2020 Tacoma Off Road Build

[RainierandTacos]

Greetings all and welcome to my build thread. I got the new truck a couple weeks ago, partly as my welcome home from deployment gift from me and also to gain some room for my new baby. I upgraded from a 2017 Tacoma SR5 access cab that I had done some modifications to, and some of those parts will be carried over to the new truck.

My truck is my daily driver, so I don't plan on going too crazy with the modifications. I'll be sticking to a budget, so this will likely be a long haul. I have some basic welding ability and have some buddies on the ship that will work for beer and help out with any fabrication work that I can't handle.

Completed Mods:
-Yaesu FTM-100 Mobile Radio
-Plano Sportsman Box with recovery/seasonal emergency gear
-Soft Camper Shell (Softopper)

On the list (will grow/shrink as required):
-Modular bed rack (DIY)
-Roof rack (really like the prinsu design)
-Skid plates (DIY)
-Sliders
-Winch and bumper
-Fox shock absorbers

Install:
-Rigid ditch lights from old truck
-CB

Stuff being researched but haven't made up my mind on yet:
-Lift (2" max)
-New tires
-LED Fogs. I like the Baja Designs Squadron but the truck also has some surprisingly good fog lights from the factory

Never made a build thread before so let's see how this goes.

 

[RainierandTacos]

First up on the list of mods is my temporary Ham rig. Running Baofeng UV5R hooked up to a Nagoya mag mount antenna from Amazon and a speaker mic. First contact I made with it was a 32 mile SOTA activation going on and I get a couple of contacts on simplex driving home from work every day. Get good reports from my contacts so for now, the setup is sufficient. Only thing I plan to change while I scrape together pennies for the Yaesu would be to add a 12 volt battery eliminator so I'm not having to change batteries and maybe get another HT so I dont have to swap the radio in and out of my truck constantly.

 

[Trigger]

Welcome. I probably have some insight that may help you in this build. I, probably like many others, didn’t realize the direction that I wanted to go with my truck when I first bought it. I currently have a 2017 Tacoma TRD Off Road and it is my daily driver. My last truck was a first generation 4 door Tacoma. I’ll keep this short.

I have the OME medium leaf springs and I dislike them very much. I’ll stop short of saying I hate them because I like the way they ride and the way my truck sits overall. I dislike the constant squeak. It’s so loud that even I am embarrassed to pick my teenage kids up from school. I’m looking to put the original springs back on and take them to a local shop that specializes in springs to get the right set up done.

I have a mobile HAM radio mounted in my truck. It is a Icom 4100. I am using a lip mount on the left side of the hood with a Tram antenna. I have a external speaker that I have mounted underneath the drivers side above the floorboard. It’s audible to me but doesn’t aggravate my wife on road trips when scanning. I have the head mounted on a Hondo Garage vent mount with a split arm to my Ram Mounts X Grip I use to mount my phone. I absolutely love this set up. It’s a clean finish, the HAM head and phone are not obstructive to my view, and it’s all easily accessible while driving.

I also have a KB Voodoo full length bed rack with side mounts for my mountain bikes and a Tuff Stuff Delta rooftop tent. It doesn’t sound like that is the direction that you wanted to go but thought I’d mention it just in case.

I hope that info helps. Have fun on the build and map it out before you start dropping a lot of money.

Mark
KI5FBR

 

[JCWages]

Congrats, it's a nice truck. Taking it slow and moding only what's truly needed is the smartest path.

 

[RainierandTacos]

Welcome. I probably have some insight that may help you in this build. I, probably like many others, didn’t realize the direction that I wanted to go with my truck when I first bought it. I currently have a 2017 Tacoma TRD Off Road and it is my daily driver. My last truck was a first generation 4 door Tacoma. I’ll keep this short.

I have the OME medium leaf springs and I dislike them very much. I’ll stop short of saying I hate them because I like the way they ride and the way my truck sits overall. I dislike the constant squeak. It’s so loud that even I am embarrassed to pick my teenage kids up from school. I’m looking to put the original springs back on and take them to a local shop that specializes in springs to get the right set up done.

I have a mobile HAM radio mounted in my truck. It is a Icom 4100. I am using a lip mount on the left side of the hood with a Tram antenna. I have a external speaker that I have mounted underneath the drivers side above the floorboard. It’s audible to me but doesn’t aggravate my wife on road trips when scanning. I have the head mounted on a Hondo Garage vent mount with a split arm to my Ram Mounts X Grip I use to mount my phone. I absolutely love this set up. It’s a clean finish, the HAM head and phone are not obstructive to my view, and it’s all easily accessible while driving.

I also have a KB Voodoo full length bed rack with side mounts for my mountain bikes and a Tuff Stuff Delta rooftop tent. It doesn’t sound like that is the direction that you wanted to go but thought I’d mention it just in case.

I hope that info helps. Have fun on the build and map it out before you start dropping a lot of money.

Mark
KI5FBR View attachment 138708View attachment 138709

Thank you very much for your inputs. The OME kits were something I was looking at but I hadn't heard about the squeaking issue. They did that new? The radio mount definitely helps too, I had my CB mounted on the side of the center console in my 17 and I've been looking at this truck trying to figure out where I'd mount a second radio.

In regards to the bed rack, my thought process for both the modular rack and the softopper is the ability to fairly easily reconfigure my bed for hauling stuff that wouldn't fit under a cap and not have to worry about storage space for a hard cap and a full on welded rack. I have a garage right now but I move a lot for work and that's not a guarantee at my next station. A RTT is something I'm researching into right now but haven't really made up my mind about.

 

[RainierandTacos]

Congrats, it's a nice truck. Taking it slow and moding only what's truly needed is the smartest path.

Thank you. I'm loving it for sure. This truck had all the stuff that I realized I wish my 17 had over the years. and I agree on the taking it slow part. I need to get her off pavement and see how she does before I start pulling parts and replacing them.

Edited original post to update my list.

 

[Trigger]

Thank you very much for your inputs. The OME kits were something I was looking at but I hadn't heard about the squeaking issue. They did that new? The radio mount definitely helps too, I had my CB mounted on the side of the center console in my 17 and I've been looking at this truck trying to figure out where I'd mount a second radio.

In regards to the bed rack, my thought process for both the modular rack and the softopper is the ability to fairly easily reconfigure my bed for hauling stuff that wouldn't fit under a cap and not have to worry about storage space for a hard cap and a full on welded rack. I have a garage right now but I move a lot for work and that's not a guarantee at my next station. A RTT is something I'm researching into right now but haven't really made up my mind about.

I’m glad it helps! My OME leaf springs were new and they have only been on my truck since June 2019. As far as the bed rack situation, the sky is the limit especially if you can weld. I haven’t had any problem moving anything in my truck but it will eventually be a downside to my set up. I can justify it because I do far more traveling than hauling anything. I initially had a custom rack made but it was too tall once I put my RTT on. It rubbed bottom of the garage door. My HAM set up is something that I’m extremely satisfied with. I researched options for months before I finally decided to use the Hondo vent mount and Ram products. You have a good looking truck. That tan was my first choice.

 

[RainierandTacos]

I’m glad it helps! My OME leaf springs were new and they have only been on my truck since June 2019. As far as the bed rack situation, the sky is the limit especially if you can weld. I haven’t had any problem moving anything in my truck but it will eventually be a downside to my set up. I can justify it because I do far more traveling than hauling anything. I initially had a custom rack made but it was too tall once I put my RTT on. It rubbed bottom of the garage door. My HAM set up is something that I’m extremely satisfied with. I researched options for months before I finally decided to use the Hondo vent mount and Ram products. You have a good looking truck. That tan was my first choice.

Hmm interesting but good to know. Thanks for the heads up on the springs. No worries about my current garage. New truck is about a foot too long to fit. I like the vent mount idea too, and I saw on their website that you can still use the vent which was a concern. Might be picking one of those up... the tan has been my favorite color ever since I saw it about a week after I got my '17 and it was on the list of must haves this go around.

 

[RainierandTacos]

Came home from work to find this in the mail today. Don't think it counts as a mod since it's not on the truck (yet) but it's been raining like no tomorrow for the past couple of days.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Your build list is almost a carbon copy of the mods I've done to my ZR2. I'm waiting on a rear shock relocation kit to install OME 600lb springs. First I've heard of a noise problem. Some ZR2 owners have a noise issue with the stock 2 stage springs, grease seems to be a temp fix.
I have a drawer system under my softtopper, this allows a large sleeping area. Even with the drawers I have three large totes plus Pelican cooler and water jug.
If you plan on hard trail travel take a look at the Timbren Off Road bump stops. I was able to eliminate the front sway bar, keep full on road drivability and improve the off road drivability.

 

[rs680]

Hello i look forward to seeing your build. I am starting also. I just got my bumper in today and hope to install that with a winch and also have a led light bar to install. Mine is a daily driver to so i am not going to extreme and i pull a trail But i will be watch your build Have Fun with it.

 

[RainierandTacos]

Your build list is almost a carbon copy of the mods I've done to my ZR2. I'm waiting on a rear shock relocation kit to install OME 600lb springs. First I've heard of a noise problem. Some ZR2 owners have a noise issue with the stock 2 stage springs, grease seems to be a temp fix.
I have a drawer system under my softtopper, this allows a large sleeping area. Even with the drawers I have three large totes plus Pelican cooler and water jug.
If you plan on hard trail travel take a look at the Timbren Off Road bump stops. I was able to eliminate the front sway bar, keep full on road drivability and improve the off road drivability.

Good looking truck, I can definitely see I'm thinking on similar lines. Is that a receiver mount tire carrier?

 

[madcratebuilder]

Good looking truck, I can definitely see I'm thinking on similar lines. Is that a receiver mount tire carrier?

It's A Wilco Hitchgate Offset carrier. You can add jerry can mounts and HiLift mount.

Hitchgate™ Offset

The Wilco Offroad Hitchgate™ Offset spare tire carrier universally fits on virtually all vehicles with a Class III hitch receiver. This swing-away, spare tire carrier mounts to any 2-inch receiver and is perfect for SUVs, Jeeps, vans and pickups. This tough tire carrier secures up to a 38-inch...

wilcooffroad.com

 

[RainierandTacos]

It's A Wilco Hitchgate Offset carrier. You can add jerry can mounts and HiLift mount.

Hitchgate™ Offset

The Wilco Offroad Hitchgate™ Offset spare tire carrier universally fits on virtually all vehicles with a Class III hitch receiver. This swing-away, spare tire carrier mounts to any 2-inch receiver and is perfect for SUVs, Jeeps, vans and pickups. This tough tire carrier secures up to a 38-inch...

wilcooffroad.com

Oh that's very nice, I've been looking into that for when/if I upgrade the tires. How do you like it?

 

[RainierandTacos]

Just a small update. Picked up a 15 dollar open box special phone mount at best buy for the radio. Need a better solution for the wiring run and mic at the moment, but for a grand total of 50 dollars spent it's a serviceable mobile set up. The weather was also nice for the time being, so got the badge on.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Oh that's very nice, I've been looking into that for when/if I upgrade the tires. How do you like it?

Wilco does a very nice job, all welds are very nice, no rattle, fits receiver very tightly, made in usa. They are a bit spendy but I don't think you can buy a better product. Easy open with a single pull pin.

 

[rs680]

Well the First mod is done.
Green lane off road in BC Canada Hook me up with a great looking Aluminium Bumper and i added a 10 k Smittybilt winch and shackle and Combat offroad fairlead hawse.

 

[RainierandTacos]

Spent last weekend moving and racked up about 800 miles on the truck, most of which with a 12 foot u haul trailer on the back. I will just say that the V6 was far and away better for that task than with the old 4 banger I had before deployment.

I did the same $8 dollar yellow fog light mod on this truck as I had on the 2017. As to why... every vehicle I've had with fog lights had amber fogs installed, so having white fogs just feels wrong to me.

A really crappy night output shot. The light is much more yellow than this shows, which has always felt better in fog for me. Worked great on the last truck, and I like to hope that the yellow will be easier on other drivers as well since these fogs throw so much wider than my SR5 fogs did.

 

[RainierandTacos]

Got a steelie for the mic and a battery eliminator for the radio so I don't have to screw around with charging batteries anymore. This will be the setup until I finally decide on a mobile.

 

[RainierandTacos]

Took the truck out on its first mini day trip on Sunday with the goal of driving the Mountain Loop Highway from Granite Falls to Darrington. It was a beautiful day out and there were a bunch of people out enjoying the weather with us. We got stopped by the road being closed at Deer Creek, but my wife was able to get some pictures and the little one didn't seem to mind being in the truck for a while. Maybe in a couple months when the snow melts off we'll get a chance to make the whole trip.