What are your favorite mods/improvements?

Bilstein Shocks and Springs. It leveled it out and rides great.

 

Definitely long tubes and full race exhaust. second would probably be the high clearance rear bumper.

 

At some point I'd love to get a full list of part numbers or even just links if you have them. Would love to put it in the info dump thread for others.

 

I haven't done much to mine other than maintenance and a few small things here and there; but this is one of my favorites -

 

Like these?

 

I really like all of my springs, King and Archive/Shackelton
My bumpers are cool, a modded Coastal Offroad front and a custom rear.
Everything from Archive Garage is very good.
Switchpro and BD lights are fun.

 

alb, I have little to NO idea what in the world you are referring to. May be too much industry slang for me to decipher.

 

Here are my favorite mods so far, in no particular order:
- Suspension/lift
- Headlight relay harness
- DIR harness by @daveeasa
- Backup camera
- Alpine Head-unit
- Katzskin seat covers
- BD Fog lights and Ditch Lights

To be honest (and maybe even smug); I'm really happy with all the work I've done to the truck and feel like it's all been worthwhile upgrades or mods.

 

Yeah, I wish I knew a bit more about suspensions to be able to understand the archive garage options. I'm relying on Jason to guide me with that as all I've given him are leafs so far. I think those can be over or under perhaps and that's where I get lost.

 

It's confusing to me as well. Longer shackles don't raise our trucks. My shackles are longer and they actually lower it. I can't see in my head why it works like that, I just l know that's what happens. (Edit) I didn't explain the next part right, even looking at a picture.

 

The rear leaf spring eye is A fixed distance from the ground. The shackle on these trucks attaches to the frame at the bottom of the shackle. So essentially the truck is hanging from the shackle. A longer shackle makes the distance from the top of the leaf attachment farther away, hence hanging lower to the ground.

 

Yes @KNABORES !

 

For dashcams, will these cheaper options from ebay work?

 

Will cheaper dashcams work? Of course, but for how long? And do you really want to get into an accident, only to realize the dashcam silently failed on you? It's like buying a cheap gun. Do you really want to buy a cheap gun, knowing the one time you really need it, it may not work, or may explode in your hand?

Really, if you want a cheap, bulletproof dashcam that's small, no frills, no screen to look at, from a highly trusted company, the Garmin Mini (now in a new "v2" version) is a killer buy. Is it cheap? No. But if you buy it, and buy a good high-speed SD card, you're good to go. I'm loving mine.

Biggest thing is get SOMETHING. Don't get stuck in 'analysis paralysis' for a year or more like I did and too many others do.

If you just "mean will the cheap wiring kits work", sure. They'll work too. But same thing. Garmin also has a cable kit - look up Garmin Parking Mode Cable. It's a micro USB wiring kit and supports triggering the power to the camera if someone bumps the vehicle while parked too.

 

Here's the mod that in terms of usefulness vs dollars spent, I challenge anyone to beat! A broom or brush handle with a lag hook screwed into the end allows you to effortlessly pull/push items out of/into the depths of the bed.

 

Hah! Very smart. I use my shovel to accomplish this sometimes but a hook would be much better.

 

I can't take credit for it. A friend of mine was using his one day in his truck and I thought, "Brilliant!"

My bed is covered with a cap (which I never lock) but even if it wasn't, you don't need to be concerned about leaving it back there. Who's going to steal a broom stick?

 

des2mtn, GREAT muddy truck shot! Love it!

 

Oh, sorry about that
I really like all of my springs, King and Archive/Shackelton
(King 2.5 OEM-extended Coilovers, And rear medium duty leaf spring from Archive Garage)

My bumpers are cool, a modded Coastal Offroad front and a custom rear.
(Coastal Offroad high clearance front bumper kit, I made my rear bumper from scratch)

Everything from Archive Garage is very good.
(I have the u-bolt flip kit, the hammer hangers, and the shock relocation kit)

Switchpro and BD lights are fun.
(Switch Pros 9100 is a switch/controller system for electronics, Baja Designs makes LED lights)

 

@alb1k could you expand on the shock relocation, u-bolt flip and hangers? Now that I have an idea of how the shackle length changes ground clearance thanks to @KNABORES help. Trying to learn step by step, starting from zero hurts

 

Sorry for the massive pictures here - I messed up on the thumbnails.

Yes, place holder., I'll add some pics here from my phone.
In the meantime - check this out. https://archivegarage.com/explore-archive/ols/categories/tundra-2000-2006

 

I read some of it and didn't fully absorb the differences / reasons why (for example) flipping a U bolt adds value

 

The U-bolt flip kit doesn't add a lot besides clearance. The stock U-bolts have the plates on the bottom of the axle, with bolt heads and such more exposed to things on the ground. Obviously more useful off road than on. The other benefit is what's mentioned above and shown in alb1k's forth picture. The bump stop can be removed without removing the U-bolts. I also have this kit (as well as the Hammer Hangers) and it's very well made. As mentioned, all of Archive's stuff is stout. I want to get that shock relocation kit too!

 

Yeah, the ubolt flip is the least value. Now that my shock mounts are lower, even more so. I probably wouldn't do it now, but it's nice at least.

 

What I'm not clear on with U bolts is whether or not I want them, since I'm swapping to a deaver custom leaf pack which came with U bolts. Also not clear on shock relocation and whether or not it'd be compatible with the fox shocks I don't even have yet That's where it stays confusing to me.

 

If you flip the bolts you need a radius end to go around the axle. If you keep the bolt ends pointed down, squared bolts to go around the leafs.

Mine are Fox 2.0 12" I and very borderline bottom out even with lower shock mounts quite low and 1/2" bump stop spacers. It's one of the things I have to chase down to see if I'm "go-no-go" 10-11" is probably clear all day (I think an 11" is out there. I also believe the AC has a bit more room than the DC. Not sure where 2wd/4wd come into play. Less droop is the take back with a shorter shock.