No Nickname '24 Tundra

I haven't been one to share my vehicles publicly on any type of social media platform, but as I've gotten older, I find myself recovering more often from workouts and garage sessions. So, to help pass the time, here I am.

My 2014 FJ Cruiser that I purchased new and kept for 9 years. Sold it the same day I picked up my Tundra.



The night I picked up my Tundra with 3 miles on the ODO and an empty tank.



Despite what might be floating out there regarding the 3rd gens right now, I'm happy to own it and even more excited about having a capable platform to build something that can go faster in the dirt. I've done the overland thing, I've done the rock crawling thing, and now I'm into the prerunning thing.

Over the last couple of years I've been geeking over prerunners and trophy trucks while learning more about this genre of off-roading. While the FJ was fun and me being committed to going further with the suspension to make it work better, it still wasn't a truck and it lacked power to move big tires. Enter Tundra.

Will my Tundra be as good as even those garage built Rangers and 1st gens down south? Nah. But maybe it'll at least look really good while bucking through some whoops and washboards in the sand dunes. Added bonus: keeping my dirty fishing gear and caught fish outside on the way home.

Stay tuned while this lasts!

As the Tundra sits now...

 

Welcome from OKC! Nice color!

 

Welcome from NY.

 

Some things for the interior. And before anyone comments about the wireless chargers, I know they’re not fast but it works. At 10W each, I primarily use them only to trickle charge or maintain my phones battery as long as I’m not too lazy to take it out of my pocket. If I ever need a real charge and quick, I plug it in.

 

Wheel and tire deliveries. KMC Mesa Forged and Grenade Desert Beadlocks. Mesas will be spun with KM3s and the Grenades with KO2s. Thinking about powder coating the rings on one, but haven’t decided on a color. I love the look of machined wheels, so I’d also be happy to leave them as is. Might also invest in a set of slotted rings to help with the water pooling behind the rings with all the rain we get here in the PNW.

Experimenting fitting a set on the truck with the stock Bilsteins. As you’d expect, plastic trimming and the common frame/liner modifications were required to make this “streetable” with some rubbing (not recommended). This is motivation to get off my a$$ and install the shocks that have bit sitting in the garage since December.

 

Let's smash some whoops! Love the machined wheels

 

Agreed!! Machined is the new black, believe that!

 

Copy that. Looking forward to getting on the learning curve of this truck. Might be a worthwhile to take it out once or twice to compare and contrast after some suspension work. But give me some time to build something that can keep up with that beast of yours! Fingers crossed for an LSK kit. Still need to figure out what to do for the rear but there aint much out there yet for the 3rd gens.

Definitely becoming a common trend for all types of truck builds. Used to really only see them on prerunners but it's making waves. No wonder why more and more wheel companies are increasing their machined finish offerings.

 

It's no V8, but it's not too bad either.

 

Got a little motivation this morning to take at least one thing from the pile of parts and get it installed. Gotta get up close to see it. No matter how little, every part plays a role in making the driving experience more enjoyable. Now, gotta do something about those skinny trailing arms...

 

Another short garage session yesterday to turn the volume up on the turbo spooling.

 

How much louder is the turbo spool?

 

Not sure how I can describe the difference accurately without audio, but for me, I really didn't even notice it before the intake unless I had the music off and windows closed while building boost. I still have to have the music relatively low to hear it, but now I can still hear it between beats. It's really a combination of the turbo spool and intake suction. Need the rain to stop so I can hear it with the windows open.

FWIW, it's probably not worth the price but I did it mostly for fun. Power gains aren't huge, if any, but I guess something is better than nothing.

Now, about those skinny links...These shall do until LSK builds a trailing arm kit and bed cage for a rear LT setup.

 

Garage session. Here we go.

Update: Kings are in. Added rear air bumps and removed the front sway bar.

 

Parts pile is shrinking. As the truck stands now with new suspension and 37s.

 

Really like the look.
How does it ride with the Kings?

 

Thanks!

I only have about 20 miles on these so far but had Kings on my old FJ but the ride now is perfect for me. It's noticeably firmer on-road without being too harsh on bumps and swells. The OEM Bilsteins were too soft and bouncy for me. Compared to those, the Kings are sharper and quick to stand back up (rebound) after compression. I also switched to BFG KO2s from Kenda Klevers and that helped the ride quite a bit too.

 

what is the part number for the steering wheel? Also what boards are you running?

 

Found here: ULTIMATE "UN"-OFFICIAL Toyota OEM/TRD OR/TRD Pro/Accs Parts Thread for MY22+ (3rd Gen) TUNDRA

Scroll up and it will be at the bottom of the previous post...

MY22+ Tundra Tundra HV, MY23+ Sequoia Steering Wheels
45100-0C470-C0 - Wheel Assy, Steering, Urethane (SR/SR5)
45100-0C480-C1 - Wheel Assy, Steering, Leather, 1794 (Beige Stitching)
45100-0C480-C2 - Wheel Assy, Steering, Leather, Capstone (White Stitching)
45100-0C480-C4 - Wheel Assy, Steering, Leather, PLT (Blue Stitching)
45100-0C490-C1 - Wheel Assy, Steering, w/ Heater, Leather, 1794 (Beige Stitching)
45100-0C490-C2 - Wheel Assy, Steering, w/ Heater, Leather, Capstone (White Stitching)
45100-0C490-C4 - Wheel Assy, Steering, w/ Heater, Leather, PLT (Blue Stitching)
45100-0C500-C2 - Wheel Assy, Steering, w/ Heater, Leather, TRD Pro (Black Stitching)
45100-0C510-C0 - Wheel Assy, Steering, Urethane (SR/SR5)
45100-0C520-C0 - Wheel Assy, Steering, Leather, SR5 Premium PKG (Black Stitching)
45100-0C530-C0 - Wheel Assy, Steering, w/ Heater, Leather, SR5 Premium PKG (Black Stitching)

 

Would it matter if my SR5 doesnt have heated steering wheel? if going to the pro one?

 

None. You’ll have a heated steering wheel when you add the pro wheel and get the oem switch for the dash since the wiring harness is already there. It was that way on my Limited at least.

 

What boards are you running?

 

Go Rhino Dominator DSS. I'll be taking these off eventually since they aren't really providing much use for me. I just like having something under the rocker panel to fill what looks like a void to me. The nice thing about these is they provide the least amount of protrusion to use as a step if you need without looking like a common running board (which I hate). If I could get the OEM "sliders" to work on my frame, I'd have gotten those.

 

I have the oem TRD but hate the 1-2” gap between the cab. I like boards more tight up against the cab. I had the same boards on all 5 of my Tacomas from a trail edition and hid the pinch weld.

 

Agreed. I prefer ones that are tucked up against the rocker panel. The pictures exaggerate how much surface there is to step on - you could easily slip off these boards but I really don't need a step and don't use it as one. I spent a lot of time pulling myself up and ass-first into my PRP Podium seat when I had my FJ so climbing into the truck is easy!

 

I would love to not have boards but have 2 kids and one with special needs so it’s a must but really need to get sliders that hug the frame

 

Update: Finally heard back from BK and the misalignments provided for the trailing arms were incorrect. There's a .2" difference between the misalignments for the Tundra VS LC300. New ones being mailed to me and all should be good.

I hoped to install the Baja Kits billet links this weekend but got confused with the sizing of the provided uniball spacers. I'll have to wait until I can talk to one of their techs to get clarification or possibly different size bushings.

Long story short, they provide two size spacers. I won't get into all the exact measurements but all that's important for now is that one is taller than the other. There aren't instructions available to reference for their links but they did provide me with the parts schematic. It shows the taller spacers being used on the upper links and the shorter spacers on the lowers. Check.



Here's where things start to get confusing. The schematic calls for the delrin wobble stoppers to be used with the rear (axle) pivots. The problem is, there's about a 3/16" height difference between the shorter spacer used on the lower links and delrin stops. This allows either spacer to move out of the uniball slightly. Though it wouldn't fall completely out of the uniball, seems unusual to design it this way rather than being flush and preventing any movement of the spacers. It also means that all the force applied from torquing the hardware is put on the delrin stops instead of the steel spacers. The pivot mounts would probably take a good amount of the torque from the hardware, so maybe this isn't a concern. But if the links sustain forces strong enough to break the delrin and then fall out, that could be troublesome with the amount of play that would be created.



Here is the taller spacer with the delrin stop. Exact width of the axle and frame mounts and allows no movement. Delrin not at risk of taking all the load and breaking apart. Even if it did, it wouldn't be an issue.



Lastly, if I'm interpreting their schematic correctly, the spacers used at the frame of the lower links have an overall width nearly half an in narrower than the mount. That means to get the link to sit tight within the mount walls, I'd need to compress it half an inch by tightening hardware. Not only would that jeopardize the integrity of the steel mount, the walls wouldn't be completely flush against the spacers. I thought about placing the taller spacers at the frame mounts of both links, but that doesn't solve the issue down at the axle with the short spacers and delrin.

We'll see what BK says.

 

Update with a few things now that I'm back from a ban hiatus, LOL.

Per the billet links, the misalignments sent ended up being incorrect for the Tundra. It's been over 30 days working with them to figure that out and getting the correct misalignments machined, but the last set arrives today and I can wrap up the install. Been driving around with 3 out of 4 links for a while.







Chase Rack mounted to the bed and temporarily under the Tonneau until I get my spare tires and other gear for it. Honestly, pretty stoked it fit under the tonneau to have the option of securing my gear when I go on short offroad/fishing trips without having to remove it.



ADD bumper installed with Baja Designs Pro lighting. It's was tricky getting good suggested measurements for the cut lines, but I feel pretty good about how it turned out. Ended up with a couple MM space between both bumpers, which is what I was shooting for to get as flush as possible. The 37's still rub on the corner of the bumper so not sure how long this will stay. Just need a good pre-runner bumper or maybe I'll just be bumper-less when I go offroad in the interim.



Glass fenders finally delivered and now looking for the right shop for the job. Making my first visit to one out in Sandy after this as they were recommended to me, but I wish it was closer. Looking forward to re-joining the fat body crew! Now, just need a good LT kit...C'mon LSK..



That's it for now, but I still have a lot of misc. things to wrap up before I move onto anything else from here. Only other big mods on the list for me are long travel front and rear kits and a BBK upgrade, but I expect all that to be sometime next year while I enjoy the truck as it is now and see how reliable it's going to be as I add some more miles...

 

Trying on the dirt setup. KMC Mesa Forged Beadlocks and KM3s. These ride a helluva lot better than the Grenades with KO2s and balancing was night and day.

17x9, 0 offset. 37x12.50R17.

 

KMC does machined finish better than anyone else. Really digging those. Waiting for the non beadlock Impact and Grenades to come out already. Did you notice any effects from switching to the heavier tire?