‘07 Mock Warrior LTD

I might as well make this my “build” thread. It’s modest but suits my needs.

-Bilstein 5100’s top setting up front
-1.25” Spidertrax spacers
-275 60 r20 Cooper AT3 4S
-Magnaflow 18” dual in/single out side middle exit(adding staggered slant cut dual tips)
-Color matched Rock Warrior grille
-Anthracite Plasti Dip 20” oem wheels
-Black headlight mod done at home
-Debadged (except blacked out i-Force)
-Removed running boards
-Painted black rear bumper
-Chrome handles and mirror caps replaced with black plastic

Coming Soon:
-Adarac M Series 12” bed rack
-Bilstein 5100’s in rear
-Toytec adjustable rear shackles
-Roof top tent
-Black Sapphire Plasti Dip wheels for winter(brake dust gives the anthracite a green tint) I might end up painting them in the spring based on how the black looks.

I just got my new grille from Sparks and all that’s left to do is paint it salsa red. I had to start with the closest color as a base. Should be painted and on the truck early next week. I hate the ‘07 chrome grille and can’t wait to delete that. Anyone have trouble getting out the insert of the RW grille. Too scared of snapping off tabs. That’s my usual M.O. Other than the Rock Warrior 17’s I’ll be pretty close.

 

Subscribed... Pics soon?

 

Assembled and color correction next week. Also got a DA polisher to clean the old girl up. Pics on the way

 

Did you plastidip those rims? If so, how many cans did you go through?

 

I did. I used 4 cans. 1 per wheel. I’m going to redo them again and try the hyper dip anthracite instead of plain old anthracite. Trying to zero in on a color to paint or powder coat eventually.

 

What’s a DA polisher? I have to get my 2013 Tundra CrewCab shiny black.

 

Polisher that spins and oscillates.

Dual Action.

 

Dual action polisher. Machine alternative to old fashioned hand method.

 

What’s wrong with the hand method? Wax on, wax off

 

Yep. Dual-action polisher. I’m new with the 3M stuff but it’s 2 steps. Cut and polish. The 3M stuff has color coded caps that correspond with the compound and polishing pads.

 

Now I have to get much bigger tires to hang with my son’s new Tundra.

 

Before and after. Bye bye chrome!!! The fit is still a bit off due to not having the right fasteners and clips. Raided the personal stash of fasteners and it’ll hold until the proper stuff shows up. Stoked though!!!

 

Looks awesome!

 

I found these at Autozone. With 5 Toyota’s, they will come in handy

 

Perfect! I even have a set like that at my shop. I’ll check first thing tomorrow.

 

They weren’t cheap. I think I paid $30 for the kit. They had them for all makes

 

I got the clips and bolts from my local dealership for less than $20. Still doing a double take when I walk past the truck. Now I think I need a trans fluid flush. High revs in first with not much get up and go.

Edit:local dealership says I need to spend $5400 on a new trans. Anyone want to buy a chrome 2007 grille for $5400?

 

Your truck looks amazing! Congrats! I'm thinking of doing the same for my 2008 Tundra. Can you point me to the right part on Sparks for the Rock Warrior Grille that you ordered?

 

https://www.sparksparts.com/oem-parts/toyota-grille-assembly-531000c240b1?c=bD01Jm49U2VhcmNoIFJlc3VsdHMmYT10b3lvdGEmbz10dW5kcmEmeT0yMDExJnQ9YmFzZSZlPTUtN2wtdjgtZ2Fz
This is for the grey grille. I had to order radiant red because my color was discontinued but was an ideal base for the paint. Use the text message option on the website to get the proper bracket and conversion kit. I tried to save a few bucks and ordered the brackets from Amazon but you’ll need 10 bolts and 5 clips that Sparks will include with the conversion kit.
Hope this helps. I can’t believe how much better it looks than the bloated ‘07-‘08 grille surround.

 

Thank you so much!

 

My pleasure! Can’t wait to see the finished product! I hope the grey matches your paint code and you don’t have to have it painted as well. Also, the fit isn’t perfect but it beats the hell out of that swollen chrome. My advice would be to start by seating the bulge in the new clips and hand tighten all of the bolts so that you can wiggle it into the best position and tighten them as you get it fit.

I used the SEM ultra black trim paint to match the center plastic piece on the bumper to the new RW grille insert. And the same paint to black out the chrome Toyota center badge. That trim plant will breathe long-term life into any of your faded plastic. Just start with a few light coats of rustoleum adhesion promoter. You’ll be glad you did.

 

Faded plastic vs. newly painted plastic

 

Would love to hear more on how your first cut/polish went. Wanna get a DA polisher especially since 4 cars in the family but not sure what the learning curve is. Grill looks amazing by the way.

 

Things have been pretty wild at work and home so the cut/polish hasn’t happened yet. Although I have been using the DA to polish the aluminum and chrome on a big Freightliner 1100 and it works great getting through the oxidation. I will definitely keep you posted. From all of the finishing and sanding work I’ve done in my fab work and bronze sculpture assembly, you always have to be careful of edges/corners/sharp angles not to burn through the clear coat. Tread lightly and go from there.

 

Did you black out the stock headlight housings or did you buy them like that?

 

I did them myself. I used the same SEM trim paint and the Morimoto butyl sealant. Loads of tutorials on YouTube.

 

I’m currently waiting to get my transmission rebuilt or a reman installed. Drove to dealer with high revs in first with not much power. Everything shifted fine after 1st. No banging. They wanted to replace the tranny for $5500+. I wanted another opinion and had it towed to a transmission specialist because I couldn’t take time off of work to drive it myself. Apparently, from the time I drove the truck to the dealership, forward and reverse worked, it lost 1st gear and reverse. No one informed me. So in the hour it was on the lift it experienced multiple catastrophic failures. I won’t name the dealership because it’s not my style but, they’ll never see my vehicle again. Has anyone experienced dealership technicians making a problem worse? And is there any recourse other than my word against theirs?

 

Damn. That's never convenient.

Unfortunately i cant imagine you having any recourse, as you brought the vehicle to them with a transmission problem. Since they did not do any work to fix the problem, it can not be expected that the problem would get better. And a problem not dealt with will usually tend to get worse over time...

That fact that it was over a couple hours seems a bit accelerated for sure, but I cant see the dealership taking any responsibility for a problem that already existed.

I know its not what you're looking to hear right now, but I hope its a pretty quick fix to get you back on the road.

 

That’s what I figured. I gave the service manager some hell and went into it knowing I’d be pounding sand. Had they told me there was no reverse and it now moved forward in neutral, I could have told the shop working on it and they could have avoided the danger of almost being run over.
Apparently, Jasper remans won’t be ready until the end of Dec so we might just go oem. This definitely puts the bed rack in hold for a while. It’s unfortunate because I need it for work to haul propane and argon tanks. Oh well. Just hoping to have it running perfect and have it for another 145k+

 

I didn't think transmission problems were very common on these trucks. Even at 145k miles.