2006 DC Tundra. DD meets ongoing tinkering.

[wrenchMonkey_]

Well, took some photos today. Need to make two more front skid mounts, sort something out underneath for the skid to protect the rad/front diff and then decide what I want to do for a stinger and lighting. Part of me thinks two 6" in the wings pointed out would look great, either a driving or a wide and then perhaps a 20" or 30" on top, either flat on the top of the main bar or inside a stinger. Still debating. Any thoughts?

 

[toyotech]

Wow love the bumper. Did an awesome job. One of the cleanest hybrid I seen for a tundra


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[GasCan]

Gzzzzz. That looks soooo bad a** with the tires, sliders and bumpers.

Crazy!!

You decide on a gearing yet? With 35"s I would consider 4.88. Esp if you are gonna put alot of weight on it.

Im 4.56 on 33" which is under geared a little from stock, but Im very heavy when loaded out for expedition. With 4.56 on 35" you would be close to stock.

If we ever cross paths you could take mine out to get a feel for the gearing.

GC

 

[tyv12]

See with the gearing, even with 3.91s and 35s the trucks drive well and 4.56 gears are already more aggressive than stock why go even further to the 4.88?


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[wrenchMonkey_]

Wow love the bumper. Did an awesome job. One of the cleanest hybrid I seen for a tundra


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Thanks man, appreciate it!

Gzzzzz. That looks soooo bad a** with the tires, sliders and bumpers.

Crazy!!

You decide on a gearing yet? With 35"s I would consider 4.88. Esp if you are gonna put alot of weight on it.

Im 4.56 on 33" which is under geared a little from stock, but Im very heavy when loaded out for expedition. With 4.56 on 35" you would be close to stock.

If we ever cross paths you could take mine out to get a feel for the gearing.

GC

Still undecided on gearing. I have not run a full take of gas through it to see where I am at with the fuel economy. It honestly feels pretty fine for the ammount I drive it, which these days is not alot. I need to get some more seat time on the highway, do a few tanks of gas, load it up and check my RPMs on the highway again then do some math and see where I'd be sitting at RPM wise with 4.56 and 4.88.

Between my spare tire and sand bags, I've got about 300 lbs in the bed right now. When we go camping, we probably have 400 lbs between 40L of fuel, 40L of water, and all the camping and wood and stuff. Add 200 lbs of people and dogs upfront, I see where it does start to add up. However, I dont want to re-gear for the 3-4 camping trips a year and then get horrible fuel economy if its being driven around the city.

See with the gearing, even with 3.91s and 35s the trucks drive well and 4.56 gears are already more aggressive than stock why go even further to the 4.88?


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I hear ya. According to Tacoma World Tire Calculator -

With 315/75-17, at 65 MPH, 3.91 has me at 2485 RPM, 4.56 at 2898 and 4.88 at 3102. With 3.91 giving me better fuel economy, 4.56 bringing me back into the realm of the factory ratios and 4.88 giving me more power.
I really don't feel I need more power, its has lots of torque.

Really in no rush, but once I sort out gearing, I'll be doing front and rear lockers. However, for that $, right now, with the gearing being somewhat OK, I'd probably rather do the suspension on the truck, as I feel thats more bang for my buck in usable modifications right now.

I know SeanPistol said he would of gone for 4.88 with 35"s if he was doing it all over again, so Sean, if your reading this, chime in! Perhaps some of that is because your going to LT and 37s hahahaha!

 

[theBullfrog125]

You absolutely will not get worse mileage around town after regearing. You will see a fuel economy bump across the board even with the higher RPMs.
I don't have the V8 or same truck but I went from 4.10 with 33s to 4.70 gears. 4.56 would have put it closest to stock for me but I wanted a bit of performance with lower gears than stock ratio. After I corrected my speedometer I consistently get 20-21mpg on the highway @ 3200rpms around 70mph. Before I would turn around 2800rpms.
Even though the rpms are higher now I don't have to downshift on the highway anymore and I keep my foot out of it in general. It seemed backwards to me at first but it makes sense.

 

[wrenchMonkey_]

You absolutely will not get worse mileage around town after regearing. You will see a fuel economy bump across the board even with the higher RPMs.
I don't have the V8 or same truck but I went from 4.10 with 33s to 4.70 gears. 4.56 would have put it closest to stock for me but I wanted a bit of performance with lower gears than stock ratio. After I corrected my speedometer I consistently get 20-21mpg on the highway @ 3200rpms around 70mph. Before I would turn around 2800rpms.
Even though the rpms are higher now I don't have to downshift on the highway anymore and I keep my foot out of it in general. It seemed backwards to me at first but it makes sense.

Hrm. Noted. Thanks for the info!

 

[wrenchMonkey_]

Did some small stuff today.

I finished off my harness for the in cab winch switch and remote. Since the Warn 3 PIN socket was toast and buying a replacement was going to run me $85 for OEM Warn, I just ran a second set of wires that head from my contactor to my in-cab switch. A set of Deplhi 3pin connectors and its good to go. I'll normally use the in-cab switch, but I need to still have the remote to finalize spooling the line onto the drum.

Also, threw my light bar back on as since it gets dark here at 4PM and driving on dark snow covered back country roads, I'll take as much light as I can. I dug up the stock mounts and some hose clamps and threw it on quickly. Eventually, Ill want to weld some low-pro brackets on and then weld the bolts to the unit to help mitigate theft. However, my 21in Uni-Bond bar, which has performed well, won't be the final light to live on the bar. At 8,800 quoted chinese lumens, its done great, and will probably live there for a few more months until I can replace it with something in the 30in range, probably something from Baja designs, but maybe whatever Kijiji turns up used for a good deal.

This also led me to looking into something else. I was thinking about getting the bumper Line-X'd, but I needed to sort out my brackets first as I didnt want to pay for that coating then just grind it down to re-weld a new set of brackets for a different width bar. I went and saw my local Line-X guy who said I'd be best to just wait and get it done once, as it would not really match and be the same thickness. That didn't bother me, I'll be smashing it off rocks. What did bother me was the quote, $495 + $180 for sandblasting..... Barf. I'll spend a hour with a angle grinder with a wire wheel, a bit of acetone and 4-5 cans of truck bed liner. The stuff I used on my rear bumper and sliders is holding up OK, but hey, for $10 a can, I can touch it up for ever.

 

[seanpistol]

Yikes, that's expensive. I powdercoated mine and chose something textured that is very similar to bedliner. It cost $150 including sandblasting... I'd find another shop.

Regarding 4.56 versus 4.88... It depends on what you want. 4.56 is 3% lower gearing than stock. It's absolutely worth it. With 3.91s and 35s I was barely getting 13 mpg. Since the regear I can get 17 if I drive it easy enough. It drives like stock. I wished I had 4.88 with 35s because all the added weight is worth factoring in, and I'd like to not downshift on a hill with my snowmobile in the bed and I'd like the slightly lower gears while playing in Moab. If most of your driving is on flatter, open highways, you're going to see better mileage from 4.56s and I'd go that route. The difference between the two isn't going to be catastrophic. It's all in how you use and want to use the truck.

 

[toyotech]

Yeah I would look into powder coating. It will be way cheaper. They have texture finishes like Sean said too. With different colors instead of black


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[hazco88]

Unfortunately unless you're willing to spend lots you'll be painting it yourself.. powder coating prices are insane here in Alberta


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[theBullfrog125]

I painted my bumper with no problems. I too wanted flexibility to modify it as needed. I figure it won't be the worst thing in the world to take it off every few years and recoat it.
To each their own. :beer:

 

[tyv12]

That's about the going rate for line x/ powder coat up here in Alberta. The oil business pushes the prices up substantially... I knew a guy that it was cheaper to ship a bunch of parts to bc have them coated then shipped back than do it in edmonton


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[wrenchMonkey_]

Thanks for all the input and advise guys. Ill be sticking to my spray can bed liner once again. $675 to get it Line-X/Sandblasted buys alot of Spray On Bed Liner for touchups hahha... and alot of other truck parts too.

 

[wrenchMonkey_]

Yikes, that's expensive. I powdercoated mine and chose something textured that is very similar to bedliner. It cost $150 including sandblasting... I'd find another shop.

Regarding 4.56 versus 4.88... It depends on what you want. 4.56 is 3% lower gearing than stock. It's absolutely worth it. With 3.91s and 35s I was barely getting 13 mpg. Since the regear I can get 17 if I drive it easy enough. It drives like stock. I wished I had 4.88 with 35s because all the added weight is worth factoring in, and I'd like to not downshift on a hill with my snowmobile in the bed and I'd like the slightly lower gears while playing in Moab. If most of your driving is on flatter, open highways, you're going to see better mileage from 4.56s and I'd go that route. The difference between the two isn't going to be catastrophic. It's all in how you use and want to use the truck.

Thanks Sean. Great info. Lots to consider. I think I'll need to sit down and crunch the numbers and weigh the truck as is. Even with nothing in the back, I've got +75lbs of sliders and +120lbs of winch/bumper up front and I actually saved some weight on my rear bumper. Add in a spare tire at +70lbs and I already at a minimum 260lbs up. My recovery crap in the bed and 20L of gas and I am sitting at 300lbs. Add up camping gear, ect ect.