250000yota's 2015 build "Mighty Mouse 2.0"

Well, I'm very late to the party but I figured I'd better catalog what I've done to my truck at some point. Pics will be from this point on, I've got quite a few random little things and way to many pictures to show everything.

So, just to start, the first picture of the truck, the night it was bought. Bought used with 86k on July 30, 2018.



Like I said, the truck has come along way since then. At this point, he's at 211k. And I say "he" as all my vehicles have been named, and as the title says, this is Mighty Mouse 2.0. The OG Mighty Mouse was my first Toyota, a '90 regular cab short bed 3.0 pickup. Unfortunately, I totaled it while in college in Farmington, New Mexico, so the only remnants of it are in memory, and this trailer, which still needs finishing 16 years later







Damn good little truck, and I killed it way too early. But, we move on. So, here is the truck, as it sits now.





So, on to the mods:

Drivetrain and suspension:

• S&B intake
• Dirty Deeds 8" cat back
• Mishimoto radiator and silicone hoses
• J&L oil separator 3.0
• Transfer Flow 46 gallon fuel tank
• Radflo 2.5 coil overs with Toytec 650lb coils
• Stock low mileage leaf springs from a '21 crewmax
• Coachbuilder +1" shackles
• Airlift airbags with daystar cups
• TRD rear swaybar with Progress tech 12mm swaybar disconnect P/N 27.0012
• 295/70R18 load E Nitto Ridge Grapplers
• 1.25" Spidertrax spacers
• Toytec 3/4" bumper spacer
• Scangauge III w/ Spiker Engineering pillar mount, installed grab handle to access mounting
• Toytec extended diff breather kit, routed to fuel filler area
• OEM block heater

Lighting

• OEM TRD Pro headlights with Headlight Revolution harness
• OEM LED fog lights-*Removed*
• Diode Dynamics SS3 Pro fog lights
• Fleece Performance Engineering All Lights On module
• OEM Auto headlight switch swapped in
• Diode Dynamics Stealth 40" light bar with dual beam lens in bumper with Hotshot Offroad brackets
• CBI offroad ditch light brackets with Baja Designs Squadron II's, split beam lenses-*Baja Designs removed*- Diode Dynamics SS3 Max combo beams
• Cheap Amazon flush mount LED's in rear bumper, tied to reverse lights
• Full Diode Dynamics LED conversion bulbs for interior lights
• Overland Equipped fuse block with circuit breaker for auxiliary power.

Exterior

• 18+ TRD sport honey comb grill
  
• Custom black vinyl hood overlay
• Dobinson snorkel fitted to S&B intake
• RCI engine and trans skids, cat guards and sliders
• Softopper with hanging organizer
• RCI hi lift jack mount
• OEM bed divider with shovel mount
• Bestop TrekStep rear mounted step (for the kids and my old ass...)
• NOCO plug port in front bumper for block heater

Interior

• Cruiser brothers switches in poverty switch ports for light bar, ditch lights, backup camera and Trail Grid Pro anytime backup camera harness
• 12Volt Solutions power rear window relocation harness, switch moved to center under radio
• AJT Designs black accents for radio knobs, HVAC knobs, 4WD shift knob, shifter surrounding, steering wheel inlay and emblem, and vent trim rings.
• Desert Does It seat jackers with drivers side MMP and fire extinguisher mount
• Nexar Pro dash camera with Trail Grid Pro power harness
• Toyota wireless charger
• WeatherTech front and rear floor liners
• Forgotten brand seat covers over Katskinz leather seats and seat heaters
• Forgotten brand console half safe
• Rago Fab dash plate with RAM phone mount
• OEM 200 series Land Cruiser blower motor
• Lotsa patches...

Future upgrades

• Remove rear airbags and install RAS system with Wheeler Off Road super bump set. Have parts to be installed
• Install Kingpin Equipped light bars in topper. Have parts to be installed
• 4.88 gears, undecided on rear locker or LSD
• Front and rear bumper with winch, undecided on RCI, Ironman or custom
• Sherpa Big Bear roof rack and possibly RCI over softopper

I'll add from here as the truck slowly gets further and further along.

 

Had a slow day at work so I decided to bring some tools in and install my new Diode Dynamics SS3 Pro fog lights. The OEM LED’s just weren’t doing it for me.



In addition, I’ve been meaning to pull the fog light brackets to tackle the the standard “fog light bounce” that the crappy mounting pockets always induce. Once I got the pockets out I found that the passenger pocket is broken, so I’ve got to see if I can score a new set. In the mean time my temporary fix of wrapping with electrical tape and some creative zip thing seems to have worked. I might just leave it until I get a bumper. We’ll see.



A night drive is in the books to wash the truck, so we’ll see how much better these are.

 

Another slow day at work means another little project knocked out in some free time. One thing I've done to every Toyota I've ever owned is extend the rear breather, and the front if it is an older one, as they didn't start putting the breathers up high until the Tacoma came out in the mid-90's. I've had the stock breather burn me pretty good, so it's just become a "Must do". I'm surprised I waited this long on my Tundra. Most of the time I just build my own kit but I picked up a Toytec breather kit. It made the install pretty quick and easy.


I simply started at the axle, removing the stock breather. I installed the plug, then put the hose on and started feeding it up. I zip tied the line all the way up, starting from the ABS harness mount.


I then followed the parking brake cable, up to the front of the drivers side leaf spring.


From the parking brake cable, I ran the line up following the filler neck and other assorted hoses.


From there, I pulled the filler and door assembly, and drilled a hole on the rear side. I only went large enough to fit the stem of the breather through. One thing I did not like about this, is that the filler door assembly is rubber around the filler, unlike my previous trucks which were metal or plastic. I could have mounted the breather higher on the filler door, but I've always been told to keep the breather vertical for proper operation, which would not have been possible higher up.


Because of keeping the breather vertical, I put some tension on the hose where I zip tied it to a bed support, to pull down on the breather and bring it to 45 degrees off of vertical, which should work nicely. I always mount the breather in the gas door so that whenever I fill the truck I can jiggle to breather cap. On the stock breather the cap tends to stick and eventually seize to the breather, preventing it from doing its job. All in all, not a terrible job to do, install was about 15 minutes.

 

Killer job, I have to redo mine with some longer hose. When I did it I didn't leave enough slack then the breather pulled down when I fully flexed the truck out

 

Yea I tried to leave as much slack as I could, plus I tried to follow an existing lateral line to hopefully prevent pulling too hard on it.

 

Finally got around to installing my Hotshot Offroad light bar brackets on my Diode Dynamics 42" bar. As many of you know, the DD brackets that come with the bar are thin, bouncy and frankly, junk. I was really disappointed in the brackets from the get go, but didn't have much other option at the time. The new brackets are awesome. Eliminated the bounce, holds the light steady and true.


The install went great, aside from my oversight. I of course didn't think that the new brackets would be considerably thicker. The original DD brackets are 1/8" steel, while these new brackets being about 1/4". Because of that, the bumper nuts, already nearing the end of their threading, are at their max. Unfortunately, it was too much for the top nut and stud on the drivers side, which gave up immediately. 5/6 will have to do until I can figure something out. This may be temporary anyway, if I can get a bumper.



Regardless, I'm thrilled to have the light bar back on the truck, considering the bulk of my drives back and forth to work are at night through deer and elk infested areas. The faster you see them, the better for everyone involved.



I also took the time to clean up the wiring and how it's secured to the truck.



This all came when I'm also cleaning out the garage, the first load to go to my new shed was pretty impressive. All of this in the little truck is various Toyota parts I've collected over the years...



The bar holds up great though. It got a good test bombing through the Pawnee National Grasslands dirt roads and cattle guards. It held its adjustment perfectly. Pawnee is the closest "unregulated" shooting area I have for range time without an actual range, which is nice.



And just because I haven't shared it, the ever growing patch collection.

 

Yesterday I had some free time with the family out of the house at school, work, and daycare. The truck got its oil change, he's now at 216k, but the twinge of motivation got me going on finally installing the new Diode Dynamics SS3 MAX ditch lights I bought over a month ago. I bought them to replace the Baja Designs Squadron Sport 2's that I've had for years. I wasn't initially happy with the output or beam pattern, and it just kept bothering me. When I upgraded the fog lights to the SS3's, I knew I had to make the jump.



The install was very simple, and one added benefit of the SS3's brackets is that I can slide the mount to clear things, which helped with clearing the snorkel on the passenger side. When opening the hood with the Baja's, they made contact with the snorkel and wouldn't allow me to open the hood completely.





The SS3's are considerably brighter than the Baja's, and I'm much happier with the beam pattern. I went with a combo pattern, which splits half the light into spot, and the other into a flood pattern.



The visibility with everything on is incredible. This photo doesn't do it justice.



And just for comparison, these are the old Baja's. Everything else is the same.

 

Heck yeah, the SS3’s are where it’s at. I’ve been super happy with my fogs since I got them tossed in

 

I am seriously disappointed in myself for sticking with the Baja's for as long as I did. The difference is literally night and day. And I can honestly say this is a situation of "you get what you pay for". I bought the Baja's used from a friend for $50.

 

Couple of slow days at work this weekend allowed me to put a small amount of time into the truck. Saturday I was able to pull everything out of the bed, clean the blood from this year's deer off the bed mat, and reorganize everything. As an added bonus, access to a forklift and an industrial scale satisfied my ADHD curiosity and allowed me to weigh all the random stuff I constantly carry. Thankfully, it was less than I was thinking. I only carry 275 lbs.





Sunday, I had a short bit of time to throw in my Overland Equipped fuse block and circuit breaker. I could have built this whole thing myself but I liked the ease and prefabricated setup as well. Total install time was probably only 15-20 minutes with the two circuits I currently have.



Now to add more for circuits, like bed lights.

 

More “slow at work” shenanigans. (Please don’t pistol whip me). I picked up an OEM bed divider fairly cheap off Facebook marketplace. I’ve been looking for one for a while and scored this one for $100. It took a little rearranging to fit the mounting in around the Softopper hold down and the RCI hi lift mount, but we’ll give it a try. I also ordered some wrap mounts off Amazon for the shovel, and I’ve got to figure out a place for the traction boards.

 

In my never ending quest to try to organize the random equipment I carry for no reason other than my mental health/gymnastics, I got my shovel mounted on the new cargo divider I picked up off Facebook marketplace. I ordered deck rail T-nuts and Scosche universal clamps hoping to mount the shovel to the bed front deck rail but the softopper prevents that unfortunately. So, I scrounged around in our massive bolt supply at work, and found two M8x1.25 35mm stainless bolts that fit perfectly into the channel on the bed divider. A couple nuts and washers and bobs your uncle, the shovel is secure. I need to do something similar for the traction boards as they are currently pinned between my equipment bins and the front of the bed, unsecured, which I’d obviously like to change. I also have a factory 3’ J-hook for Toyota spare tires that I’m going to get a conduit strap and try to secure it to the bed divider.






Here are the links to the T-nuts and the Scosche clamps.

$19 MELIPRON 10pcs T-Slot Nuts Fit for Toyota Tacoma & Tundra Pick Up Truck Bed Deck Rails 3/8"-16 Thread Bed T Slot

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Z8Q42D2

Scosche PSMTGHD Off-Road TerraClamp™ Flexible Straps for Tools, Flashlight, Shovel & More, Heavy-Duty Vehicle Accessories Rubber Mount Clamps for Car Roof Rack, Truck Bed, Boat, ATV, UTV (Pack of 2)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DBBV83XV

 

Well, let the Christmas installs begin. The girlfriend and kid spoiled me with quite a bit of the “wants” list for the truck. This included:

• Softopper hanging organizer
• Trail-Grid pro FRAC with new front camera
• Rago Fab dash mount with ICS reinforcement plate
• Raxiom raptor light kit for hood bulge

So, obviously I started with the easiest. I brought the organizer with me to work. Install is brainless, just clip it in. I put bungees in one pocket, ratchet straps in the other and gloves in the center for easy access.

 

I installed the Christmas gift Rago Fab dash mount today, just barely beating the extreme chill that is heading into Colorado. Last year, CO passed a full hands free law on cell phones. This set up had been on my to do list for a while, and the kids bought it for me for Christmas.

Install was fairly simple and straight forward. My only complaints are they were sloppy with the powder coating, making some bolts hard to start and chewed the threads a little on one or two bolts, and the instructions are out dated and lack sizes for drill bits and such. Rago has a YouTube video linked on their website for install, that uses an older version of the plate which doesn’t have the additional USB charger that is included.

Otherwise, I like it. I bought a few RAM mount arm extensions to fine tune the length and mounting position of my phone.

 

Love the build. Lots of similarities to my truck - I’m picking up my soft topper tomorrow. We will have to swap a patch when we run Black Bear.

 

Nothing huge to report, but I took advantage of Fred Anderson's 25% off sale. Got the LC200 blower motor for $118 and free shipping! Noticeable improvement in airflow, and much quieter than the stock fan after 220k miles.