VBTaco Build

I actually talked to them more and for starters I have to do this with my tires and weight. It's a no-brainer. The truck has been sluggish for too long. However, I really don't need a front locker. The truck has been more than capable so I'm going to drop $1400 right there. Should I do it while it's open because it will be cheaper in the long run? Maybe..? I'm just tired of dropping thousands into this thing right now and don't think I need it. I also found out I can send my cores back for free and get a $2200 refund. So that really drops the price. All in all it seems much more in reach than earlier this week.

 

Would you say thats a pretty good price? I see a re-gear in my eventual future but thats tough to swallow haha

 

That’s a pretty good refund! Yeah with all that weight you will need it eventually. Fortunately I don’t yet and I’m just planning ahead.

Honestly, I don’t know. I only got the one quote from the place I already go to, because I was there getting some other work done. A re-gear is at least a year away for me so I haven’t looked into it too seriously yet, and I haven’t received multiple quotes for any type of comparison.

It’s probably on the high side because the shop I go to is a little pricey.

 

Incredible upgrade man! I’m so jealous, haha. The black, branded calipers look so good on the truck. This is definitely on the long term list for my truck now too. Do you have part numbers / links to this kit or the parts you used for this swap?

Awesome build!!

 

After all the refunds and adding in labor I'm going to probably be close to or at $2500k. There might be cheaper options including DIY but this is another thing I'd like done right the first time and have a warranty on.

 

\Hey thanks, it's definitely been a process and I have learned a ton. I think reworking some small touches on the drawers in addition to making them lighter are really going to finish it up well.

 

First of the new upgrades for the upcoming fall season. My wife put some wheels on her Jeep so we wrapped them in my 285/70 Toyos and I upgraded to 285/75s. No rubbing on everyday street driving and uturns but I expect some on the trail so a more aggressive CMC is in the plans. Then I sold the ARB 6x6 I had and it's room. It pooled water no matter what I tried and was very difficult to setup alone. I've replaced it with this 270º CVT. Goals were to find something budget-friendly, as light as possible, include a kick stand for rain run off, a light if possible and square across the back for cooking. Reign and FSR really fit the bill but both were $1000+ after shipping. I really liked the FSR and it was the lightest out there. The CVT had a shorter version, was under $600 with free shipping and square in the back. I'm not going to be doing pull ups on it but I think it's going to serve me well.

 

Not a fun mod but my radiator has already worn a hole in the lower passenger corner from what I think is vibration against the AC condenser. It was a very slow leak but I think it came to a head on my last trip a few weeks ago. After a few quotes from $700-$1500 I decided I needed to tackle this one on my own. $200 and a few hours later this is now done and I can drive this again with confidence.

 

That sucks, you think that vibrating is heat related and/or because the AC has been running a lot in the heat?

I’ve seen an unusual number of “AC not working” posts in the 3rd Gen section over the last few weeks. Even for the summer time.

 

I think it's literally that they are touching each other from the factory and the only thing holding the bottom in place is the radiator and fluid lines at the bottom. It's a crazy design. My wife's Jeep has over a 1/2" between them.

 

That is wild, I’ve never noticed that before. It was smart to fix it on your own.

 

This is exactly what mine was like so I'm thinking it was the same problem. https://youtu.be/MWGNSZFuelA?si=aybd8uSchqxDaBY2&t=208

 

Hmmm the video isn’t working.

 

Click the link in there that says watch on youtube?

 

With the weather cooling off a bit here in VA I have gotten back on mods. Since I removed the bed setup in the spring I haven't had air and thought that if it was going to really be easy to remove I need the air mounted to the truck this go. I decided to mount it up in the rear driver fender after seeing some ARB kits. I don't have the factory cubby or an ARB though. A quick trip to Harbor freight, some cheap vents from Amazon and a few spare bolts later we're back in business. Will it overheat still? Maybe but no way to know until you try.

 

Everyone says the first thing you should do after a lift and tires is to regear. I will be the first to admit it was always part of the plan but the least sexy upgrade to do. You just can't show off gears at the brewery, protect you transmission with more torque or keep your gear clean without something on or in the bed haha. To me I always felt I could get by a little bit longer without redoing them and the cost was just so steep. Well after 4 years I've finally upgraded. This past week I went with 5.29s from ECGS. It was pretty bad with the 33s and all the armor but the 34s pushed it over the edge. The truck was a huge slug on the road.

Regearing is hard to explain. It's not a huge power gain turning it into a racecar. It just goes now. It's like it was before I did anything to it. On the highway I think the RPMs are down 500-1000. It's much quieter getting up to speed and changing lanes because it's not working as hard I suppose. The other thing I can't describe well is that it's smoother now. It feels like I got everything greased or something. All in all I still feel like it was way too expensive but I can definitely feel the difference.

Huge shout out to Brandon for walking me through the options and getting these things out. I ended up not going with a front locker. I know most will say... you have air already and will have it ripped open and it's was really expensive to redo the front in the future! But after a lot of thought, the core purpose of this build was to camp remote and the front locker always seems to come into play when I try to purposefully do larger obstacles. I don't have long travel or a ton of clearance and really... 9x out of 10 you can just avoid the problem. Some of the places I want to go I've seen stock vehicles at so I really felt like I have more than enough capability. It was another big chunk of money I didn't want to spend on top of all this so I decided against it.

So for now I'm considering this my last big expense other than upgrading the light bar to a 40" dual color BD which I have just been waiting on to find one used. I'm really considering a Super Pacific, GFC or Xtrusion camper shell in the future but the Smartcap has been great so far. The weather has broken so I'll be working on the new drawers this fall which will be much simpler in design this time and since I've gone through this once, the new ones should go together quicker.

This is the first vehicle out of 20+ in my life that I really feel is complete. I've done suspensions, stereos, paint, wheels etc etc on most all of them but this is the first I've done everything to and that I've planned out to the best of my abilities and actually used! I kept my last one for 8 years and plan on keeping this one longer. I'll probably buy a 2nd car before I sell this truck. I absolutely love it.

 

Awesome update.

Thanks for the write up on the re-gear process. That’s helpful for me because I think a regear is in the cards for my truck sometime in 2025. I most likely won’t be adding a locker either. I just can’t see myself needing one.

I’m just wrapping up a 7K-ish mile trip and figuring out what my truck needs next based on what I’ve needed and didn’t have the last few weeks. A better gear ratio was at the top of that list.

 

I've got to do some driving and get them broken in so I can go back up into the mountains and really feel the difference. I don't drive the truck much at all so I'm going to have to burn up some hours/gas around town to get it going.

 

I haven't posted in a minute and haven't driven the truck much. I work form home so the break in struggle is real. Drove out to the country for lunch and came back. Only 100ish miles round trip. I need about 250 more on it.

 

Awesome work!