DeMontbrun's 2006 DC SR5 Tundra Build

[DeMontbrun]

About a year ago my sister-in-law bought a first gen Tundra Access Cab. I borrowed it once in fell in love. I knew I would need to get kids in and out though so I decided to go with the Double Cab and so I started looking. Car prices in San Diego seem to be higher than other places and I was having a hard time finding anything reasonable in the area so after a month or so of looking expanded my search. Ended up finding one in Portland, OR that was perfect. After a couple phone calls I bought a one way ticket and flew up and drove home in a new truck.

The truck was in pretty good shape accept a couple scrapes on the driver side, but that's what trucks are for so I didn't much mind.

I was home less than 24 hours and before the work started. Headlights needed cleaning. Bought a new head unit with bluetooth, backup camera, and all the toys.

I know this site has helped me and given me a lot of ideas so I figured I'd start my own build thread in case it helps anyone else. Here's to adventure!

 

[DeMontbrun]

I made it almost a month before I got a misfire. Still, it's better than the Miata which blew the radiator on the way home. I was going to replace the coils with better aftermarket ones but couldn't find anything I loved that was available (I put MSD coil packs in my Mustang and loved them). I ended up getting all eight off Amazon for the same price a single OEM was going to cost from AutoZone. I've been told since I should have gone with the OEM one's because they're so good but I still have the working 7 and if these ones ever go I may go back (but these in back in May 2018 and they're still going strong 8 months later so they can't be all that bad.



UPDATE: They were that bad. Don't buy them. They failed shortly after I originally posted this and I ended up buying a OEM after all.

 

[DeMontbrun]

I didn't like the green glow of the instrument cluster so I pulled it to change out the bulbs to white. At that point I found out that, at least on my model, the lights were already LEDs from the factory. The green tint was a layer on the back of the gauge face. I figured I'd buy a new gauge face and update the look (I bought one for the Miata from RevLimiter which is amazing and thought I could do the same). Apparently these are a couple hundred bucks which seemed excessive. Current plan is to try to sand off the green bit per someone around here's recommendation (link when I find it).


I replaced the rest of the bulbs in the car with LEDs while I was at it. Most of them I don't like because they're way too blue. They're in the 6000K range and I think the plastic pieces that cover them make them even more blue since the original incandescents where so yellow. I've had a hard time finding any LEDs that are actually 5000K. The one LED modification I made which I'm happy with was the one I flip flopped on so many times because it was so much more expensive than I'm used to paying for LEDs. I bought a footwell kit from VLEDS . It was worth every penny. The parts are high quality and easy to use. Normally I get frustrated with these installs because the adhesive ends up giving up and the connections come loose. These don't; they're brilliant.

Too blue:

Worth it:

 

[DeMontbrun]

I had been driving the truck to work most days but once I week I take my wife's car and gas it up. On one of these mornings, I got a text from my wife that the truck had been hit. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we can't have nice things. Ends up she was 18 and apparently her dad expected this situation may happen because they had really good insurance. I took it in to the shop, they evaluated the damage, and 30 minutes later I had a check. If I had known how easy it was to get money by having your things ruined I would have done it years ago!



I looked at the pricing for how they came to the total and realized the whole thing was a racket. For example: a got $120 for a single taillight. I knew for a fact I could get two for $100. So I did.
And so it went as I looked down the list. Everything that was damaged was way over valued by insurance. This means one thing: upgrades. And so I started looking at bumpers. After doing some research I decided to go with Move Bumpers. I liked their customization options and they were way more affordable than most others. The only catch is you have to weld it yourself. Fortunately I have a few friends who are professional welders.






I also included some Nilight reverse lights which I need to finish wiring up.

 

[Kpack]

Pull your gauge cluster, take off the panel, and then use wet sanding paper on the back of it to remove the green film over the parts you want white. I used black spray paint to paint out a couple things I didn't want showing through at night (I don't need to see KPH). While you are in there, take off the green plastic film from the odometer. It's just a thin piece of plastic. That will leave the odometer white like the rest of the cluster. Page 1 and 2 of my build thread have a couple of pics showing it.

For the LEDs I went with these (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076V1TQ96/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_detailpage_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and they have a nice warm white to them. Not pure white, more yellow, but very bright. No blue whatsoever. I used them on all map lights, door lights, etc. I used the 6000K white/blue LEDs for behind the A/C cluster to get those to show more white like the speedometer.

 

[longtrail]

looked at the pricing for how they came to the total and realized the whole thing was a racket. For example: a got $120 for a single taillight.

Just an fyi, I imagine the insurance company was giving you the replacement cost for an OEM Toyota tailight, as they should. If you are getting two tail lights for $100, they are aftermarket and definitely not oem.

Good looking truck.

 

[DeMontbrun]

Just an fyi, I imagine the insurance company was giving you the replacement cost for an OEM Toyota tailight, as they should. If you are getting two tail lights for $100, they are aftermarket and definitely not oem.

I know they're definitely not OEM but they're DOT approved. But I also didn't want OEM. If I could find better looking aftermarket ones I would have put those on there even before that. Even if I were to go OEM I would have just picked one up from a yard for $20 and called it a day, haha.

 

[DeMontbrun]

Pull your gauge cluster, take off the panel, and then use wet sanding paper on the back of it to remove the green film over the parts you want white. I used black spray paint to paint out a couple things I didn't want showing through at night (I don't need to see KPH). While you are in there, take off the green plastic film from the odometer. It's just a thin piece of plastic. That will leave the odometer white like the rest of the cluster. Page 1 and 2 of my build thread have a couple of pics showing it.

I did the sanding but there's still a hint of green. It looks like it could use a little more sanding. I may pull it again to do some clean up and take care of the odometer while I'm in there.

 

[DeMontbrun]

I needed a to spend a few more dollars on an Amazon shipment to push me into free next day shipping so I pulled the trigger on VLEDS bulbs for the overhead lights. I wanted to replace the 6000K LEDs that I had put in because they were too blue. This time I went with the 5000K to try to get a more true white. Here's the side-by-side of the 5000K vs 6000K:


I think I went too far to the other end. I think I may be too particular on my temperatures, but it drives me nuts if they're not just right. So I ordered the 5500K from VLEDS...and here's the side by side of all three options:


The 5500K is definitely the winner. I've ordered bulbs from VLEDS for the back two map lights and the dome light and then everything will be a consistent.

 

[tennesseewj]

Before reading the text I thought the left bulb was incandescent compared to that 6000k

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[DeMontbrun]

I've made a couple more additions to the back end a couple months ago but haven't posted them yet. The first was tail light guards from Body Armor 4x4 which were a birthday gift.


The second were D-ring shackles from YitaMotor. The price is good, haven't had a chance to use them yet. Unfortunately, I only had them for about a month before the right side backed itself out. Should have used some Locktite. I'll get around to ordering a replacement eventually.

 

[DeMontbrun]

I started buying lighting back in November and now that it's March I figured I should actually get around to installing it. It was a process though as I figured out how I wanted to do it all. I have a light bar, ditch lights, and reverse lights that needed wiring. After looking around I decided to get one of the switch bezels from the center console of a Sequoia to put my aftermarket switches in. The original hole was a little too small so I took the Dremel to it and it worked perfectly.


Then I got a little fuse block, screwed that into the wall on the inside of the engine bay, and ran the wires through the existing grommet into the cab. The one thing I had an issue with is the big piece of something that sits behind were the row of switches goes which prevented me from using normal terminals. I ended up buying some elbow terminals instead and it works just fine.


I finished wiring up the light bar and ditch lights last night but I still need to run the wire to the reverse lights. I'm thinking about putting an antenna at the back for the CB radio which also needs installing so I may run the wire for both at the same time. For the ditch lights I just used Firestik's antenna mounting bracket, painted it, and then I just used one of the fender bolts to mount it. The lights themselves are Nilight.

 

[DeMontbrun]

When I got hit last year, the other car crunched the plastic fender flare. I had looked at junk yards but never found one that was exactly the same color, so I just found one in good shape and broke out the Plastidip. I ended up doing all four fenders. And then the mirrors. And the front bumper. I got a little carried away.



The side mirrors and the front end both had way to much chrome for my taste. I just wanted it all to look a little more clean. (those ridiculous light bar brackets didn't last long. About 30 minutes into our Zion trip I was losing my mind from the wind noise so off they came)



The mirrors and the fenders I did in Plastidip and have held up pretty well almost three months later despite being offroading and getting scratched up. The front end got a combo of truck liner and clear coat that I found from someone else on here. I'll link it if I can find it.



I'm very happy with how it all turned out. Significantly cleaner without all the blaring chrome everyhwhere. After some offload time around Zion though, suspension is the next thing on the to do list.

 

[DeMontbrun]

Given how short lived the light bar was on our Zion trip, I decided the next thing to do was change the mounting brackets. I ended up with the Apoc Industries brackets because they were the only ones who guaranteed they'd fit the double cab. They required a bit of tweaking to get them at the right angle, but eventually they worked (with some MacGyvering). The first time I drove it after re-installing it I thought the truck was going to explode. The cooling fins were making that super high pitch noise people talk about, but hadn't before for whatever reason. So I stopped by Pep Boys, picked up a couple extra long rubber door protectors, and super glued them to bottom two cooling fins. Like a charm...

 

[DeMontbrun]

After the extra miles from the Zion trip, the tires were at the end of their days. And if I was going to replace the tires, I figure I might as well replace them with the ones I wanted. Which meant new suspension too. So off with the originals and on went the Bilstein 5100's. I went up 2" in the front and 1" in the back. The original tires looked even dinkier with the taller ride height.





Next step was the Falken Wildpeaks and the SEMA TRD Rims. I think they look pretty good. Especially covered in mud.