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

You have the TRD Pro front Fox too, right? Get the Westcott lift for those and gain a little all the way around.
I’m about to put the RAS SD on my truck and keep the CB +2

 

Yeah, that would be the other option. It’s already hard enough for my kids to climb into my truck. Guess I need sliders now, too. Lol.

 

Well… yeah!

 

I’m at 26,200 miles. My truck has run 1,000 marathons.
Changed my oil today. Youtuber The Car Care Nut changed my philosophy on oil…I have been using Amsoil at 10k-12k OCI, but I’m going to use cheaper oils and do 5k changes. Picked up some Pennzoil Platinum 0w20 today, and that’s what went in. Amsoil is great but not necessary at 5k OCI. I’ll probably start using OEM oil, but today, the Pennzoil was mid-priced and right in front of me at Home Depot. Relevant video:


Also changed my rear diff fluid. Amsoil 75w-90. Hardly any shavings at all on the drain plug magnet. It started raining so I didn’t get to the front diff or TC. The TC will get Ravenol 75W. Hopefully, it’s dry tomorrow morning, and I’ll tackle them then.

 

Good move I did the same thing after viewing his videos and will be 5K from now on. Plus it technically falls under the severe duty use intervals anyway. Went with factory oil this time and will probably stick with it.
Waiting until 30K to do the other stuff. Post up what you think about the Ravenol, I am planning to put Royal Purple Syncromax in the TC (worked well in the 4Runner) but open to whatever.

 

Will do. I used Ravenol 75W in my 4Runner's TC, and it was great. Seemed like I got a little bump in MPG, but I hesitate to say it's due to the Ravenol...it's not like I controlled for every other possible factor. The biggest thing for me was that it was attainable at a decent price, unlike Toyota OEM 75W.

And yeah, I really like his channel. In a sea of vapid channels reviewing a truck's interior looks or engaging 4x4 on a dirt road (lol), his channel is a breath of fresh air.

 

Great thread. It has given me a few ideas.

 

Well, I got my transfer case and front diff oil changed. Marked my plugs’ positions with a sharpie and used two wraps worth of Teflon tape. All buttoned up and no leaks.


Made a huge mistake with my front diff, which you can read about here, but got it figured out, and here is how I will be filling the front diff in the future.

 

Noice. I’m going to do mine in a few weeks. You pains from dumping the hose into the diff will not be wasted. That’s the kind of chit I do when I get too relaxed about a task. I’ll be crazy cautious when I’m filling mine!

 

It was a perfect storm of bad decisions:

• I only gave myself an hour to remove skids and swap oil.
• I didn’t buy an extra quart just in case I spilled a bit. Front and rear diffs take 6qt total, and that’s all I had. So I was extra paranoid about spilling any.
• I didn’t have any clear plastic tubing, so I chose to improvise using the small extension hose that came with the bottle of my TC oil.

 

Never done diffs or TC before, so I need to learn how. I’ve got a lot of things I need to learn.
Not looking forward to dropping skid/cat plates to do it…

 

Pretty much all my mistakes start with “oh, I can install that before <insert important event>. It’s going to be easy”

 

I can't believe this is the first time I have seen this thread!!!
Fantastic!

 

It’s really easy. You’ll want to have this on hand. I got it from @RussellVaughan. The only thing I did differently was mark my TC plugs and return them to the same position with two wraps of Teflon tape instead of torquing them. I don’t trust my cheap Walmart torque wrench to click after only 18 ft lbs.

EDIT: I also used Amsoil Severe Gear 75W-90 for the diffs and Ravenol 75W for the TC.

 

She clean. This almost NEVER happens. It’ll probably rain big ol fat dirty rain drops tomorrow. Documented here for posterity:

 

Had a ‘21 TRD Pro with over 25k miles on the clock in my driveway today. Helped a buddy install his CB +2s. His local independent mechanic shied away from it, saying something about liability. I wonder if he just got stuck at removing the OEM bushings.

I’m just glad I got a second use out of this Harbor Freight ball joint press tool. I can’t imagine what it must take to get the stock OEM bushings out of the leaf spring without this tool.

My buddy is running 275/70R18 Nitto Terra Grappler TG2s, and he has a Decked system under his Softopper.

 

Oil change this morning before work. 30,844 miles.

 

Just removed my Ride Rite airbags, Daystar cradles, and Coachbuilder +2 shackles. I put the OEM shackles back on, but not before re-greasing the bushings. The rear of my truck sits substantially lower. My problem with the taller shackles is that I often carry lots of weight around in the bed. With a load in the bed, if you have the same amount of squat between OEM and extended shackles, your leaf springs are actually flatter–or even inverted!–with the extended shackles. That's a great way to wear them out prematurely.

This wasn't a problem with the airbags, but man, I really did not like the unloaded ride with those things in. With a load in the bed or while pulling, they're awesome. If I had a topper and a Decked system or a big bumper with a full-size tire carrier or any kind of load that lived back there 24/7, they would be perfect. But I ride around unloaded quite a bit, too, and they were just bouncy. Not to the point of being uncomfortable or dangerous. Just annoying.

I ordered an HD kit from Roadmaster Active Suspension. I'll have it on this week and report back.

 

There are too many state parks and recreation areas in Tennessee to not visit them often.

Today, we took a day trip to Rock Island State Park. It’s roughly 100 min each way (88 miles). I averaged a respectable 17.0mpg for the trip in the Tundra.

We were hoping to do some swimming and exploring, but the water was way too high in our favorite spot. This pic is from the overlook near the Great Falls:

When the water is low, there is lots of great exploring to do, swimming holes to find, kayaking, etc. Today it was so high, they locked the gate at the trailhead to prevent anyone from getting near the water. On to the next spot. This one’s a bust…

…so we headed to the Blue Hole trail. This trail is very steep, and most of it is under running water. It leads down to the river, and you’re basically hiking down these little waterfalls the whole time. Note the white trail blaze on the tree; this is the trail:


At the end of the trail with our backs to the river:


Obligatory stick throwing for the dog. She’ll do this all day.


From there, the dog and the kids, being sopping wet, rode in the bed of the truck to our next spot. I thought that we wouldn’t see a park ranger, and we’re driving a half a mile at 25mph, so it’s fine. Well, around the first bend comes a park ranger. I yell through the open rear window, “EVERYONE HIDE! GET FLAT ON THE BED FLOOR!” The kids ducked, and we didn’t get stopped.

Anyway, we found calmer waters not too far downstream from the Blue Hole trail at the sand bar beach:

We ate lunch here, played in the water, collected river shells, all the while it was very gently raining. Such a great day, especially since it has been so hot this summer.

 

SUSPENSION UPDATE.

I have now had a few different setups on the rear of my truck since installing the TRD Fox suspension.

1. CB+2. This was the first mod added after the TRD Fox suspension. I ordered the taller shackles to help my truck not to squat as much with a load in the bed. It feels the same as with the OEM shackles. Smooth and floating right over everything. The problem is, the shackles themselves don’t do anything to help support a load. They just move the mounting point for the rear of the leafs farther down from the frame rail, which raises the bed height but without any additional strength. If you do have a heavy load, your springs will invert their curve pretty badly before hitting the bump stops. This is really awesome if you want to wear out your stock leafs.

2. CB+2s with Ride Rite airbags and Daystar Cradles. bouncy bouncy bouncy. Every time I hit a bump, I would feel the frame of the truck rebound off the airbags. Not cool. It was minor with only 5psi in the bags, but I could still feel it every time when unloaded. By the way, unloaded for me is 300lb in/on the bed (retractable bed cover, Plano trunk full of tools, 2nd battery mounted in the bed, shovel & axe). When really loaded down, they felt great. But this is also my daily driver, and I don’t keep heavy loads in the bed for commuting. So, I removed all of it. Back to…

3. OEM shackles. This is the fully OEM TRD Pro setup, and it feels great. Back to smoothly floating over bumps and concrete seams in the highway instead of bouncing up off of them. But I’m also back to squatting with any kind of load in the bed. I hate squatting.

4. Roadmaster Active Suspension. I installed this two days ago. If you don’t know, the RAS comes with two discs. If you crank your cap nut to where the thinner one just passes through the coils, the manual says that your RAS system will support 25% of your total payload with zero squat. Use the thicker disc, and it will support 40% of your payload. It’s pretty easy to adjust it without removing it. Just lift the rear of your truck to where the axle is hanging free, then place your jack right under the pumpkin to where it is barely supporting it (the manual says you may raise it no more than 1/2”). Then, grab a 14mm ratchet and tighten or loosen to where whichever disc you want just barely passes through the coils. Then you’re done.

I started with it set to the thicker disc, and it felt like I had a rear sway bar. I just cranked it down to the thinner disc, and it feels closer to stock (well, stock Pro). It is still firmer in turns, but it will articulate more off-road.

If there are any negatives, it’s probably that your suspension won’t articulate 100% when off-roading. For reference, here is @king.cong.1119 at full articulation. I don’t think you can do this with the RAS:

Anyway, here’s what she looks like with the Pro suspension + RAS. Much improved. I’ll keep updating.

 

I just took off my coach builder +2s today. I loved the way it rode. I had the same concerns as you that I was worried about prematurely wearing out my leaf springs. I also had the carrier bearing spacers in with zero issues, until I hauled a car on a hauler along with a fair amount of load in the bed. Under heavy throttle through first and second gear I got severe driveline vibration. I remedied that by removing the carrier bearing spacers. But then that presented a new issue. Slight vibration when unloaded off the line.

It’s not in my cards right now to upgrade to RAS but I will keep it in mind. One solution I have been thinking about for a long time now so that I could keep my +2s… what is to get Timbrens for when I haul, and then from my research it looks like you can just spin the rubber off the mount and screw in a Superbump in its place when you’re not hauling anything. Just jack that truck up so that the axle is drooping and one Allen screw swap out. Or just see if I could find some extended bump stops. I already miss the 1 inch of rake I had, it’s going to be squatting every time I load up now. I have the Bilstein pro suspension.


I like the way it sits with the shackle, but I’m trying to keep this truck for a long time with minimal issues. So I’ll consider this preventative maintenance haha

 

@15whtrd one option for you might be the toytec add a leaf. I almost went that direction. $150 for the one leaf on each side that mounts between your current leafs and the overload springs plus 7.5” leaf bolts.

The RAS is truly awesome and adjustable in 15 min if you have a couple jack stands. You don’t even need to take your rear wheels off.

 

Got a flat tire on the highway today. The crazy thing is, we could hear it hissing from inside the cab at 70mph. Whatever got in my tire and flew out was huge. I went to 0 psi in no time. I carry a tire repair kit and a compressor in a Plano trunk in the bed, so this was an easy fix. I pulled over off the shoulder so there was an entire lane between my us (my oldest was with me) and 80mph traffic. I asked him to fetch the passenger side floor mat; he loves to help, and I like having something to sit on while I’m working.


I barely had to ream the hole. Must’ve been poked by some gigantic bolt or something. Easy to plug.


Time to fill ‘er up. I let my son start the truck for me. That’s a big deal when you’re 10. Then we started filling the tire up using my $50 compressor from Amazon. We’re getting there:


Done! My offroad tire repair kit comes with a handy little razor blade folding knife. My son got to cut the excess repair gunk off the tire:


All the gear is back in the Plano. We were on the side of the highway for maybe 10 minutes. And why yes, I do zip tie my DIY swingcase to my bed stiffener.


I absolutely love being prepared when something goes wrong. If you’re interested, this is what I used:
•

$35 Boulder Tools Heavy Duty Tire Repair Kit - Flat Tire Puncture Repair Kit - Professional Tools for Quick and Easy Repair - Suitable Tire Plug Kit for Car, Truck, RV, Motorcycle, Tractor, and Trailer

Boulder Tools Heavy Duty Tire Repair Kit — I paid $33 in Aug 2017. Hmm, it’s now $39.

•

$85 GSPSCN Portable 12V Air Compressor Pump, 150PSI Red Tire Inflator, Heavy Duty Auto Air Pump,for Car, Truck, RV, ATV, Bike,Balls,Lawn Mower and Other Inflatables

GSPSCN Portable 12V Air Compressor — I bought this exact same one under the brand name Master Flow in May 2018 for $60. Today, it’s $86.

 

Way to turn a potentially bad situation into a win! Its awesome having the right tools to do a job!

 

One of my biggest gripes about my truck is the sun glare I get off of the vent rings and console trim. So I decided to do something about it. I wanted to stick with OEM stuff where possible. At first, I was just going to buy 4 vents from Toyota. Then I saw that the center trim piece in black includes two vent rings already installed, and it only cost $60 more than buying two loose vents. So I decided that the center trim piece plus two vent rings would take care of the glare I get from the dash. Meso Customs console blackout kit took care of the rest.

Parts list:
• Instrument Panel Trim Panel (55405-0C020-C1) — this is the black 4wd version (comes on the SR trim). It comes with two black vents already mounted in it.
• Dashboard Air Vent (55680-0C050-C0) x 2 — these black vents will replace the outer chrome vents. You will need to order two of these.
• Meso Customs Tundra Blackout Kit

Tool list:
10mm socket
Flathead and Phillips screwdrivers
88-piece auto trim tool kit

I’m not going to write out a step-by-step because @2020Platinum’s YouTube video is nearly perfect. I would only say, disconnect the negative terminal of your battery before starting the entire ordeal. Everything came out great. Use a bit of epoxy to keep the two parts of the shifter trim secure. Took a total of two hours.

Results:

 

Thank you sir, I appreciate that!

 

I finally did this. It’s great. Seats latch in the down position just fine. I’ve seen where some others have had to add a couple washers on the bolts under the seats to raise the front a hair, but mine fold up and down just fine.


My binos and rangefinder go in that big space next to the @gosolo skinner. Time is running out for me to put that knife to use this season. I wish the weather would cooperate, but it’s 60s and windy all week. I went hunting yesterday afternoon. I sat until 30 min after sunset (that’s when you are no longer allowed to take a shot in TN) and did not see a single thing. I noticed my shadow from the moon hiking back to my truck. I’m sure the deer are enjoying these bright, clear, warm nights.

 

Just finished reading your build thread. Beautiful truck! Beautiful family! Interesting evolution of your suspension. I also went through several changes. The biggest difference is that my heavy load (1000lb +) is pretty permanent. Don’t wait for the sliders until after you do damage like I did!Can you see the crease in the bottom of the passenger door?

 

Ouch!

 

running a set of bfg ko2 stock size looking to make upgrades any ideas?