My Do-Everything Truck

Well, I finally got my new head unit (mostly) installed. Not too many issues other than getting all the panels back together and realizing I hadn't connected the radio antenna.

All wrapped up a little after midnight:


Here's Apple Carplay:


When Apple Carplay isn't connected:

And the reverse camera, AKA the whole reason I did this:


I still have to wire in the reverse and parking brake input, but I connected and routed the wires so all that's left is the connections in the footwells. Does anyone know off of the top of their head which is the reverse wire? Crutchfield's directions say the blue wire on the 11-pin connector in the passenger kick panel. Both of the connectors pointed out below are 11 pins...

 

Some more details on the head unit / camera installs.
The front camera is the one that came with the Boss head unit and was only a $20 add-on. I used a Dremel to cut two ribs out of the grill directly under the Toyota emblem, and then drilled a hole vertically into the emblem surround. The bracket fits like it was made to be there. The camera seems good quality night and day and although the power and ground wires were only a few inches long I'm happy I decided to get it and go for a front camera.




The rear camera isn't as clear as the front, but works well and the wires were the perfect length. I got it on sale for $53, and I'm happy with it for that price. A nice holesaw and rubber gasket were included that made install really easy.


To go through the firewall grommet I used a razor knife to make a 1" long slice from the engine side, and then a longer, narrow blade knife to push through to the cab. Then, from the inside, I used a fish tape (below) to push back through to the engine bay. I taped the camera and power wires onto the fish tape, sprayed the taped bundle and firewall grommet with white silicone spray, and they pulled through very easily. I added some silicone sealant to both sides of the grommet for peace of mind.

After routing the microphone cable across the drivers footwell, I popped off the drivers door seal, and tucked the cable behind it all the way up to the top of the A-pillar plastic panel. The seal pushes right back on making this the easiest routing job of the whole day.

Finally, I bought the USB extension suggested by Crutchfield. I used the included mount to trace the hole on a switch blank and then drilled out with a step bit. After a little work with a razor knife on the back of the switch blank the USB extension pushed right into the blank, no glue needed.

 

Well, not everything could go smoothly. The backup camera I bought won't work with my head unit. The image from the camera is reversed and the head unit does not have settings to flip the camera. The camera harness has a wire you can cut, but it only flips the image top to bottom, not right to left. Crutchfield and Tailgate Camera.com both had good customer service over the phone, but apparently the two products just won't work together.

This is what I got: https://tailgatecamera.com/collecti...13-for-aftermarket-radios-handle-not-included

 

Completed the any-time fog light modification today for my new fog lights. I used EddieV1 as seen here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/diy-fog-light-mod.371/
Not terribly hard, just make sure you plug back in the connectors before you reconnect the battery to test the function. Otherwise you'll get no dash at all (if the lower plug is disconnected) or no headlights at all (if the upper plug is disconnected). It's a little scary to have no dash operation on startup after doing wiring work. Thankfully I'm a quick learner and didn't freak out too long when the headlights didn't work either.

 

Added a piece of cheap weatherstripping to replace the deteriorating (i.e. all but gone) foam seal that bridges the gap between the radiator and the front core support. It just sticks on.
Unfortunately, Lowe’s only had white.


Thanks @Rex Kramer for the idea

Also chopped my bedsides to meet up with my high clearance rear bumper.

 

Started my DIY grille project. I love the look of the Sequoia TRD Pro grille swap, but the total adds up to $513 and well over $100 in shipping.
I found the Toyota emblem from a 3rd gen Tacoma (I think) on eBay for $15 and bought an eBay grill for 07-09 Tundras for $83.
With color matched spray paint, automotive clear coat, and plastic epoxy I can do this for under $150.
I think the Sequoia grille looks great with the Sequoia LED headlights, but a little awkward with the stock headlights and I think this setup will look cleaner with the stock headlights and no gap under the grille.
Here’s the emblem and grill:


And a rough mock-up: The letters will be getting painted gray, the trim around the letters will be gloss black to match the mesh, and the outside of the grille will be color matched nautical blue metallic.

 

Hit a milestone two days ago:

 

I made some more progress on the grille project. After lots of measuring, trimming, and checking I got the material cut out of the center of the blank grille so that the Toyota emblem was a pretty tight fit. The best tool I had was an oscillating multi tool with a very dull blade so my cuts weren’t perfect. The corners are the best fitting, so I lined everything up and then used JB Weld plastic epoxy to fill the small gaps from the front and bond them together. After a half hour to set, I flipped the grille over and used some JB Weld plastic weld. It’s a putty, so I could push it in between the emblem and the cut ends of plastic mesh and fill my gaps.



Below you can see the putty and the gaps between the straight line of the emblem and the cut end of plastic mesh.

I was not really excited when I saw how many gaps my bad cutting had left, but the putty works really great to fill them.

 

I wrapped up (for now) my grille project this weekend. I really like the design, and the grill fit well and the emblem is glued in solid, but I had some trouble with paint. I got impatient and sprayed when the humidity was pretty high, so I shouldn't be surprised. The gray on the Toyota was craft paint and turned out really matte, and clear gloss over top didn't help as much as I wanted. The gloss on top of the blue color match paint didn't cure well, and is pretty splotchy. Down the road I'll redo it, but it looks okay for now!

 

Got my Total Chaos bed stiffeners in and put them on last night. Pretty easy install, and everything fit really well. I've got to say, @TOTAL CHAOS, you guys are doing it right! Excellent packaging, no chips in the powder coat, no missing hardware, and clear, grammatically correct instructions with color pictures. All that shouldn't be rare, but it is (or maybe I just usually buy the cheap stuff )

 

What rear bumper is that?

 

I made it!
https://www.tundras.com/threads/custom-rear-bumper.77683/

 

Excuse my ignorance, but what to these "bed stiffeners" actually do?

 

Prevent the bottom corners of the bed from cracking with weight, especially weight on the bed rails like a camper shell, bed rack, rooftop tent, etc. To a much smaller degree they also act as extra tie down points. I didn’t think I would use/need that function, but have already used the tie down locations a few times today.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/bed-stiffeners-what-do-they-do-do-i-need-them.28369/

 

Thanks.

 

Well, interesting wheel change coming soon! I really like my current setup, but this was too good of a deal to pass up.
Rock Warriors and Spidertrax spacers will be for sale soon!

 

Well, I decided to pass on the new wheels and keep the rock warriors. There are better looking wheels out there, but I can't find anything that I like the looks of better and is also comparable weight.
I also got some maintenance done and changed the oil and installed the aluminum filter housing. I hope that by next oil change I have a new skid plate! The tires were rotated and new center caps installed at the same time.

 

Got a shorty antenna. It's going to take some time for the look to grow on me, but it was only $15 and won't wake my daughter up clanging against low branches like the stock one did.
https://antennax.com/i-24626018-off-road-13-inch-antenna-2001-thru-2019-toyota-tundra.html

 

Where did you buy the caps? I’ve found some but they are so expensive.

 

I found them on Amazon. They seem to pop up now and again, but have always been pretty expensive. I checked one day and it was $60 for a set of four, so not cheap, but much less than I had seen elsewhere. My order was sent out from a Toyota dealership in Florida. I checked the link yesterday and they were unavailable, but I just checked and they had 5 sets in stock, for $80 a set.

TOYOTA Tundra TRD Rock Warrior Wheel Center Caps Set Genuine OE OEM

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07P17PWJB?ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-trd-17-forge-centcap-ptr1834071

 

Just bought 4, thanks!!!

 

I bought mine from there. I had to give them a valid rock warrior VIN number before they would send them out. They also wanted a picture of the current ones I had to prove damage. After shipping they were pretty close to the ones off of Amazon....

 

Yup, they wanted a vin from me too

 

Made a setup to mount a hi-lift, axe, and shovel in the bed. I really like Cali-Raised and Victory's molle panels, but $200 is a little steep for what I'm doing. I mocked up some basic flat stock hanging off of the bed rails, but didn't like how wiggly it was.
The uprights are some super strut along with some 90 degree brackets that I found in the strut section of Lowes. The horizontal pieces are just some 1/8" flat stock that I had laying around. I put some mastic tape on the bottom of the 90 degree brackets to help if there is any rubbing and to keep everything in place. The jack is held on with 1/2" stainless carriage bolts and hand knobs from McMaster and the shovel and axe mounts are quickfists.
Overall, everything is rock solid and will look much cleaner when I get my Bedrug in.

 

Installed the ARB brake and ABS extensions (PN: FK32) and some Daystar airbag cradles. The extension brackets are probably not needed with stock leaf springs and only Total Chaos shackles, but it was cheap and knocks another thing off my list. Hoping to need them down the road.
I would rather get some new leaf springs, but the airbags were already there when I bought the truck. When paired with the cradles they provide more weight capacity than stock and still allows full range of travel.
I put a 4x4 on top of my floor jack and maxed out the jack while the tires remained firmly on the ground - I was pretty impressed with the (essentially stock) droop!

Now I just need to do the diff breather and clean up that surface rust and I'll be done under the rear of the truck for a while.

 

Very nice truck and project.

 

Thanks!

 

Thank you!