Night-Prowler build

Here's a gif for better comparison to show difference between 3d and 4d.

And I took a drive last night. Really not a whole lot of difference. I do have a bit more distance now though. But not like I was hoping for. I would say it almost wasn't worth getting the upgraded one. I do have a slight hotspot in the center now from the 4d spot beam, but only noticeable in short distances. Down the road there's almost no change in my perception of the total output of all my lights combined.

 

And for s&g, here's one of the newly designed xpr (12" w/iris reflectors) (that has replaced the evo prime btw), vs the 20"3d
Not the best comparison using 12"vs 20".. But Just to shows the difference in beam patterns. You can see the xpr has a very nice pattern and is really clean looking. Also has almost no hotspots throughout on the ground in front. A little bit directly below the light. However the 3d beam pattern still blows it away with having much more USABLE light. You can see just how wide the spread is. The spill from those diffused reflectors on the ends really spreads the light straight out to the sides! But it does have a more intense hotspot in front. Certainly not like the camera picked up, and almost none perceived in person. But it is brighter in the center on ground than the surrounding light. Only due to the nature of those 3d lenses in front of the led whereas the xpr uses no lenses so the light has a much better spread.

Also for some reason the camera seems to have adjusted itself to capture it as a kind of yellowish output on the 20" bars. I hadn't realized until it was too late. But it does output a more 5k kelvin color. The xpr puts out a very nice 6k for the spread, but strangely the spot beam in center has more of a 5k.

slowed it down a little to see the details better

 

Very nice truck, I have an 03 Tacoma and was wondering how you did the strip lights under your headlights because they look awesome.

Thanks !

 

They are built in to the headlights. Spyder one piece headlights with led dtrl.

Just type in eBay:
01 tacoma headlights dtrl
and you'll see them. But keep in mind, these headlights are not very good quality. They are prone to seal issues causing water to get in. Also more prone to much quicker deterioration on the outside from the elements. Hazing/yellowing/clear coat failure. If you still really want to risk it (which I am because I love the look) then you should consider resealing them and putting a uv film wrap on em, or clear coating them again. For now i just buff them once in a while with a lens compound to remove the haze/yellowing. My next retro I'll be wrapping them or maybe find a uv protectant clear coat I can spray on.

 

Changed spark plugs to densos. Last time had all ngk. Anyone run 3 of each? Make any difference? Seeing as I've heard they come like that from factory... I'm sure this has been debated, but haven't looked into it. Also put in ngk wires.

Ordered af and O2 sensors.. Also a blackvue dash cam.. And an R2C conical filter for my h.a.i. See if it's any better than the Donaldson powercore G2 filter I'm running now. Have a suspicion that it's a lil bit restrictive.

Properly vacuumed my a.c. too. After replacing the Schrader valves as well as an o ring. Also put this foam insulation on the low side. Member said it helped a lil. We shall see.

 

Beautiful truck

Wish you lived in Los Angeles. I would hit you up as to help me do some lights. Where I live up here the Mountain, lots of bears, coyotes, deers etc, and having more light put would really help with night driving.

 

Just curious how bright are the eagle eye leds? im planning to do that or do the 1157 bulb conversion again in the corner lights cause the eagle eye leds look nice!

 

Did you check out my write-up on em? There's a video I took of them. Doesn't do them full justice. They're extremely bright at night. And fully visable during the day. At night they light up street signs from a distance, as well as the road in front of the truck. I grin every time I see all the street signs glowing Orange with each flash while I'm stopped to turn at an intersection. Heh. But be sure to read up what I said about the finish quality on them tho.. Not the greatest. But they're still going strong. Still haven't swapped in new ones.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...als-misc-led-dtrls-bolt-leds-write-up.349058/

 

Ordered up all new suspension the other day. Finally getting rid of of my crappy spacer lift that was on since purchased.

5100's. Eibachs. Dakars. Greasable shackles and main eyes. brake prop bracket. ext brake line.

Hoping I'll be able to get in on the current Demello front plate bumper action too.

 

just added a new write-up with install methods for my 8" led bars in turn signal areas, 20" light bar install, and dtrls with mesh inserts in valence!
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...t-20-dtrls-with-mesh-inserts-installs.461118/

 

Got (most) of my kit in today from wheelers!





BUT , little bit of a rant regarding ups shipping.

Got everything but the dang dakars... Was an issue with shipping. But was an error mostly on ups, and a bit of my own I suppose. Delayed due to "operating conditions". Whatever that means. Actually it means the driver forgot the other two packages is what. Even called ups and dealt with a hard to understand foreign lady and that's what she told me. Couldn't even tell me if they were at the sorting facility or at one of their hubs. In hopes I could go pick them up.. Nope. Fucking ups. Sigh. Was hoping to get everything installed tomorrow Now it's gotta wait. Had to get my shift covered at work for Saturday(as I work weekends) and that's no easy task for me either.

Apparently putting in "Rd" instead of "Dr" for the street, caused issues. Which I'm unsure of what it actually is, as there's no street sign, but apparently it's "Drive"... Yet one package arrived and tracking stated the address was corrected. And other two were delayed and would be rescheduled for delivery.. Never had any issues before..

Wheelers then gave me a call confirming everything I just went through and were very apologetic. Michelle was really nice and knew exactly what was going on as she had already looked into it (same time I was probably). And wasn't but maybe 10 minutes after I got off the phone with ups that she called. She also said they were trying to charge an additional $13.50 PER package ($40.50 total) in shipping. Because of the shipping address error. Like, wtf. Ha. She said they validate before shipping too. So she insisted on fighting the additional charges and really didn't wanna have to charge me more, even though I told her it would be fine and would pay it no problem. But I've been EXTREMELY impressed with wheelers, from my first phone calls and quick email responses, to looking into the shipment issues and trying to fight the additional charges. Freaking awesome service.

But I didn't think that the street suffix would cause all that hassle! So, I should be expecting the leafs On Monday. But I won't have time again to install for a couple weeks Probly. I could do the fronts, but I'll just wait. Just gonna work Saturday.. Gotta take it to my brothers house for install.

Sigh Oh well. Not THAT big a deal, shit happens.. But that was my morning. On top of only getting 3.5hrs sleep. Yay!

 

Dang man. Yeah I kinda thought that too, that the driver was like, fuck these big bastards he can wait. Ha. Idk. Just bummed.

And maybe! I wouldn't consider myself the best at electrical either. I can do basic stuff. Positive, negative, simple relays, connectors. I haven't actually messed with Any switches before. Especially the lighted ones. Those can be trickier. But if we can figure out how to wire them up, yeah I can help. I've got a really nice Delphi weatherpack waterproof connector kit. I'm out of the two pin connectors, need to order more. But can use single connectors or 3pin connectors with a plug in one port. Have some cheap zip wire as well as heavy duty (industrial thick) wire, so you may want to source some wire of your own. Depending on how demanding those lights are, or how anal you are Also have a soldering gun. Not a master with that either but an option if needed for something.

Fill me in on this fog light retro. Is it the actual fog lights, or like, led halos retrod inside? Got a link? Just wanna see what we're dealing with.

Just let me know mang. I have Mondays and Tuesdays off. I might be able to get up a lil early on a weekend for ya b4 work (as I work nights @5pm till early a.m.

 

Castin some shadows after some time at the range. Found this great spot. Been here before but was pretty barren last time. They've done a bunch of dozin since. Lots of mounds and junk for some good shots. Took these kinda quick with my phone. Gonna have to bust out the actual camera one night out here. Wished I had a friend to take some professional shots with a dslr. Oh well, these came out pretty good, even tho it wasn't pitch black out yet.

 

Welp, took almost God damned day to gitrdone, and still needs a lil work, but lift is installed! 5100's all around w/eibachs and dakars, and extra goodies but not all yet. Didn't take a ton of pics. But will post up some better shots later..

(And a heads up... please excuse my filthy truck, i've been neglecting her)

What a job tho... Ugh. Glad my bro was there helping. Ran into quite a few issues. Took me like, idk, 11 hours. 12 total but Turkey dinner was an hour of that at least. Took our time. Especially me once I was on my own as he helped me for like half the time. We started at 11:30am. After he helped my place the leafs in position, he turned in at 6pm then I was on my own. I left his house at 11pm. Ha. Searched and searched for a lost shock washer. Finally was about to give up for the night but found another big washer that worked. So decided to push on and finish.

Issues:
-One lower ball joint mount bolt was finnicky going back in. Finally got it to go in. Threads got a little buggered up removing that one for some reason..
-didnt press out front leaf bushings yet as I got greasable main eyes(will do later)
-lost a shock mount washer(used a regular big washer)
-one nut on driver side ubolt wouldn't come off, had to torch cut the ubolt off.
-had to fight with my grease gun
-snapped a zerk fitting
-stock leaf bumpstops wouldn't fit(drilled out some of the rubber) but will Probly get proper ones later if/when I do shock relocate. For now they're fine and don't think they'll even touch. Ha.
-installed rear shocks on wrong sides
-didn't bleed brakes, squishy pedal, will fix and adjust rear brakes later
-need alignment big time(didn't think it would change that much but it's not driveable atm, will take it in probly Monday)


She's actually sitting pretty nice! I was surprised. At first, with side by side comparison of old vs new struts, I was thinking I'd lose height! But the coils are so stiff it's pretty much maxed out up front. Also surprisingly, it is a lot smoother than I thought it'd be! Certainly way better than what I had. All my shocks were completely toast, especially the rears. Lol. Could plunge em in and out like there was nothing inside. Ha. The rear also lifted just about right. Didn't really look at it yet, but I think it's sitting lower in the rear, but still higher than it was I think (I Took before measurements So I'll post up some numbers later). So with my plate bumper I'm hoping it'll level out. Feels nice and smooth out back. Front as well is really nice. But being pretty much maxed out, it slams a lil over drops and is quite noticeably stiffer than rear. Only did it once going slow over a cattle guard with a drop in it on the end.

About ~8 mile drive home though and some of that was really rough. From a washed out creek pass road with a big dip and big rocks, to rough asphalt breaks, to a deep/tight dip in street that I used to really dip/hop through at speed. All was super smooth. Before it was literally like riding on bricks. Now every bump is hardly noticeable. I'm sure most of that is due to my old shocks being beyond bad, but also never having drove/ experienced anything smoother than this. I can't imagine how some people's rigs are with better setups than this. Must be like floating on clouds. Because I think mine is nice, even for a truck. And it's only gonna get better. Albeit only slightly..

Anyways, I'm really happy. Even though it was a major pain. But being my first time installing stuff like that was against me as well. Looking forward to more mods!

Also removed the sway bar. Hard to tell any difference so far tho with these heavy duty coils. Will see when I button the rest down and hit up some trails!

 

It's official. Pulled the trigger on a relentless stealth bumper only moments ago!!! Now to see how long I can hold out with the anticipation until it hits my door step, Probly four months away. Gonna drive me crazy till then, lol... Soon as I get it, gonna see if I can find someone to do my custom light cutouts.

In the meantime, might get an alignment today so I can driver her again. But STILL have to go easy on her until I get this fixed.

If it's not one thing, it's another. My truck is falling apart
https://youtu.be/vDjcp1IzQy0

 

That's a Bad Ass Tacoma

 

just adding some good pics i found back from may.

 

After new lift

some rough measurements, tried to find a level spot.

Before with spacer lift:
Front
Driver-39 1/4"
Pass.-39 3/4"
Rear
Driver-40 1/4"
Pass.- 39"

After new lift:
Front
Driver-40"
Pass.-40 1/4"
Rear
Driver-40 1/2"
Pass.-40 1/2"

 

Got my alignment all corrected. Had to take it back a second time. The first time they did't even touch the camber and only adjusted the toe. NEVER going back to Big-o. They gave me the run around and tried telling me the first time the camber couldn't be fixed. Bullshit. Took it today and demanded they redo it. All seems good now.


Gotta order up some new slug adapters for the camburg uca's. Looks like that's the culprit for my play in the spindle up top. That's what camburg stated in their reply when I sent them the video. $50 bucks a pop. ouch.