Building a Tundra for the Pony Express Trail

Hello all, long time listener, first time caller.

I thought it would be fun to put together a bit of a build thread explaining my build, and ultimately my experience driving the west portion of the Pony Express trail (SLC - Lake Tahoe).

Starting with the truck. In June I purchased my 2003 Tundra limited from a friend of mine for $12,500 with 107k miles. I’m located in northern Utah, and I can’t say that this was an “amazing” deal, but I feel it was fair to both parties given the condition of the truck as well as our location. The truck has zero body rust, pretty minimal frame rust, and a great service history. Prior to my buddy owning it, it was a two owner truck (second owner owned it from 2005-2025 and maintained it religiously). Knowing that I have 500+ miles of dirt through desolate Nevada ahead of me, I wanted to make sure I got a quality truck.

Now to the “build”..

Almost Immediately after buying the truck, I added a bed rack so that I could mount my tent.

A few days after that, I dove into the Timing Belt and Water pump replacement. The timing belt had been replaced around 65k miles, but that was all the way back in 2015. For peace of mind, I wanted a completely clean slate. I purchased the Aisin kit from RockAuto, split the job over multiple days (Started Friday night, finished Sunday morning), and double/triple checked my work. Overall, the job took about 11 hours, and was probably a 3/10 in terms of difficulty, just time consuming. The only holdup that I had was with the fan clutch blade bolts. These were extremely tight, and rounded beyond repair. I was able to remove the entire fan clutch bracket, leaving the blades attached. This was a bit less convenient than having the blades removed, but worked okay, and likely won’t be a problem for me again (hopefully).

After having owned the truck for about two weeks, and doing some baseline maintenance, it was time for the maiden voyage! But first, I made the last minute decision to add some auxiliary lighting. I knew that I’d be driving through some dark country getting to our camp spot for the weekend, so the day before, I decided to pick up some 4” Road Shock lights from Harbor Freight and mount them to the front bumper, in addition to some Diode Dynamics SS3 pod lights I had laying around. This was a necessary upgrade, but I did it poorly. I plan to readdress this mod soon, prior to my Pony Express trip, so that I can mount the lights better/more securely.

Over the course of this first camp trip, I was talked into a few impulse decisions, a Blue Etti Power Bank, Starlink Mini, as well as some used Method Race Wheels. This is about the point where my build starts spiralling, at least in cost.

After a few more camp trips, and scary washboard moments, my wife and I decided it was time for suspension. There was NO way I could drive 500 miles of dirt constantly finding the bumpstops, and fighting shock fade/unpredictability over washboard roads.

This is where I talked myself into essentially tripling my budget for suspension upgrades.

My original plan was to upgrade to Bilstein 6112/5160’s. Keep the stock upper control arms, and replace my lower ball joints. That didn’t happen.

I settled on Dobinsons MRR shocks, SPC upper control arms, Timbren rear bumpstops, an ICON Add-a-leaf (I kept my overload in), and new LBJ’s.

Installing my suspension took much longer than I anticipated. The fronts went in relatively easy, until I reached the lower ball joints, and discovered that the part number I ordered did not fit the tie rod end!!
Originally I had PN’s 43330-39466 and 43340-39356, these DO NOT FIT 2003’s! You need 43340-39485 and 43330-39605. This was a $400+ mistake, as I couldn’t leave my truck on jack stands to wait for new ball joints coming from online, and had to buy some locally.

The rear suspension should’ve been easier, or so I thought. My first hiccup was that I had to cut both of the upper shock nuts off, this was a huge time suck as they’re tough to reach and I didn’t have the greatest tools for the task. Another hiccup I ran into was lining the leaf pack up with the centring pin, then being able to tighten the nut without the pin spinning. The last hiccup were my bumpstops, my local shop had given me an open box that was missing parts/had some wrong parts. After working through all of these issues, it was time to get it aligned, just in time for a trip to the Grand Tetons!

I had read on this forum to anticipate tearing your CV boots. I figured I’d have a bit of time before needing to address this. I was wrong. In less than 10 miles I had torn a boot and slung grease everywhere. I contemplated a last minute axle replacement with some NAPA axles but decided not to, and drove 5.5 hrs each way to the Tetons and back without issue, other than noticing a slight humming between 60-65MPH, which I imagine is the needle bearing in the front diff.

That brings us to today, where I rebooted my driver’s side axle using All Pro Off-road boots. I had planned to do the ECGS bushing at the same time, but didn’t have the proper tools to install it, so I’ll hold off for the time being. In addition to the axle, I removed my factory side steps (easy!), and mounted chase lights to my license plate bracket.

I apologise if this seems like a long run on sentence, but I’ve been putting off writing this post and wanted to get something out there! I’ve spent a lot of time getting the truck ready for the Pony Express trail and am closing in on 2 weeks away from the trip. I’m excited to report back on how the truck does, and what I’d do again vs skip on next time.

 

Love it! Welcome to the forum. I strongly considered going with a rack/tent setup exactly like what you've got there, on my '06 AC. Ended up with a Leer 100R instead. Regrets? I dunno man, I feel like it's 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.

Appreciate the thorough intro! Didn't read like a run-on at all. I am curious though, out of all that, which bed rack and tent are you running, and how do you like both? Any changes you'd make, any "hindsight 20/20" stuff you'd share to someone in the same boat, hunting for similar?

 

Shifty! Your expertise has been a huge help so far!

I ended up with a universal RCI bed rack I bought off of a buddy. It’s intended for 5.5 ft beds which makes it a touch short for the access cab, but I actually like this a bit, as it gives me the ability to store taller items at either end. The rack is 12” tall, which is about perfect. I Can still see through the rear window a bit, the tent is lower than my roof, and I have some room for storage underneath.
My tent is from a buddy’s company, MountainView Overland. It’s essentially the same tent as the Roam Desperado Hardshell tent, but I’m into it $1000 vs $3000. No regrets so far here, but we may eventually go to a ground tent to have more space, once my wife and I start having kids.

If I was doing it again, I’d reboot my CV axles while doing the suspension, that way everything only comes apart once. The axles are pretty easy to get to, but might as well do it while you’re in there.

I fear I’ll regret the add-a-leaf eventually, but I didn’t want to blow the budget even more by adding a full leaf pack. I change weight frequently, I always have the tent, but sometimes I add 2-300 lbs of camping gear and tools, sometimes I have 400lbs of dirt bike + gear, and sometimes I have both of those things. For that reason I wanted the adjustability of the MRR shocks and opted to spend more there, and less on a leaf pack. I have about 700 miles on the setup so far, and have been really impressed. You have to do some tuning, but these shocks handle very nicely and punch above their weight in terms of cost.

 

I also forgot to add, that I installed a Midland MXT115 GMRS radio with the 3 dB Ghost antenna. I’ve only used the radio once, but it has great range. My only complaint is that it’s a touch quiet, I have an external speaker ordered for this I hopes to alleviate this problem.

 

Welcome to the forum and the 1st Gen brotheren!
Why the Pony Express Trail?
Also got a pic of the rear plate chase lights?

 

Nice color combo with those methods.

Also, mid 03 is the year they changed to the larger LBJs so you probably have a later model 03. If the ones you bought are OEM I bet you could sell them on here after 25 posts.

 

thanks for this info. I would love a bed rack that is short so I can still haul mountain bikes on a tailgate pad.

 

this is incredible!!! Welcome and sweet rig!!!

 

Nice rig
Nice wheel and tire combo with the body color, looks good.
How do the shocks and springs ride? Do those front shocks and springs ride pretty good on road as well as off road? Notice any harshness or bounciness? What do you think needs to be adjusted in them to make them better?

 

I’ll do my best to respond to everyone directly, still learning the forum.

@Nicklovin, I’ll snag a photo of the chase lights soon and attach here. Given our geographic location, myself and a lot of buddies run portions of the pony express frequently, there are a lot of good desert trails that branch off of it in our area. We all had toyed with the idea of taking it further, and the idea was born.

 

@badass03taco, the shocks have been impressive so far. I removed my swaybar when installing them which I think helps them feel a bit more cushy, but they ride very well. I compare them to OME BP-51’s I had on a 5th gen 4runner the most, they feel significantly more comfortable off the top and on small bumps, but also absorb larger hits better. Just a better damping package IMO.

I don’t have a ton of dirt time so far, but after some tweaks to rebound and my high speed compression, I think I have a decent setup. Still wanting to tweak some more before my trip, but it’s a good baseline.
On concrete highways I have a bit of pogo-ing in the rear, not sure exactly how to combat this, maybe a touch slower rebound?

The only tricky adjustment so far has been the rebound both front and rear. I get it feeling good on some things, but then I hit a bump and don’t like how it responds. So I tweak it almost every time I drive the truck (not super often, it’s a third vehicle for us). I don’t need the truck to feel perfect in every single situation, just predictable. Ultimately I just need more seat time to determine what I like settings wise, but so far have been happy with the shocks and would recommend them to anyone looking to upgrade.

 

Look down on the bottom right of the persons quote and hit the "quote" button. It'll tag them. Hit "multi-quote" to quote multiple people. Type @ in front of a persons name to tag them directly. @Ben10stundra

 

Big difference with Multi-quote is, after you tap the Multi-Quote link on every person you want to reply to, you need to do one extra step: Click the "Insert Quotes" button at the bottom-left corner of the reply box, and it'll let you re-arrange/drag-drop/remove all the quotes. I think that's the confusing part for a lot of people. "I clicked Multi-Quote, what the fuck do I do now?!!"

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Yup, forgot that part. Thanks brotha!

 

Wanted to hop in here and give an update, as I got home from completing the pony express route late last night.

Our group consisted of four trucks. Three raptors, and my first gen. We had planned for three full days to get to Lake Tahoe, and a day to drive home. We ended up getting into Lake Tahoe on day two, with time to get dinner and find a camp spot. We ended up moving much faster than expected.

Things to note -

Fuel is not as much of a concern as expected. I carried 17 extra gallons, just to be extra safe. I did this since I hadn’t spent hardly any time aired down, fully loaded and didn’t know what to expect. I did not touch a drop of my extra fuel.

The trail is very dusty, and this time of year, has very very deep silt beds. Highly recommend bringing extra air filters. We all swapped at least one.

Much of the trail is high speed, relatively smooth. I spent a significant amount of time at or above 60 MPH. That being said, there are many washouts that will sneak up on you. I had the luxury of running third in my group, and always got a call out over the radio in advance of any shitty stuff or loose corners, which allowed me to run those speeds a bit more comfortably.

You will likely damage your paint. I have new scratches all over the truck, and plenty of new rock chips. But don’t we drive these trucks for a reason?

OnX is kinda mediocre. It is reasonably reliable and widely known, but we weren’t super impressed by it. It is not always perfectly accurate and does imply some guesswork/turnarounds, but nothing you can’t work around.

Our trip was about 630 miles from the start of the trail to dinner in South Lake Tahoe. Our total trip was just over 1300 miles. Be ready for a gas bill, lol. I think I filled up around 5 times, but not always from empty. Plan at least 4 full tanks.

Things I would not do the trail without -

Multiple extra air filters

Forward and rear facing amber lights, chase lights are non negotiable to run this trail in a group. I also would NOT run this trail alone, and would advise against even two rigs. The silt beds you encounter before Eureka, Nevada, are no joke and not all have bypasses. We had a Raptor on 37’s get swallowed by one, and I found my skid plate many times (hard enough to lose a fog light, and break the mount that holds my brake line to my UCA).

High quality suspension. This is not a must for everyone, but certainly made the ride much more enjoyable for me. Again, while much of the trail is in good condition, you are still covering hundreds of miles of dirt roads. Proper damping control and heat management will 100% improve your experience. It will also allow you to move much faster. If I had stock suspension, or different components that limited my speed more, I would budget 3-4 days to complete the trip. I hate being that guy, but we hauled ass, and I would not plan on being able to run this trail in two days unless you are an experienced driver with a well prepared rig.

The settings I ended with on my MRR’s are as follows
All settings made from full counter clockwise, with 20PSI tire pressure.


Front pass


Low speed compression - 8 clicks

High speed compression - 10 clicks

Rebound - .5 turns clockwise


Front driver


Low speed compression - 8 clicks

High speed compression - 10

Rebound - .5 turns clockwise


Rear pass


Low speed compression - 6

High speed compression - 9

Rebound - 7


Rear driver


Low speed compression - 6

High speed compression - 9

Rebound - 7

A change I wish I did would have been adding another click of both high and low speed compression on my rears, as well as removing one click of rebound. A found the rear bump stops HARD multiple times, and that setting would have helped reduce that impact as well as slow the wallowing effect I experienced in these instances. For 95% of the trail however, these were good settings.

I would not run this trail without high quality, hard mounted radios with long range antennas. We had about a two mile radio distance at any given time, which was huge for good communication. My entire group runs midland radios and antennas.

I did bring my Starlink for this trip, not a must, but great peace of mind and elevates the atmosphere at camp. We made pizza and watched Nacho Libre, who doesn’t love that?

I carried two spare tires, a spare CV axle, spare CV boots, spare LBJ’s, all fluids, and two extra air filters. Thankfully I only needed the air filters, but would not do a trip like this without the others. For more peace of mind, I wish I carried spare tie rod ends as well.

Regrets? None. We had a hell of time. You’ll pass through some beautiful parts of Nevada, and experience the state in ways that you never would from the interstate. I highly recommend the trip for anyone passionate about off roading and will be doing it again.

I’d love to answer any questions. Whether that be around the truck or the route.

https://webmap.onxmaps.com/offroad/share/content?share_id=01K54WCY2N9NBBN86G1Y1RYF47

 

Hell Yea brother, hope you got more pics! Sounds like an awesome ride

 

Took tons of pics and lots of video! I’ll throw some more up once I get them off my camera.

 

Way to show the Raptor bois wassup.