2021 Tundra Crewmax - The "building" of a daddy mobile

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

I figured since I'm bored at work and had some time that I would start a "build thread" for my 2021 Crewmax Tundra. It’s not really going to be "built,” as it will never have a lift kit, mud terrains, lockers, racks, or a winch. It will never cruise the back roads of Mexico or the barren lands of the Southwest. What it will do is get me to work and back and my daughter to school and dance, and everywhere else she goes. It will get us down the beach and to camping spots in the National Forest and State Parks.

For my first post, I’d like to show the storage boxes that I built for the bed. Originally, I was going to find a set of the Toyota Trail Edition boxes, but they are expensive, hard to find, and not that big. I needed a place to store straps, tools, and all the other things that go with truck ownership. I decided to build my own out of 5/8” CDX. They are glued together with P&L construction adhesive. I used 17x24 boat hatches for doors. I coated the boxes with a couple of coats of polyurethane and then painted the inside gloss white (reflects light) and coated the outside with two coats of Herculiner. I bolted them to the bed in 8 locations and added some generic L-track from Amazon. I still have to add some trim pieces and LED lights. The passenger side box will get two 12V outlets ( it's built, just haven't had time to install it).

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

For "black friday" I snagged a deal on the Rough Country dual exhaust (sounds amzing!), and a Molle rack for the back of the front seats since the Tundra lacks interior storage.

 

[Todd n Natalie]

Sounds like a good plan! Enjoy your truck.

I basically have a truck for the same purposes. Hauling kids, work commute and towing a camper.

It'll never be built either. The money it would cost to 'build' it is much better spend paying for getaways in my opinion.

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

It'll never be built either. The money it would cost to 'build' it is much better spend paying for getaways in my opinion.

I couldn't agree more 👍

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

I made some more headway on the boxes yesterday. I installed the passenger side and trimmed the bed mat. The holes in the passenger side box are for switches and two 12v outlets. I'm debating sealing the boxes against the bed, just depends on how much water the tonneau cover lets in. I still have a few odds and ends to do, but they are 95% done at this point.

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

A while back I played around with the intake. Knowing that an aftermarket intake won't make any more power or give me any better fuel economy, I focused on things with provide a benefit. The first thing I did was replace the stock intake tube with the one off the TRD intake. It eliminates the resonator in the stock tube. While this didn’t unleash any power, it did make the truck sound better. The second thing I did was the SAMB (Stock Air Box Mod). Basically, you use $12.00 in parts from AutoZone to add a second air inlet to the air box. This made a difference in my off the line acceleration and seemed to add about .5 mpg on my daily commute (13.7 to 14.2).



I also added a catch can. While the Tundras don’t have a “problem” with their PVC systems dumping oil back into the intake, this one catches a few ounces of crud every 2,500 ish miles that would otherwise be sent through the intake. Since I had to lengthen the PVC line after installing the intake tube, and I had the catch can in my tool box, it seemed like the perfect time to add one.

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

Thanks to the black Friday sales on Amazon and Temu , I was able to piece together some storage for the back of my seats. Since the Tundra lacks under seat storage, this seemed like a good option.

 

[Amarsh]

How does that attach to your seat?

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

How does that attach to your seat?

It has a strap at the top that goes around the post that hold up the head rest and then the bottom has a strap that hooks to what ever you can find under the seat.

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

Fun fact, Amazon sells switches that fit in the blank spots in the dash. I hate aftermarket switches so this was a nice surprise. They fit great, just needed one wrap of electrical tape to make them fit perfectly.

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

I'm not a fan of accessories that appear to be aftermarket, I like accessories to look like they came from the factory. Since I have a habit of wiring in all kinds of stuff, so I thought I'd get a head start and use a fuse/relay box from Amazon. Instillation was easy enough and with the lid on it looks like it belongs there. Once I tidy up the wiring, it will all run under the air box and out of site.

The box has six fuses and six relays. It came pre wired with a set of basic instructions. Right now it's running my horns (I'm going to add the 4 tone Cadillac horns) and a light bar that I'm going to hide in the hood bulge. After that who knows, probably a fridge for the back seat.

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

Finally got the lights wired in the bed. I'd say I'm done, but that would be a lie.

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

I finally got around to installing the "hood bulge" light. Pretty straight forward process, just gotta trim a little sheet metal to get it in there. I used a 41" light bar from Amazon. Haven't gotten a chance to aim it yet, but it's pretty bright as is. It's wired into my high beams and then a switch on the dash. The high beams are the trigger wire for the relay, with the switch serving as a gateway to decide if I want it on or not.

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

For anyone considering shoving a light behind their hood bulge, you have to reinforce it so the wind at HW speeds doesn't tear it off. I used some bent pieces of a metal clothes hanger, painted black, and epoxied them in place.

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

Today's installment of "things that I accidentally figured out." If you take a 3/8" eye bolt and thread it into a unistrut washer, you can use it with the Toyota bed rail system.