Colorado ‘19 Cement SR5 TRD Off-Road Build

Backstory: In June of 2020 I was having health issues pertaining to my speech. After about a years worth of tests, doctors, etc. I was diagnosed with Bulbar Onset ALS (Lou Gherig's Disease) at 36 years old in July of 2021. At that time I had a 2017 TRD Off-Road Tacoma with a 2.5" Ironman Foam Cell Pro lift, an RCI bedrack, and a Tepui RTT.



After my diagnosis my wife and I decided to sell our place in Denver and buy a home 20 minutes outside of it in a mountain town called Evergreen. Once we did that, after some prodding with her I was able to get the green light to sell the Taco and get my dream truck which was always a Tundra. Because this could potentially be the last truck I'll ever own, my vision was to create a great outdoor/overland truck for out outdoor camping lifestyle. Also, to not go cheap because I in all likelihood don't have a ton of years left.

The Truck:

I like the 2022s but don't trust the engine and it being the 1st year of it. Given that and the shortages on them I started to look. I was able to find a 2019 Crewmax SR5 TRD Off-Road with 1 owner, 21k miles, and no issues. It also was at a price point that made sense so I pulled the trigger in April:



I have a lot mods already done and a lot more planned. I'll try to share it chronologically so it makes sense on the progression. Any questions do not hesitate to ask! Thanks for following.

 

First Mod: My vision was to have a non-chrome black/cement truck. The taillights are an eyesore to me so I decided to replace them. I bought the Alpharex Luxx tail lights. This was an easy mod that took maybe 20 minutes. Unfortunately the driver side had hyperflash so alpharex had to send me an additional resistor. Once I popped that on all was good.



These things are amazing with sequential turn signals and just look great altogether. I could not be happier with it!

 

Second Mod: De-chroming as we all know is a giant pain in the ass. I thought about painting or capping the OEM bumper and then after looking at costs decided to replace the entire front bumper with an aftermarket Bulken Off-Road: https://bulkenoffroad.com/2014-2021-toyota-tundra-non-winch-front-bumper/. I considered a bumper with a winch add-on, but the reality is unless we're wheeling hard (like really hard) they aren't used as much as we think. I had one on a Jeep build in my 20s and used it maybe 2x in 3 years so I decided against it. I added the hoop bar and front skid plate add-ons.

I gathered a couple buddies, grabbed a 12 pack of Coors Original, a couple pizzas and went to work. It took us about 3 hours to get it on and I am very happy with the results/look. Bonus: I was able to sell my OEM bumper for $300 locally.



Very happy with the look, quality, and price of this bumper. Install was fairly straight forward and not overly difficult. Definitely recommend this product!

 

The Lift/Tires/Wheels: Obviously there are a thousand options, thoughts, opinions, etc. on this. I have run Fox's on my Jeep, Ironman on my Tacoma, and have friends running Kings, Eibachs, etc. After a lot of reading and considerations I narrowed the lift down to three options: OME BP-51s, Bilstein 6112s/5160s, and Bilstein 8112s/8100s. I was fairly set on OME's until I read about the sealing issues with the reservoir attachment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZSNYONRYxQ Not only did I see it there but I read on various forums of 2 other people having that issue so I ruled it out. I then was set on 6112s/5160s because I knew it would be great for what I do. Until a guy at my local shop had upgraded from 6112s to the 8100 series. Essentially, he raved about the difference in ride quality both on road and off road. The cost difference is substantial, but given where my health is at in life I decided YOLO and went with the 8100 series.

Then a snag happened, Bilstein would not have 8100s available until July. They couldn't even give a delivery date on them. I placed an order with a mid may install date and rolled the dice. The 8112s showed up:



Unfortunately the 8100s never did so I skipped leg day and went with 8112s on the front and 5160s in the rear. The front lift is 2.5" and I did an Icon AAL in the rear with the 5160s. I also added a TRD Pro sway bar in the back. For tires I went with Falken Wildpeak AT3 295/70R18's, I thought the .5" of height for 35 x 12.5's was not worth it. I made a mistake on this, pay the money and go with the 35s. While I'm not at all unhappy with the 295s, The extra $200 for the 35s would of been worth it given how much clearance I have. The wheels are Method NV 305s, very happy with the look on these. I also added Rough Country step bars, I would of liked sliders but my wife is 5'2 and needs a little extra help getting in the truck .



Verdict: Man there is so much to say on this. First, I have never been in a better riding lifted truck in my life. The 8112s are everything they are advertised as and more. The ride quality honestly pushes Raptor quality. They soak up everything, the faster you ride them the more they come to life. It's honestly astonishing. The backend.... is just okay. I can tell a difference between the quality. Someday I'd like to upgrade the rear into 8100s. I also regret going AAL, though it's fine now. I'll be adding a bed rack, a diamondback HD cover, and an Ikamper 3.0 Mini. 400 lbs of static weight has me concerned how well the leafs will hold up. In the future (if my health allows), I'll be doing a custom pack from either Deaver or Alcan with the 8100s. For now, I'm not displeased but am definitely looking to upgrade down the road.

Also, adding the rear sway bar might be the single best mod yet. Cornering in the mountains of Colorado at 65 mph is a whole different beast. Unless you're wheeling in the desert all of the time I couldn't recommend this mod more. The truck is more planted and tracks so much better. What a world of difference!

Edit: I also did SPC UCAs

 

Well done on the mods and congrats on picking up a Tundra. Greetings from Indiana

 

I grew up in Warsaw and lived there until 30 before I moved to Colorado 7 years ago. The only thing I love more than my truck, is my wife and Hoosier bball!

 

Nice looking truck, I'm sure I'll be seeing it around... We are right down the road in Pine. Good luck with your health, and I hope you are able to enjoy being in the mountains, Evergreen is soooo much nicer than Denver. Just watch out for Elk, they love to loiter on basically every road in town....

 

We actually got married in Pine, moved up to Evergreen right off I-70 in October. Wish I made this move 5 years ago, 45 min from A-Basin and 90 minutes to some our favorite front range camping. I feel like a sucker for spending so many years in west Denver.

Elk are everywhere up here, I learned my lesson with Bears though. We left trash bins out all winter and it was an after thought until April. We will not be leaving trash out ever again like rookies. It took well over an hour to clean everything up .

 

Fog Lights: I was really torn between going with street legal @Baja Designs squadron SAEs or squadron sports. I know a couple guys running the sports but I really did not want to blind oncoming traffic, also I didn't want to get pulled over. Because of my ALS, I sound like somebody who has put down at least a 6 pack (slow and slurred). Because of that I went with the SAEs in amber:



Thoughts: As noted in other threads the cutoff on these is not in line with other fog lights. However, they are still freaking bright. They definitely bleed into the LED headlights. I am still very happy with them, BD always makes quality products. I bought the adapters from BD to make them plug and play so install was fairly straight forward.

 

Rear Bumper: I really wanted to do a rear bumper replacement but financially the mods are piling up. After doing some back and forth I decided to cap the back bumper with: https://www.extremeterrain.com/bump...UnZ1cA40V376A7foTvwaAsJZEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds



I still would like to swap out for an aftermarket rear at some point, but I have other mods in mind prior to. For a chrome delete and a 45 min install I am happy with this product. I also added the OEM vinyl decals on the "Tundra" logo on the back.

 

Audio/Interior: The one thing I really noticed was how horrible (atrocious, bad, unbearable, awful) the stock audio system is compared to my Tacoma which had the JBL premium upgrade. I was actually shocked at how bad it sounded. I went to three different places and finally found somewhere I was comfortable with the price/quality. I ended upgrading all the speakers to Alpine Type R speakers, a JL 5 channel amp, and a JL 12" sub which is on backorder because of the box/housing. The sub will get installed on Monday.

What a difference. Even without the sub it feels like going from AM quality radio sound to high quality bluetooth with just the speakers. Once the sub goes in I have a good feeling I'll be even more pleased with the audio quality. I also did sound dampening in all the doors which has definitely made a difference in making the cab alot quieter.

I also installed the AJT Designs blackout kit. It took about an hour and I am super happy with it. Everything was pretty straightforward outside of the 4WD knob which ended up being a huge PITA.

The shifter knob is from Teton Workshop: https://tetonworkshop.com/collections/5th-gen One of my favorite mods on the whole vehicle. The knob stays cold and feels so good. The quality is amazing, I couldn't recommend that product enough.

I also added Husky weather mats (way better than weathertech IMO). Also very happy with these. Did a quadlock mount which I'm super, super happy with. It is so stable even off-road.

Lastly, I did interior LEDs (well worth it for the $$). I also added a center console organizer:



Again very happy with all of these mods. For the future I might add an aftermarket HU with apple car play but I'm undecided. I'd say it's down the priority list for a bit.

 

I added a prinsu roof rack and a yakima outpost HD rack. Wasn't crazy about the Yakima rack but it is compatible with the diamondback hd cover I have on order. I also did a window tint with the 3M Ceramic IR film. In Colorado driving around the mountains I feel like this is a necessity to keep the cab cooler and block out the sun which is so intense at altitude. I also transferred my Tepui over until the iKamper arrives and got our second camping trip of the year in to Salida, CO over Memorial Day Week-End:



Thoughts: Drilling into your roof next to your airbags sends shivers through your body. I hated every second of that install, especially when you're looking at airbags to the naked eye. Thankfully it was a success and after a couple car washes and a downpour there does not appear to be any leaking. One thing that was an immediate regret was not doing a light bar cutout. In my mind I didn't think I'd add a lightbar (how foolish), the 1st second I looked at the completed rack I thought.... damn a light bar would look good. I have ordered the 40" cutout deflector and will be adding a Heretic series 6 light bar with rock lights on the prinsu ridgeline handles.

I am pleased with the yakima rack, but mentally I can't get over thinking it isn't as stout as an aluminum bed rack. I'll be very interested to see how it does with the Diamondback cover and the iKamper 3.0 mini on the back.

 

This past week-end was a big day! My dream of #nochrome finally came to fruition. I originally ordered a chinese grille/hood bulge off eBay, once it arrived the color was at least 4 shades darker than the truck. My OCD simply could not handle it. So I returned that and waited 6 weeks for @SparksParts to deliver an OEM trd pro grille and cement hood bulge. Installation was a breeze even with the TSS sensor and finally.... my truck is Chrome Free!

 

We used to spend a lot of time up around Bailey, Grant, Fairplay and Pine. Our favorite camp was in the Wigwam area. We camped a lot around Guanella pass area also. I have fought a lot of fires up around there. We looked at property up there but decided to move to Red Feather.

A belated welcome to the forum. Truck looks nice.

 

Nice. When life hands you lemons…build a bad ass tundra. I like it.

 

How are you liking the Yakima rack so far?