Terndrerrr’s “Build It Like I Wish It Had Come Stock” thread

no, i have 295/60/20. im just under 34". the 285/75/18 is almost a 35"

 

Love the look! Running stock sized Duratracs currently and think 285/75r18 will complete the truck for me!

 

Got my TCUSA American Roll Cover today. This is the first step toward customizing my bed in preparation for a trip with the family out West. We are looking to do some dispersed camping and exploring in western Colorado later this summer.


I like to use these big Plano trunks for our camping gear (tent, kitchen, bedding, tarp, etc). Part of the reason I chose the TCUSA is because of how small the canister is. Since I have everything worked out to fit in three of these Planos, I wanted to make sure that whatever cover I went with would give enough clearance that these can slide underneath. I can fit three across very snug between the wheel wells:


I also bought a Dometic CFX3 55. The idea is to mount that to a slide right by the tailgate, and I'll need to run power to the bed for it. I'm also planning to get a swing case for recovery tools and some metal to fab up some mounting brackets for my shovel, axe, fire extinguisher, and Maxtrax. As you can see, my Mountain Hatch had to come off. It prevents the tailgate from shutting all the way due to the tracks. It also prevents the cover from shutting all the way as well. I need to shave about an inch off across the top by the top of the tailgate so the cover can close all the way, and I need to cut a couple inches worth of the corners out so the tailgate can clear the tracks.

In the meantime, I'm using a 2x10 and one trunk to keep recovery tools, a fire extinguisher, and some odds and ends in the bed. This has freed up the floor under my rear seat and the storage areas in my rear doors. I need to attach a couple smaller boards perpendicular to the 2x10 to keep the trunk from sliding around:

 

After buying a fridge, I realized that the larger Plano trunks shown above are too big. My tiny baby bed isn’t long enough to mount the fridge on its slide behind those larger trunks. Good thing I have a ton of Planos! I ended up swapping into these smaller trunks that I used to use in my 4Runner:





Aside from those four trunks, we had a 5gal water jug, clothes, 3 fishing poles, and food. I was curious on our trip how much we weighed, so when we were getting gas in Kansas, I hopped over onto a CAT scale. 7400lb. That’s 200lb over GVWR. Lots of discussion about it here. I knew my truck was heavy and had a low payload rating, but I didn’t think that we’d be overweight on a fairly spartan off-road camping trip.

 

That's crazy, I guess I may be overweight every trip then.

 

Speaking of the off-road camping trip, it was glorious. We took our time getting from Tennessee to Colorado, stopping to see family on the way. Our first day in CO was packed: we drove US50 West while it was still open and stopped at Blue Mesa Reservoir for lunch and a swim. It’s sad how low the water level is:

From there, we pushed on to the San Juans and drove Imogene Pass. We drove from Ouray to Telluride. It rained and hailed on us on the way up. Absolutely beautiful drive. I couldn’t believe how easily my big fat pig drove right up this pass. We were in 4Lo and aired down to 20psi. ATRAC kicked in a few times and got me up and over some shelves on the first try. A great feature to have, especially in the rain. I was pleasantly surprised that it worked very similarly to in my 4Runner. It doesn’t take spinning the wheel for it to activate; it just needs a wheel to slip. I know this road isn’t very technical; it’s just a bit tight for the Tundra, and the sheer drop makes you pay more attention than you would elsewhere. It finally stopped raining when we were at the top:


By the time we finished the pass, it was around 7pm, and we needed to find a spot to pitch our tent. Ended up about 100 yds from this lake:

We spent a few more days roaming around. We went to the Pagosa Springs area and then on to the Sand Dunes. The kids loved the Dunes. They would’ve played all day in the creek if we let them:

At the Dunes, there is a primitive road that leads back to dispersed camping. The sign makes it seem a lot worse than it is. It is a very easy road if you know how to drive in loose sand. Still, it was fun to drive, and the kids really enjoyed going fast on the straightaways where you can see potential oncoming traffic from far away.

The road took us to a more secluded spot to play in the creek at the base of the dunes. Our kids took turns being chased by the dog sledding down the sand in one of my Plano lids. Collision imminent:

All in all, it was a great trip. We started our adventures on a weekday, so nothing was too crowded or packed. That’s my one tip for visiting Colorado: don’t go on the weekend. I couldn’t believe the amount of beetle kill we saw. I had heard about it beforehand and knew what to expect, and it was still mind-boggling. Beautiful state, regardless. Here’s a view of Black Bear pass from Imogene:

 

Wow, beautiful area. Glad it was such a good family time. Making memories.

 

I spent a week riding San Juan in my Teryx last summer. Absolutely the most beautiful part of the world I have ever seen.

ryan

 

Here's a super quick "how-to" for making your own shovel and axe mounts for the bed WITHOUT DRILLING NEW HOLES in your bed.

Parts needed:
(1) 3ft long 1" x 3/16" piece of steel from Home Depot. These are in one of the lumber aisles.
(1)

$9 QUICK FIST Mini Clamp for mounting tools & equipment 5/8' - 1-3/8' diameter, 2 Count (Pack of 1) - 30050

Quick Fist Mini
(1)

$13 END OF ROAD Original Quick Fist Clamp for mounting tools & equipment 1" - 2-1/4" diameter, 2 Count (Pack of 1) - 0010

Quick Fist regular

EDIT: I used the mini fists for my axe, which has a smaller handle diameter than my shovel.

So far, you've spent $22.
Now, what makes this SUPER easy is getting screws that have the same threads as the pre-drilled holes for the factory bed rails. These are the screws you want, also from Home Depot:

I got a total of 6 bolts, some washers, and two packs of nuts (they come in 5, so I needed to buy a 2nd pack for just one).

You've now spent a grand total of $28. Now here's how to build your mounts:

Step 1. Cut 12" lengths off your steel bar.
Step 2. Mark where you want to mount your quick fists and where you want to mount to the truck bed with a center punch so your drill bit doesn't wander.
Step 3. Drill 3 pilot holes with a 3/16" cobalt drill bit. Step them up from there. If I remember correctly, my holes ended up being 1/2". I actually measured and drilled before cutting my 12" lengths off. Either way is fine I'm sure.


The pic below is after my recent 3,000 mile trip to CO. You should do what I did not…
Step 4. Paint your bars!! Use some rustoleum or rust reformer.
Step 5. Assemble!! If you painted first, your bars won't look like this:


There’s a photo a few posts back with then mounted on the drivers side. Here's another pic with them mounted on the other side of the bed. Easy peasy. I'm all in for $30 or less and didn't have to drill any holes in my bed. Enjoy!!

 

Once I got the TCUSA American Roll Cover, neither the tailgate nor the cover would close all the way. My Mountain Hatch was making contact in two places with the TCUSA—with the rails at the top of the bedsides and with the locking mechanism in the center of the cover at the top of the tailgate. So…I trimmed the MH. It fits just fine now. Used my skill saw. It doesn’t look too bad. You can see the notches in the corners and the edge sitting about an inch and a half below the top of the tailgate. It was flush before:

Everything shuts and locks as intended now.

 

Time for another short trip report. Went back to LBL with a friend and his family. He also bought a '21 Tundra, a Pro in Lunar Rock. Beautiful truck. His is bone stock except for 275/70 Nitto TG2s, a Softopper, and the Decked drawers. I really liked his setup. He bought a new Ford F150 in 2019 and had terrible issues with the 10 speed transmission. The dealership told him they're all like that, and there's nothing they could do for him. Crazy. So he bought the most hassle free truck he could find. I'd say he did well.

Anyway, I'm still digging my setup; it's all very organized and easy to get to. Plus, it all fits under my tonneau cover. However, I would be lying if I said I wasn't getting sick of unpacking and setting up everything every time we camp. It takes me no time at all to pack up for camping: throw my trunks in (which stay loaded at home), bolt my piece of plywood with the fridge mount to the bed, toss the fridge in, and plug it in to the battery (which lives in the bed). But unpacking it all once we get where we're going is getting old. More likely I'm just getting old...

It would be really nice to get a low bed rack that works with my TCUSA cover and put a tent on it. Leave the bedding up there, and we're good to go. I'll have to look more into that. As it is, I can put a couple kayaks over the top of this with my bed cover open with backpacks and swim gear stuffed underneath and keep everything from flying out. Here we are loaded up with the kayaks strapped on top of everything else:

Camping on the beach in Tennessee. I'd have to go much farther than 2 hours away from my house to get better than this:


No trip to LBL is complete without exploring the plentiful unmaintained access roads throughout. Here's my buddy coming over a very sharp little hill deep in the woods. He excavated some deep ruts with his OEM steps. Nearly sheared them clean off. Afterward he said, "Trail damage is cool; it's parking lot dings that I hate." Agreed!

Just down this hill there is a creek crossing with a random bridge next to it:

This trail ends just past the bridge, so we backed up and turned around in the creek:

Thanks to Tropical Storm Ida the trails were extra muddy and the mud holes were a little deeper than usual:

The kids liked watching my buddy's truck behind us:

He too made it through just fine:

It was just about perfect weather once the sun went down. I may get sick of setting up and tearing down camp, but I'll never get sick of having a drink around a beachfront campfire with some friends on a perfect night. Great trip once again!

 

End of year update. I’m sitting at 21,300 miles. Got some color matched bumper caps and BBS Pro wheels. Debadged the chrome and added black 5.7 badges. Here she is after a quick brushless wash with half of our 1400-mile Christmas round trip remaining:

I love this truck. Aside from the CarPlay deciding it doesn’t want to work every once in a while, I have had no issues. Unplugging and plugging back in real quick fixes it. Anyway, the truck still does everything I want it to with no hiccups or surprises. I’m keeping to an accelerated maintenance schedule. Just changed the oil today. Amsoil Signature with a 15k-mile filter. Here’s my assistant patiently waiting to add another quart:

Yes, we are still very dirty underneath and under the hood. Lots of dirt roads visiting family on this trip. Part of the dirt was from traveling to an outdoor shooting range where a friend of mine is a member. He brought his son, and I brought my oldest. It was fun watching my kid ringing steel at 800yd with a .308 on a bipod. He hit it 2 out of 3 shots. He’s so proud of himself. Here we are gearing up for the pistol range:


A couple of weeks ago, I thought I had some gear oil seeping out of the rear diff. Upon further inspection, it appeared to just be water from a puddle. Diff has been clean and dry for the past week and a half. I’m going to swap diff oil to Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90 oil and the transfer case to 75w Ravenol.

Other ideas for 2022: tint for the front windows, a bed rack that works with my TCUSA cover, and I don’t know what else…a Harrop would be fun.

Happy New Year everyone!

 

Curious, did you add the locker? I’m kicking this around for my 08.

 

Not yet. I want to be 100% sure that I’m not going to want to regear at some point in the future.

 

What a cool thread, thank you. Some camera skills as well. Bravo.

 

This is a sharp Tundra. Nice job keeping the build clean and not overwhelming.

 

How did your grill surround change from body color to chrome in post 2 and back to body color on page 2?

 

I keep the first pic in the first post current.

 

Where’d you get your end caps and badges from?

 

Ordered the black 5.7 badges from McGeorge Toyota online. They’re usually better than everyone else price-wise. Lewis Toyota is very competitive as well. I usually check those two when ordering any OEM parts.

The end caps were take-offs from another guy’s truck.

 

Awesome build and great photos. Sub'd and look forward to seeing what else you have in mind.

 

Sick build!

 

Went out to a WMA outside of Nashville a few weeks ago. Just looking for some places to hike. I ended up driving down a road that was basically a creek. Wasn’t planning on getting that dirty. Thanks, Google Maps! Mud galore—which I did not get a pic of—and I had a ton of sticks and leaves stuck under the truck. Popped a couple push tabs off the inner wheel well liners by my UCAs. Guess I need to look up that part number. Earned several more pinstripes, too. But it was a fun day, and I found a couple of good spots to take the family hiking. I consider it a win.

 

I was messing around with my Apple Pencil the other day. Blacked out the entire background.

My truck is dirty more often than it’s clean. Nicer weather ought to change that…

 

Nice. No front hitch?

 

Strangely enough, mine came with one on the rear.

 

I’m thinking about redoing my rear suspension. Right now, I have the TRD Fox shocks, CB +2 shackles, and Firestone airbags. My truck is a bit bouncier when the bed is empty with the airbags on it, to be honest. I’ve been playing with PSI and haven’t found a spot that feels like they’re not there. Soooo…

I’m considering removing the airbags and the shackles and just adding the Roadmaster Active Suspension. It seems to get great reviews on here. I like that it’s a bit stiffer, can handle more of a load, and doesn’t adversely affect suspension travel when off-roading which I do quite a bit. I would also have to get new bump stops. Considering the Duro Bumps. I had them on my 4Runner, and they were great. It seems that the Superbumps from Wheeler’s are more popular with Tundra owners, though.

Curious if anyone has any experience with both bumps?

 

I have the HD RAS, does everything they claim. Great way to stop sag, tighten up the rear and gain an inch of lift. Rides great.

 

I don’t have airbags on the Tundra but I did have them on my 2012 Tacoma. And I didn’t like the ride quality at all when empty with 5 PSI in the bags. Very bouncy like you stated when empty but under load they were great. Honestly after that I don’t want to install airbags on the Tundra. Thankfully the loads I carry and tow don’t require me to.

I fully understand why you need something and why your thinking of uninstalling them…. Why not leave the shackles though? I felt they made a valid improvement.

 

The added lift from the RAS is why I’ll go back to stock shackles if I end up going that route. I think all proper trucks should have some rake for when you’re loaded down, but I think the combination of RAS and CB +2 would be too much, especially because the TRD shocks added 3/4” of lift to my truck’s rear end when I installed them.