The S.S. TRDFerguson: Captain’s Log

Just part of the hazards of a 1.0 product. The guys that made it offered some help and they’re already noting workarounds for other customers that might run into this.

 

Sweet truck dude. I noticed your username, RIP to Norm. One of the funniest guys eve

 

Alright, after another couple hours of wrestling today, I finally got the cat protection plate fully installed. Looks good and I think it will serve its purpose as a theft deterrent.



New slots cut and painted with high heat rust protection paint



I fully removed the TRD plate and it made prep and fitting a little easier


Oh, and here’s the f***ing cross threaded bolt that turned the 1 hour job into 6 hours.

 

That looks nice. How far back does that plate go?

 

Not quite as far back as I’d like, but should be good where it’s at. It stops after the cross member at the rear of the transmission.

 

Did you pull you sway?

 

Nah, I chickened out for now. I’ll probably go ahead and pull it before I head up to T2S though.

 

Messed with my busted cam tab a bit this afternoon. Seems like I completely twisted the sleeve somehow, since after I unbolted the through bolt the other side could only go on one way.

Front side


Back side


Back nut off


The point that’s at the 7:30 position should be closer to 6:00. I’m going to try to source a new sleeve tomorrow and see if that gets me back in business. I’ll also bend the cam tab back up on that side, then test @BiggHertz welding skills when we try to gusset all the tabs.

Another fun thing I found, my UCAs hit my coils at full droop… Fack.

 

Today I did the throttle body bypass mod since it’s always hot as hell here. I used the long hose as the bypass, end points circled in red, then the short hose to connect the throttle body ports and keep debris out. While I had the TB off, I cut the screen out of the gasket to get rid of the mild whistle that has been present since removing the carbon filter in the air box, but didn’t get a pic of that.

 

Picked up the new alignment cam sleeve today, and comparing to the one on my truck there was definitely some damage when the wheel went out of alignment. Somehow the sleeve spun where it was pressed into the washer, no idea how.


Anyway, the replacement was easy. Now I just need to finish bending the tab back, try my hand at some welding, then get the alignment redone.

Next on the list is figuring out why the hell my jack is leaking hydraulic fluid and if it can be fixed/warrantied.

 

Before and after of the rear cam with the flattened tab

 

Switch upgrades! @RainMan_PNW posted his switches that match the OEM light blue from Air On Board Off Road and these things are great. Not much more expensive than the cheap Amazon ones, but they feel more solid and smooth.

 

Looks great!
(That's also my STL file that @abomb60 is using for the switch holder.)

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. You’re the man! You’re also making me spend way too much money on little shit here and there, lol.

 

Love Flux Capacitor!

 

It’s sort of like a support group where we’re still sneaking shots back by the coffee and donuts

 

I’m always prepared

 

Did you... relocate the rear window control? I never considered that...

 

It’s awesome in this spot. There’s a relocation harness that makes it really easy to move:
https://accessorides.com/products/r...harness-for-toyota-tundra-2010-2017-plug-play

Or you can use @BrakeDust write up to extend it yourself:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/diy-move-the-crewmax-rear-window-switch.89819/

I did the DIY route but wouldn’t really recommend that, lol. The wires are really thin and it’s tight quarters where you need to crimp the wires.

 

Omg you linked the harness twice. Haha, too funny.

Actually, pls link the diy... I actually like doing that kinda stuff myself, as long as it's not like a zillion wires (I bought a plug and play harness for my tesla model 3 when I upgraded the stereo... and I still had to cut and solder wires to get it working right). I actually hate the location of the rear window control from factory.

 

D’oh! Here’s the DIY link. https://www.tundras.com/threads/diy-move-the-crewmax-rear-window-switch.89819/ I’ll update my post too.

 

I just went under my truck today (2020 SR5 4x4) and with any of the current "front plate" catalytic shields, for 4x4 (at least on my year) I feel like the front 2 and the left side rear cat are pretty well protected. Very little room on the left rear cat to get access to the start of it to make a cut. The right rear cat looks like you could snake a saw up there without too much trouble if you reached in from the center of the truck however. The secondary back shield that some fabricators have available look like they totally close that off, including folks with 4x2 with no transfer case in the middle. This plate, on 4x4, it looks like the two little extensions combined with the upward bend may tighten up that access a little? How are you liking it so far? I called them, they don't have shipping available yet but I will be checking back. Thanks for posting about this.

 

This plate does make it a little tougher to get at the rear cats, but like you said, there's still a good-sized hole to get at the passenger one with a saw. I think the driver is decently protected with everything else around it on that side. It's not perfect, but it's definitely better than nothing.

 

Cleaned up my skid plate while it was off and got it mounted back today. Before reinstalling I decided to pull the sway bar off and see how it felt driving. It definitely takes bumps way better, but I’m not sure I’m sold on the feeling in hard turns that sort of translate into what an emergency maneuver would look like. I may run it this way until after T2S and then put it back on.

 

Saving this for later. Really want a great way to black out the tail lights without darkening the lenses.

 

I have another set of tails sitting around that I plan on doing this to, so I’ll make a better diy at that time. It’s nice not having light output affected.

 

Definitely. It’s the same idea as the blacked out headlights. Not sure why I never thought of it. I guess my main concern is that moisture issue, proper sealing. Would luv to find out it works well tho

 

I did have a bad seal on the drivers housing where it filled the lower cavity with water… not sure if it was from washing or rain. Haven’t had any issues on the passenger side, and both have been good since re-caulking some of the questionable areas. Plastic bond in a few spots and high quality black silicone caulk should keep the water out as long as you take your time. I rushed through the sealing part when I first did mine and attribute the water issue to that.

 

Cracked open my backup set of tail lights today. Gonna try to see if I can make some improvements on my 2.0 version of the tail light blackout. I think the cuts turned out a little better this time, so that’s a good start.

 

You gonna tint or paint them black?