Pangaea's 21 CrewMax Build Thread

Better late than never, I'll start at the beginning and try to piece it together chronologically. First day; dog seems to like it:



My last truck was a slow meandering build. This one I was determined to get what I wanted right up front. Within a week, she went in to my local shop, West Coast Off Roaders, where the owner Fab installed OME BP51 suspension all around and Dakar springs, SPC UCAs and 285/75 R18 Duratracs on SCS Ray 10's. Had to modify the plastic fender liner to fix a bit of rub at full lock , esp. in reverse, but no frame rub. Now 3/4" clear in the front, tons of room behind.

 

Bed graphics and SR5 logo delete:

 

Next, a few interior mods. Fabricated a console organizer to keep my binos at the ready and the backroad map books together:



And a temporary phone mount pending the Rago / ICS dash mount decision (Hondo Garage Un-holey dash mount - surprisingly stable!). I went with 67 Designs over Ram for the arms; I just liked the design better. The G3 magnetic holder was not yet available. I have it now. A huge improvement:

 

May have got a few extra arms, plates, doodads...

 

Then, after WAY too much procrastination, installed the driver's side grab handle. A LIFE CHANGER!!! Photo doesn't show much of it, but you all know what it looks like...

Shown is the Last US Bag visor Molle panel. I have Oscar's Hideaway and a few other pieces from them, including 2 mesh bags I'll use for mushrooms in the fall (or spring, if I can get to a forest fire burn for morels). No pics yet, as I haven't really been out much. Work is ending shortly though, and I'm aching to get out into the mountains. Their bags, etc are very well built, good folks, and a total pleasure to deal with. Can't recommend them highly enough!

 

For the canopy/box, I went with the Leer canopy with openers all around, cuz I'm getting old and my knees don't like ridged Linex. I can't imagine why I'd ever go back to fixed side windows.

Leer? ARE? I made my choice based on the free Alpicool 12v cooler/freezer that came with the Leer. My old canopy was the same model. This one seems better built.

Mountain Hatch, natch:



Installed LED strips on velcro to the carpet liner of the canopy and Cali Raised Bedside Molle panels inside. Attached stuff to them:



Installed a shelf at the front of the bed, with tiedowns for frequently accessed bins and a long narrow shelf along one side for fishing rods:



Put the Rhino Rack Evolution on the canopy. I like the low profile, and the side rails allow for an easy tie-down option.

 

Now the cool stuff:

Warn Semi-hidden bumper
Warn VR EVO 10S winch
Factor 55 Flatlink under the
Cascadia 4x4 Flipster licence plate holder - Local boys!!!
RCI skids - steel
White Knuckle Off Road sliders (got them raw, primed and Linexed them up here)
Baja Designs Squadron Pro fogs
Baja Designs LP4s - LP6s won't fit under the hoop
Baja Designs rear flood mounted in bumper

All mechanical/electrical work done by West Coast Off Roaders in North Vancouver. These guys are the bomb. Never any surprises, very fair pricing, a pleasure to deal with!




Go Hawks!



And a happy (if wet) dog:

 

Nice looking rig!

 

The dash setup. ICS Tundra Dash Mount with backing plate, 67 Designs arms, G3 phone holder, custom morning-drive-to-work-toast-tray (removable, mounted with 2x large strong rare earth magnets), ICS 2x USB charger mounted just behind the arms:

 

Under the hood.

Northstar NSB31AGM battery
Slee Offroad terminals
ARB air compressor - West Coast Off Roaders custom mount.
SDHQ - SwitchPros package
KC HiLites under-hood lights. Switch in bottom right of first photo.

 

She has a name! When I first brought the truck home, my daughter burst in the front door and said "Dad, sick rig!". Ever since, she's been Sigrid:



Yeah, and before y'all pipe up about the needed interior chrome delete, this is the first time I've noticed it!

Also built a custom under-seat fire extinguisher bracket:

 

I've driven thousands of miles on BC backroads/logging/resource roads. 30-40 years ago, you would come across loaded logging trucks barrelling down narrow dirt tracks with some frequency. Now, not so much. More mining or pipeline workers. I've sucked my truck into a ditch or a cutbank a few times to avoid them. I wouldn't have needed to if I'd had a radio and regularly called my position and direction.

These mobile land radios (VHF) aren't cheap, which is mainly why I never got one, but I can afford one now, so this is what I got. The provincial 4WD Association has a pilot project that assigns us a chat channel as well as the 32 Resource Road channels, weather and LADD channels that truckers use. Almost fit in the sunglasses holder space; just a little carving for the mounting bolts.

 

Sick rig! Really dig the front bumper setup.

 

At 54 I'm about to dig into getting an amateur license, and I'll be putting a radio in the truck. My wife's keeps looking at me like I've lost my mind when I tell her some new thing I'll be doing to it. I'm the same about having to be more frugal when I was younger. Had my last Tundra for 238k miles and and did zero modification to it. This one's getting dressed up, and all the fun things. Really nice build thread.

 

Keep up the great work, I enjoy reading your build thread and looking forward to your project projects

 

Great looking build! Looking forward to seeing more progress pics and hopefully pics of your scenic adventures!

 

Love it. Two questions:

1. What antenna did you go with and where did you mount it?
2. Did you source your grab handle in Canada? If so, approx how much did it cost you? I have been procrastinating on that mod for a while now.

 

Antenna is a Larsen NMOWB150C Wideband Antenna - tuned at 38.2", if I remember correctly. It's mounted on the fender, with a wedge shaped shim to account for the rake of the fender/hood. I've thought of putting it on a ditch mount bracket, which would have the added benefit of moving it a few inches closer to the truck's centreline.






Got the grab handle from Sparks Parts in the US. Part was $165, shipping was $30. It came with all the needed parts. Pretty sure there was some sale (20%?). I've just bitten the bullet on shipping over the past year; normally, I'd ship to my mailbox just across the border.

 

Much appreciated. Did the fender mount come from Alberta Radio Supply? They seem to be one of the few that have this gen mount in stock. And good call on the shim.

 

I got my radio and install at Vernon Communications in Vernon.

 

Pangaea's 21 CrewMax Build Thread

Really like the rear flood light.
I'll be adding that to the ever expanding 'want' list.

 

Which 67 Designs setup did you end up using for the phone mount to the Rago? I feel lost with all the sizes and options out there.

 

I used the Magmount G3. Much stronger than the G2. No issues so far. I have 2x (doubled up) thin steel plates glued to the back of my Moment iPhone case, as the single plate didn't provide enough magnetic mass (if that's a thing?).

 

Finally scored a blemished Ray10 for my spare. It arrives today!

New (old-style) visor from @lastusbag arrived yesterday - they didn't forget! Love those guys.

 

Oh, and Husky floor mats (the X-act Contour ones) - I'm a believer! Such a great fit. Night and day over the OEM ones.

They're dirty, so they're doing their job!