Marcgb91 mid-travel build & adventures

First build thread for my 18' Tacoma TRD Off-Road Quicksand Dblcb. I've owned the truck for the past two years and a bit. Being on Vancouver Island, there's just a bunch to explore within the surrounding areas and the province in itself.
I've been following the CRC & ARA for the past years, recently started to volunteer for the media gigs and figured it would be fun to build up the Tacoma well enough to follow a good pace between stages.

The first few weeks of ownership, plain and simple! Figuring out the trucks limit and capability bone stock was enjoyable and yet very surprising.

I wanted to protect most of the paint from our narrow trails and rock chips so I reached out to a local wrap/vinyl shop to work on a design based on what I had previously sketched out, along with dimensions and overall feel for the truck. They nailed exactly what I was looking for, ordered the decal and shortly installed it by myself later in the week.

 

Feb. 10th 2020
The oem tires worked well for a while, but quickly got tired on constant punctures and slow leaks from the FSR and blast rock trails, upgraded to Falken Wildpeaks AT3W 265/75/16. A really nice difference from then on, and still plenty of life yet currently.

OEM on the front, Wildpeaks on the rear

Feb. 15th 2020
I was getting bored and felt like I needed to change something with the front end and just decided to do the good'ol Viper cut that most people started to do shortly after.
Quick and easy cut, buffed the inner edges and wrapped them with some plastic edge trim from the local Canadian Tire.

 

Feb 24th 2020
After browsing online for RTT, I had pulled the trigger on the Overland Rec Upper Hutt back in their late 2019 pre-order. We chose this one based on its price withoutbreaking the bank, being locally supplied and no shipping costs was a good bonus as well. We've used it so many times now and it's still going strong, dries quickly since its not canvas but lacks in things were canvas would shine. Best bang for buck for an entry level rtt if you arent to sure of how you'll like it down the road.

We had plans on heading to south of the island for a quick weekend test run and the head to Tofino, knowing how bad the fog can get at night, I opted to upgrade foglights right before leaving for our trip.
Baja Designs Squadron Sport - Wide Cornering. 30min install, plug and play and holy bright!

A few shots from our first weekend camping. It was rainy, snowy, cold and wet for the most part but now we knew our does and don't and adjust a few things to our setup for our next trip.

 

By June 1st, I've been pushing a little further and further in the trails and attempting more areas which seemed impossible to pass before. Any fair sized cross ditch, the hitch kept digging itself a trench and dragging around, so by mid-June I felt like the bumper should get tossed out haha.

Although we gave the truck a run for its money after following a local group run for a day trip! Being the only full stock tacoma vs a bunch of mildly to extreme built ones, it was nice being able to get through massive ditches without much damage at all (just a bent oem side step). An overall good time, my girlfriend got to drive most of the trail since I was taking the photos out in the rain, a wicked first time for her to learn how the truck drives and what its capable out there.

 

We eventually made our way camping North of the Island for a few days, decided to bring our kayaks along, but they ended up more annoying that anything. Ratchet straps kept buzzing due to the wind, and they also started to rub off some paint near the headlight area, the kayak pads were lost at some point on the road due to the wind and vibration that eventually just made them blow off.

The pool noodle trick was our band-aid solution for a while but eventually we just ended up ordering our Prinsu roof rack from Overland Outfitters and went along to wrap the roof matte black.
Wrapping the roof was mainly to protect the few scratches that had started from the trip, and prevent the salt water from ruining anything down the run, fairly easy, but I jumped the gun and decided to wrap it right before running out of daylight. Didnt bother taking the shark fin and the 3rd brake light in case of any future leaking.

Also, always a good thing to do a quick tent check every now and then after going hard in the trails . One bump to fast sideways and our tent shifted slightly on the racks! An easy fix but could've went horribly wrong fairly quick

 

nice pics!

 

Thank you!

 

So far every little things are going well, a lot of usage out of the tent, set up just gets better and better as we use it, super quick and easy to pack up and go, kayaking trips, seeing a big variety of wildlife from bears, elks, whales, eagles almost every time we went out camping. Just a few shots from summer/fall 2020.

Not a bad view for an early sunrise!

Late fall, colors are changing at the bottom and snow is starting in altitude. You can truly get all 4 seasons in a day out here!

 

November 4th 2020

After browsing aftermarket suspensions through the summer, and knowing how my driving habits are out in the trails...a few emails back and forth with Braeden at Overland Outfitters, I opted out of the BP-51s since he had just gone through them and knew right away it wasn't a proper setup for me. I decided to bite the bullet and go with Kings. It would take me a little longer to save up, but in the meantime, I bought what I could to slowly piece it all together over the winter months.

Dirt King UCA with polyurethane greaseable bushings & HD Moog bj. Much beefier than oem, I found they instantly got rid of most sloppiness/boaty feel in the steering wheel, much more responsive, planted and predicable.

November 14th 2020

Icon RXT leaf pack *option 3* due to the future 500lbs or so in the bed when we go out in the trails/camping.

Archive Garage U-bolt Flip kit & bumpstop upgrade. *Hammer hangers and shock relocation kit was on the way as well!

The instal was pretty straight forward, and done in the driveway over a few hours. The truck was sitting at 34'' tall from ground to bottom of fender flare prior to the install, and 39'' after install. A big 4 1/4'' lift, even with the bedrack & rtt!

Rear end halfway upgraded, quite the difference.

Knowing I was also doing shock relocation, I wasnt sure if my tires would clear the shock bodies at full articulation so I installed Spidertraxx 1.25'' spacers as well. A very tight fit with slight triming needed, but it was enough for me since I don't drive to far for work.

 

November 21st 2020
Finally coming around to install my new Kings 2.5 extended coils w/external resi. First aftermarket suspension I buy myself and couldn't be happier, they weren't the most affordable but all the extra work to save up made it worth it. I only raised them just over an inch, maybe 1 1/4'' *8 threads on driver and 7 on passenger*. I wanted to keep its functionality with the up & down travel. They were a pain to adjust since the spring compressor tool was to small for the thickness of the coils so it was a two person job at this point. One holding down the coil while the other adjusted the collar. Much beefier design, 2-3ish hours to install with basic hand tools.

First impressions afterwards, the truck rode and felt more planted, wasn't as soft compared to oem, in the good way...for daily driving I don't mind if being a little stiffer, absorbs the bumps really well and can barely feel anything now. The truck drove straight and didn't tend to hunt its way around the curvatures of the roads if that makes sense.



Mandatory quick trail runs on a frosty morning!


December 11th 2020
After years of waiting, I couldn't pass up on Fifteen52s Black Friday deal (buy 3 get 1 free) and purchased a set of 5 Turbomacs HD Classic in 16x8 +0.

 

December 16-17th 2020
Finally brought the truck over to a local welding shop to install the Archive Garage shock relocation kit & do the CMC in the front. Two days of not having a truck felt like an eternity but at least I knew it was going to be well done and not rushed. I also ended up putting on some heat shrink tube on the reservoir clamps to avoid and dust/dirt getting between the resi and hope to prevent some type of scratches in the long run.
Brake lines were extended and upgraded to stainless steel braided on all corners.


The truck suspension overhaul for the winter plans were now complete! A big relief, stress and all the overthinking the process was over. Super stoked on how it came out, the 2.5x12'' smoothies feels amazing, plenty of travel for a weekend off roader, firm yet progressive when going through town. In the trails, it's now just a different animal, apples to oranges by a long shot. All of our usual trails became so smooth all of a sudden. My girlfriend now thinks "the truck is boring now, you can't feel anything anymore ". Washboards, deep potholes, off camber sections of trails were just like driving on a smooth highway. Oddly enough the faster I went, the smoother they got...Up to 120km/hr. on rough straight sections of trails filled with holes anywhere between 2-10inches deep, the truck just eats it like a champ w/o a fuss in the cabin while driving, remaining straight and yet very predictable.
Not something we typically do often but I guess it's a little idea of how some of you must feel when playing in the sand south of the border!

A few flex shots shortly after installation. Quickly found out that I jumped the truck while casually driving on a trail, no major air but all 4 wheels lifted. Wasn't sure at first but I had to turn around and do it again while recording haha. Super smooth all together, it's a unique feeling and quite addicting to push the build even further now.

 

A wet New Years! - Jan. 1st 2021

Seems like I had bought a cheap silicone earlier in the summer for the roof rack, we get so much rain on Vancouver island through winter that I suppose it failed. Noticed my passenger footwell carpets completely soaked!
Took me a while to figure out where the leak was coming from, but eventually took the interior apart, dried it out, removed the rack and resealed every inch of it. So far it hasn't leaked again since.

Jan. 15th 2021
After a few weeks or month of waiting, Archive Garages Hammer Hangers & 3.6 shackles came in, a long install to pop the frame rivets but we eventually got there, slowly...
Side by side comparison between new & oem...THESE ARE BEEFY!
*Found out shortly after that the shackle bolt needed to go the other way around, so it has been fixed afterwards.


Jan 31st 2020
Overland Rec Greenroom awning! Not something we needed but a nice to have in those super warm days for shade or a bit more dry space whenever it rains & still capable of having a campfire.

 

Ditching the Quicksand!
March 27th 2021
I had gotten tired of compound/polishing the truck (coming from a Toyota 86 to a tacoma takes forever to wash lol), and in theory, there's only so much you can buff out till you run out of clear coat. The mountain decals had done a fantastic job of protecting the paint but the rest of the truck had racked up a decent amount of BC Pinstripes! My options were to either go full detail & ceramic coat, goat armor, get it wrapped by a local shop. All would have a good protection but for so much money that I didn't want to spend (*mainly labor cost at this point). Doing a little more research, vynil wrap was my best cost/effectiveness solution, I was on a hunt to pick a color for a few months and decided to challenge myself to do the entire wrap by myself. A giant undertaking, with little experience other than laying the mountains and a few other car size decals but what the heck right?

Luckily, I have access to a big wash bay after hours at work, so over the weekend I started to get the decals off and work on a full paint correction, wash, clay barred, compound, polish BUT didnt wax knowing I was going to wrap the truck soon after. You can see a little bit in the photos the lighter shades of paint where the decal used to be with clean paint vs the higher part full of scratches. I was also ordering a Coastal Offroad high clearance rear bumper w/dual swing outs in the next week or so, and decided to get ahead of the game cutting up the bedsides. Saved a few feet of vynil material and time whenever I end up recieving the bumper.


Wrapping took me about 50 hours, a full week working pannels by pannels every night after work, starting at around 7-9pm till 2-4am. It's a tedious process but I found it enjoyable overall, got really annoyed with the door handles and a few tricky places at times (lack of sleep didnt help either). But for a first time wrapping an entire vehicle from scratch, I think i faired pretty well; with plenty of roll left to correct any pannels that gets damaged later on.

March 30th 2021
Hood & Fenders


April 1st
A short evening but driver door is completed.


April 2nd
Grill and Bumper, note to self do not cut the material to early and give yourself more material than you need for these awkward pieces.


April 3rd
Tailgate, and the last 3 doors. Coming along nicely! The green is sublte in low light but really comes through in daylight and certain angles.

April 4-5th
Bedsides, Pillar/roofline/back of cab completed.

A week or so later, I finally recieved the trucks "signature" and layed the mountain decals back on. Slightly harder to lay down, potentially because its now ontop of another vynil, textures or lower temperatures when I installed it. Overall its just to complete the look, if it gets scratched up or torn apart so be it, its there to protect the paint underneath.

 

really great.

 

April 14th 2021
Coastal Offroad rear high clearance & dual swing out came in. A giant Lego like DIY weld yourself kit that helps keeping the costs fairly low compared to a ready bolt-on bumper. Packaging was nice, fitment was great over all. Took about a week to get it finalized, working afterhours with a few friends.

We had the main assembly completed and bolted to the frame overnight, the next day we started working on the side wings and inner reinforcement plates.

Main bumper completed, the passenger side was off by a little bit, the gap between the bumper and the tail light was slightly bigger. Unsure why, maybe a little heat warp, or the bed is misaligned. We massaged it back to close as much as possible but once the swing outs are on there it'll barely show.

Waiting on the missing heim joints, I got around to mock up rally armor mudflaps with some Rallybuild flap brackets. Poking out a little wider BUT it covers any rocks that might fly out behind, and the future plans of a potential 3'' McNeil/Fiberwerx bedside would tie in the width really nicely imo...but that's in a later time whenever I get there.

A few days later, assembled the two swing outs, in retrospec we shouldve assembled it with just the bottom beam, but we were trying to save time and be productive throughout the day, a little bit more of a hassle but it worked out with 3 people.

Final touch before sending it for powdercoating, Baja Designs S2 reverse light kit. We wanted just a little more area light up when we get to camp late at night or when we end up setting a few things for dinner, night photos. Plug and play, small brackets angled into the bumper vs the flush mounts. Originally was suppose to be flush mounted but the angles of the bumper did not leave me any good workable surface for the lights to be effective.

A few weeks later, back from the local powder coat shop! The build is finally tying itself together a little more. Mandatory sunset photos minutes away from our place.

Overall, very satisfied with the bumper. It has its ups and downs with the swing outs and latch system compared to other companies, although very adjustable and easily removable if I ever wanted to. We left the crossbars of the jerry can holder since I didn't have the NATO style jerry cans, yet 2x normal 25L jerry cans will fit snug *empty and with some manhandling, a 20lb propane tank could also fit and just ratchet strap it to the swing.
A great opportunity to learn a little more about welding and a slim peak behind the scenes how fabrication/designing, cutting and the labor process into making these huge bumpers. Kind of makes you appreciate more the companies that does this for a living on a daily basis and supply a lot of the market.

 

Coming into summer, not much went on. Just trying to enjoy the outdoors as much as I could, unfortunately had to fly back to Ontario for some training for work and came back in July.
A few highlights between then.


A quick look on how much coverage and lighting output the Baja Designs have.

The only downfall of driving and enjoying to take photos is you can't do both at the same time. Revisited the little jump humps

 

July 17th 2021
With just over 53,000km I went ahead to replace my front brakes, figured "while I'm taking those apart, might as well reinforce the front end too".
Ordered a set of JD Fabrications Spingle gussets, UCA Double shear kit and Total Chaos cam tab gusset. Ordering from Overland Outfitters again was super quick, JDs quality parts is on point with fitment! Super clean and weldable from the get go, no hassle to grind to make anything fit.


UCA double shear installed, needed to trim slightly the rear facing plate due to the oem bump stop weld on the frame. Rerouted the hard brake line through the rear plate as well, no binding/rubbing when cycling the suspension. Needed to tuck away the hard plastic wiring harness on the driver side and get rid of a few other plastic pieces but otherwise perfect!


Final assembly at the end of the day!


We didnt have time to work on the TC cam tabs but hopefully I'll be able to burn those in this weekend.

 

August 2021,
Installed OkExpedition aluminium skid plates. Extremely solid and well made, easy to bolt up and really cleans the underside.

Shortly followed by a camping trip North Island, a few hours away from where we live. Perfect weather overall, not much traffic in the area compared to other beaches in the vicinity. We star gazed overnight as the meteor showers passed by above us.

The next day was a mix of fog and rain but traveled along the rest of the month revisiting some places from last year, as well as new trails.

 

October - November 2021
Trail day with a few other trucks, fall colors slowly changing and dealing with 3 seasons into one day.


Fun front end flex over a big tree stump, the joys of not having a sway bar!

Snow came early in early this year!

 

New Years Eve 2021,
We decided to head out for a snowboard trip a few hours away to Mount Cain. The last Canadian owned/volunteer operated Alpine Resort! A true gem and time warp, with no cell service and old school cabins, the vibes are truly something else and worth the trip out there.

Some of the snowcapped mountain range at a far distance

Coastal Offroad High clearance rear bumper loaded up.

Taco & Mt Cain

A brisk overnighter, but kept warm with proper clothes, sleeping bag and a buddy heater to kill off any moisture/humidity and warm up the tent every now and then.

New Years Eve long exposure before the storm clouds rolled in.

Driving back home in full on blizzard white out conditions