CleanestPianist
2️⃣ Bronze
Figured I'd start a thread on my build. I picked this up in October of 2019 shortly after wrecking my Second Gen.
The very first thing I did was add a roof rack. I go kayak fishing, and have two over-sized kayaks. With the short bed, there weren't many options aside from a trailer or hitch attachments that looked sketchy to me. Besides, I already had one previously on my 2011 SR5, so I went through CBI and purchased another Prinsu Roof Rack as that worked out well for me before.
Now. I totalled my last truck. At the time, I had a Safari ARB snorkel ready to install on it (It was necessary, believe me. I went into some deep crossings that had me concerned about the engine ingesting water). Regardless. At the time of the accident, I had not opened the box yet, so I contacted the company and they worked with me to exchange my Second Gen's snorkel for one that would fit my current Third Gen. All I had to do was pay shipping for the old one. So, now I had that. Once it arrived(I think like two days later) I pulled it out of the box, and slapped it on.
At this point I had been researching tire fitment, what kind of power losses I was going to be looking at in the future with a full set of armor, and what I could do to improve on those losses, to include OVTune, Re-gearing, the new supercharger kit, intakes, exhausts etc. The most practical one I found was the re-gear, which fixed the shifting issues as well.
So I made a trip over to Cashmere, WA to have the guys at Nitro Gear install some 5.29's. This was something I've never done before, so figured I'd leave it up to the professionals to handle. Also, yes I did this before upgrading tire size or adding any serious weight to it and let me say this: These trucks (with an automatic) are far undergeared. After driving around on stock tires for two months with the 5.29s. I can confidently say they should have come with 4.88s stock. 5.29s are a little overkill for the stock tires with no weight added. But just barely.
Roughly 2,000 miles later, it's finally time for tires. I sat on this decision for a -LONG- time. At least to me it felt like forever.
I know I wanted a full set of 33's (full sized spare too). But do I go all-terrain, mud terrain, or hybrid? I went back and forth between Falken Wildpeaks, to BF KM3s, Cooper STTs along with several others for probably five months.
"Do I really need a mud terrain? What if I don't get a set, but wish I did? All terrains will last longer, as I do more pavement driving than off road."
Never could figure out what I wanted to go with. So. On one of my days off, I just said screw it. I'm going with KM3s. I drove to Toyota, grabbed an extra TRD Pro wheel and made my way to the local Discount Tire. I rolled in there, told them I wanted a set of five 285/75/16 KM3s. Naturally, they didn't have any. I should have called ahead, but I was excited to actually get something capable of throwing some mud around on the truck. They did have a set of Toyo Open Country MTs. I had previously researched them, and the only consistent "worst thing" I could find about them was that they were slightly over priced and occasionally difficult to balance. I said sure, let's do it. And after walking over to a small BBQ stand for lunch, I was the proud owner of a shiny new set of mud terrains.
I'd like to clear the air regarding clearance right away. They did not clear the front "mud flaps" (Quotes because there's a technical name for them, but can't remember what it is) or the back part of the front bumper. The rubbing was very minimal, and easily fixed with some admittedly over done heat gun work, and removal of the mud flaps. I don't believe the CMC is going to be necessary yet, but I'm probably going to do it anyway. I also had a -VERY- slight rub on the UCAs at some point, but I can't replicate the rub. As it sits, I can fit my entire hand between the UCA and tire regardless of how the wheels are turned. I doubt it happened on the old tires, but it really doesn't look like a new rub. I'm not currently planning on purchasing a new set of wheels, and I already had plans for JBA or SPC UCAs, so I might just pull the trigger on those and see what happens, if it still rubs, I might try to track down a set of 1/4"-1/2" wheel spacers to throw on, but I really don't want to go that route. I've read that Spidertrax are pretty much the way to go if you're intending on doing wheel spacers, but I can only find the 1.25" spacers and that seems overkill for the rub I see. I will likely NEED to do a CMC if the spacers turn out being necessary. Oh well.
So that's it for now. Plans for the near future include (In no particular order):
Diff breather kit
Twin ARB compressor mounted in the bed
Sliders
Aluminum front bumper with winch
Steel high clearance rear bumper
Full skids, front to rear
Bed rack or a Canopy with a rack on it(Still not sure which route I want to go with that) along with a tent on whichever I pick
Dual battery
Some kind of solar setup for extended camping trips
Front and rear air lockers (once I'm out of warranty, and the E-locker gives up)
OVTune
I'm thinking I want the Halo 9 head unit so I can get some Android auto in my life.
Probably a few other things I'm forgetting too.
*Disclaimer* Yes I know it's a Pro, yes I should've bought an Off-Road or even an SR5, but I could afford it and it's what I wanted. Previous Toyotas:
The very first thing I did was add a roof rack. I go kayak fishing, and have two over-sized kayaks. With the short bed, there weren't many options aside from a trailer or hitch attachments that looked sketchy to me. Besides, I already had one previously on my 2011 SR5, so I went through CBI and purchased another Prinsu Roof Rack as that worked out well for me before.
Now. I totalled my last truck. At the time, I had a Safari ARB snorkel ready to install on it (It was necessary, believe me. I went into some deep crossings that had me concerned about the engine ingesting water). Regardless. At the time of the accident, I had not opened the box yet, so I contacted the company and they worked with me to exchange my Second Gen's snorkel for one that would fit my current Third Gen. All I had to do was pay shipping for the old one. So, now I had that. Once it arrived(I think like two days later) I pulled it out of the box, and slapped it on.
At this point I had been researching tire fitment, what kind of power losses I was going to be looking at in the future with a full set of armor, and what I could do to improve on those losses, to include OVTune, Re-gearing, the new supercharger kit, intakes, exhausts etc. The most practical one I found was the re-gear, which fixed the shifting issues as well.
So I made a trip over to Cashmere, WA to have the guys at Nitro Gear install some 5.29's. This was something I've never done before, so figured I'd leave it up to the professionals to handle. Also, yes I did this before upgrading tire size or adding any serious weight to it and let me say this: These trucks (with an automatic) are far undergeared. After driving around on stock tires for two months with the 5.29s. I can confidently say they should have come with 4.88s stock. 5.29s are a little overkill for the stock tires with no weight added. But just barely.
Roughly 2,000 miles later, it's finally time for tires. I sat on this decision for a -LONG- time. At least to me it felt like forever.
I know I wanted a full set of 33's (full sized spare too). But do I go all-terrain, mud terrain, or hybrid? I went back and forth between Falken Wildpeaks, to BF KM3s, Cooper STTs along with several others for probably five months.
"Do I really need a mud terrain? What if I don't get a set, but wish I did? All terrains will last longer, as I do more pavement driving than off road."
Never could figure out what I wanted to go with. So. On one of my days off, I just said screw it. I'm going with KM3s. I drove to Toyota, grabbed an extra TRD Pro wheel and made my way to the local Discount Tire. I rolled in there, told them I wanted a set of five 285/75/16 KM3s. Naturally, they didn't have any. I should have called ahead, but I was excited to actually get something capable of throwing some mud around on the truck. They did have a set of Toyo Open Country MTs. I had previously researched them, and the only consistent "worst thing" I could find about them was that they were slightly over priced and occasionally difficult to balance. I said sure, let's do it. And after walking over to a small BBQ stand for lunch, I was the proud owner of a shiny new set of mud terrains.
I'd like to clear the air regarding clearance right away. They did not clear the front "mud flaps" (Quotes because there's a technical name for them, but can't remember what it is) or the back part of the front bumper. The rubbing was very minimal, and easily fixed with some admittedly over done heat gun work, and removal of the mud flaps. I don't believe the CMC is going to be necessary yet, but I'm probably going to do it anyway. I also had a -VERY- slight rub on the UCAs at some point, but I can't replicate the rub. As it sits, I can fit my entire hand between the UCA and tire regardless of how the wheels are turned. I doubt it happened on the old tires, but it really doesn't look like a new rub. I'm not currently planning on purchasing a new set of wheels, and I already had plans for JBA or SPC UCAs, so I might just pull the trigger on those and see what happens, if it still rubs, I might try to track down a set of 1/4"-1/2" wheel spacers to throw on, but I really don't want to go that route. I've read that Spidertrax are pretty much the way to go if you're intending on doing wheel spacers, but I can only find the 1.25" spacers and that seems overkill for the rub I see. I will likely NEED to do a CMC if the spacers turn out being necessary. Oh well.
So that's it for now. Plans for the near future include (In no particular order):
Diff breather kit
Twin ARB compressor mounted in the bed
Sliders
Aluminum front bumper with winch
Steel high clearance rear bumper
Full skids, front to rear
Bed rack or a Canopy with a rack on it(Still not sure which route I want to go with that) along with a tent on whichever I pick
Dual battery
Some kind of solar setup for extended camping trips
Front and rear air lockers (once I'm out of warranty, and the E-locker gives up)
OVTune
I'm thinking I want the Halo 9 head unit so I can get some Android auto in my life.
Probably a few other things I'm forgetting too.
*Disclaimer* Yes I know it's a Pro, yes I should've bought an Off-Road or even an SR5, but I could afford it and it's what I wanted. Previous Toyotas:
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