Eccracer104’s build 2.0 - a work in progress

Thanks! Actually no, didn’t really stop to take pics

 

Before I toss the old rack in the trash, anyone want it for a core to swap for a reman?

Toyota # 44250-0C170-84 is what several local dealers said is the correct replacement.

 

Snapped a pic of one of the engine mounts

 

Tundra will get a breather from DD duty as last night I scooped up a great deal on a daily. Meet Neptune, the 5 speed Saturn Ion! She belonged to my friend, and before that his family. Best part is the third pedal

Zero mods planned for Neptune, she is the beater and such will be her life.

 

I did a thing. Sold my shell, and picked up a softopper the next day. Got lucky with how the timing worked out as I found a near new softopper off an F150 for a great deal.



Very excited for the flexibility this gives me to have bed full access to coverage quickly and easily.

 

He’ll yeah!! #softoppergang

 

Was this today or maybe a couple weeks ago? If it was a couple weeks ago I’m pretty sure I passed you on the highway. Thought to myself it looked like your truck except it had a tan soft topper so it couldn’t have been..

 

Yeah buddy!!

Haha no, I sold the shell this Friday evening and drove to El Centro for the softopper on Saturday. It’s always fun to keep my eye out for Tundras! None ever notice me giving thumbs up from my car though

My truck has been resting hard, I’m having a great time driving the little stick shift. Truck will be getting some exercise this weekend

The guy I bought the topper off of was skeptical I could fit it in the car (I was optimistic but also had my doubts). We were both impressed that it fit though haha.

 

@eccracer104
I will be out at Supersitition this weekend where are you headed out to?

 

That’s awesome it fit! I’d love to have a manual car to bomb around in . Someday!

I as often as I can remember. Bought something off what looked to be a scrapyard tundra last week. Had 3 different colored doors and the bed was a different color than the front clip. Told him “I like your tundra! I have one too. Yours is very eclectic..”

Not sure how he took it but I really meant it!

 

Same place

I recommend it. So fun!

Hahaha! That’d be a sight to see.

 

Aw man!! I’m in the works to look for a DD too LOL

 

Well, that answers a question I had. I was wondering if the Soft topper from my Tundra would fit on my Raptor. Looks like it'll fit well and I don't even have to go physically try it. Thanks for saving me the effort.

 

It’s a game changer!

Haha you’re welcome!

edit:
For what it’s worth, this particular softopper came off a 14-21 body style.
Per softopper it’s identical to 2.5 gen Tundra version.
The only variance between 07-13 and 14-21 Tundra version is the canvas dimensions. Frame is also identical. This one has longer canvas at the front and rear. Which actually works in my favor because I’ve noticed the wind tends to blow the material in, so hopefully this will make that less frequent. Also the longer flap at the back covers the dent on my tailgate haha.

 

I guess buying one truck part put me in a mood, I just ordered some project headlights

Really though, they're exactly what I've had my eye on and a deal I couldn't refuse.

Morimoto XB LED headlights for $240. The lenses are jacked up (I'll include pics once they arrive via snail mail) but I've taken apart and retrofitted headlights before so I'm sure I can fix em'. They have the amber running lights (which I like), and the adjuster motors.

 

Got to stretch the new legs with the first solid desert trip on the new (to me) Fox set up. Really happy with how they rode and how the truck performed in the dirt
Also got some redemption at Superstition, no new surprise meetings with any large rocks

Some pictures from the weekend -




Eric's truck did need a little TLC by the end of the weekend...


His truck won't hold idle, sounds like a vacuum leak but we couldn't find it. Drove normally above 1k rpm so he made it work to get to to the parts store, then all the way home... where it then decided it could idle normally

TW's annual Superstition trip is coming up soon, Jan 24 - 26 - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...perstition-trip-jan-24-to-jan-26-2025.460736/

 

Hope it holds up...

 

How’d the soft topper work out?

 

I didn't see it fly off

 

Thanks @des2mtn ! Lol


^ @Mater hopefully that answers the question. Lol.

Really though it did great! Was equally as comfortable inside as my hard shell, and held in the warmth nicely as well. The big thing with these is to NOT scratch up the clear vinyl. It scratches easily.
But no issues at all. Once I get a chance to I’m going to check the brackets and make a few adjustments. The rear brackets I think are too far forward so I’ll pull them towards the back a couple inches. Should stiffen up where it meets with the bar at the bottom of the rear flap. If anything that was the only thing that I saw I could improve.

Also really convenient that I can leave my co2 tank mounted at the front corner of the bed. Just un-clipped the front part of the canvas and ran my hose without taking that heavy bottle out to air up tires.

Lastly I think with the stock leaf pack the truck rode better with the weight reduction. Perhaps different leafs and adjust the tuning in the rear shocks would be find with the weight of the hard shell, but for me this feels better.

 

Nice!
Glad it worked out. Sounds like a good trip.

That easy access to the powertank sounds clutch!

 

My cheap damaged Morimotos were delivered today

Just by blind luck I came across these on eBay and picked them up for $240 shipped. Ordered new lenses, got some headlight butyl and soon will start rebuilding them. I’ll need to bake them, cut and remove the old butyl, do an inspection inside and then swap the new lenses on and seal them back together.

Since they’re going to be open anyways my buddy is trying to convince me to replace the amber LEDs with controllable RGB LEDs. Could turn out really cool, but also not sure yet how much extra work that would require.

One headlight has a broken off tab where the under headlight filler panel connects, so I’ll need to remedy that, otherwise they appear to be in great shape. Minus the lenses. How or why they ended up with holes drilled is beyond me. I can only imagine it had to do with some sort of replacement where they needed to be “damaged” but also the seller showed them having full functionality so I really don’t know. Perhaps vandalism?

Regardless of they’re in my hands now haha.

 

Hey all, so I’ve heard from two reliable sources that east county alignment isn’t what it used to be and got back to back matching horror stories. Looking for a place that can align a somewhat custom set up with my mildly jacked up LCA and heimed uppers.

Spoke to True-Line, So Cal Suspension and Stability Alignment.

True-Line being the most expensive per our phone conversation. He was very confident and knowledgeable as we spoke about the truck and alignment.

So Cal Suspension was quick and just said it’s no issue and the least expensive.

Stability was mentioned by the guy at True-Line so I called them. He also sounded knowledgeable but not as friendly as True-Line. His pricing was in the middle.

Curious if anyone has experience with any of these shops to shed some additional light to help me make a choice.

 

Truck shop fixed mine up after trueline and east county could not get mine right

 

That’s good to know. I forgot to give them a buzz for alignment. Thanks Sid!

 

I take mine to Firestone for unlimited alignments

If they don’t get it right I just bring it back and ask them to do it again

 

Hahaha YES! That's what I've done with my previous trucks. This one however is special

The LCA cams are now octagons and the fine tuning is done via the UCAs. I'm optimistic once set the alignment shouldn't move as it would likely mean I F'd up to throw off the lower cams and/or the upper heims.

 

Update 1:

First headlight came apart nicely. I imagine they used their own sealant, the 14+ headlights I took apart from my last Tundra used permaseal which was a total pain.

The inner shroud has wiring connected to the back of the housing, so I was very careful splitting them, but turned out to be one loom which had enough length to get it done.





Now I did come across an issue... The Morimoto lenses are different... So the stock replacement lenses I ordered don't match appropriately. The Morimoto's have 3 mounting points for the inner shroud, and the stock ones only have 2 which would probably be fine but they don't line up so I'd be 0/3 on mounting screws for the inner shroud.

The blue circles show the OE style shroud mounts and the red circles show the Morimoto shroud mounts.



The Retrofit Source has always been awesome to work with in the past, so going to reach out to them and see if they'd be able to order me replacement Morimoto lenses. Fingers crossed they don't cost an arm and a leg!


Update 2: Replacement lenses are not available. Going to need to adapt and make it work

Update 3: The OE lenses are also a different shape. Overall dimensions seem to be fine, but there are a few variances to where there are bends/angles to the lens where it meets the housing. OE lenses would need a lot of adjustment to maybe work.
Going to switch things up and attempt to salvage the Morimoto lenses. Found a highly UV resistant ultra clear resin epoxy, will take about a week to get here. My plan is to use special epoxy tape on the outside of the lens to seal off the hole, then with a syringe inject the resin from the inside of the lens. It'll be tack free within 12 hours and fully cured in 72. Hopefully it'll work and look "good enuff" by the 15' rule. If not, last ditch effort would be to adapt the OE lenses to work or swap the internals into OE housings.

 

Interesting....good luck

 

Thank you