Battleship Jones: 2015 Tacoma DCLB Build Thread

[Adventurous]

Given how much the wife and I travel into the backcountry alone I figured it was about time to install a winch. While a Warn Zeon would be nice, it wasn't in the budget, so a Smittybilt X20 Comp 10K had to do. I went with the wire rope for now.

The install has raised a few questions for me however. For those of you who have installed a winch into an ARB bumper for an 05-15, are you supposed to install the upper bolt for the fairlead? Currently it's only fastened using the 3/8" bolts for the lower winch mounts.

Secondly, I don't feel comfortable wiring the winch directly to the battery. Given that a short could potentially burn the truck to the ground, I'd rather fuse it. I'm currently considering using a 400A ANL fuse and maybe a battery cutoff to cut power to the winch when it's not being used. Anyone have experience in this realm?

Lastly, I'm going to relocate the solenoid under the hood or somewhere it's protected. I'm not too keen on having it hanging out on the front of the bumper for anyone to fiddle with. What gauge cables do you guys use? It appears that the winch is supplied with a 2 gauge which given the max amp draw of the winch seems a bit light duty. I was thinking something in the neighborhood of 2/0 gauge sounds more appropriate. Thoughts?

Quoting myself as I just got off the phone with Smittybilt and got answer to question 1.

The two lower bolts that mount the winch also attach the fairlead. Now, the confusing part comes that they are specified as 3/8"-16 bolts with 10.9 stamped on the head. Grade 10.9 bolts don't exist in SAE threads, only metric. According to Smittybilt anything grade 5 and above is adequate, so I shall replace those lower bolts with some slightly longer ones in Grade 8 and that will more than suffice for the application. I shall however ignore the fact that they have obtained the unobtainable.

 

[Adventurous]

Haven't touched this one for a while, but then again I haven't touched my truck in a while so that's probably why. I haven't accomplished a ton recently, just general maintenance items as I roll onward towards 30K on the truck.

To follow up on the Smittybilt saga, their manual is incorrect, they are actually M10 metric bolts. The thread pitch is close enough that you could mistake it for 3/8-16, but alas, it is not.

Swapped out spark plugs this past weekend. The job was fairly straightforward with the exception of 2 things. 1, the stupid little boot on the spark plug socket kept coming out of the socket and sticking on the plug upon re-installation. Fought with that for a bit before opening up the rubber boot with a drill bit. 2, the forward plug on the driver's side bank was a real PITA to get to and my hands still have the wounds to prove it.

Plug part numbers for future reference.

IMG_1981 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

I also addressed the growing corrosion on the positive battery terminal. I think combating corrosion is a general theme of my build and I thought it prudent to head this one off as well.

The problem:
IMG_1982 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

The solution makers:
IMG_1984 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

Give everything a healthy dose of spray, use the battery terminal cleaners to brush away all corrosion.
IMG_1985 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

Re-install with oiled felt pads that hopefully prevent future corrosion!
IMG_1986 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

Next update at some point in the future will be the overhaul of all things electrical to clean up some of the wiring related things that have irked me.

 

[Adventurous]

Continuing the theme of my very tame build thread I went ahead and replaced the air filter this morning. It only had 5K or so on it but was looking a bit dirty when I pulled it to replace the spark plugs, so I went ahead and ordered up an aFe pro dry to replace it. I figured it was prudent to go ahead and get the lifetime filter at this point as it will pay for itself within a couple of years if I replace the air filter at the recommended service intervals.

aFe power!
20161203-DSC_2095 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

Side by side comparison with the OEM Toyota (on the right). Not absurdly dirty, but still starting to get there.
20161203-DSC_2098 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

And everything all buttoned up. Cleaned off the air box as my engine bay is filthy and applied the aFe sticker for extra points.
20161203-DSC_2100 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

Another thing ticked off the list!

 

[WKexpedition]

Really digging the rear lights on the OEM bumper. Something I might have to try out.

I agree. Really love that look. Any write up on how you ended up wiring them?

 

[Adventurous]

I agree. Really love that look. Any write up on how you ended up wiring them?

Not yet nope! As part of my electrical makeover I'm dumping the Blue Sea block in favor of a Bussman. It'll help consolidate the wiring a bit and get rid of random relays hanging out all over.

Long way of saying the wiring of this thing has yet to come. Bumper lights will be on an ON/OFF/ON switch so I can turn them on independently or tie them to the OEM back-up lights. I'll make sure to detail the wiring overhaul well as it will be a good reference for later.

 

[Adventurous]

After 2 years and 30K miles the OEM brakes were in poor shape. They still had plenty of pad and rotor life left but were exhibiting strong vibes and steering wheel oscillations coming down the mountain passes. Definite safety issue that I decided couldn't wait so I went ahead and got some EBC stuff in the mail to replace.

Nothing too crazy to write about, it was more or less your standard brake job. I decided to go with EBC Sport Rotors and Yellowstuff pads. It's supposed to provide maximum stopping power, albeit at the expense of brake dust, for those who need it. Given that I anticipate towing a decently rated trailer in the not too distance future, I figured this was the appropriate combination for me.

Standard steps for doing a brake job, remove wheel, spread pads and retract pistons (I chose to open up the reservoir cap and let it flow backwards into the reservoir instead of out the bleeder), remove caliper, then use M8 bolts on the rotor jack screw holes to pop it free after it inevitably corrosion sticks itself to the hub. Do all that and you should have something that looks like this.

IMG_2021 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

Then comes the fun part, putting it all back together! In reality it's not so difficult as it is time consuming to make sure you adequately grease all parts that need to be greased. First up was putting a very light coating of anti seize on the hub to prevent the rotor from corroding to it next time I need to get these apart.

IMG_2025 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

Instead of shims and pads between the piston and the pad EBC provides a set of inserts that press into the piston bore. Their purpose, according to the literature, is to prevent vibration and noise. Cool, in the trash go the stock pads and shims, a light layer of grease on the contact surfaces, and I snapped the inserts into place.

IMG_2022 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

Carefully slide the rotor on making sure not to get any anti-seize or grease onto the braking surface, then bolt the caliper in place. I torqued the caliper bolts down then started in on the pads. Greased the back, greased the sides where it can contact the caliper, and greased the top and bottom pins the pads ride on. Dropped them in place and put all the clips back on, and boom, new brakes!

IMG_2023 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

IMG_2024 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

Rinse and repeat for the other side. I made sure to turn the key to the ON position and pump the brakes a few times to bring the pads to the rotor. They are still good and firm, so no bleed is necessary this time around.

The brakes ground a little bit the first few stops as the coating from the pads starts to wear off as does the coating on the rotor. After say 6 stops they stopping making noise and felt pretty smooth. Per the instructions I'll baby them for the first 1,000 miles. Time will tell if they deliver a marked improvement over the stockers.

 

[Adventurous]

I also find myself contemplating swapping out the KM2s for an all-terrain with the decision being primarily dictated by the poor performance of the KM2s any time snow or ice is present. They are adequate in fresh powder, but anytime I have to traverse road surfaces that have been packed down or are slick their deficiencies are apparent. It's not so much starting that worries me, the 4wd has done a great job of taking care of that, it's stopping.

I can appreciate the performance of the KM2s as an "overland" or "expedition" type tire for a lot of applications, I just don't think it continues to make sense for the conditions I am driving in. Perhaps it was an ill conceived choice when I put them on there in the first place, but I will say that they delivered in terms of being a tall skinny with decent weight, noise, and certainly toughness. Unfortunately excellent performance for 75% of the year cannot overcome the poor performance for 25% of the year considering the consequences of not having confidence in your ability to stop in inclement weather. C'est la vie, you live and you learn.


In a time honored tradition, the contenders are:

BFG KO2
General Grabber AT2
Cooper ST Maxx
Toyo Open Country AT2

Each definitely have pros and cons, though when the list shakes out I think the Generals come out on top. I have had them on two prior vehicles and was pleased with their performance in the slick stuff. I will be perfectly honest and say that their price is also a big factor as I can get the tires + mount + balance cheaper than I can get just the tires for the others. Given that tires aren't exactly a throw away kind of decision, I am debating whether that cost savings comes at the expense of being significantly worse performance wise...do the others perform that much better to warrant the price difference? If so that's fine, I don't have experience with them and am willing to spend a few hundred extra if that's the case.

Size wise I think I will be ditching the 255/85 for a 285/75 or 295/75. I'd love to get a tire with the same size OD (295/75), but am not too excited about the prospects of having to trim sheet metal fenders to make that work. From all the searching I have done the 285/75 seems to fit with only trimming to the inside of the plastic fender + the cab mount chop.

Decisions decisions...

 

[Wasatch]

For what it's worth: Having run both the KM2 (255/85), KO (265/75), and Duratrac (285,75) I cannot express enough how well Duratracs are in the snow/ice compared to the KO or KM2. I've run BFG's for years, and was skeptical about the Duratrac, but they exceeded my expectations.

In the winter, I lived in a canyon that got lots of snow and no sunlight. I never got stuck with the Duratracs. The KM2's are great in the summer and fresh snow, but in hardpack/icy conditions they may as well be slicks.

 

[p nut]

I've got KO2's, which feel like great improvement over KO's. I'm just a state to the west of you and never had issues on snow or ice. They don't perform like studded snow tires on ice, but I've never gotten stuck. They wear like iron as well.

 

[DaVikes]

I just switched from 285/70/17 Duratracs to 34 x 10.5 KO2's. So far I think the KO2's are slightly better than the Duratracs were when they were new. In our last two Denver snowfalls, I've stayed in 2wd, and felt fine that way. The driving force for getting rid of the Duratracs was that they had gotten noisier and were creating some vibes with 30k on them. Snow performance had deteriorated as they wore down, but I think that would be true of any tire.

I like the 34 (really 33.5ish) x 10.5 size. My truck is geared with 4.56's, so going from 285s to 34's lowered my highway rpm a bit. The weight is reasonable at 56lbs, and the sidewall is probably better than the Duratrac's. The KO2 sidewall also feels stiffer, but the ride is still ok. The downside to the ko2 is cost. 4WheelParts had a good price and a promo where they paid the sales tax. I have kids, and safety matters more to me now that it used to, so I paid up. The other tires I was looking at cost less, but had less snow/ice performance.

If you'd like to see what they are like, send me a pm. I'd like to check out your new suspension.

 

[Adventurous]

Bump! Literally. This past weekend I was traveling home on the highway when traffic came to one of those random no reason type of stops. I was able to stop in time as was the guy behind me, the guy behind him was pulling a 7,000lb trailer and couldn't. He plowed into the guy behind me and pushed him into the back of my truck. . Luckily the guy behind me cushioned the blow enough to mitigate some of the damage but not all of it.

IMG_2097 by Tim Souza, on Flickr

My non-professional evaluation of the situation is a dented bumper, cracked plastics, some scuffing and a minor dent on the tailgate. Insurance is taking care of things as they should (his insurance has already accepted liability for the accident) but I find myself at a crossroads. Do I have the stocker replaced with an aftermarket equivalent of the same thing? Insurance is not obligated to spring for OEM parts which I'm not too stoked about which leads me to my conundrum. Do I instead replace it with an aftermarket plate bumper of some variety?

What says the wisdom of the internet? Of those of you that have aftermarket plate bumpers, how many feel they are a necessity? Are swing outs that hold a spare tire and gas cans all they are cracked up to be? Or are they a superfluous piece of weight adding gear?

 

[ak_cowboy]

Who is your insurance? I was rear-ended and got a check from State Farm that I used to purchase a Bodyguard rear bumper and have it shipped to me.

I would go for a heavy duty bumper if funds allow, otherwise, stick with what the insurance will cover.

 

[soonenough]

I can't say enough good things about my CBI Bushmaster 2.0 rear bumper. I have the swingout with spare tire carrier, gas can carrier, and hi-lift mount. Admittedly, with all 3 mounted back there, it is heavy. For day-to-day driving, I don't carry the hi-lift with me, but I do always carry my spare tire and 5 gallons of gas. I currently have their older style (purchased in 2013) with the oilite bronze bushings in the spindle; their newer versions have roller bearings in the spindle and are supposed to be much easier to open and close. I will find out soon enough, because like you, I was recently rear-ended and the other guy's insurance is buying me a new rear bumper (since he tweaked the swingout spindle to where it wouldn't open properly). I got an insurance check large enough to pay for any bumper on the market but I opted for the same exact bumper from CBI.

Is it necessary? I'd say that's up for you to decide based on your usage. I like the extra work space of the fold-down table for cooking, etc, and I also like the fact that my spare is not under the truck.

 

[DaVikes]

I have an all pro standard bumper. I like that it moves the hitch up, as sooner or later the hitch will drag when it's in the stock position. Also, of course, you can use a high lift on it, and it has two shackle mounts. What I don't like is that to move the hitch up, the hitch also has to move forward a bit, which can limit the size of tire that will fit underneath. I think that might be a problem with all of the bumpers that move the hitch up, but I'm not sure.

Check out http://www.insainfab.com/home.html. The website does not do his product justice. Really nice work, and he also works in aluminum. There are more pictures in the CO section of TW. Also, if you decide to stay with the stock bumper, I'll bet you can find on on CL, as people sell them when they put plate bumpers on. Glad you and your truck are not worse off. People driving with heavy trailers should be leaving a bigger gap.

 

[Watt maker]

I would also try to spring for a HD bumper of your choice. As for the spare tire carrier, fuel cans, etc., I think it depends on your future plans for the truck. Are you moving to 35's? Planning any really remote long distance overlanding?