What have you done to your 2.5 gen Tundra today?

appreciate it! A couple things I forgot to ask is if I am only going with a plus one will I need to put in longer shocks or will the factory ones work? And will just shackles improve the ride/handling with the factory shocks. I don’t off-road and sometimes tow a boat but mainly a daily driver. If i do shocks was thinking something like Toytec boss, 5100’s....maybe go up to 5160’s. I have Toytec Boss Coil overs in the front.

 

I bought it from Toyota Cool Springs: part 66140-0C030. When it arrived, it was actually branded "Stabilus Lift o Mat", which Im sure you could find on ebay for cheaper, but I knew this ordering from toyota it would fit/work

 

Where'd you get the color matched mirror caps?

 

Hood Bulge and TRD Pro Grille.

 

Thanks for sharing the armrest link! Looks great.

 

Where did you get the plastic insert? Mine was also used and has glue stuck in it that I can't get out.

 

Started with a wash at 6 am, installed OEM tailgate lock and then my Diamondback tonneau cover showed up at 3:30 so I had to install it.

 

You'll be fine with factory shocks.

Shackles won't change ride quality. I've read on here people buying different bushings for their shackles and helping ride. I would just grind the factory bushing down so they are smooth and not worry about replacing them. But that statement will really upset some people on here.

 

Plastidipped the center bumper this morning.

 

I put SDHQ shackles on mine that raises the truck by about 3/4" to get back to more of a factory rake; I have 2.5" spacers up front. I also replaced the bushings with CB ones. I, unlike what others on this forum have reported, really didn't notice a difference in ride, even on joints in the freeway. At first I only needed clearance for bigger tires, and knew I wouldn't get into off-roading situations where I could "taco" the front shocks, so that's why I only went with spacers in the front. Eventually, since I do mild off-roading, I am going to go with a 6110/5160 set-up. However, since you don't off-road, I personally think, from all I've read, that you'll be fine with 5100's. Or Toytecs for that matter.

 

Tested out my new Safe Jack last night.
Max height with no extension.

With included extension.

Lifting up the rear off the axle. Can't use extension as it won't fit under. Max height gives about 3" tire clearance.


Lifting front tried to use the U shape at the furthest point forward it would fit on the frame rail (good fit btw). Would not lift the wheel off the ground (also can not use the extension in that placement). Used the flat pad on the crossmember and gave just over 2" clearance.




In it's new home, still kept the stock jack in it's spot against the rear cab wall (how jealous are you crewmax folk on all the storage? ).

 

Appreciate the input, thank you! So if I decide to go shackles first will the factory shocks accommodate that ~1” lift? I’ve seen some information saying that you need longer shocks but that may have been on bigger lifts.

The posts I have seen that have noticed improved ride quality was due to the shackles being able to articulate with the new bushings which would make sense.

 

Nice! So you put lighting in your esp storage? Do you have photos? How did it go?

 

"Cultured Redneck"


Using a coaster for his PBR.

 

No problem! I figured others would want to look into it

 

I’ll be honest it is not easy to find, mostly because Toyota does not sell it by itself. I saw a few at the forum marketplace but they had already been sold.

I got smart about it and I started looking on the forum for people that might’ve replaced theirs with the wireless charger replacement. I started asking around on here and sure enough ended up finding one and buying it off of them.

probably your best bet I’d say

 

Ordered from Cool Springs they are a vendor on here and have a parts list stickied. I’m on my phone so can’t multitask or I’d link it.

edit: here’s the link https://www.tundras.com/threads/ultimate-oem-toyota-parts-thread.10707/

 

We paid off our 2018 Odyssey and I ordered the tailgate lock and TRD shift knob. Should have a few more bucks to play around with having only one car payment.

 

Epic transformation sir! Love the Cavalry Blue

 

I picked up a used set of halogen trd pro headlights from @jmevis (great guy) and ordered a black emblem kit and trd pro grille

 

Yeah, I didn’t get all of neat and tidy yet but here are some early pics.

 

I retained the factory shocks with the SDHQ shackles, and it has been fine. Your comment on articulation makes sense. Most people that put on CB shackles and bushings are going for a lift greater that 1” from what I’ve read.

 

Very cool! But, not jealous enough to give up that back window that goes all the way down.

 

Very cool, even for being early pics. Are you following some kind of instructions to do it or do you just know how to do this stuff?

Id like to get my storage lit at some point

 

It’s been 2 years since I bought my truck, and life and COVID have gotten in the way, but I FINALLY was able to take it off-road today. Man it was a TREMENDOUS BLAST!! The Francis Marion National Forest outside of Charleston, SC is loaded with trails. Most are easy to moderate, but several are VERY deceptive. For all you locals, Ackerman B road in the FM Forest has a section that is NOT for the faint of heart, especially if you’re running stock or don’t have at least 6” of lift, maybe even more. I had been driving along for a couple of hours, hitting some awesome puddles and some light technical spots, when I came up on Ackerman B. There were ROAD CLOSED signs on both ends of the road, but they were pushed aside. So I said F it . Going along it was riddled with puddles, but manageable. Deep ditches on both sides, so no turning back unless you reverse all the way out. I come up on a section with several larger diameter puddles back to back, and you HAVE to go through them. Because everything had been very manageable before this, I just slowly crept forward. When i get into the first one, it almost swallowed the truck . I powered through it after seeing the forward exit angle wasn’t too bad, and came up and out. But when I started entering the next puddle while still not completely out of the first, BOOM, it sounds like a shotgun went off in my cab! . I am now stuck. I start rockin’ it back and forth, and it finally breaks free. I get out to see WTF. I had indeed bottomed out, and the rear of my passenger side running board was bent up into the lower corner of my cab! Lower cab corner has a small dent, a chip off the LineX on my running board, and all the running board brackets are bent to hell. Got my tape measure out, and them mofo’ing puddles were almost 2 feet deep! I wish I would have taken pics but I was too pissed off . Got home and took the running boards off, put the brackets to my bench vice and started hammering, and now all good. The cab dent isn’t bad at all...I’ll wear it as a badge of honor, or badge of dumbass, take your pick . Did a thorough exam of the underbelly of the beast, no other damage, PTL!!


Lessons learned for my future off-roading adventures:

1) Don’t take for granted that just because a puddle might look easy, it could be the maw of doom! Might want to measure puddle depth if it runs the entire width of the trail and you have to go through it, ya big dummy!!
2) Time to start saving up for sliders!
3) I’m letting too much of life get in the way from awesome fun times in the woods!



All fixed

 

Awesome story! Glad you had fun and didn't need a rescue. This is the kind of stuff that I see that made me opt in for a rear diff breather kit. I wanna be able to get through it if needed like you did.

 

Yep SO GLAD I did the diff mod, I was stuck there for probably a whole minute, I was terrified I was going to start taking on water!!

 

Yeah, without the breather relo....... Pretty sure you'd be playing Taps for that rear end.

 

Swapped out my Plasti-Dipped chrome grill with a color-matched Pro grill. Also made use of a recently broken hockey stick for a new shift knob.