Battleship Jones: 2015 Tacoma DCLB Build Thread
- Thread starter Adventurous
- Start date
Adventurous
Explorer
Yes and no. :squint:
Ordered them in early September. At that point they were 2-3 weeks out. As of last week they were still 2 weeks out. :squint: :squint: :squint: Hoping to get them soon, I have a bunch of other stuff I'm waiting to do all at the same time hopefully before my truck disappears into the body shop for some weeks.
Nice choice! I've been looking at those as well, but think they might be a little too aggressive for the amount of highway driving I require to get to the camping/adventuring/off-roading spots. They certainly appear to be more mud terrain than all terrain. Still a toss up in my head about the ST-maxx, KO2, At3w, and even heard really good things about the baja atz p3 from Mickey Thompson. Although, the Open Country AT2's that I have now are working fine, even at 10psi in the sand down on the beach in Mexico a few weeks ago. Just wish they had a 3 ply sidewall and were slightly more aggressive. They aren't the quietest tires either, but I think none of these options are known for low noise.
You'll have to let us know your initial thoughts with the STT Pro's, and some feedback after some miles and adventuring.
Adventurous
Explorer
Will do!
Truthfully they are more aggressive than I wanted to go as well, however, we often travel by ourselves. As much as I yearned for the quietness of an all-terrain, I decided the upsides of the mud-terrain in this case outweighed the downsides.
Adventurous
Explorer
Anyone running a dual battery setup in their Tacoma with the second battery in the bed? They would be paired with a Blue Sea ACR, just mulling over if there's a good way to run wiring or if it's just awkward either way.
Thinking that may be the ticket for the times when I have the fridge in the truck and don't wanna kill my starting battery. I'm a bit leery of the dual battery setup with both batteries in the stock location; that's a lot of weight on the thin sheet metal fender.
Thinking that may be the ticket for the times when I have the fridge in the truck and don't wanna kill my starting battery. I'm a bit leery of the dual battery setup with both batteries in the stock location; that's a lot of weight on the thin sheet metal fender.
I also have two batteries in the stock location, no issues at all. Optimas with ATO tray. But, I also just did the 'alternative' snokel thing with the stock intake suction tube - getting air from cowl. this frees up a ton of room where the stock tube goes through the fender. Perfect for a battery, or compressor, etc.
why not run the second battery in the engine compartment, (either two in stock location or house battery on passenger side) and a small 10 awg wire back to the accessories you need to run back there instead of the huge cables required to make it an integral "dual" setup for winching, self jumping, etc?
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/different-approach-to-a-snorkel.266449/
The only problem I see with two in stock location is adding to the tacoma lean, not one with structure of the sheet metal. It is pretty stout, and as eatSleepWoof mentioned, not and bouncing when secured properly.
If you want to put it in the bed, the only challenging part about running anything from the engine compartment rearward is near the fender and exhaust manifold area... that is tight and hot. secure to whatever is around for no movement, and with split loom.
why not run the second battery in the engine compartment, (either two in stock location or house battery on passenger side) and a small 10 awg wire back to the accessories you need to run back there instead of the huge cables required to make it an integral "dual" setup for winching, self jumping, etc?
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/different-approach-to-a-snorkel.266449/
The only problem I see with two in stock location is adding to the tacoma lean, not one with structure of the sheet metal. It is pretty stout, and as eatSleepWoof mentioned, not and bouncing when secured properly.
If you want to put it in the bed, the only challenging part about running anything from the engine compartment rearward is near the fender and exhaust manifold area... that is tight and hot. secure to whatever is around for no movement, and with split loom.
Adventurous
Explorer
The OEM location may be my best bet, but its not unheard of for the sheet metal support under the battery on the Tacoma to tear (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...river-side-wheel-well-not-the-battery.484715/). Might be an inevitable result of playing hard in the dirt, but I'd prefer not to avoid that if at all possible.
The rest of my engine bay is pretty much spoken for unfortunately. Short of relocate the ABS module, air injection pump, and snorkel intake, I'm pretty much out of room. So no dice there. Same with inside the cab, all space is spoken for, hence how I arrived with the second battery in the bed. I'm a fan of that solution in every way but the work required to make it happen. :sombrero:
Mebbe I just run duals in the OEM location and deal with the cracking when it comes. I don't intentionally beat on my junk, but apparently I run it hard enough to flatten the cam tabs and get the bed to spread. Shucks. :smiley_drive:
Adventurous
Explorer
Something to consider for sure.
You have the OGE kit right? May end up grabbing that and sucking up the cost of 2 group 35 Optimas. 72lbs vs. the stock group 27F at 50, so not the best, not the worst.
Scott B.
SE Expedition Society
I will be running a second battery in the back - it's on the list. I ran them like this in my Ranger, and it worked quite well. I also use a Blue Sea ACR.
For now, I have a 10 ga wire running from the battery to a fuse block in the bed. The 10 ga will be replaced with a 4 ga for the additional battery. The wire runs along the top of the radiator and down in/along the passenger side frame rail. I drilled a couple of holes in the side of the bed to pass the wires through. I think there is a picture of this in my build thread.
08Silverado
Adventurer
Hello,
So I just read almost every word of your thread, and it's been a lot of good insight for me. In May of this year I bought a 2017 DCLB TRDOR. The modding bug has bit hard. I want to take my truck in a similar path as yours. I'm currently trying to make a decision on suspension and camper shell. Can you give me the specifics on what suspension you would go with if starting fresh, and also if you could do it over would you go for the raised camper shell instead of the cab height version? Thanks for your input and thanks for keeping up with this thread!
So I just read almost every word of your thread, and it's been a lot of good insight for me. In May of this year I bought a 2017 DCLB TRDOR. The modding bug has bit hard. I want to take my truck in a similar path as yours. I'm currently trying to make a decision on suspension and camper shell. Can you give me the specifics on what suspension you would go with if starting fresh, and also if you could do it over would you go for the raised camper shell instead of the cab height version? Thanks for your input and thanks for keeping up with this thread!
Adventurous
Explorer
Thanks bud! I'd be happy to give my thoughts on suspension, especially whereas I had already discussed this with another member in length; I'll just copy over my thoughts.
Instead of answering your question directly, I’ll step through the thought process and answer it along the way. Hopefully that’ll help you understand why I’m recommending what I do.
As far as the suspension goes, do you have any towing in your future? Or do you spend a lot of time with additional weight in the bed of your truck? Do you spend more time low speed crawling or would you prefer to hvae the suspension dialed for higher speed driving? Do you have a good idea of your future plan/build with the truck?
Obviously, you can see how my suspension setup has evolved as my build has progressed and my mentality shifted. Assuming you just want the best bolt-on kit without fabbing up shock hoops or anything, let’s dive into it.
There are a few basic questions that’ll lead you down the road to an ideal setup:
1) Are you prepared to purchase a set of aftermarket upper control arms for the front?
2) Do you mind the service interval for rebuildable shocks?
If the answer to #1 is no, your options will be stock length offerings which most of the companies have. While the OEM control arms provide enough adjustability to compensate for lifting the truck within the stock range of motion, it’ll have adverse impacts on driving dynamics unless you keep it at stock height or reasonably close. My prior build utilized OME coilovers with an 885 spring and the OEM upper control arm, post-lift the ride was a twitchier and less stable than before.
If the answer to #1 is yes, the world is your oyster. You can still choose stock length offerings, but you can also choose extended travel coilovers. I believe they only net something like 1.25” of travel more, but with the already limited travel of an IFS setup every bit counts right?
From there the question becomes uniball or ball-joint? I went with ball-joint and I’d do it again if faced with that decision. I’d imagine a ball-joint would work better for you as well given the snow/salt situation in PA. Adverse weather seems to be the death knell for uniballs and I’d rather give up a little bit of suspension adjustability and performance in the name of ease of service and durability. Offerings wise, I’ve had no real issues with my Light Racing UCAs (internetting will reveal mixed reviews, though mostly applicable to older models) and I can recommend those.
Onto question #2 for the front end. Do you want rebuildable or not?
If that answer is no, you are left with a couple of options, mainly Bilstein and OME. Both are heavier duty and perform better than the OEM stuff and both can be configured to provide a lift. Cost is pretty similar between the two as is performance truth be told; though I say that only having ~15 miles of road time on a Bilstein setup. Both have inadequate rebound damping once you throw on heavier springs or more preload for lifting. This manifests in the top-out clunk with the OME and while the Bilsteins don’t have the top out clunk, the lack of rebound control was noticeable. I’d happily run either if that’s all my budget allowed for, but if care about performance, are looking to do it right and don’t mind spending a few extra bucks, I’d move on.
Now that we are into the realm of re-buildables, there are 4 major players with a number of smaller ones. The big 4 are Fox, Icon, King, and OME. The important difference between them are going to be the damping profiles. Fox and King are progressive, Icon is digressive, and OME claims bypass. Having had Icons for the past few years I’d pass on them. The digressive valving feels harsh on slow speed bumps and blows through its travel on high speed hits, which isn’t compatible with my driving style. Out they go! The OME is promising, bypass damping in a remote reservoir coilover. If it works like they say it does, awesome, probably the best option out of the 4. Unfortunately, there aren’t a whole lot of sets and feedback floating around for me to say either way, so I have a hard time recommending them. Of the remaining two I prefer, and actually ordered, a set of Kings. I chose to go extended travel with remote reservoirs and compression adjusters. Given that I have tow duty in my future as well as various states of weight on-board, I figured that would give me the chance to dial the ride in perfectly.
Front End
Coilovers: King with remote reservoirs and compression adjusters ($1710)
Upper Control Arms: Light Racing ($485)
Bump stop: Wheelers Superbump ($58)
Total: ~$2,250
Moving on to the back end, forget about doing an add-a-leaf kit to your OEM leafpack. You’ll be disappointed, it’ll sag out, not hold weight, and you’ll eventually curse the heavens for its invention. Had one on my last truck and I wouldn’t even consider this an option.
I also have a hard time recommending the OME Dakar pack with or without the additional leaf. It’s just an overall okay set of springs. It’ll take the extra weight and give you the lift you desire, but if you’d do better with a Deaver setup. It’ll be quieter, flex better, and you can request custom configurations tailored to the amount of weight you carry or anticipate carrying. That’ll probably set you back double what the Dakars will however. If you are looking to save a few dollars, this, of all places is where I would compromise.
Rear shocks I’d match to the fronts to ensure things are balanced.
Rear End
Leaf springs: Deavers ($900)
Shocks: King with remote reservoir and compression adjusters ($1,100)
Total: $2,000
Total lift kit = $4,250
That, is what I would have done from the very beginning if I wanted to do it once and only once. It’s a tough pill to swallow but given how important suspension is I think it’s worthwhile if you intend to hold onto the truck for any length of time.
One thing to note, and I'll report back later on the matter, is that I ended up purchasing a set of BAMF shackle hangers and greasable shackles for the rear. Pretty sure my OEMs are slightly tweaked and I didn't wanna depart too far from the current setup.
Adventurous
Explorer
Also, having had the cab-high shell and a mid-rise, I'd choose the mid-rise all day every day, especially whereas we sleep in the back. There's just so much more room for activities and hauling around those awkward things. Unless there was a very compelling reason to get the cab-high I'd recommend getting something taller.
marathonracer
Adventurer
So many activities... love that movie
08Silverado
Adventurer
Thank you so much for your willingness to dive deep into your recommendations! This is heavy on my mind as I'm currently packing for a trip this weekend with my two boys. Let me see if I can describe what I want to get out of my truck so I can better choose what will work best for me and my application.
As most of us do, I drive this truck daily and put about 18000-20000 miles per year on it. About 90% of the time or more I'm on pavement and can't utilize the offload capabilities of the truck.
The other 10% of the time I will be traveling Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Colorado forest roads and the trails in those states. I don't rock crawl, and I don't do anything too crazy (usually)
My previous truck was Carli equipped 3/4 ton dodge that handled fast rough roads great but the truck was just too big for my taste!
My load will consist of camping gear and possibly a camper shell along with 1-3 passengers. I also like to use the truck bed like a truck occasionally and haul lumber and my sons dirtbike sometimes.
Im fairly sure I don't want to run anything bigger than a 285/75 tire.
Snow and salt aren't a concern as I live in Texas, so either of the UCA configurations should be fine. I do like the idea of an aftermarket UCA to give myself the adjustability.
Hopefully this will help answer my own question of what suspension is best for me. Money is a factor as it is with everyone but I also don't want to do this twice or more if I can avoid it.
Please respond with any feedback that comes to mind!
Thank you very much! Happy trails!
Kyle
As most of us do, I drive this truck daily and put about 18000-20000 miles per year on it. About 90% of the time or more I'm on pavement and can't utilize the offload capabilities of the truck.
The other 10% of the time I will be traveling Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Colorado forest roads and the trails in those states. I don't rock crawl, and I don't do anything too crazy (usually)
My previous truck was Carli equipped 3/4 ton dodge that handled fast rough roads great but the truck was just too big for my taste!
My load will consist of camping gear and possibly a camper shell along with 1-3 passengers. I also like to use the truck bed like a truck occasionally and haul lumber and my sons dirtbike sometimes.
Im fairly sure I don't want to run anything bigger than a 285/75 tire.
Snow and salt aren't a concern as I live in Texas, so either of the UCA configurations should be fine. I do like the idea of an aftermarket UCA to give myself the adjustability.
Hopefully this will help answer my own question of what suspension is best for me. Money is a factor as it is with everyone but I also don't want to do this twice or more if I can avoid it.
Please respond with any feedback that comes to mind!
Thank you very much! Happy trails!
Kyle
08Silverado
Adventurer
On a side note....If I do got with the camper shell I will most likely sleep in the shell occasionally and build a sleeping platform that is either modular or easily removable so I can still use the bed in it's full capacity.
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