What have you done to your 2.5 gen Tundra today?

George - clean your truck, bro!

Sincerely,
The Interwebz Judging Panel

 

Yeah it's a little dusty in that area and the pollen isn't helping lol. I'll take a break from my miniature tundra build to clean it.

 

Ha, good eye. Broke one of them last night. Does the replacement count towards this post once I put it in the truck??

 

Liking the new look of the Vland tail lights!

 

ha! I broke two in a senior mens league tournament the previous weekend. hopefully just a bad batch. waiting for the warranty return, playing in the Houston Oil Kings Memorial Day shootout

 

they look nice, but how do they look lit up?

 

Looks pretty bright during the day. Gotta wait until night fall.

 

Working on a 6-switch version with no charger. Two vertical rows of switches.

 

Awesome. I will definitely be interested in that.

 

How is the quality and fitment?

 

Quality is very good. I had to remove the two clips from the old light and use those for the vland tail lights. For some reason the t30 bolt couldn't reach the ones that came with the vland tail lights

 

I got my RCI tranny skid with cat guards installed today. It arrived all scraped up (I blame RCI sorry packaging), so I had to sand and paint before installation. I spayed with high temp; same stuff I use on my BBQ smoker. The actual installation went really smooth and easy. Thanks @Tripleconpanna for the tips and lessons; I pre-assembeled the whole thing, as you directed, and everything lined right up. My engine skid is from Talon, and having their TRD nut plate made it a breeze.

Getting to the nuts for the carriage bolts that hold the skid to the transfer case cross member was not difficult, but I do not have any SAE ratcheting wrenches, just metric, so I tried a 14mm on the 9/16" nuts. I'll file that one in the wrenching skills memory bank, 14mm and 9/16" are close enough to swap wrenches.


Things went so well I decided to also install my new Elevate Racks. That was a PITA, but got her done. I've had my ACI Lomax Pro Series cover for about a year now. Elevate racks play well with the Lomax tri-folds. With my racks adjusted to the 23" height, my Lomax fully opens and closes.


Finally, I rearranged my dash with new 67 Designs 20mm ball arms. Amy guesses what the center arm will hold? I think @Pangaea will know.

 

Installed a few things, which you can find in my build thread here: The Adventuremobile (2016 TRD PRO)

Also gave her a bath:

 

I'm going to install the RCI tranny skid guard with cat guards soon too. Any tips? I have the RCI engine guard on already.

 

Looks good.... glad it saved you a little time

 

This is what I shared in an RCI Best Practices thread...

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I'd recommend scrolling through the 3 pages of that thread prior to starting your install as you may find some of the other info shared by others helpful as well

 

Got more pictures from further away? Looks great especially on black.

 

Just purchased this for my ‘17 TRD Double Cab 2WD.

Truck is all original OEM with 120k miles and never had an upgrade. I do tow a travel trailer so after an exhaustive research and thanks to this forum. Thanks guys you all suck!!

Front shock leveling kit:

$770 Bilstein 6112 Series Leveling Kit - 46-206084

https://www.4wheelparts.com/p/bilstein-6112-series-leveling-kit-46-206084/_/R-BBGL-46-206084

Rear shocks:

$225 Bilstein 5160 Series Shocks

https://www.4wheelparts.com/p/bilstein-5160-series-shocks/prod40017

Airlift Air Springs:
https://www.airliftcompany.com/shop/88299/

Air Lift Compressor:
https://www.airliftcompany.com/shop/74000ez/

 

@SR5style Yes, I followed what @Tripleconpanna wrote with two small differences. 1) My Talons Garage engine skid came with a TRD nut plate, so I left it in place. The larger the gap, to slid in the tranny skid, you can accommodate, the better. While instructions say 1/2", I was able to achieve over 3/4" with the Talons' nut plate and bolts. And, 2) I used a creeper, instead of a floor jack. With my Tundra on ramps, I also used two buckets, and a 2' long 1 x 2 and a 2 x 2. I put the assembled skid on the creeper and rolled it under the truck. I skootched under, on my back, head to the rear. One bucket was by my head, the other near my calves and between my legs, and directly under the rear edge of the engine skid, the gap. I slid the tranny skid off the creeper and onto my chest and thighs. Lifting with my knees, I slid the tranny skid into the gap. I had the bucket there to catch the skid incase it slipped out and fell. I then lifted the rear of the skid off my chest and wiggled and pushed toward the front; the slots for the bolts were a little tricky to line up, but not bad. I then bench pressed the rear of the skid into place and whooped!; the bracket bolt holes lined right up with the holes in the transfer case cross member. Holding it up with my left hand I slid my head bucket under the rear of the skid. Sliding the 2 x 2 in-between the bucket and skid was the perfect height to free both my hands to insert the bracket carriage bolts and start the nuts. Get a set of ratcheting box end wrenches, if you don't already have such.

 

These two thingies came in the hardware bag with my RCI tranny skid. RCI has not returned my voicemail, nor email inquiries. Does anyone know what they are intended for? There's no mention of them in the RCI instructions.

 

They go on top of the cross member as an additional large washer (also what they call the backing plate). Basically the bolt goes through the cross member, then the large ones that you have, then smaller washer and nut.

 

Ahhhhh. I'll crawl back under today and see about installing those, one at a time. I thought maybe they were spacers if needed for a diff drop, or something. Amazing that their instructions say: "2. Install skid plate mounting bracket onto transfer-case frame cross-member using the supplied 3.5” carriage bolts, with washers and lock-nuts on the top side of cross-member." Not a mention of backing plates nor backer plates, but in the parts list, which states that the "backer plate - 2 ea." come with the front (engine) skid, and I don't have the RCI engine skid.



After this experience with RCI, my first, I doubt I will ever buy from them again. Their packaging was total crap and both the skid and cat wings arrived dented, scratched and banged up. I spent a lot of time straightening, filing, sanding, and a full can of Rustoleum spray paint. Their customer service has not responded, at all, to my inquires.

 

That is unusual for them. I had a great experience with them when I got my engine skid. Some carriers have been know to be rough on packages though.

 

Yes, it does seem RCI receives mostly good reviews here. I expected good things. (I did read somewhere, I think, that they were recently acquired by a venture capital outfit?)

With a degree in Logistics Management, I spent most of my career managing distribution centers, parcel carriers, and trucking companies. It is known and accepted in the industry that parcel carriers are rough on packages, so, as a shipper, prepare and package your shipments accordingly; it's a crap shoot if you don't. Putting a hunk, or several hunks, of 10ga, powder coated steel into a cardboard box without internal bracing and cushioning, no over-packing, and just using cheap packing tape to secure the carton is asking for your product to arrive damaged. Both packages I received were torn, and the skid carton was fully open on one end. It was evident to me that most of the tears and broken-open end were caused from the inside out; the heavy, non-cushioned contents shifting and slamming during transit and handling.

 

Hey Tony I hope things are better for you. I am trying to do something similar. What are your measurements on that board?

 

Thank you, very much appreciated.

The bottom "base" is 60" x 53.5" is what I ended up with. I am thinking I should have went a little longer and notch the very back corners to go into that rear opening a bit to provide the back vertical piece to mount onto the base with a L-bracket accordingly. I measured and I think I am going to squeeze it out of what I have. I have ran into a problem finding the 2 center seat brackets but I "may have" found a set today here in the valley!

 

Nice rims. Are these 20"s or 18". Powder coated I assume? How about the red center caps? I like this look and I have a set of spare 20" that I may go this route.

 

In kitchen pic tradition today’s parts reveal. The rear Alcon kit has arrived.

 

Here you go.