BigJ's 2019 Tundra "SBN" Build

Yep. Both my wife and I just finished a 2500mi road trip and they worked really well for us. With the inserts, this is a nice setup.

 

Thank you for the update, I'll have to give it a try.

 

Next (minor) mod: 2x 5.11 6.10 pouches and 2x 5.11 10.6 pouches. Fit like a glove.









Plan to fill 'my' side with some of the less used tools I like to carry; gloves, multitool, flashlight, small hatchet, fire starters, compass, emergency mirror, energy gel packs, etc. The wife plans to fill hers with emergency stuffs for the dog etc (full first aid kit is already carried under the driver side rear seat).

PS: The rifle mounts worked *extremely* well last week during our four day match, for both of us. Got more than a few comments/compliments and may have even scored a sale or three for Victory4x4. Guys were very interested in this solution and several said they'd been trying to figure something similar out for years.

 

I was able to get out and hit the dirt this past weekend and I'm glad to say the Tundra did remarkably well. We put in about 20miles over some relatively rough terrain, sharp desert rocks, sand, steep climbs and decents, off camber turns, water crossings... all good. Most of the trail was narrow and winding requiring a 2-3mph creep. A small bit of it was wide open fire road where I was able to hammer down. In those spots I pushed pretty hard and the truck just took it all in stride. I wouldn't say its up to the same standards I'm used to coming from a fully custom suspension "pre runner" type tuned gen1 Raptor, but it was definitely good enough to have some fun. And it was better in the slow twisty stuff. Felt much more sure footed. All of which I guess isn't surprising given the two very different suspension setups. I did come away convinced sliders are a must though... good thing they're on the way

PS: The front camera and FRAC harness were awesome to have. I liked seeing what was below when nose diving like in the pic, but REALLY liked having it when climbing and seeing only sky thru the windshield. Was great not to have to trust the trail didn't turn out from under me in those situations.

 

Next up... Victory4x4 Blitz bumper and Strike sliders!

I didn't have the tools needed to do the job myself so I had everything shipped to a very well regarded, experienced and local 4x4 shop who got me squared away. Their comments:

"Very impressive stuff"... "Well built"... "Nice to see an option (Blitz) like this for the Tundra"... "Top quality"...

I agree

Blitz bumper + Warn VR10S + Factor 55 ProLink + Warn Epic Shackles + Rigid SR Pro 20" Combo = Me likey



The bumper requires the control box be relocated. Rather than extend the wires and find somewhere under the hood, they used the same wiring that comes with it, found a spot behind the grill then ran a control lead extension. Pretty slick IMHO.











I'm running the TRD engine skid and the bumper is not a direct fit with it. The skid had to be trimmed about an inch to clear the bumper. The install otherwise was straight forward and relatively easy.



The sliders were a different story... this being their first install of these meant that they didn't fully understand what needed to be done and how, especially given the lack of instructions (better instructions were the only suggestion from the guys. Would have saved some time and frustrations on their part, and Victory's tech support time). A few calls to Victory4x4 got them set straight though and once on the right track, they went on just fine.





All in all I'm thrilled with the improved functionality and form. Good stuff!

 

Well I did a thing...











Yes, the truck is a mess. That's 100mi of offroad desert dirt and 900 freeway miles of grime. Still looks pretty darn good.

Wheels are Vision Nemesis 18x9s +18offset machined. These are interesting in that they come with a "scrub ring". Its a delrin ring that bolts to the wheel and protects it from rashes. Super nice to have in theory as its much cheaper/easier to replace that $30 ring than a wheel ifnwhen I mash it on a rock or three in the dirt, which if history is any gauge...

The math says these stick out just a little further than what I had before:

Stock TRD 18" wheel = +60mm offset + 1.25" spacers, which effectively means my previous setup had an +28 1/4mm offset. With the spacers gone and these wheels in place, I now have a +18 offset, for a difference of 10mm, which = 0.4". For what its worth, it looks like a lot more in real life because of the 9" width, vs the 8" stock. More of the tread is parallel with the ground now, and the sidewall is less bubbled, thanks to not having to squeeze an 8" wheel. More gooder.

That's enough to result in some rubbing of the tire on the bottom of the inner fender liner when reversing at full lock. I've pulled them and will make some relief cuts and will reinstall. More on that later.

Also, I put these on the scale before mounting. 30lbs each. Same scale says 32 for stockers plus 4lb in the spacers. So I'm saving 6lb per in rotational weight. Nice.

Best part: the wife likes 'em. Said they remind her of the stockers but better. Happy wife, happy life

 

With my new wheels I'm rubbing the lower inner front fender plastics at full lock


After some trimming with a reciprocating saw


After reinstall and testing I still needed to trim some more. Best tool I ended up using was a box cutter/razor blade. It cut the plastic like a hot knife thru butter so I was able to make cuts around the contours/bends of the panel allowing me to retain most of its rigidity. Still dont like how floppy it seems where its held on by the plastic rivet, but thats a function of the rivet and not the panel. Was like that before so I assume it'll be ok now.

 

Great pics, keep us posted on what's coming next!

 

Next up: Wet Okole Seat Covers

https://www.wetokole.com/car-seat-covers/TOYOTA/Tundra

These are their
-TOYTUNF-Half-Piping Toyota Tundra Half Piping Seat Covers
-Inside-Color: 11 CHARCOAL

Black outsides, charcoal insides and piping. Includes covers for both fronts and the center seat. Why? A couple reasons:

-I have 6k miles on the stock OEM cloth seats and they're already showing wear. Not necessarily from sliding in and out (yet) but from us taking several long road trips (meaning lots of eating/drinking on the go), and the dog.

-The stock cloth seems to LOVE to absorb any/all moisture, hold on to it and show it off with pride. And the dog looooves to drool when there's food in the car. We keep the center seat/armrest up, he rests his head on it and... yeah.. gross.

Anyway, they're on and I really like them. Adds a hair of padding, I gained lots of storage as opted for the pockets up front and in back, the slobber wipes right off and the neoprene show no signs it was ever there. Very nice!

Here's a pick with the center and driver's cover installed. Showing the comparison between these and stock.


Here's another from the passenger side. This was after the OEM cloth was professionally cleaned. You can see some discoloration on the OEM passenger side. Stuff happens and no big deal, but annoying it didnt come all the way up during cleaning...


And there's the mutt checking things out after the center install. You can see he doesn't approve of me foiling his plans to ruin my new truck


FYI these do have a smell. Not gross, but not the best either. They've been on about a week and only now its starting to dissipate. If you go this route, you may care and if you do, maybe set them outside for a few days before install.

 

Sneak peak

 

Yup me likey

 

Nice build. Couple questions for you based on your findings... did your Baja Squadrons have enough length on the wire harness to reach both ditch lights? I just installed the Victory 4x4 low profile brackets and my Baja Squadron wiring harness does not reach both lights.

 

I had the shop put them in same time as the suspension; I want to say I recall them mentioning they built a custom harness as the included one was too short.

 

Can you provide more detail on the antenna installation? I have similar bed rail covers and can't tell what the stake pockets actually look like under there. How did you run the cable from the Breedlove mount? How did you measure and cut the bed rail cover? Thanks!

 

No problem.

If your rail coveres are like mine, the pockets are hidden by the rail cover with plastic snap in covers. You should find four of these; two on each rail, one front and rear, one on each corner-ish of the bed. Put your fingers on one of the plastic snap in covers, apply some fairly good pressure down, the push it around some front/back/left/right. It should slide around and/or depress into the hole some underneath. This movement may/will expose a slot between the rail cover and plastic snap in cover you're moving around. Put a flathead into that slot and pop up and off the snap in cover. There's your pocket. Look down it. You'll see the pavement below.

No cutting or measuring anything. Just find those covers, pop them off and all will be made clear I bet.

Edit: Here's a couple pics

 

Either your truck is a mini Tundra or you're a tall dude!