Box Rocket '03 DC Tacoma Build

[TangoBlue]

Oh and I'd like to see a close up of the hinge on your swing out. My homemade rear bumper has a similar design to yours (minus a little tubing on the corners) but I'm looking at ideas for hinges if I ever do a swingout. thnx

Pictures of the swing-out hinge, lock-pin, and clasp you requested. Suspect your current bumper will accomodate the same style of swing-out.

 

[Box Rocket]

Thanks Tango. Might try something similar in the future. I think I'll try to make the hinge dual shear.

 

[womacje]

couple updates. I have needed to finish up my rear bumper by adding some bracket to the rear corner protection and tie it back into the frame. I found some nifty little brackets from Trail-Gear that are meant to work with their 1st Gen 4Runner bumpers. I hoped that the tube work I did was close enough to the same location that I could use these same brackets. Turned out that they worked perfectly. Nice to add a little bit of extra strength the rear bumper.

Forgive all the winter salt and crud all over the truck. Weather has been crappy here...

Also....the 32x11.50 BFG ATs that were on the truck...

Adam, AMAZING!!!!

I am modeling a 4dr build, for a customer, off of yours, slightly... If I was making enough money off it, I'd offer up royalties!
I'm digging through the thread as we speak, but, what suspension did you and Kurt finally figure out? I know you modified it several times. We'll be doing a 285/75R16 on this '02 DC Tacoma. I'm not an ARB dealer so I'll be paying full pop for the lift and making no profit, since we aren't a suspension shop, I'd love to avoid buying the wrong parts and wanted to learn from your research.

Thanks again, Looks great.

Jeremy

 

[Box Rocket]

Adam, AMAZING!!!!

I am modeling a 4dr build, for a customer, off of yours, slightly... If I was making enough money off it, I'd offer up royalties!
I'm digging through the thread as we speak, but, what suspension did you and Kurt finally figure out? I know you modified it several times. We'll be doing a 285/75R16 on this '02 DC Tacoma. I'm not an ARB dealer so I'll be paying full pop for the lift and making no profit, since we aren't a suspension shop, I'd love to avoid buying the wrong parts and wanted to learn from your research.

Thanks again, Looks great.

Jeremy

Thank you sir.

quick suspension spec list for my truck......

Front:
OME 882 coils
OME sport shocks
10mm Jeep JK trim packer. (yellow spacer if you look at the pics).
Cornfed Suspensions Diff Drop.

This setup is has been great so far. It might be a little more than needed if you're not planning on a bumper and winch up front. But IMO the 882's are better suited for the DC trucks than the 881 coils. I plan on adding a winch and will probably lose a little lift height in the process, but I think I'll use a Warn M8000 with a synthetic rope, and nylon haws fairlead which should give me a winch setup at or around 50lbs. That's the goal at least, and keeping it as light as possible will help reduce loss of lift height.

Rear:
OME Dakar leaves
OME sport shocks
All-Pro 1.5" extended greasable shackles.

On the road the setup is great and I really like the ride. It works well offroad too without a load. But when the truck is loaded it sags more than I would like. I am planning on adding the OME AALs which will give me another ~.75" of lift. If that is too tall in the back I still have the stock height OME greasable shackles I can put pack on to level it back out. I haven't extended the rear brake line yet because it hasn't been necessary. With the longer shackles AND the AAL I think swapping to an extended brakeline would be needed.

You should still plan on a little firewall/pinchweld/fenderflare trimming with the 285s. It shouldn't take much but will probably need a little.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Adam, AMAZING!!!!

I am modeling a 4dr build, for a customer, off of yours, slightly... If I was making enough money off it, I'd offer up royalties!
I'm digging through the thread as we speak, but, what suspension did you and Kurt finally figure out? I know you modified it several times. We'll be doing a 285/75R16 on this '02 DC Tacoma. I'm not an ARB dealer so I'll be paying full pop for the lift and making no profit, since we aren't a suspension shop, I'd love to avoid buying the wrong parts and wanted to learn from your research...

Adam laid out the parts other than its a 10mm spacer not 20mm, and on his it was a little different than most as he didn't have the stock rubber coil isolator between the top of the coil and the top strut mount. If he had the rubber stock isolator we would have set him up a little differently. Feel free to give me a ring if you have any specifics on the suspension you need setup for your customers Tacoma, we've set up dozens and dozens of them and have it pretty dialed in at this point using any one of 10+ different variations.

 

[Box Rocket]

Adam laid out the parts other than its a 10mm spacer not 20mm, and on his it was a little different than most as he didn't have the stock rubber coil isolator between the top of the coil and the top strut mount. If he had the rubber stock isolator we would have set him up a little differently. Feel free to give me a ring if you have any specifics on the suspension you need setup for your customers Tacoma, we've set up dozens and dozens of them and have it pretty dialed in at this point using any one of 10+ different variations.

Thanks for clearing that up Kurt. I've edited my post with the correct info.

 

[womacje]

Adam laid out the parts other than its a 10mm spacer not 20mm, and on his it was a little different than most as he didn't have the stock rubber coil isolator between the top of the coil and the top strut mount. If he had the rubber stock isolator we would have set him up a little differently. Feel free to give me a ring if you have any specifics on the suspension you need setup for your customers Tacoma, we've set up dozens and dozens of them and have it pretty dialed in at this point using any one of 10+ different variations.

Kurt,

Thanks for the great offer. I thought of you immediately when the customer told me what she wanted to do, but didn't want to bother you if you weren't making money off this. The beauty of this community!!!

Great info, guys. I'll be posting a thread when this build starts.

Jeremy

 

[Condition Yellow]

The tube is 1.75" I think I paid ~$60 for shipping on these.

Adam,

I really like your sliders so I checked them out on Trail Gear's page. Great price for the fully welded set with the gussetts, advertised DOM & powder coat. I asked about shipping ... $211 :Wow1: That's more than the sliders themselves, and only from California to Nevada--literally next door.

I found the exact same sliders (yes, Trail Gear) somewhere else and shipping was only $60. I'm just waiting for the brown truck now. Thanks for a great build story.

Alan

 

[Box Rocket]

Adam,

I really like your sliders so I checked them out on Trail Gear's page. Great price for the fully welded set with the gussetts, advertised DOM & powder coat. I asked about shipping ... $211 :Wow1: That's more than the sliders themselves, and only from California to Nevada--literally next door.

I found the exact same sliders (yes, Trail Gear) somewhere else and shipping was only $60. I'm just waiting for the brown truck now. Thanks for a great build story.

Alan

Was that fully welded set, just the kit or do you want them with the legs and gussets already welded prior to shipping? If they are fully welded prior to shipping then i can understand the shipping cost going up dramatically. The size of box/container they would need for a pair of fully welded sliders would be much different than the box that the kit comes in.

Pretty sure I paid something close to the $60 you also mentioned to have mine shipped as a kit.

 

[Condition Yellow]

That was fully welded.

 

[Box Rocket]

That was fully welded.

Well there ya go. Makes sense to me that shipping was substantially more that way. Shipping dimensions would be MUCH larger.

 

[Box Rocket]

I've meant to add this for a while but keep forgetting. I'll try to get some better photos too.

A while back I built a platform for the rear seat area. For longer trips when I don't need the rear seat, I pull the seat and the platform installs using factory holes. There are several different tie downs on the passenger side. I usually just have lightweight items or snacks, or camera gear that I don't want in the bed. Also allow some storage underneath the platform for some recovery gear and tools.

Kinda hard to see in this photo but the driver side is my ARB fridge that is mounted on a FrontRunner slide. The hinge for the fridge lid is toward the door so that the fridge is easily accessible inside the truck without having to slide it out. But can be accessed from the outside by opening the driverside rear door and pulling out the slide. Gotta say it's easy to get spoiled on longer trips when you have a fridge. No more dripping wet items inside a cooler of ice.

 

[Rattler]

I've meant to add this for a while but keep forgetting. I'll try to get some better photos too.

A while back I built a platform for the rear seat area. For longer trips when I don't need the rear seat, I pull the seat and the platform installs using factory holes. There are several different tie downs on the passenger side. I usually just have lightweight items or snacks, or camera gear that I don't want in the bed. Also allow some storage underneath the platform for some recovery gear and tools.

Kinda hard to see in this photo but the driver side is my ARB fridge that is mounted on a FrontRunner slide. The hinge for the fridge lid is toward the door so that the fridge is easily accessible inside the truck without having to slide it out. But can be accessed from the outside by opening the driverside rear door and pulling out the slide. Gotta say it's easy to get spoiled on longer trips when you have a fridge. No more dripping wet items inside a cooler of ice.

Looks nice. I built one last year beore our UP trip. It came out great and I was going to do a 2.0 version and cover it and. Well, we have had an addition since. I wish that rear seat was split.

 

[Box Rocket]

Updates.



Just picked up a Snugtop XTR top on Saturday and got it on the truck. Overall it is in great shape. I found it used on a local classifieds website. I've been watching for a good deal on a used top for the past year. I have liked the XTR because of the clean lines and some the other features, but the cheapest I had ever seen one used was ~$750. Even then it was always the wrong color. Not many Mystic Gold Doublecab Tacomas out there I guess, so I'd be looking and a few hundred to have it repainted too which would put it over $1000 all said and done. Well, a couple weeks ago one showed up in local classifieds (but was still 3 hours away). Was the right color too. The price had me scratching my head a little. Was listed at $300. I thought it's either a peice of junk or a misprint. Called on it and talked the guy down to $270. A friend of mine does a bit of work in the area where it was located and he was kind enough to pick it up for me when he went up there last week. Overall it's is very good shape. A few dings but nothing unexpected from a nearly 10 year old used top. Really pleased with the deal. Color is almost dead on.

No signs of leaks. It has the third brake light, interior dome light, fold down front window. So most if not all the options available for it.



Sorry. All I have is crappy phone pics for now.

 

[irish_11]

Nice looking shell. I loved your bed rack so I am very interested in seeing where you go with the canopy setup.