"My Wife Says No" Build Thread

Hello all, this is my first time posting a build thread. I have spent a lot of time reading on TW reading other members and drooling over their trucks. I am starting to be able to drool over my own truck now.

Please comment and I will accept constructive criticism, I do as much research as I can but I know that I can improve in a lot of areas.

TRUCK AS IT SITS NOW:



1990 Toyota Pickup. Sold.


Vehicle:
2015 DCSB, TRD Off-Road
4x4, 6-Speed Manual
Silver Sky Metallic

Wheels and Tires:
285/75R16 Goodyear Wrangler MT/R Kevlar
SCS F5 in Gloss Jet Black

Front Suspension:
ICON Ext.Travel Front Coil-Over Shock W/ Remote Resi CDCV
Total Chaos UCA
700lb Springs
Wheeler SuperBump Bumpstops

Rear Suspension:
ICON 2.0 Rear Reservoir Shock Extended for OME Dakar Leafs
OME Dakar Leaf Springs
All-PRO U-Bolt Flip
Wheeler SuperBump Bumpstops
Performance Rear Brake Line Set, +2"

Armor:
Pelfreybilt Steel Plate Bumper
Pelfreybilt Aluminium High Clearance Bumper W/ Swing Out Gate (Future)
Pelfreybilt Bolt On Sliders (Future)
Pelfreybilt Aluminium Skid Plates (Future)

Lighting:
Rigid 20" LED BAR
Rigid DOT/SAE Fog Package
Rigid D2 Wide Ditch Lights
Front Runner 40" LED Light Bar
Custom Bed Lights
Baja Designs S2 Pro LED Wide Cornering Flush Mount Backup Lights (Future)

Recovery:
Warn Zeon 8-S 8000 Winch
48" Hi Lift Jack

Interior:
iphone holder
Weathertech FloorLiner

Exterior:
Front Runner Slimline II Roof Rack
Softtopper
CBI Ditch Light Bracket
Snugtop Rebel Cap
Front Rumne Slimline II Canopy Roof Rack

Electronics:
Dual Battery Setup:
2x Optima Yellow Top
Blue Sea ML-ACR
Armor Tech Off-Road Dual Battery Tray
Pelfreybilt Blue Seas Fuse Panel
ARB 55 QT Refrigerator
Scangauge II
Cobra 75WXST 40-Channel CB Radio (Future)
Yaesu VX-3R VHF/UHF DualBand Handheld
Yaesu Original FT-7900R Ham Radio



This build actually started shortly after I purchased the truck, so please forgive me if I don't have pictures for everything that I've done.

The reason for the 2015 Tacoma is that earlier last year we found out that we were going to become parents and so the 1990 wasn't cutting it anymore.

TRUCK PRUCHASED ON 05/03/2015:


The first modifications I did were the suspension and dual battery setup.



And here is them going onto the truck.





Missing the mounting bracket, metaltech had one overnighted.

Completed and also installed the softtopper.

Next was the dual battery setup:
Sorry I have do not pictures of the process.





Bed Lights


Bed Fuse Box




First Trip after Modifications:
Ill add more pictures from this trip, won't be much with the truck. Was mostly a fishing trip and spending time with family.


My dog Eva.


After the trip I replaced rear shocks since the ones I ordered were the shorter version.


The shocks only have about 2500 miles and I still have them if anyone is interested. I just need to clean them up a little.

The roof rack installed.


Lots more to come!

 

Sorry for the gap between posts but with my work schedule, being a new dad and having my family in town I haven't had to time update my thread.

So to catch you all up parts have being arriving at the house which has been a delight to my dog Eva who just loves to bark and run to the door. It is probably a scary sight from the delivery persons perspective.

40" Light bar from FrontRunner


Rigid D2 Flood lights purchased from CBI fabrication


Cobra 75 WX ST CB radio/Firestik antenna



SCS F5 Gloss Jet Black 16" 4.5" Backspace


Switches from OTRATTW and Switch Panel from IGGYCORP


Ditch Light Bracket from CBI.

 

So my plan was to go with BFGoodrich M/T KM2s which I ordered from 4wheel parts back in February and I still hadn't received any confirmation that they were going to ship when it got to march. I did some calling around and found that they have backordered everywhere. And from what I was told that BFG wasn't even producing them, so I had to change my tire plans to the Goodyear Wrangler MT/R Kevlars.



Got the switches wired and installed.


40" LED light bar and Ditch lights installed.




Went down to San Diego to pick up the pelfreybilt front bumper. Meet Tyler and got to see their business which is very impressive.



Got the rigid 20" light bar, the Rigid fog lights and Warn Zeon winch installed on the bumper.



Bumper installed on the truck, I had to order 700lb springs with the steel bumper and winch installed the front dropped about an inch. The last picture is with the new springs.

Still need to finish the wiring of the winch. Also have a couple of other projects that I would like to finish and then it will be an entire summer of use before I do anything major:

Install Cobra 75 CB radio (Update 03/21/18) Still not installed

Picked up parts for rock lights (Update 03/21/18) Installed but I would like to redo the front driver side wiring, out of all the wiring I have done this is the only part that look like crap.

diff breather mod (Update 04/22/18) Installed

Those were put on hold so I could make time to pick up a new accessory for my off-road needs, more so my family/dogs will be able to join comfortably.

I introduce the Moab Fort XL made by Bivouac Camping Trailers located in Phoenix, AZ check out their website: http://moabaz.com/moab-fort-xl/

 

Reserved

 

Reserved-

 

Beautiful truck! Job well done. Looking forward to more.

 

Truck looks awesome and congrats on being a new dad- I'm in the same boat. How are the 700# springs riding with that bumper and winch combination? Also, how is the rubbing with the 285 Goodyear MTRs? Did you do the "cab mount chop"?

 

Love the build title!

Great lookin' truck!

 

subbed, LOVE the trailer!!

 

Well its been a long time, I am terrible at staying in touch and that includes updating this thread. I had fully intended to keep this up to date and post regularly.

But as my dad always said "Life happen's when you try to plan".

So a little update, we had our baby boy a little over 2 years ago. It has been one of the greatest challenges and greatest joys becoming a father, and our little family has grown again since, early last year we found out we were expecting a new addition and to date we have a happy and healthy almost 4 month old baby girl.

So enough of the gushy stuff... The truck was put back together and we have use the heck out of it and the trailer. Very happy with how both turned out. (Lots of picture to come) Not much has changed with the truck, but big things are coming... literally, I placed an order for a Snugtop rebel cap, Frontrunner Slimline II roof rack for the cap, Pelfreybilt aluminium HC rear bumper with swing out gate. Pelfreybilt rock silders and complete set of Pelfreybilt aluminium skid plates. I have few smaller things planned/purchased as well and I will update the main post with those.

The main reason other than I actually love doing these projects, is with 2 children and 2 dogs we needed to find a better way to haul everyone and everything around.

So a couple things i'll be doing to accomplish this goal is to cut back on items that aren't necessary on our trips. (Very difficult to do with 2 young kiddos and a mom planning for every possible contingency). The next best option is to create more efficient storage space. I have a couple ideas on how I want to do this and once I lay it all out I will be very happy for suggestions.

 

Today I took off the Softopper to clean up the bed and get it ready for the Snugtop that will be coming in couple weeks.

I also order few parts to finish up the CB and Ham Radio installs. Amazon Prime maybe the best most awful service ever, at least my wallet thinks so. I plan to install the ham radio antenna on a NMO mount on the front passenger side fender. The CB antenna won’t be installed until the rear bumper comes in, 14 weeks feels like forever right now. In the mean while I’ll install the ham radio and a couple other things so hopefully I won’t have to tear the dash apart more than once.

The other thing I’m working on today is pelican storage.

Any thoughts on how this looks or issues anyone might see with this, other than the fact I can’t park in my garage with them so I have to take them off after each trip.

 

Over the weekend I finished prepping the Pelican cases to be mounted. I drilled 3/8" holes in the bottom of the brand new cases . I had to add washers between the bottom of the cases and roof rack rail to fill in the space. I also added a rubber washer to help seal it up. On the inside I have a 1-1/2" washer, split washer and nylock nut. I am not really worried about water getting inside, I think the truck would have to be completely under water and even then I think it would still stay dry. Challenge accepted! I'll post some pictures when I get home from work today. Over all I am pretty happy with how this turned out, I was a little concerned with how tall it would make the truck and how noisy, but its already noisy with how I have the light bar mounted and I've gotten used to it. Once I get everything mounted I will take it for a drive and see if I notice a difference.

Hardware Used:

16x 5/16" x 1-1/2" Bolts
16x 5/16" x 1-1/2" Flat Washers
16x 5/16" Split Washers
16x 5/16" Nylock Nuts
16x 5/16" Nuts
32x 5/16" x 3/4" Flat Washers
16x 5/16" x 1/2" Rubber Washer

Also, I've been thinking about ditching the horse stall mat I use in the bed. I guess I never realized how heavy it was until I cleaned out the bed of the truck. Does anyone else use one or have the Toyota bed mat and have any options?

 

Sweet truck ​

 

Thank you!

 

great looking truck!

 

Thank you!

 

I ran to the Toyota dealership when I got home from work today and picked up a Tacoma bed mat. Then I spent the rest of evening, between the 2 year (missed nap today, due to the baby sitter canceling last minute so the wife had to take the kids to her dentist appointment), 4 month old while the wife cooked dinner and... cleaning the bed. It’s funny how hard it is do even the smallest of task with kids around.

Bed Before:


Bed After:


Also I have received a few parts for the coming upgrades.

 

Well today I started working on some of the many projects I have planned for the truck.

Installed the rear diff remote breather. I started trying to find the front diff breather then realized it already has a remote breather. But while I was looking I realized my front coil overs were leaking so talked a DC Shock Service and I will be pulling them and sending them in for service. I’m not sure how I should feel about this they have about 21k miles on them and about 15% of that I would call off road. I’ll have to go back and read the recommend service mileage.

I had originally planned on adding the remote resi when I did send them in but now I’m not so sure. Could see myself go LT in a couple years so not really worth the $500 extra. I guess I can decide after I get them pulled


The passenger side is much worse.

 

So I dropped the shocks off at ups and should arrive at DC Shock Service on Monday. It only took me 45 minutes from the time I jacked up the truck till I dropped it back down and put tools away. I love how easy it is to work on these.


In the mean time I’ll get see where I’m still rubbing and install a few more goodies.

 

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, work has been really demanding of late and it’s been hard to find time between spending time with the family and work to get things done on the truck. But I finally had some time this last weekend.

The to do list:



I work better when I can see my objectives and can cross them off as I go.

I sent the shocks of to get service and add remote res with CDCV. I just received the call that let me know they are done and I am expecting them tomorrow or Wednesday. I decided to just add the remote res because if I end up going LT in the future it won’t be for a long time.

Also I’m hoping to hear from the snugtop dealer this week. I’d really like to have the topper before my trip this weekend.

I got my OBA compressor installed and wired.



I also installed some different switches for the bed lights and refrigerator.



Installed new extended brake lines on the rear.


You can also see that I did the u-bolt flip and wheeler superbump bump stops.

Clear the pinch weld in both fenders.



I plan on getting the CMC done in the next couple weeks, it will be nice to finally not have any more rubbing. It hasn’t been super noticeable but my suspension is a little stiff and I think with the armor coming it will be a bit softer so definitely think CMC is going to be necessary.

Assembled the roof rack for the topper.



The last thing that I did was drill a bunch of holes in the truck which at first is a lot scarier than it actually is.