PC3coyote's 2017 Tacoma Build

Great post! I am a first time Tacoma owner. I really liked the tan and blue (like yours). I ultimately decided on silver because it hides dirt better in my opinion....and I have an old blue muscle car so I didn't need to justify my love for blue anymore!

Your mods are awesome! I am book marking this for future inspiration. I have the limited so it has 18" wheels, I really like the TRD rims but they are 17" and I'd have to worry about my speedometer calibration.

Love the Aussie! I have a Aussie/beagle mix. Beagle body, Aussie color...great boy!

 

Thanks! I considered the white and silver but have an obsession with the blue and got a crazy price that I couldn’t pass on.

I actually considered putting 16” on this truck like I had on my last truck. I prefer the beefier tire look. I liked the 17” 4Runner Pro wheels to much though to pass on them.

I love my Aussie boy but man is he crazy! Don’t let his preciousness deceive you.

Last truck on 16s:

 

You won’t have to worry about speedo calibration when changing wheel size. It’s the overall tire diameter that affects that.

 

^

 

I do understand how the diameter calcs work. I have 265-60-18....and going to 245-70-17 would be the closest overall diameter. One must is BF Goodrich all-terrains.

 

Another option is 265/65r17 if you’re wanting to keep it close.

On second gens, the speedo was actually off by a couple MPH at highway speeds and a 1” increase in tire size brought it in to be more accurate. This was determined via GPS. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to doublecheck yours if you’re wanting to keep it as accurate as possible because it may be a good excuse to bump up an inch in tire size.

 

dude your build is beautiful!

 

Not going to lie... I look at this thread every couple of days for inspiration. Replace your cap with a prinsu roof rack, blue with orange, and I am hoping for my truck looks just like yours someday (probably in a few years unless there's a spike in selling a spare kidney on the black market).

A few questions:

• You mentioned you're contemplating the SSO bumper with winch. Are you worried about sag with the stock suspension? Are you planning on using your behind the grill light bar with the SSO bumper?
• I'm planning on getting the same foglights (BD sports in amber, wide cornering). I only plan on using them when they are needed (i.e. foggy, snowy, rainy), but do you ever get oncoming drivers flashing their lights because these are too bright? I've seen mixed comments about whether the sport foglights are too bright for road use.
• The rigid ignite rear lights you are planning, are these the ones that get sunk into the bumper? Do you have the backup sensors on yours? I'd like to get something similar, but i have the backup sensors and don't want to cut into the bumper only to find out it's not going to work.
• The rock lights... can you describe when they are useful? I'm not a hardcore offroader (either?), but I'm hoping to get a switchpro and am struggling coming up how to use all 8 buttons. Rock lights could be one of them, but I'm struggling with the "why" (I like to think of myself as a function over form type of person... but the first thing I did when I got my truck was replace the bedside stickers with blacked out ones and plasti-dip badges... so... ha on me).

 

@Hextall asking all the important questions. I’ve been wondering the same about the squadrons and the reverse pods.

 

Thanks, bud! I really appreciate it!

Thanks! I hope people enjoy it and find the pictures/info helpful! No rush on the build, going piece by piece is part of the fun! Almost everything on my truck is Craigslist/TacomaWorld finds at a steep discount so if you’re patient, you can find great deals.

• RE: SSO bumper
  • I’m not too worried about sag. The bumper is a little less than 60 lb and the winch is less than 100 lb. I’ve heard of others running stock suspension with the setup. Front bumper may sag an inch or so. I’ve heard of others say they notice it when driving but it isn’t a huge impact. I really hope it doesn’t cause any rubbing or any negative impacts to drivability.
  • I don’t intend on upgrading the suspension unless absolutely required. If I do, it’ll be a very mild lift/suspension upgrade to compensate for the bumper/winch in the front and topper/drawers in the back.
  • I’m not planning on keeping my hidden 32” light bar once I have the bumper. I’m almost positive that it’ll interfere with how the bumper and winch mount. I will be installing the 20” Heise lightbar in the SSO bumper which is coming with it. It’s not blacked out like I would like and not one of the high end brands but I can’t imagine spending $500+ on just a light bar that I rarely use.
• RE:Baja fog lights
  • I use them for rain/fog primarily not daily use. I really think they are okay for daily use or rain/fog use without blinding other drivers. I’ve never had someone flash their high beams at me.
  • The biggest thing I’d recommend is angling them down (more than you would think) so that they light up primarily in front of the truck and not overpower your low beams by stopping behind them (they normally shine out pretty far when they are perfectly level). With that setup, I don’t think you’ll have any problems.
• RE: Rear Rigid lights
  • I don’t have have BSM but I don’t see why it would affect it. Those are in the outer bumper caps I think with the reverse signals in the outer and inner bumper pieces.
  • I’m planning on installing these in the center plastic parts of the bumper (no cutting of metal). See below for where I got the idea and some other good installs. I haven’t had a chance to install these yet.
  • For now I’m just wiring them to a switch but I may wire them to the reverse lights (to come on when I put the truck in reverse) as well with a diode if I can figure out how.
• RE: Amazon rock lights
  • I’d love a Switchpro but I haven’t been able to justify the cost. It’s definitely a much cleaner install than the way I’m doing it and pretty much necessary if you want to install more than 3-4 lights/accessories.
  • I’m not a hardcore offroader by any means. They are definitely a little gimmicky but that’s okay for me since it was less than $100 for all of the parts.
  • My main use is to light up around the truck at night when I’m working on it or around the campsite when we camp. It’s really nice having all of that light around/under the truck for those purposes. I also have it for at night if I find myself on dirt roads/light offroading after the sun sets. It’s nice having light around the truck to help see any ditches/rocks to avoid (both for me and whoever may be behind me).
  • For now I’m just wiring them to a switch but I may wire them to the interior lights (as courtesy/puddle lights to come on as I unlock/approach the truck) as well with a diode if I can figure out how.

 

ah... cool, thanks for the pictures. I think there's extra sensors in the bumper besides the blind spot monitoring for the reverse sensors (maybe?), but I don't think they live in that black piece in the pictures you shared.

 

It looks like there are 4 reverse sensors in the rear bumper and 2 are in the black plastic portion. As long as you installed the Rigid lights below them, you shouldn’t have a problem. See below.



The BSM sensors are on the far ends of he outer bumper caps so no issue with those I don’t think. See below.



Another option is to install only 1 to the right of the license plate like below. That definitely wouldn’t interfere with any sensor placement. It looks plenty bright as well. See below.

 

I hadn't really considered lights like that in the bumper, but now thinking more and more about it, I plan on trailering a raft, so those lights might be perfect for illuminating when I'm hooking up the trailer (the reverse light won't be on once I get out to hook it up).

Rigid should give you a small commission. ha.

 

They would work perfectly for that!

Haha, yeah they should. I’ve worked with a few well-known vendors on my truck build but not Rigid (yet)

 

Awesome build man! I love the color!

 

I'll have to think about this some more, but I put them on my "mod to do" list (current wish list cost still to go... $8500). And thanks for sharing the pictures, it looks like putting one by the license plate frame might not exactly work for illuminating the ball and hitch of a trailer (the step in the bumper looks like it perfectly blocks the light in that area that the trailer connection would happen.

Either way, I'll patrol the group buy forum for these (I got the rigid scene lights for the roof rack in a group buy).

I had already had one of the ignite lights on my wish list, but not the flush mount. I was thinking illuminating the bed off the back of the roof rack with a couple of them (the light by the 3rd brake light is pretty weak). I like how there's the gopro mount ability on the non-flush ones, so I'm trying to think about having a roving one to clip on somewhere while camping or something. the only thing would be figuring out the wiring. Sort of like a spotlight that can be movable but still wired in via a plug.

 

FWIW I’m fairly certain those 4 black things are reverse sensors, and the BSM radars are behind the plastic on each corner. That’s why the bumpers are plastic, so it doesn’t interfere with the radar.

 

Thanks! I really like the blue as well.

I haven’t added what I’ve spent or plan to spend. Probably smart but I’m to scared to haha.

That could work with the Rigid Ignites! They are super flexible.

You’re right! I wasn’t familiar with the sensors since I don’t have the tech package. I updated my post above (included below).

 

That’s kinda what I figured. Normally I wouldn’t bother correcting anyone about that but your thread is very informative and figured you would want the right info out there!

 

I definitely have OCD and am overly-meticulous as you can see throughout this build page so I greatly appreciate it! I wouldn’t want to spread incorrect info!