TruKnight's Autobot Build

Love this build. Currently shopping for a SWB DC 4x4 MT so we might be build brothers one day...

Congrats on paying it off!!!

 

since its paid off I now have some $ for some overdue mods, which is why im doing all this now. good luck on your search, im sure you'll find one eventually!

 

It's apparently a unicorn. Very hard to find lol but that's okay because I won't be ready to buy for a while anyway.

 

yeah the more specific you get the harder it is to find for sure. you going sport or offroad? I <3 my hood scoop.

 

If I can find 4x4 DC MT I don't care which. I have a feeling that combo will only come around once in a blue moon so I'll take either. I can add the scoop myself

 

Do you have a step by step how to on how to swap the steering wheels?

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/362309-2014-steering-wheel-control-install.html

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/106114-2nd-gen-clockspring-replacement-how.html

I found a few picture guides for replacing the clock spring, which is as deep into the steering assembly as you need to go.

here is my own guide that mentions some things others didn't:

just disconnect the negative battery terminal and wrap it in some plastic, be sure you don't have anything connected to the outlets with a battery like a phone, and wait 30 min for the power to drain. try your headlights to make sure its dead before you do anything else.

IMPORTANT: if its very dry there, grab a dryer sheet and rub your hands and tools with it to discharge the static.

next, lock your steering wheel to one side, place some tape and mark it like I did on the previous page of this build thread. this will greatly help you get it back on right the first time and not be misaligned.

then you pop the plastic covers off the sides of the weel, and undo the 2 bolts with a T30 torx driver (they wont come out they only loosen).

then you should be able to remove the airbag enough to get the 2 cables out. you have to pull up on the yellow tabs to get them to release. also remove the ground wire. set the airbag aside.

then youll need a socket to remove the wheel nut, and that is the only thing holding the wheel to the clock spring. IMPORTANT: take a picture of where the clockspring is aligned before removing the wheel!

with that off, youll need to remove 2 black screws holding the steering colum cover on, and it has snaps on the side youll have to gently undo to remove the cover enough to get to the clock spring and remove it.

the clock spring has 3 tabs and 2 (3 if your wheel has audio controls) wire plugs holding it in. if your new spring did not come with audio controls and you have this on your old spring, you will have to gently pry off this part of the clockspring and attach it to your new one.

IMPORTANT: you will have to center the clock spring to drive straight if it came loose with no orange tab, you do this in 2 ways, with the picture you took earlier, and by turning it to the right and left. it turns 5ish times only, so you GENTLY turn it all the way right, then count 5 turns left, then backtrack 2.5 rotations to center the clockspring. do this 2-3 times until your sure its right, and don't let it move until you place the wheel back onto the center bolt, then it should fit in the slot the wheel has for it perfectly and also line up with your tape markings.

after that just reverse the steps, tighten the nut (firm but not overtight), attach the 3 airbag wires (don't forget the ground) and tighten the torx bolts, replace covers, put the negative battery cable on and hope the airbag light doesn't stay on. if it does, just disconnect the battery and give it another try later.

then go around the block and test your alignment and if it drives straight, you are all set. just find a highway or something and cruise at 60+ for awhile to get the ecm computer to relearn the engine and your driving style (its reset when you disconnect the battery) and you are done and dusted!

its really not that bad, I knew nothing about what I just wrote before I did it, and going slow and careful it only took 2-3 hrs.

 

well I had hoped to have awesome stereo install pics today but im wafting on some parts to arrive still so I don't have to tear the dash apart twice.

in the meantime, here are some sunset pics from today. want to get better at taking the awesome pics I see others doing:







and lastly today, I made this photoshop cause I was curious how a 12+ would have looked in swb. now half of me really wants to do it and the other half of me desperately wants to be talked out of it... I already know the paint would never match.





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Where'd you get that Stubby?!?

 

Why would the paint not match...? Just paint it SWB.

 

What kind of radio are you going with

 

the antenna? few bucks off ebay. it came apart and I had to glue it back together tho. don't buy it. I might replace it later anyhow.

if it were only that simple, but apparently paint is more complex than that. it should match within 90% anyway, close enough im thinking. ive been staring at some pics tho trying to decide if im gonna do it or not. sourcing parts may be a pain as well.

Pioneer AVH-4000NEX, its the cheapest pioneer model that has apple car play so I can use iphone maps for nav and save myself a ton of $. also found a deal on one off ebay so did not pay retail either.

 

Sweet

 

it better be! assembling the harness for it has been a mess so far.

 

took some pics of the new led lights at dark. huge improvement over the old ones.

front two lights:




dome light from outside:



made myself some better swb photoshops of the 12 front end, still on the fence about this one:

edit: off the fence. over the fence and flying down the road in fact. lets do it!

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ok its official, let the autobot transformation begin!

im going to retrofit my front end with 12+ parts. ive already talked to some guys on here about it, compiled a list of oem part numbers and have began to purchase some new but mostly used oem parts. no aftermarket period. im budgeting about 2k in parts before paint.

ill do some small updates along the way as parts arrive.

in the mean time, you all can enjoy these photoshops I made to get an idea of what im planning and how the end result should appear, give or take. as far as I know, this will be the only swb modded in this way:
this one looks pretty darn close to my plan:


this one is close also cept for the emblem and wheels:


this one is a swb trd pro photoshop: (I do not like that grill)


that's all for now. hopefully soon ill finally be able to install my stereo if the last adapter I need gets here soon.

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I sense a disturbance in the force.

 

lol im not sure how to take that.

 

You changed the title!