow anyway and then not drain..

 

I ditched the doors when I Sealed them up. I guess there is a way to use electrical loom and glue to be able to keep the doors https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-how-to-weatherproofing-the-bed-cubbies.452381/
but I decided against that. with the shell on everything stays dry. as for the tailgate sealing it is like 90%

 

Jelly. I can't seem to make my shell watertight. When I had the clamps in place but with zero torque on them I had no leaks, but any clamping pressure and I get leaks on both sides and at the tailgate ends.

 

Maybe lift it up and put down a bead of silicon?, I've discovered that silicon can be peeled away from the black plastic used on the bedsides quite easily when you want your remove it, especially if you use armor all first..

 

Might try that. I had all the seals replaced this summer and had a second bulb seal installed on the bed sides, trying to ward it off. But, no dice.

 

Aargh how annoying the installers at campways must have used two tubes of Silicon across the front of my bed where it is lower, and so far it has remained dry. Weird your bulbed seal leaks...

 

It's all groovy until I clamp down.. maybe they're over-torqued? Not sure there's a torque value for the clamp bolts, but only thing I can think of being that it didn't leak just sitting under it's own weight.

Campways did my seals. Pulled the shell over summer and didn't notice anything amiss, so I've chalked the leaks up to the shell rails flexing under clamping force and creating gaps between the clamping bolts where water then comes in.

 

Looks good!

for build thread.

 

Perhaps the water egress is coming from under the bed rail caps themselves? maybe another place silicon would help, but obviously more invovled..