What I love, what I hate: My 21 platinum build thread (Now supercharged)

I love my 2017 Platinum in all but three areas:

- Ride quality (3/1 lift/level reacts very harshly to road imperfections. Also body rolls like a walrus in open waters)
- Sound system (terrible bass support, clipped highs, it just sucks. When I turn that volume knob I want music, not noise)
- Driving enjoyment (hunts gears, poor fuel economy, looks great but not very fun to drive)

I have purchased a 21 to replace it with and now plan to document moving all my previous goodies off of the 17 onto the 21, and addressing the distinct deficiencies I’ve identified above. In short, this diary will document the build of my 2021 Platinum over the course of what will probably be about the next 3-4 weeks. Possibly longer depending on how much time I can commit to being in the garage.

A summary of the mods, so you can decide if continuing to read it is worth your time, are

- Maggie Supercharger
- Foamcell pro suspension 3” lift
- 35x12.5 General Grabber's
- swapping the wheels from my 17
- Powersteps
- BA muffler
- 5.29 re-gear
- Auburn LSD
- Reworked transmission valve body
- 1,000 watt JL Audio sound system with Sony Mobile ES head unit
- Complete custom interior insulation/dynamat
- Hood bulge light bar
- Front/rear dash cam
- Complete LED retrofit
- Tailgate lock + popper
- Anytime fogs
- FRAC
- Hella air horn
- PPF nose, rockers, bedsides, tailgate
- Heated rear seats
- V1 mirror mount

Some of these parts will be coming off the 17 Platinum I am currently driving and others will be adds.

Prior to beginning this build diary I have already purchased my 21 and I have mostly parted out my 17 getting it ready to sell. On a side note, if anyone is interested I will be consigning the 2017 in a couple of weeks at my friend’s dealership for $42k. Retail value is $44k so if you’re looking for a great one-owner 2017 Platinum in Silver Sky Metallic and would like a nice discount from retail please get in touch. I will let it go to a forum member for the same $42k. It will be returned to stock except for spray in bedliner, Lexus RX330 headlight retrofit, complete clear bra, and 3/1 lift level. $42k is an awesome price considering you also get all these upgrades. As such, price is absolutely not a penny less than firm and I have no interest in entertaining tire kickers. You either want it or you don’t. Located in Vancouver, WA.

Anyway, back to the fun stuff.

My objectives whenever I’m modifying a vehicle are,

1) I want to utilize factory, or factory-like componentry whenever possible.
2) The modification must present value, i.e. be purposeful.
3) Modifications must be fully integrated, i.e. look like they belong

I have a background in engineering so how everything fits together when I’m done building something is very important to me.

I am starting my build with the interior upgrades. Primarily, this includes the audio system. Purchased equipment are,

- Two boxes of dynamat (FYI looks like I will need a third)
- JL Audio VX1000 amp/DSP (this amp is expensive but does SO much more than just pump out 1,000 watts)
- JL Audio Stealthbox
- JL Audio Fix86 sound processor (to reset the factory HU processed signal back to a full-range input for the VX1000)

So far I have the interior almost completely dynamatted and I have the two rear door speakers in. I am not happy with the amount of road noise I get in my 2017 with 34” Toyo A/T’s so I am also going to be working on a custom dampening solution in this build. Here are my current progress pics with more to come soon.

Thanks for reading! I'm very open to ideas, suggestions and questions.

 

Just curious, why didn’t you just mod your 2017 with the suspension, regear, and soundproofing materials?

Love your garage/shop!

 

Welcome, also from Clark County.

 

Thank you! I actually built the shop myself too. Every nail out there I've pounded in myself. My favorite feature is the full rise recessed lift:

Great question on why I didn't just keep & mod my existing '17. There are two reasons for that. The first is b/c I could really benefit from the tax break this year (The Tundra qualifies for a $25k deduction when used as a business vehicle), and I am using the equity from reselling my 2017 to pay for all the upgrades. So it actually works out better for me financially to build a whole new truck.

 

Sweet! Thank you. Your username says it all at this time of year.

 

That’s awesome, man. I have hopes and plans to do the same thing. I look forward to watching the build of your new truck.

Your shop needs its own build thread, too!

 

Good stuff!

I’m here to watch.

 

What’s the car behind the boxes?? Diablo?

 

https://www.tundras.com/forums/3rd-gen-builds-2014.28/



Nice build and garage.

 

Interested in the audio upgrades

 

Just FYI, I drove a Toyota TSS the same day I bought my Limited. I was shocked at how much harsher the TSS road. The only difference was the tires. Seams like your fighting an uphill battery with aggressive tires and a lift if looking for a smooth ride. Great thread though!!!

 

Does anybody know how I can move this to the build section? I thought that's where I was when I made the initial post, sorry.

Only worked on it a short time today but long enough to get the headliner dropped and the dash cam wired up. I went with the Thinkware U1000. It's one of the more expensive dash cam options at $400 but if I ever get in a situation where I need an eyewitness I will be glad I didn't go with one of the cheap ones. For the rear camera I bent some flat bar, painted it black, and screwed it to the frame member. Granted I already had the B & C pillars taken apart but I'd estimate the front/back wiring and power cable snaked down the driver's A pillar took me maybe an hour and a half. Really wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be.



Joonbug, yeah once I get the garage finished I get to go back tobuilding this badass piece of machinery. It's a dimensionally accurate replica of a 99 Roadster. It got put on hold b/c the custom transaxle I ordered for it took three years to deliver. I have it now though so pushing hard to finish the garage asap.

 

Man.....it would be hard for me to take a brand new truck and blow it apart right out of the gate. Never have been much into heavy modification.

 

Badass build for sure initiative is your middle name instead of bitching your making it happen

 

Sub'd Crashrat.
You've got balls of solid rock.

 

@Squatting Pigeon top of post #12. Asking to move thread to build section.

 

Welcome from SW Portland area. Amazing looking shop. Going to follow along to see how it goes.

I have one question though...with everything you are putting into audio prep and install why are you keeping that factory HU. Are you planning on running a DSP?

Edit: never mind I saw were you said the Fix 86. As someone that had been down that road I would just do a HU.

 

Same here. Plus my wife would kill me if she came out to the garage and saw me tearing apart my brand new almost $60k truck.

 

Welcome from New Hampshire!!

 

I can help but admire this build! Blows my mind to see the cabin cleaned our first thing for sound deadening. I find the Platinum sound system to be pretty nice for a truck so man it's going to sound real nice with the upgrades and all the other noise deadened. And now I totally want a recessed lift...I didn't know about those! I don't pick up lots of noise from my Nitto Ridge Grapplers but they only have 5k miles on them. Most of my noise is the sweet sound from the BAM 8" muffler or my sometimes sweet / sometimes not kids lol. Following..cheers!

 

nice. remind me when I tore apart mine to sound proof it.
I can relate on the wire speakers through the back doors electric connectors

 

Subscribed!! Noice Rat Hole!!

 

Thank you for the local greeting, and for weighing in on the HU question. I originally wanted to keep the factory HU for the instrument cluster integration mostly, as well as what I feel is probably superior bluetooth. I do a lot of phone calling while I drive. I haven't been too happy with most aftermarket bluetooth setups I've used. I also like that this screen is bigger, and seems a lot easier to use than my 2017. so I wanted to give it a chance. I'm not opposed to changing my mind later though. What did you end up going with instead of the factory HU?

 

Welcome aboard. I'll be following this build with interest. I've also decided that I need one of those recessed lifts in my life.

 

Yeah, nothing at all wrong with keeping it stock. Ripping it apart and making it my own is something I've always enjoyed. Getting killed by my wife though, that is something I do not enjoy. definitely on the same page with you there lol

 

Lol so there's more than just me out there doing that. Those blank sockets seemed so perfect for a new speaker wire to pass through. I haven't gotten to the front ones yet, is there room in those ones too?

 

Thank you, and yeah the lift is a game changer for sure. So much nicer to make the truck come to me instead of me going to the truck lol

 

So I was sold on all the cool stuff the Fix did. Time correction, clipping or whatever it’s called, laptop tune ability etc. Well what I didn’t know is that after you calibrate it your stuck with that volume level on your HU. For example you insert the calibration CD, make sure RCA’s are removed, place head unit at like 46 for volume, proceed with calibration. Once that’s done your HU is only calibrated at that level. The fix wants to be your new master volume control. So now you need another adjustment knob(drc-200) I think.

Now to be honest you can adjust your volume with the HU and be ok most of the time. The problem comes in when you have the white noise issue. That annoyed the crap out of me. All those thousands of dollars and at low volume you could hear the hiss. I started to look into swapping it. I ultimately ended up trading it in because I went from a DBl cab to a crew max for space reasons.

If I start another audio build I’m absolutely doing a head unit first. But that’s just my .02

 

Great build! Look forward to seeing your progress. Nice shop and holy sh@t that is the coolest lift I have ever seen. I have been planning my dream shop that I hope to build one day and was planning on a 2 post lift. They are great when needed but kind of in the way when not. That lift is just the ticket. I had to show the wife. She did not share the same enthusiasm.

 

no problem on the front. It's just the rear. no other way that drilling that white connector on the rear doors