Box Rocket '03 DC Tacoma Build

[bagelsjustbagels]

awesome, love the glass!- no I'm not biased

Edit: after looking through all of the previous pages, I do NOT understand why people are so against the glass. Especially with your truck. It is subtle, cleanly done, will not rust, and is MUCH lighter than the previous body panels. It is also easily replaced. and allows for a cleaner look than those bushwacker fender attachments that look like they ask asking for attention.

This whole "purist" expedition vehicle is such BS. It needs to get from A to B, and be reliable. In terms of appearance, it shouldnt draw too much attention, and it should be aerodynamic.

This truck looks great, goes from A-B reliably, no matter the terrain, and is probably lighter with these less flashy fenders...

/Rant

 

[tyv12]

Curious if you have some pics of how you ran the intake back into the bay, truck looks killer


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[soonenough]

I wasn't a big fan of the glass fenders at first, but they're growing on me now....that looks really good

 

[Plannerman]

I dig the fenders. What makes you think so many on here would not like them?


Sent via fat thumb

 

[Zam15]

Very clean, I like it! Wish I would have gone with the fender size you have. But the cops in California can be really an_l when it comes to exposed tire. With the LT and 35+ coming I need to keep everything covered Plan on bedsides or are you going to keep it the way it is?

 

[Expedition.Report]

I love the look of those fenders! and if your happy thats all that matters!
I am not sold on the glass bed sides yet but they are growing on me...

 

[Box Rocket]

I dig the fenders. What makes you think so many on here would not like them?
Sent via fat thumb

I've had several comments already that say I should have left the stock fenders.

Very clean, I like it! Wish I would have gone with the fender size you have. But the cops in California can be really an_l when it comes to exposed tire. With the LT and 35+ coming I need to keep everything covered Plan on bedsides or are you going to keep it the way it is?

No plan for bedsides right now. That could change in time but not for a while.

Curious if you have some pics of how you ran the intake back into the bay, truck looks killer
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Actually, I just changed the intake again. The routing back into the engine bay was a bit hokey but worked. The problem was intake temps. It put the intake not far from the exhaust manifold. Our ambient temps here in Utah this week about been in the mid 90s. My intake temps with the engine bay location were hitting about 114*. I didn't like that. I spent yesterday doing an in-cab snorkel. I really like it for a couple reasons, it's much more sealed throughout so I'm even less worried about water than I was with the safari snorkel. Obviously pulling air from the cabin will be even cleaner and dust free than the Safari snorkel was. More importantly the intake temps dropped dramatically! My intake temps were reading at 80* today, so that's a drop of at least 30+*. Much better.
The downside to the in-cab snorkel is noise. At WOT it is LOUD. Cruising and idling it's only a little different than before. I'm looking at some kind of foam pre-filter to put into the intake tube in an effort to cut down on a bit of the noise when on the throttle. I'll have pics in just a bit.

 

[Box Rocket]

here's some pics of the new intake routing. Materials consisted of one 3" flexible coupler that was used to mate the stock airbox to the new tube. One 24" piece of 3" ABS tube. Two tight radius 3" 90* elbows. One 3" 45* elbow. A couple hose clamps, some scrap thick plastic and some black silicone.
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I needed to enlarge the hole in the inner fender just a bit so the 3" coupler could fit. I cut a 3" section of the tube to mate the airbox to the first 90* elbow with the coupler with two hose clamps. The sections of tube are roughly 12" long each and connected via the 45* elbow. It enters the cab just behind the firewall through the side of the inner fender directly behind the blower motor in the passenger footwell. I cut the hole there with a 3" holesaw. BE CAREFUL if you do this mod that when you cu that hole you don't hit the wire harness that is behind it. I pulled the glove box so I could get access to the area and just pushed the wires up and out of the way as best I could. All connection seams are glued/silicone'd including the surface where the tube passes into the cab. I'm more confident in the waterproof nature of this intake than I was my Safari Snorkel.
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One thing of note for anyone that considers doing this, the first 90* elbow closest to the airbox will not fit behind the fender without some clearancing. I needed to cut a section of the tube out across the corner of the elbow. I used some scrap plastic that I cut out from a garbage can and used JBweld to epoxy it into place to fill the hole and then sealed the seams inside and out with more silicone.
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Pics. This shows the intake before cutting the hole in the fender into the cab. The hole was cut just above where the radio antenna cable comes out of the fender.

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Hole into the cab is cut.

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The second 90* elbow in place along with a short section of 3" tube that enters the cab.

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and all done

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Here's a pic that shows that area that I cut out of the first elbow. Sorry I didn't get photos of the hole and the patch.

With the fender back on there is nothing about the intake that is visible, even inside the cab so it's a clean solution. Just know that it does add to the noise inside the cab when on the throttle. Hopefully I can find some foam to use as a baffle inside the tube that won't cut the airflow but will reduce some noise.

 

[java]

Ill be interested in a long term report on how it sounds. I think it would be too loud for me, mine is my DD. Why not go into the cowl area instead? Thats a pretty common option too.

 

[Box Rocket]

Ill be interested in a long term report on how it sounds. I think it would be too loud for me, mine is my DD. Why not go into the cowl area instead? Thats a pretty common option too.

You need to be careful with cowl intakes to make sure they drain properly. There's a guy on Pirate that hydrolocked his motor in his driveway after a heavy rain with his intake routed into the cowl.

FYI. This truck is my DD too. 60+ miles every day.

 

[ttora4runner]

Any concerns with the wheel travelling to far up and damaging the pipe?

 

[java]

You need to be careful with cowl intakes to make sure they drain properly. There's a guy on Pirate that hydrolocked his motor in his driveway after a heavy rain with his intake routed into the cowl.

FYI. This truck is my DD too. 60+ miles every day.

Well let me know how it sounds in a couple days!

 

[Chevrolado]

Wowww... I just looked through almost all of the pages here to see the transformation of this thing and I am in love with it. Wow. You do fantastic work.
I love the fenders too (but I'm a big fan of pre-runners and desert trucks.. so.. hah.)

All in all, this truck is so inspirational. Great job. Subscribing to keep an eye on this for good.
Kudos to you.

 

[Box Rocket]

Any concerns with the wheel travelling to far up and damaging the pipe?

No it's well out of the way.

Well let me know how it sounds in a couple days!

It's gonna sound different soon. Today being the first day driving it I can tell that long term it's going to be too loud. Honestly the freeway isn't the issue its the around town stuff where you're constantly in and out of the throttle that is just too much noise. Just got back from picking up a couple new parts that I think will solve the issue. I'm going to pull the section out where it enters the cab and weld the hole closed. I've got a 3" elbow with a 2" branch that will work better I think. The new elbow will have a screened cap pointed up toward the top of the fender for the new air inlet location. This should be relatively protected (although not ideal for extended deep water). The 2" branch will point down and have a cap with a small drain hole at the low point so any water or condensation has a place to escape. Here's a quick photoshop of what I've got planned. I'll take care of this over the weekend and call it good.

Wowww... I just looked through almost all of the pages here to see the transformation of this thing and I am in love with it. Wow. You do fantastic work.
I love the fenders too (but I'm a big fan of pre-runners and desert trucks.. so.. hah.)

All in all, this truck is so inspirational. Great job. Subscribing to keep an eye on this for good.
Kudos to you.

Thank you sir.

 

[Loubaru]

I doubt you have the room but have you thought about putting a resonator on it? Could be as simple as a milk jug tied into the intake pipe, like where you have your condensate drain shown.