What have you done to your 2.5 gen Tundra today?

After driving it tonight, it was smooth. I don’t think I will regear anytime soon. My tundra is 15,030 miles. I almost added the nitro gears when lifting but I wanted to feel the truck after installing the lift before going that route.

 

My dad left my his F150 when he passed and we lost it to MI rust, frame went. I then spent a ton of time researching rust proofing and also came upon surface shield. Coated our Explorer before winter this yr and plan to do that each year going forward! Surface shield is amazing stuff!

 

That looks fantastic. Could you post some info on the hardware you used and perhaps a few photos taken during assembly?

 

The leaf spring clamps on the RXT leafs rubbed my Hellwig RSB bad when flexing Offroad. I removed the sway bar and would not go back. That was a lot of noise back there. The RXT a spring clamps are in a different location than the factory springs

 

I regeared specifically because I felt what it was like on 37s and stock gears.

 

do you think I would mention the term “viper cut” and not have poured over your thread about it?! Having said that, I am no closer to understanding how to do it. I do believe I will still do it, even though I’ve got 35s, purely for aesthetic. Your breakdown will essentially be a recipe book for me.

 

Nice. I have some SEM so I should use it on my door trim.

 

Over time it will get glossy due to natural oils from your hands. It may be fine if a flat clear coat is put over it.

 

His breakdown is the best one I’ve seen so far. And his cut is by and large the most aggressive. Looks…. Sharp! Sorry not sorry.

 

Agreed. Only wish he would’ve done a video to document it for those of us who are seriously mechanically challenged. Trying to find a cut template so I don’t have to figure out the measurements.

 

Is an aftermarket bumper out of the equation? Plenty that provide the "Viper cut" clearance with out having to hack up your truck.

 

here is the thread i made…. enjoy you DIY

 

It’s not necessarily out of the question, but the viper cut is nearly free to do, and I am one of the few that doesn’t love the look of the black metal front bumpers.

 

Gotcha. Assuming I grew the pair necessary to jigsaw my truck, I know I would get it 90% right, and the 10% that was just barely off would drive me crazy.

 

these are the tools used. notes use painters tape to mark your cut line(measure 3x, cut once, sand cut area).

 

there’s a real chance I’m going to pay a private investigator to find your phone number so I can FaceTime you prior

 

haha….pm me i’ll give you my cell and facetime to show you what i e done so you can copy

 

I wish I had taken pictures along the way. I'll try to take some pics of the side panels, how I attached to the truck and other details and post them here.

Basically, I made two boxes with 3/4" plywood and pocket screws. Each were about 25" and 62" long and 9" tall to fit snuggly between the wheel wells and to clear the tops of the wheel wells. Connected the boxes to each other once in the bed with t-nuts and bolts. Used turn buckles to link the boxes to the truck using the front tie downs (near the cab).

Built two drawers to fit in the boxes with 3/4" ply bottoms and 1/2" ply sides, front and back. Again used pocket screws. Drawer fronts are 3/4" ply painted black and attached handles. Handles are from Amazon. I avoided using drawers slides as 60" slides are about $300 for two sets. I put hardboard (brown, shiny one side, comes in 4'x8' panels) on the base of the boxes to allow drawers to slide. They are not smooth like drawer slides, but it works great for the money. Benefit is that they can't slide open by themselves!

The side panels, to make it flat across the bed, were easy to trace allowing the panels to follow the walls of the bed once the boxes were in. Took a couple tries to get a good fit. Challenging was supporting the side panels along the bed walls so I would feel confident putting weight on them. Made support running along the bed wall to hold up that side using plywood and angle brackets. Kinda klugey, but works and I can put full weight on them so mission accomplished. The side panels are in two pieces and are removable with finger holes drilled in them to pull them up. Only secured with the tight fit wedged between the boxes and the bed sidewalls. The friction from the carpet helps keep things secure as well.

The carpet is a roll I bought from Lowes for $25. Was fun upholstering for the first time!

With the panels in place, a queen foam mattress fits perfectly. Since the boxes are only 62" or so long, the mattress needed support since it is 78" long. I made a foldable support that attaches to the tailgate to hold up the 16" of mattress. I sleep with the tailgate and the cap door open, since I have a tent that connects to the truck. See my profile pic for how that works.

After having ideas and a semi-plan written down, I did to a lot of on the fly changes or additions like the slide out tables. I just happen to run across a pair of drawers slides in my garage so modified a drawer design to include the slides with a plywood top. Then, I realized that left a space between the slides and under the first table, so I added another slide out table that just rides on wooden guides and had a stop so I can't pull out too far.

Let me know if you have any questions. I probably watched 50 hours of you tube videos to get ideas on how to build these. When searching just type in DIY truck bed drawers. I suggest that you don't narrow down by adding "Tundra" to the search at first. You get a lot of ideas from different types of trucks being used for the install. I then searched WITH "Tundra" so I could get specific ideas for how to apply to our trucks.

 

Parts arrived

 

@MULLI63 thanks for the detailed explanation! I've been trying to decide how to build out the bed area now that I've got the cap on there.

 

Nice!! I'm eyeballing batteries now.. I'm right at 2 years, but have additional audio/amp load, and I'm installing some lights as well. Debated heavily going Odyssey AGM but have read conflicting info. Any concerns keeping it appropriately charged?

Over the next couple months its Tires, Battery, Fog lights and electrical wiring/switches. Likely in that order (thoughI've already got the lighter and small auxiliary lights).

 

The Tundra turned 4 years old today. I bought it March 10, 2019. I went to pick the kids up from school this afternoon and this was on the odometer. I guess the Tundra only thinks it’s 3 years old.

 

Lol....now go put gas in it.

 

I did @Tundra234 . $80 got me a little more than 1/2 a tank here in good old California.

 

Lol. I need gas myself.

 

I'm still pumping away on mods too.

 

I’ll keep you updated on how the charging goes. I do have a noco battery charger I would throw on my other truck if it sits for a while. Topping off once a month like others have suggested doesn’t seem that big of an issue. I also purchased the GM diode to see if that works a little easier. First impression of going to a big battery, and AGM is it’s the same. Doesn’t start any faster or quicker. Not that I was expecting it, but you figured something different with the change. Audio system holds steady 13.9v, but still tuning it, and trying to find where to set the gains. It’s hard to know how many watts the system is actually producing or if I’m overpowering one part when it’s clipping.

 

Rigged up a makeshift floor mount out of 1/2 inch plywood for my SetPower RV45D Fridge.

 

So much room for activities!!