Tacoed Tundra project

That’s a metric shit load of screw holes. Don’t think it’s going anywhere.

 

Again, nice work WhoDat! She's Beefy strong. HAHA you just dive into anything, mighty handy fella. I'm takin notes, learning some things, thx.

 

Yeah, i think i might have really screwed it up…literally. When i initially lined out my hole pattern it didn’t look like it was going to be very many screws, but in the back of my head i had a thought that it was going to be overkill. My main concern is to get the sheetmetal flattened out between the two layers of 1/4” aluminum plates.

 

I’ll tell you what, it’s heck of a lot easier to dive into projects when the project truck is not a primary or secondary mode of transportation. It’s even more easy when you’re single and have no kids!

And if you’re taking notes, you don’t have to go full force on a whole plate install. Even just installing a 1x2” .120” wall rectangle tube makes a huuuuge structural increase for when hauling dirtbikes and other stuff.

 

I got pretty lucky today. I noticed that my spare tire wasn’t tight against the frame so i pushed against the sidewall a little bit to see how loose it was. I then noticed that the tire was completely flat…ugh. At least i found out it was flat now and not at a later point…such as in the side of a highway.

Turned out the valve stem failed. I guess it rotted over time? I threw the tire on the Coats tire machine and got away with just breaking the bead down far enough that i could slip my hand to get access to the backside of the stem. I popped a new one in and reinflated the tire. I definitely dodged a bullet!

NOTE: don’t note all the weather checking in the 20 year old tire. The worst part is that there’s zero miles on tire. It’s spent its whole life under one of my trucks as a spare. I might have to fill all the cracks with Shoe Goo and then rub black shoe polish over the whole tire.

 

I got the bulkhead reinforcement plate all bolted up today. It’s solid…like really really solid. I used 5/16” stainless steel flathead screws (they costed way less than M8 screws). Turned out the screws were longer that i needed. Though there was plenty of clearance to leave them as is, i decided to cut off the extra 1/4” or so from the length. It didn’t take long with a 4-1/4” grinder, so it wasn’t a big deal. I’m hoping some friends can come over tomorrow at the end of the day to help me set the bed back on the frame.

It would have been nice to have the aluminum backer pieces all cut out of one single large piece (similar to a jeep CJ grill), but it wasn’t realistic $$$$ wise to go that route.

 

I like how you tied it in to the side panels, and the Nylocks. Did you sign and date behind one of the panels... because years from now someone is going to transfer that to another rig!
Rattle can that baby white while you have it out.
I carry a pinch bar around every day. Sometimes I wonder if I was rear ended really bad, if it could impale me. This is the solution.
Nice work

 

The way the bed sides are bolted to the bulkhead seems peculiar to me. There are spot welds also attaching the two together as well, so i would think that they are a moot point? But in this particular instance, being able to utilize them as part of my bulkhead support sure does make it more strong!

I was REALLY tempted to rattle can it white, just like you said, but i don’t want my truck to look too nice. It sounds strange, but if my truck is too nice, then i’ll be scared to use it as a truck! I have to admit that i even have rattle can white in my shop. The drop in plastic bedliner also covers the rest of the original green base color, so i wasn’t highly motivated to spend $10 of paint and primer to make it white. Now if we had another 2 weeks of hot weather here in oregon, then undoubtedly i would have waited another couple days for white paint to dry.

 

I got the bed back on the frame last night. I did a few donkey kicks to the bulkhead….(drumroll)….and it’s just as strong as you could imagine! I also slammed a 2x6 at it as hard as i could…and nothin. The last part that i have been apprehensive of is if the plastic bed liner would fit over the top of the bulkhead railing. AND IT DOES FIT!!!…barely, but it does. The only bummer about the whole project is that no one will ever see the bulkhead since i always have a plastic bedliner installed.

I think the only thing i would do differently is to use thin nylock jam nuts instead of the standard height nylock nuts. I currently have enough clearance between the ends of the bolts and the cab (about 3/4” at the closest), but it would be nice to have closer to 1” of clearance between the two. It shouldn’t ever be a problem as is though.

 

I did some more work on my truck this past week. I was battling “trying to beat the oregon rain” that’s now here. I bought a Rack-It brand lumber rack a month ago and i didn’t like the fact that there was no protection for the rear window. After searching around in my shop i found all the metal that i needed to do the project, so it was nice to not have to buy anything. I didn’t take any pics of the final product yet. I had just enough time to spray primer on the rack. I’m not going to bother to paint it black right now. I still want to weld in some tie down rings. The rains have kicked in this fall, so i’ll deal with welding in the loops and paint it next summer.

Take a close look and you can see there isn’t a lower crossbar that spans across the top of the bed’s bulkhead, just a short stubby piece that extends about 3”.



In this pic i already welded in three different crossbraces. A bottom that’s made out of 3/16” 2x2 angle iron, the second one up is 1-7/8” OD pipe, and the third one up is also 1-7/8” OD pipe.



The expanded steel is welded into place, along with two vertical 1-5/8” pieces of pipe.





The two short horizontal pieces are 1-1/4” tube.




I didn’t like the plastic end plugs that come with the rack. They let the water in, but not out! My plan was to weld them closed. This is the exact reason why i keep ALL of my remnant plugs after cutting either steel of aluminum with a hole saw. I literally have a couple handfuls of random diameters of these little guys.



I lucked out that they were a tight press fit (with a hammer)! No pics, but i then welded them in to seal it up.

 

And a couple more pics. For the rear removable upper crossbar, i wanted to cap off the rack’s open ended tubes as well. I ended up using a piece of .120” wall stainless steel tube to sleeve through the main tube. I then welded it in with stainless wire as well. The reason being for using stainless in that particular area is because i don’t want the ID of the sleeve to get rusty. It will make installing the lynch pin more difficult at a later point (here in the wet oregon weather).

I also sprayed the entire rack with Rustoleum “rusty metal” primer…because that’s what i already had in the shop.

 

I finally got a replacement rear sliding window! I broke mine out early summer, and have been using a piece of scratched up plexiglass since. I found it at my local U Pull It yard. It took about an hour to cut out and remove. The truck was pretty gross. TONS of dog hair in there. I’m glad i wore my coveralls.

I cleaned up the window with Purple Power and a pressure washer. My friend knows a glass guy, so i had him come over and replace two different windshields in my other vehicles, so it only made sense for him to also install the Tundra’s rear slider. I did all the hard labor by removing my rear window and removing the interior trim.

Having a replacement rear slider is awesome. Especially since i can see through it MUCH easier than the scratched up plexiglass.

 

I also decided to remove the seatbelts for the rear center passenger. That belt always kinda gets in the way, look unkempt, and leaves creases in the seats when they’re folded up. No, i’m not going to throw them away, but they’ll probably go on my shelf and get lost though. I don’t foresee ever hauling three dudes in the back. As an equal opportunist, nor do i foresee ever hauling three ladies in the back either.

 

I got my headache rack back from the powder coater last week. It came out really nice. I’m glad i spent the extra time knocking off all the weld spatter dingleberries. I really wanted it white colored, but being that the truck lives in the Pac NW, it means that moss growth would be more visible on the back side of the expanded steel mesh. It would be dang hard to clean it off too. So i stuck with a tried and true matte black finish. It does looks quite handsome.

I still need to decide on which size and brand of fire extinguishers to mount up. I planned to have one mounted on each side. I also welded on a light tabs so that i can install a pair of back up utility lights (baja designs squad sport wide cornering).

And another pic of the rack of what it looked like originally before i modified it.

 

I also went against better advise from @shifty` and ordered up a rear weatherteck floorliner. Shifty was majority disappointed with his liner and spoke about it. By him doing that, i purchased it with the impression that i should not expect much from it and that i would most likely have to trim the matt. If i hadn’t been warned about any of that prior to my purchase, then i’d be quite miffed as well. So with zero expectations i bought one.

The liner is designed to fit the 05-06 access cab with manual seats and no rear cup holders. My truck is a 2004 AC with rear cup holders and it fit absolutely perfectly!…if both seats are slid all the way forwards. I broke out the utility knife and started out by whittling away some of the hard plastic trim on seats. Once the offending seat plastic was removed, i then trimmed the floor liner. I could have done a much cleaner job, but whatever.

Trimming the plastic off the seat really isn’t any big deal. It’s completely hidden when the seat is slid back, so no harm, no foul.




This is the fitment prior to any cutting or trimming with the seat slid all the way forward. The liner sat nice and flat.



I had to trim this area on the seat plastic as well.



You can’t see where i trimmed out the plastic when the seat is slid back.



Final product with the seats slid all the way back. I was very pleased with the final results. Keep in mind that my tundra is a full on work truck and not a commuter, so form (and aesthetics) always follows function, but it still needs to stay within a close arm’s reach of each other.

 

It's still wild to me that problem even exists. Like, how the f*** did Weathertech not realize the front lip was directly in the line of the seat tracks?!

I'm also sad to see your manual seat is impacted, just the same as my power seat, which has the ability to raise up enough to clear the lip on the mat, but at the height required to clear it, I'd need to either be an 8 year old, or 4'6" tall.

 

I totally agree, but i had two different random universal rubber floor mats in the rear passenger area (that didn’t accomplish much), so i’m more than happy to to have a weathertec, even though it takes a bit of trimming. I also looked at a husky rear liner as well, but decided with this brand instead. Like i said, i have no complaints because i knew (from your Shifty reviews) that it would take some modifying to get it to fit. Which meant that i fully expected it not to fit correctly. It took about 15 minutes of trimming to make mine fit great, and i’m VERY pleased with it.

I thought i read somewhere on an instruction sheet that their liner might need trimming? I can’t remember where i saw it, but i’m confident that it’s out there somewhere. I can’t argue that it’s quite odd (or use whatever word you want) that WT didn’t make their rear liner perfect. Maybe somewhere a designer measured out a double cab and an access cab and somehow superimposed the measurements with the wrong model? I look at it as, at least something is better than nothing. At only $109 shipped for the liner, i’m not going to complain about it. It’s dust under the rug at this point to me. I know have a place to put my muddy wet gear.

 

Not sure. Their support team told me, sorry, it’s just what it is. I’ll send a complaint to the design team, meanwhile, just cut it to fit…”. At the price point they want, I don’t expect to need to cut it to fit.

btw the truck is coming along nice!

 

I got my airbags installed…finally. I already had the correct sized firestone airbags in my shop. They were left over from my 98 dodge cummins truck. Yes, the cummins and the tundra use the exact same airbag.

Since i already had the bags, all i needed were the mounting brackets. I placed my order last March. Yes, it took 9 months for those dang brackets to arrive. Firestone didn’t have any of the parts in stock, so i had to wait until they manufactured more of them. It sucked waiting that long, but it was better than having to pay for a complete airbag kit. So for a paltry $165 for all the brackets, i felt it was worth the weight/wait.

After putting the truck on blocks, i mocked up the placement for the upper frame brackets. Turns out the truck used to have airbags in the past…it also turns out that the existing holes that were drilled in the frame were not in the ideal position. I was planning on drilling another set of (4) holes, but they were going to be too close to the previous holes, so it would have just made oval holes. I could have spent the time and resources to weld up the previous holes, then redrill my holes in the correct spot. So i just decided to go the easy route and weld the brackets directly to the frame.

 

I also bought a pair of Daystar airbag cradles. They’re just over 3/4” thick. And instead of running the plastic air lines, i installed the schrader valve fitting directly to the airbag.

I can say one thing, i definitely need new shocks at all four corners. Even with only 5lbs of air in the bags the rear shocks can’t damp even small bumps. Whatever, i’ll deal with suspension at a later point in time.

 

Keeping plugs for reuse is genius!!

 

A black friday purchase arrived today! I drove down the hill to meet up with the delivery driver so that he didn’t have to navigate the rural roads where i live. Here’s a little bit of a tease. And my freshly welded and powdercoated headache rack was sure nice to have. I didn't realize the package was as long as it was, and i almost slammed a corner of it into the screen portion of the window protector...whew!

 

Oh baby.

2nd gen taco?

 

Yup, 2nd gen Taco! I also looked at the weld together Coastal bumper kit, but the already welded AND powdercoated ARB bumper would end up costing a lot less once it’s assembled and painted. The Brute Force bumper would cost waaaay more than the ARB, so i also passed on that as well. No doubt both those bumpers are going to be heavier duty that the ARB though. I also like the aesthetics of the ARB better. I did NOT want a high clearance bumper, and i would say that the ARB is more of a mid-clearance bumper. The ARB also protrudes further in from of the grill, which i also wanted. The reason being is that i’m mainly after protection from deer strikes (and elk), so having a bit more distance between the grill and the bullbar is very welcoming to me.

Of course it’s going to take some modifications to get a 2nd gen tacoma bumper to mount on my 1st gen tundra, but it doesn’t look like anything too involved. My plan is to document all the steps that needs be done to make that happen.

I have a whole shelf full of Warn winches in my shop that are all ready for action, but i don’t think any of them will actually physically fit the ARB bumper. I’m not really looking to acquire yet another winch, but if that’s what it takes, then so be it. From what i’ve read, this ARB was designed to house the old M10000 winch (that was discontinued back around 2004). Any of the modern 8000 warn winches will also fit, but bigger is better, right?

 

I'm looking forward to seeing how you modify it to fit. I know a few others on here are running something similar but I haven't seen any in depth info. It's hard for me to want to spend that much and then cut on it.

 

Not to fret. I'm currently working on it as we speak. I'm documenting everything with pics and some measurements so that it will be much easier for the rest of ya'll out there to see what all needs to be done. I got a good start on it yesterday, messed around with it today for a couple hours, and hopefully i'll have it where i want it by tomorrow by the end of the day (minus primer and paint touch ups).

 

Really nice work bringing this truck back from the dead.
That is some epic, next-level reinforcement you have on the front of that bed!
Makes me want to track down a 1st gen project truck!

 

The bumper is now mounted, but i’m still buttoning up a few loose ends. Such as the OEM splash guard, plastic fender liners, power steering “cooler” hard line routing, and some more bumper gusseting. I’m waiting to post up any pics until i’m done done so that i can get all the pics and descriptions in the correct order that’s also understandable. It also didn’t help that i ran out of welding wire last thursday afternoon.

I will say this, if i had the opportunity to do this again, i think i’d rather use the ARB bumper that goes on the 100 series landcruisers. It might (?) line up on the tundra a smidge bit better than the tacoma bumper. I can’t say for sure though.

Stand by for a few more (or so) days for my full report…

 

I am pretty darn excited about the reinforcement. I want to say something like i’m looking forwards to testing it out, but that just means i’m severely abusing the bulkhead if i’m doing that. So i’m going to say i’m looking forward to not bending my bulkhead ever again.