Battleship Jones: 2015 Tacoma DCLB Build Thread

[Adventurous]

Thanks guys! Currently sitting at the airport ready to ship off to Costa Rica for a few weeks.

I do find myself at a bit of a crossroads at this point, though it may have more to do with life than just truck related. As I look at my mod wish list the cost adds up quickly. I'm starting to question whether its worth it or if I would be better off putting that towards traveling while I'm still young. If I'm being honest with myself the truck in its current incarnation would probably suffice for 98% of what I intend to do with it (at this point of course). Just re-assessing priorities at this point and I'm not sure the truck will be high on the list. Thoughts to mull over...

 

[thethePete]

^ Always worth the consideration. It's a large portion of the reason my truck is so close to stock still. I have a big long list of things I'd love to do, but saving for them would mean not getting out and enjoying nature. My truck will get me out to about 80% of the places I want to go, so I spend my time going there. Pick away at a new treat for my truck here and there, but for the most part, I'd rather get out and enjoy things than have a project that everyone on the internet drools over, while I'm not going on trips.

 

[Adventurous]

Welp, for a truck related update I took advantage of the current 20% off coupon at AutoAnything.com and picked up an 8'x8' ARB awning.

Since the bed is well, little more than a bed in the current setup and given that it rained every time we went camping last year with the exception of a few times having the covered space should be nice.

 

[Adventurous]

^ Always worth the consideration. It's a large portion of the reason my truck is so close to stock still. I have a big long list of things I'd love to do, but saving for them would mean not getting out and enjoying nature. My truck will get me out to about 80% of the places I want to go, so I spend my time going there. Pick away at a new treat for my truck here and there, but for the most part, I'd rather get out and enjoy things than have a project that everyone on the internet drools over, while I'm not going on trips.

After spending the past year and change accumulating debt related to truck mods and not getting out as much as I'd like, I am in total agreement. This year I have resolved to cut back on the mods and spend more time getting out there and enjoying nature. I don't have the disposable income nor will to do any hardcore rock crawling or much other than explore moderately related trails that lead me to beautiful seldom visited (relatively so) places.

 

[Adventurous]

I know I've alluded to it before but I went and got the KM2s siped last night. Most places I called no longer do siping but Les Schwab did it. I asked them to the center blocks only and leave the outers alone as the internet says that siped outer treads are prone to chunking. We'll see if that improves the winter performance of these tires which was pretty bad in the snow and slippery stuff.

I also did a bit of testing last night to confirm my suspicions that the rear Icon shocks I have are too short for this application. I measured the drooped out the rear end, then removed the shocks and did the same to come up with a difference of ~1.25-1.5". Obviously non-ideal though it shouldn't pose a problem for street driving as I can't say I often use up all of my droop. Long term I will plan on replacing them with something in the 26.XX" extended and 15.XX" collapsed range.

 

[brianjwilson]

I had good results with siping my km2s. They're still mud tires but it definitely made a big improvement for me, hopefully it does for you too.

The awning should be nice! Having some space out of the rain/sun will be nice. I could never decide if I wanted to relocate the roof latch on the camper for an 8' awning or just deal with the smaller one. So instead I did nothing!

 

[thethePete]

Another option, which is good peace of mind either way, would be limit straps for your back axle. Even just getting twisted up in the rocks where you're dangling one tire; it's very hard on the shock to do the job of a limit strap. You're essentially dangling the weight of your whole axle and tire assembly off the piston of the shock. Most guys run a strap that is an inch or two shorter than their max shock stroke, so in this case I would get one that is exactly the right length for now, and then upgrade your shocks to give you the head room down the road. Limit straps are cheap and fairly easy to mount, though you may need someone to weld a tab on the axle for you.

Siping will make a difference on tires but at the end of the day the rubber is not designed to perform below -7C, winter rated tires use different compounds to keep pliability and traction in lower temperatures. Hopefully it's adequate for you, but if you spend more than a couple months driving in snow, it really is in your best interests to invest in some proper winter tires. The best/cheapest option I've found is the Hercules Avalanche Extreme. They offer them in LT sizing and they are the best bang for the buck. Best tire IMO is the Nokkan Haakapaletta for ice, or the Hankook iPike RW11 for all around winter performance. The latter is studdable so are the Avalanches.

 

[Adventurous]

Just read through your whole build and am a fan. The wife and I ended up in the Denver area about 5 months ago and have been exploring the state a bit. Additionally, You mentioned adding an awning to the truck. I make a pretty burly awning bracket for Thule (and Yakima, and Rhino Rack) bars. Check them out and let me know if you'd like to get your hands on them in person as I'm local.

Wow! Just checked out your brackets and those are totally awesome. I only wish that I could afford a pair at this moment. Maybe sometime...

 

[Adventurous]

Another option, which is good peace of mind either way, would be limit straps for your back axle. Even just getting twisted up in the rocks where you're dangling one tire; it's very hard on the shock to do the job of a limit strap. You're essentially dangling the weight of your whole axle and tire assembly off the piston of the shock. Most guys run a strap that is an inch or two shorter than their max shock stroke, so in this case I would get one that is exactly the right length for now, and then upgrade your shocks to give you the head room down the road. Limit straps are cheap and fairly easy to mount, though you may need someone to weld a tab on the axle for you.

Siping will make a difference on tires but at the end of the day the rubber is not designed to perform below -7C, winter rated tires use different compounds to keep pliability and traction in lower temperatures. Hopefully it's adequate for you, but if you spend more than a couple months driving in snow, it really is in your best interests to invest in some proper winter tires. The best/cheapest option I've found is the Hercules Avalanche Extreme. They offer them in LT sizing and they are the best bang for the buck. Best tire IMO is the Nokkan Haakapaletta for ice, or the Hankook iPike RW11 for all around winter performance. The latter is studdable so are the Avalanches.

After you first suggested it I looked into adding limit straps and it looks like a cost neutral'ish proposition compared to getting new shocks. If I owned a welder it would be pretty easy to fab something up but given that I don't, the labor + materials would be nearly the cost of just getting some proper shocks to begin with.

The funny thing about the Denver area is that we don't get a ton of snow, certainly not nearly as much as people might think. I would say that there are snow covered roads down here for perhaps 2 weeks during the winter in which having different tires would be greatly appreciated. Neither the wife or I ski so we have little need to head up to the hills every weekend where it might be more of a factor. I just need some tires that are adequate in the snow for those two weeks, hence why I tried siping. If that doesn't work I'll be happy to swap them out later this year for some ATs that may fit the bill better.

 

[thethePete]

Well proper length shocks are still going to take a pounding unless you get them longer than the springs will droop and then you may run into issues with compression. Either way, if you're not jumping the truck it should never really be an issue, but those are some expensive shocks to be pounding out to full extension.

Yeah Vancouver is about the same. No real snow but it gets cold and icy and snow for a couple weeks.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[BentBomber]

Wow! Just checked out your brackets and those are totally awesome. I only wish that I could afford a pair at this moment. Maybe sometime...

Well give me a holler some time, we might be able to work something out if you tell all your friends.

 

[socalktk]

Love the build! sub'd

 

[Adventurous]

21 days into the new year and I've already semi-broken a promise to myself. I said I wasn't going to pour all kinds of money into the truck this year, but I found a great deal on a set of extended travel non-resi ICON shocks on Craigslist and will be picking them up tomorrow evening. From the beginning I disliked the lack of rebound control of my OME shocks and the way they topped out easily over speed bumps and off road. After picking up the new ICONs (fresh rebuild, only 5K total miles on em pre) I should only be out a few hundred bucks. To me it is an acceptable price to pay to correct one of the things I dislike most about my configuration at the moment. So I'll only consider it a minor offense.

They come with the 650lb springs which I think are right on the threshold for my double cab + ARB up front. I'll have to see how much the pre-load needs to be cranked to get 2" of lift out of them. If it's too much I have no problem swapping those out for 700lb springs.

Pictures to come!

 

[Adventurous]

So I spent a little bit of time tonight putting together a crude bracket to mount the awning to my Thule bars on the topper. Just something temporary to get up and running and make sure it works up there. It is made of some 3" x 3" x 1/4" angle iron and will be fastened to the bars with 2 square u-bolts. ARB supplies 4 6mm bolts for the entire 40lb or so assembly which seemed a bit light duty for me so I decided to go with 4 6mm bolts per bracket! Double time baby! The plan is to have two total brackets. And the requisite picture.

ARB awning bracket by Tim Souza, on Flickr

 

[brianjwilson]

Awesome, interested to hear your thoughts with the icons up front.
Our setups are very different of course. But I do have the coilovers cranked a fair amount for 2.5" of lift. Still probably less than 2" of thread showing on the driver's side so not horrible. I have heavy sliders and a supercharger. Supercharger and fit kit probably add 85-100lbs all setup.
BUT with 2.5" lift I still have 3" of droop up front. Yes it will top out occasionally but rarely, and not nearly as harsh as bilstein 5100s have in IFS applications, which sounds to be similar to OME. If you only set them for 2" of lift, even without a sway bar, it should be a very good ride.

Don't feel too bad on spending the money. I'm fairly certain I'll be selling the truck and camper very soon, with the second kid on the way. But I'm having custom leaf springs made and bought a new intake recently. Might as well enjoy it right?