1. Welcome to Tundras.com!

    You are currently viewing as a guest! To get full-access, you need to register for a FREE account.

    As a registered member, you’ll be able to:
    • Participate in all Tundra discussion topics
    • Transfer over your build thread from a different forum to this one
    • Communicate privately with other Tundra owners from around the world
    • Post your own photos in our Members Gallery
    • Access all special features of the site

What I love, what I hate: My 21 platinum build thread (Now supercharged)

Discussion in '2.5 Gen Builds (2014-2021)' started by CrashRat, Dec 20, 2020.

  1. Feb 25, 2021 at 11:00 AM
    #151
    Explorer

    Explorer New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2019
    Member:
    #35330
    Messages:
    181
    Gender:
    Male
    Battle Ground WA
    Vehicle:
    2019 Silver Tundra SR5 TRD Offroad
    @CrashRat Great build thread. You have done things that I'm looking to do on mine. That sound deadening looks awesome, having a space to do it is a plus!
     
  2. Feb 25, 2021 at 12:23 PM
    #152
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    @Explorer Thank you. It was a hell of a lot of work but hands down the # 1 mod that makes the truck the most enjoyable to drive. It took me about a week between ripping everything out to bolting seats back down. If I had 2.5-3 full 8-hour days I could have probably finished it faster but real life pulls in so many different directions that just wasn't possible for me. It also took three full bulk boxes of dynamat ($150 ea) plus 2.5 rolls of top layer insulation ($80 ea) to hit it all. Just wanted to give you some idea there so you could budget your time and work space accordingly if you decide to give it a go yourself. You're welcome to come take a drive in mine if you're ever down near Hwy 14 and Lieser if you need any further persuading, it truly is night & day!
     
    Explorer likes this.
  3. Feb 25, 2021 at 12:41 PM
    #153
    Explorer

    Explorer New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2019
    Member:
    #35330
    Messages:
    181
    Gender:
    Male
    Battle Ground WA
    Vehicle:
    2019 Silver Tundra SR5 TRD Offroad
    @CrashRat Thanks for the info. It would be great to hear the difference sometime. I work maybe 5 minutes from you, behind the Fred Meyer off Hwy 14.
     
  4. Feb 25, 2021 at 5:49 PM
    #154
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    @Explorer Yeah, that's super close. You pass me every day. Feel free to ping me anytime you have a few extra minutes on your trip home. I'll PM you my cell # as I'll get your text well before I'll see a PM here.
     
  5. Feb 25, 2021 at 8:17 PM
    #155
    Yzed608

    Yzed608 New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2017
    Member:
    #8351
    Messages:
    980
    Gender:
    Male
    Wisconsin
    The sound deadening seems like an awesome mod. If it wasn't my DD so I could have time to be patient and work slowly I would totally do it. Maybe I'll just try the doors one day, start small haha.
     
    Lake.Life24 likes this.
  6. Feb 25, 2021 at 8:27 PM
    #156
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    yeah, it definitely helped that I still had my old truck to drive for the first month of this build. I'd say you could still get it done as a DD though just bite it off in sections. Each door takes about 2 hours to do the outside and inside skins, the carpet is in two pieces front/back so you can completely gut the rear without disrupting your ability to drive it. The rear will take you about 10 hours if you do two layers like I did. Then when you get to the front I'd pull everything out and if you don't get done before you need the truck again just bolt the driver's seat back in and go. That' easiest done with two people but I did maneuver my seats in and out a couple of times by myself.
     
  7. Feb 25, 2021 at 8:29 PM
    #157
    Yzed608

    Yzed608 New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2017
    Member:
    #8351
    Messages:
    980
    Gender:
    Male
    Wisconsin
    That's a good way of looking at it. Thanks for the info!
     
  8. Feb 25, 2021 at 9:10 PM
    #158
    dittothat

    dittothat New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2019
    Member:
    #26579
    Messages:
    2,653
    First Name:
    Nick
    SD
    Vehicle:
    2016 MGM Platinum
    Dang dude. You do quick work getting your truck put together. Impressive!
     
  9. Feb 26, 2021 at 9:34 AM
    #159
    rochmpr

    rochmpr New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2019
    Member:
    #35834
    Messages:
    123
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Krister
    Walnut Grove, CA
    Vehicle:
    2020 CrewMax
    Lifted, sliders, 35 X 12.5's, Evo Corse and more stuff coming
    Glad to see that I'm not the only one that thinks ratchet straps have multiple uses!
     
    Lake.Life24 likes this.
  10. Feb 26, 2021 at 10:06 AM
    #160
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    next best thing to duct tape! lol
     
    rochmpr[QUOTED] likes this.
  11. Feb 26, 2021 at 8:11 PM
    #161
    vichmr

    vichmr New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 14, 2021
    Member:
    #57615
    Messages:
    183
    Gender:
    Male
    Awesome build and appreciate the time and effort you put in to documenting what you did and provide the pics!
     
    CrashRat[OP] likes this.
  12. Mar 1, 2021 at 6:25 PM
    #162
    Pangaea

    Pangaea New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2020
    Member:
    #52246
    Messages:
    109
    Gender:
    Male
    BC
    Vehicle:
    2021 Cement Tundra CM TRD Off Road Premium
    What a great build! Thanks for posting so many answers and tips! It sure helps me wrap my mind around tearing apart the interior.
     
    CrashRat[OP] likes this.
  13. Mar 1, 2021 at 6:34 PM
    #163
    Lake.Life24

    Lake.Life24 New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2018
    Member:
    #13876
    Messages:
    955
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Shawn
    Upstate, NY
    Vehicle:
    2021 GMC Sierra 3500HD Gasser
    I remember one time I put together an outdoor furniture set with ratchet straps because the family ordered the cheapest crap from Amazon and none of the holes lined up on the chair legs. Cursed the entire time but ratchet straps saved the day and are so damn handy when working alone
     
    CrashRat[OP] likes this.
  14. Mar 4, 2021 at 8:40 AM
    #164
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    No problem. The best suggestion I can make is just make sure you stay orderly, block out some time where you won't get repeatedly interrupted, and take lots of pictures. On really complex disassembles I have even used a gopro to make sure I have all the visuals I need to get it back together.

    Lol yeah, those things are the 21st century's answer to duct tape. So useful.
     
    Pangaea[QUOTED] likes this.
  15. Mar 16, 2021 at 8:29 AM
    #165
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    Just a quick update to let everyone know I'm still around and will get back to the truck after a couple more weekends of other planned activities. It has 2,700 miles on it now. Just got back from putting 600 miles on it last weekend going out to central Washington for a raptor hunt and some mountain biking. That was a very memorable experience all the way around. Caught 4 quail and did 19 miles of single track. It was also nice to put some significant miles on the truck in one good extended trip. Things I learned are,

    - Moving from stock gears and 295/60/20 tires to 5.3 gears and 35x12.5 tires cost me about .5mpg
    - The factory speed limiter kicks in at 90MPH. WTF? Very, very lame
    - The heated rear seats were the most appreciated mod of the whole trip

    Some pics from the trip:


    This was our primary hunting bird, a female Harris hawk named "Sevla." She took quite a liking to the Tundra.
    20210313_131930.jpg
    2.jpg

    This has been my favorite bird of prey since childhood, the peregrine falcon. They are capable of up diving at up to 200MPH when in pursuit of their prey.
    1.jpg


    I never miss an opportunity to do a little biking whenever possible. Getting started before sunrise made for one cold start to the day.
    20210313_055321.jpg


    Couple other reasons the truck has been put on the back burner a little. I have a classic Porsche I'm working on as well and a little under the gun for getting it to the paint shop. It doesn't need a lot but I do want to be driving it this spring.
    20210207_122947_resized.jpg

    20210307_104627.jpg

    20210207_204332.jpg

    And lastly, the wife's car decided it wanted a new fuel injector so that became an unexpected interruption as well. This is our 2011 BMW X5 diesel with 140k miles on it. My goal for this car is to get it to 200k. It's a great car but all the usual German stuff is really starting to go wrong with it. For example, the only reason this injector went bad is because the plastic cowling pieces (of which there are five - an engineering marvel in itself) start to warp over time. This creates a perfect channel that drops all your windshield runoff directly onto injector # 5 causing it to short out AND stick to the head. The only way to get it out is with some aggressive slide-hammering.
    20210310_111813.jpg


    20210310_111818.jpg


    20210310_111754.jpg

    This coming weekend will be spent finishing the Porsche tear-down and then hopefully more truck updates if all goes well!
     
  16. Mar 16, 2021 at 8:42 AM
    #166
    PNWTundra2021

    PNWTundra2021 New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2021
    Member:
    #58249
    Messages:
    24
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Craig
    Puyallup, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Tundra TRD Offroad
    Limited Faux Pro
    How do you like the drivability after the new gearing? Big difference? Love the 944T! I just came to the Tundra after three X5 in a row. I liken owning them to having a hand grenade with the pin pulled, at some point the spoon will fly and something catastrophic will happen :p
     
  17. Mar 16, 2021 at 9:13 AM
    #167
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    lol well said. We love the X5 from a handling and comfort perspective but wow, if I couldn't work on it myself this thing would have been sent to the scrap yard many moons ago. In fact there have been many times I've been standing in a pile of parts frustrated enough to consider sending it to the scrap yard then and there too.

    The drivability is so much better with those gears. My biggest complaint about my 2017 was cruise control on the highway. It would get to a hill and bleed off 3-5MPH before it could finally figure out it needed to downshift before it was going to get back up to speed again. The new truck keeps speed perfectly. It's also quite a bit better under light to moderate acceleration. I don't have to give it a tap to the floor to get it to downshift anymore. It will accelerate in the gear it's already in vs. lugging the engine down like the old truck did.

    Thanks for the comment on the 944T too! I had a black on black one about 20 years ago. This one cost me just over 3x what that one did lol. I hunted for about 2 years to find one with super low mileage and not all butchered up into a track car.
     
  18. Mar 16, 2021 at 10:07 AM
    #168
    PNWTundra2021

    PNWTundra2021 New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2021
    Member:
    #58249
    Messages:
    24
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Craig
    Puyallup, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Tundra TRD Offroad
    Limited Faux Pro
    Very cool about the re-gear. I was on the fence but with this feedback, I am sold for sure! I have been communicating with Just Differentials / Nitro about getting it done, there is about a month + wait for an appointment but I think I will have them do it. Nice little vacay to Cashmere :-D So hard to find a 944T that has not been abused! What a great car when you can! Please continue to keep us up to date on the progress!
     
  19. Mar 16, 2021 at 12:44 PM
    #169
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    Thank you! The 944T is in fantastic shape with only 68k miles and completely stock. I was searching nationwide and finding fewer than 12 listed at any given time and in any condition. This one popped up and only happened to be 3 hours away on the other side of Puyallup. I was really wanting to find another black on black one but after 2 years I finally just settled on good & clean regardless of color. I have a few tasteful mods in mind but all will be completely reversible.

    As for the gears, yes I am very happy with them aside from one very minor complaint. They are noisier than stock. Kind of a whirring/whining noise that shows up mostly under very light throttle. Give it more gas or let off completely and it's gone. Given how happy I am in every other way I'm not complaining too loudly but it's something I want to pass along so you're making a fully informed decision. Others have mentioned noticing the same. You are welcome to come take a spin in it if you're close enough to Vancouver. Or if you're a little further north I get to Chehalis the first weekend of every month and will be in Tacoma sometime around the 15th of April. specific date is still TBD but can certainly keep you posted.
     
  20. Mar 16, 2021 at 12:54 PM
    #170
    PNWTundra2021

    PNWTundra2021 New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2021
    Member:
    #58249
    Messages:
    24
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Craig
    Puyallup, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Tundra TRD Offroad
    Limited Faux Pro
    Sounds awesome! Thanks!:thumbsup:
     
  21. Mar 29, 2021 at 9:17 AM
    #171
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    'morning everyone. Just a quick update to let you know the I am still around. Been doing a lot of catch-up on other projects since my last post. Also, by nature of being right on the border between WA and OR I have all my packages sent to my office in OR to avoid sales tax. I am scheduled to be down there today and pick up this next round. This will include

    - AMP step motor cover (I broke one removing it from my 2017)
    - Front camera to go with my FRAC (Thank you @Trdracer87 for the recommendation)
    - behind-the-bumper light bar & mounting brackets (hides behind the bumper grille similar to my hood bulge one)
    - Aspire fog/high beam interface (keeps lows & fogs on with high beam - this will illuminate every light on the front of my truck with a flick of the high beam lever)
    - NAVIK GPS in motion add (7 second press of the call disconnect button enables GPS/video/text in motion)

    I also sold my old truck this week. Some people asked why not just continue building out the 2017 instead of buying a new 21, well this was why. I am walking with $13k in equity from my old truck which gives me the cash I need to pay for much of my current build. My current build list totals $19,762.90 not including the stuff I kept off the old truck like wheels, powersteps, etc. I also plan to set aside $7k for when Magnuson finally releases the 20/21 SC kit.

    Also looking forward to meeting up with @PNWTundra2021 this Saturday. Going to trade some notes on build ideas.

    And last update, a shameful one: I backed into my neighbor's car last week. didn't damage the paint on the truck itself fortunately but I do have to get one of my flares repainted now as well as getting the left front corner of his car repainted. Ugh.
     
    MatthewPTguy and PNWTundra2021 like this.
  22. Apr 4, 2021 at 6:57 AM
    #172
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    This week's update: The steady flow of UPS and FedEx trucks stopping at our house has slowed down a bit but there are a few more boxes waiting for me now. Next weekend my schedule finally frees up a bit and will try to get this last phase finished. Items waiting for me are

    - Rough Country lower light bar for behind the bumper grille. The bulge light is great for flood. I added this one for spot.
    - NAVIK nav-in-motion jailbreak
    - Brite Box all-lights-on plug & play
    - tailgate popper
    - front camera (FRAC is already installed, cable up to grille. Thanks @Trdracer87 for the camera choice)
    - replacement motor cover for driver's side AMP step (broke taking the steps off the old truck)

    Had a great time getting to meet up with @Explorer here locally in Vancouver this week and @PNWTundra2021 while we were up in the Tacoma area yesterday. Both of you gentlemen have outstanding builds going on. @Explorer, can't wait to see yours again once you get it wrapped. I appreciate you sharing bed rack ideas with me too. I am still leaning towards the DeeZee idea as probably the best compromise for me but still not completely decided. There's something pretty sweet about having a dedicated camping rack back there.

    @PNWTundra2021, your build was super cool too. We are really thinking along the same lines. Same tires I went with (General Grabbers), and our ride heights are within 1/4" of each other. You went OE TRD Pro with your suspension, I went Ironman. Both of us added a little bit of spacer up front to level. You added (I think?) a 1" block in back too didn't you?

    TRD Pro is definitely more plush to road-drive. Ironman seems harsh by comparison but corners with far less body roll than TRD. And the gears, wow. That was very insightful to drive on 35's without gears, compared to my 35's that have been regeared to 5.29. Our universal consensus was that gears are what takes a lifted truck from looking good to actually being fun to drive. Mine accelerates so much better, shifts down better, and overall just does exactly what is needed to get the truck up to speed and maintain it once it's there. It was quickly resolved that @PNWTundra2021 will be calling Nitro on Monday to get a spot in line. Then it will be a race to see which one of us gets supercharger serial # 001 once Magnuson finally releases the 2021 kits. ;0

    I didn't think to get a picture when @Explorer and I met up the other day but here's one of my and @PNWTundra2021's rigs together from yesterday:

    20210403_161656_resized.jpg

    Happy Easter, everyone!
     
  23. Apr 4, 2021 at 7:21 AM
    #173
    PNWTundra2021

    PNWTundra2021 New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2021
    Member:
    #58249
    Messages:
    24
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Craig
    Puyallup, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Tundra TRD Offroad
    Limited Faux Pro
    It was great meeting you sir! Thanks again for doing the back to back test drives. The work you have done is very impressive and really makes your truck a beast! I am still amazed at how much better the 5.29 gearing made the acceleration and general drivability in your Tundra! Anyone w/35s really should consider this upgrade. It is definitely a game changer. Next item... Magnuson :thumbsup: (No speed limiter please!) :rofl:

    As for the lift, I went with Westcott Designs. Their TRD Pro kit results in ~3” increase in the front and has the 1” block for the rear. Pretty cool how close this was to yours - the beds are almost parallel with yours about a 1/4-1/2” higher.
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2021
    ryanwgregg likes this.
  24. Apr 4, 2021 at 7:57 AM
    #174
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    Oh yeah, that's right - Westcott. And that speed limiter, yes that had absolutely better be a thing of the past with the SC kits!

    Now that I've driven back to back I definitely recommend the 5.29 gears to anyone who's running 35's. When I did mine the truck only had 200 miles on it and stock wheels/tires so I had no baseline to compare. Anyone else who's ever going to be in the Vancouver WA area and wants to give them a try before buying, feel free to stop by for a spin.
     
    PNWTundra2021[QUOTED] likes this.
  25. Apr 4, 2021 at 8:17 AM
    #175
    APalmTree

    APalmTree 4x4 SKEPTIC

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2020
    Member:
    #43054
    Messages:
    651
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Brandon
    SW Washington
    Vehicle:
    2012 TRD Offroad White Crewmax 5.7L
    1 or 2... I lost count
    Stock speed limiter is around 115mph if I remember correctly (on 275/65/R18 with 4.30 gears I've only done it once and decided it was too sketchy on stock suspension). I would have to guess that yours being so low is a function of gearing. 5.29 is ~19% larger than stock while a 35 is only ~6-7% larger than stock and the "speed limiter" is actually a rev limiter in 6th gear. Hit up RainMan_PNW it may be something that can be changed in techstream and he would most likely know.

    Killer build so far I'm definitely taking notes for my own but I need to be out of school before I can start going to crazy :spending:
     
    SR5BRAH likes this.
  26. Apr 4, 2021 at 8:31 AM
    #176
    Yzed608

    Yzed608 New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2017
    Member:
    #8351
    Messages:
    980
    Gender:
    Male
    Wisconsin
    The Brite Box looks interesting. Which version did you get?
     
  27. Apr 4, 2021 at 8:36 AM
    #177
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    Thanks. That was my first thought too - maybe I was at rev limit, or the gear/tire size combo had affected it more dramatically than expected? So I pushed it up there a few more times just to see for sure lol. it cut at exactly 90MPH, and I was only spinning about 4300RPM.

    I was just reading through Casey's build thread again (aka RainMan_PNW). I didn't realize he works just 5 mins from my house until I met Explorer last week who works with him. I also didn't realize he was such a Techstream guru until I just finished catching up on pages 10 and 11 on his build thread. He will be a great resource indeed, thank you for the recommendation!
     
    APalmTree[QUOTED] and ryanwgregg like this.
  28. Apr 4, 2021 at 8:43 AM
    #178
    CrashRat

    CrashRat [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2020
    Member:
    #55926
    Messages:
    193
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Greg
    Vancouver, WA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Platinum silver sky metallic
    Work in progress
    I got the Fogster - allows fogs and lows to run with highs. I also have my light bar(s) tied into high beam (with a separate switch to disconnect them from the circuit if I want to). When I flip to high out on a forest road somewhere, I want to be able to see what's going on out there lol
     
    Yzed608[QUOTED] likes this.
  29. Apr 4, 2021 at 9:51 AM
    #179
    APalmTree

    APalmTree 4x4 SKEPTIC

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2020
    Member:
    #43054
    Messages:
    651
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Brandon
    SW Washington
    Vehicle:
    2012 TRD Offroad White Crewmax 5.7L
    1 or 2... I lost count
    Ya, Casey is definitely a wizard when it comes to techstream and the wiring diagrams of these trucks. If it is a technical question he's probably got the answer your looking for!
     
  30. Apr 4, 2021 at 2:17 PM
    #180
    Yzed608

    Yzed608 New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2017
    Member:
    #8351
    Messages:
    980
    Gender:
    Male
    Wisconsin
    Thanks, that functionality seems the best. I'd like to keep the stock function but just keep them also on with the highs if I want (or off on lows and highs).
     
    CrashRat[QUOTED][OP] likes this.
To Top