WackyHacky's 2020 Tundra Build

I wish all the good will created on Tacoma World would translate over to Tundra World, but I better get posting so I can use the Trading Posts here.

 

How it all began... looking like a NASCAR race truck when I brought it home... LOL




Enter waiting 4 months for wheels...... But it was worth it.

 

Freshly upgraded! 18x8.5 EvoCorse DakarZero wheels & 285/65/R18 KO2s It looks so much freaking better.



And a TRD Sway Bar in the rear to keep that ass in check.

 

We're red buddies, but I have a 3rd gen that I daily. Did you sell your Taco?

 

Welcome from OKC! DIY service pit?? Regardless, I like it and have a plan to do one myself.

 

Hey Art! Nice!

Yeah, I guess lucky for me the only shade of red I ever considered owning was a Toyota color. I still have the Taco presently. It's there lurking in the background getting jealous if you look..lol. I guess you could call this my daily, but in all honesty the plan is build it into our next camper/fun platform.

 

Thanks! Yeah, it was a selling point for the house when we bought it, but I am now wishing it was a high bay instead!

 

Awesome it came color matched already, reminds me of my old 19 dc limited in the same color.

 

So after looking over the new rims & lug nuts I realized the lug wrench in the factory tool kit will no longer fit (it has too thick a sidewall) in the tight spot you need to seat on the hex of the lugs. Down the road, I am sure I will have a full tool roll like I carry in the Taco, but since were in daily driver mode at the moment I picked up a single deep well socket of the appropriate size & this 1/2" ratcheting breaker bar from Harbor Freight. It's just the right size, was only like $25 & fits right in the OEM tool kit back with the rest. Not bad.

 

I have done some minor things for organization and looks on the inside of the truck, but one thing I decided to try was a phone mount. I have never been a huge fan of umpteen mounts and wires everywhere, but there isn't really any great place to sit your phone in the console area securely when your plugged into Carplay. I had recently got a Peak Design phone case & mount for MTB, and it worked so well I decided to try their mag/charging phone mount. They don't sell a vent mount that works (for Tundra), but www.getoffroam.com sells a mount with a RAM style ball that secures to the Tundra vent in package along with a short arm & the PD Phone mount as package deal. So far I have been really happy with it. It's super secure, out of the way and comes with some little 3M clips you can use to route your wire cleanly (which my OCD azz loves).

 

So, I got in on the "Great Best Buy HU Rush" recently. Thanks to all those who discovered and shared, cuz I guarantee I wouldn't have made this upgrade anytime soon if it wasn't for this deal. I got the Alpine iLX-F511 & all in (HU + parts & accessories to install myself) I am still out less than the cost of the head unit which is freaking amazing. I rarely luck out on these kinds of deals, so I am super excited to try it out & have wireless Carplay too as well as this nice big screen for Gaia, etc.



Figuring out the mess of wires & harnesses so I can retain all my OEM HU features and enjoy some new ones as well. Honestly, between this awesome thread https://www.tundras.com/threads/the-great-hu-install-of-2023.129229/ and the idatalink instructions & harnesses you can buy, it's really not that complicated, though I suppose more so than when you used to put a new HU in every car you bought.




Still waiting on a few remaining pcs to finish the wiring, but decided to mount the chassis lower in the new frame (opposite the directions) to keep it low enough for my liking and try to make this plastic junk a little more rigid.



Almost there.

 

i love that Barcelona Red

 

Probably said 100x already. Never saw myself in red till I saw Barcelona red, lucky for me it is a Toyota color. ha ha

 

Getting all the wiring taped/organized and consolidated for install day. Hopefully it doesn't give me too much grief, though I have to admit, I am one of the sick people who like doing wiring work.... lol. I honestly can't wait to build my next camper just for the power system part.

 

I got the F511 I picked up Sunday afternoon & I think everything works. Truck is a 2020 Limited DC & all factory speakers and amp (non-JBL). Initial impressions before touching any settings is that it definitely sounds better. Especially via Carplay/Spotify or a USB stick with mp3s on it.

Everything tidied up and ready to go in...



So, it's way tighter in that dash hole than I would have thought. I was shocked how tight it was for routing wires. I routed the Alpine microphone over to the steering column b/c it seemed the simplest for now. I still want to add a front camera down the road, so I might change this in the future after seeing the Enfig option, but it works OK. Mounting the HDMI/USB port to the lower dash panel (if you take it out completely) is very smooth, but finding room to route the heavier HDMI/USB cables coming from it can be a challenge. I got them up the left side and into the HU compartment using another cable taped to them to pull them through. I fed everything into the dash slowly and almost had the mounting points touching, but ended up popping off the center grill on the dash, removing that speaker quick and reaching in that hole to pull the harness and Maestro up further, which allowed the HU to sit in place properly. I am kind of worried something is up against the fan on the rear of the HU b/c it's so tight, but not much I can do. It's a lot of wires.




All locked in & powered on! I love the position using the lower mounting spot in the dash kit. Really glad I changed that and it seems super solid as well. I never changed the screen up/down, so it's in the bottom how it came and I am happy right where it is.

 

Picked up another project for the truck over the wkd. I wanted a bed rack of some sort for mounting things like a ski rack etc. to this winter and for general hauling purposes. If you ever followed my Taco build, you know I like working that T-Slot aluminum, so the modularity of those Xtrusion Overland racks seemed like what I would be into. I hated to blow money on brand new one b/c I will probably just end up selling it another year once I make the switch to flat bed, but I just so happened to find one on FBM. It was on a short bed F150, but it turns out the bed width is exactly the same as a Tundra. Dumb Luck! It sadly didn't have accessory tracks like a Tundra though so I just lashed it down with two ratchet straps to get it home. Guy sold it with everything including a shovel, axe & two cases, which I am sure I will repurpose somewhere.



While it doesn't honestly look too short or out of place on my longer bed, I figured it would be very easy to extend it to full length by taking it apart & just buying some more matching extrusion to extend the side/top braces. I got to work quickly disassembling everything to start taking some measurements. I also had an extra set of bed rail nuts from my Taco, so that allowed me to test bolting the uprights in place.



Even with the extra extrusion purchase, I will still be in for considerably less than buying a new one and have lots of flexibility for changing it out as needed. I might even cut new longer uprights out of the existing side braces to make the height higher than cab for hauling lumber etc. More to come.

 

Finally got my modified bed rack completed. First step was cutting & getting the main uprights the height I wanted (which is was just a little above the cab). I was able to cut these out of the original side braces.



Then once I had them spaced how I wanted them, I was able to confirm the measurements for the new side & top braces which I just ordered from Tnutz so I could bolt the whole thing together & set it on the truck.



Xtrusion Overland does use a much nicer (heavier) powdercoat on their extrusion than the normal black anodized finish you get on normal extrusion, but you really can't tell much of a difference in appearance. Not enough for me to care anyway. Once everything was torqued down/together, I decided to bolt the mounting plates that came with the rack as well. I don't really have anything to put on them, but I guess it looks more "overlandy" as they say. ha ha.... Once again, I just wanted to add a rack for hauling stuff (not a tent or the normal bed rack uses) and this was one I could manipulate how I wanted with ease. The next priority was getting a ski rack on there for winter, so I picked up a used Yakima clamshell rack. I really wanted to side mount it, but in the end they are just a pain to use mounted in that orientation and I figured your skis would probably end up covered in road grime in bad weather situations, so I put them on top of the rack with some extensions I cut and bolted to the top braces.

 

Nice rack! Looks much cleaner than mine. I did a similar thing removing the side pieces of my used voodoo rack and replacing it with extrusion. Pretty sure I’m going to remove it all together as I’ve found that it’s more purposeful to have an open bed than a rack on it for the random times you haul oversized items. I’d imagine yours is a lot lighter than mine and easier to remove

 

Thanks! Yeah, I get what you are saying. Figure I am going to reach in there once in awhile & crack my head on it. LOL... Yeah, it's not too bad weight wise. If I had to, I could probably lift it off myself standing in the middle of it.

 

With our Tacoma camping rig sold back in November, we had some decisions to make on how to go with our Tundra and our next camper. When I found this truck, I got some money nocked off the price b/c the bed had some damage. Previous owner had let something heavy slam into the front and it pulled apart the seam of the bed floor and front bed wall. At the time I was determined to go with a flatbed, so I didn't really care, but budgets change priorities and for now, we decided to go with a slide in camper & keep the bed, so it was going to need repaired. I'd say the worst of the gap was probably close to 1/2". I bought Harbor Freight engine hoist to help do the job & really worked well.... we unbolted it & pull it off. Glad I did this regardless. The dented portions of the front bed wall were rubbing against the back of the cab to the point where it had rubbed off some paint even in a few small small spots.



So, we used blocks of wood & body hammers/blocks to massage everything back in place & since the seam between the bed floor & bed front are like tabs/fingers that mesh together, we riveted the spots where it had completely pulled apart once we got them mating back together. The entire process took less than half a day with the help of 2 buddies. Way easier than I thought...



I will say the worst part of this entire process is dealing with the OEM rear bumper which is hard to dismantle due to all the sensor cables running through it.....by far the worst part, but disassembly to this point did making placing the bed back on easier.



In the end, we got it all touched up with paint (where it had rubbed) and things worked back to the point where you can almost barely tell. Still some bumps & bruises, but that is any bed.