Jonnys_Tundra Build Thread - 2017 Tundra

[JNewton99]

Welcome to the build thread of my Tundra, known on IG as Jonnys_Tundra!

I, at the start of this journey, was driving a 2014 GMC Sierra 1500, which was loaded but slowly becoming a nuisance and costing me money in repairs. Yea, typical GM… Before the GMC, I owned a 2013 Toyota Tacoma DCLB 4X4 for 6 years which I loved and greatly regretted ever trading it in on the GMC.

I knew deep down I wanted another Toyota as I enjoyed modding them, off-roading them, the capability and the look of them. I started out with a 2002 2wd Tacoma, then upgraded to a 2001 Double Cab PreRunner Tacoma and finally to my 2013. I loved them all, however, the biggest problem with my Tacomas was room! With a kiddo in a car seat and me being 6'1" there just wasn't much room to be had. I looked at the newer 3rd gen Tacoma's, but due to reports of transmission woes and no real gain in room I looked elsewhere. Why not a 4runner? I always wanted a SUV, but was surprised that there was not any noticeable extra room compared to the Tacoma. I loved FJs but they were small as well.... That left me with the Tundra, a big truck, not idea for trails, not as good looking as the Tacoma IMO.

Maybe I'll just look and down the rabbit hole I went. After searching and reading and searching some more I decided I'd give it a shot, I mean the GMC had to go so there was no other choice!

I began looking, searching Craigslist, Auto Trader, etc. in search of a pristine Quicksand Tundra. It had to be a CrewMax. It had to be a TRD, I regretted not getting the TRD package on my Tacoma because of the coveted rear locker. Wait! the Tundra TRD doesn't have a locker! I soon discovered in my research. Does it really matter what package I go with then? I know how this goes, everything must be upgraded! LOL

Searching and searching revealed very few Quicksand Tundra's, the color I really wanted, at the time. Then one day while searching I found a truck with very low miles, nearby, but it was white.... My Tacoma had been a white truck, with black wheels, fender flares, softopper etc. The typical Tacoma....... This Tundra had the TSS package with black wheels and accents, a match you could say. I might could make it work, but I really want Quicksand, but the mileage is so low. I decided to go look at it.

Spoiler alert, as if the build thread wasn't enough! I picked the truck up! In May of 2020 with I found this truck with 14,380 miles on it! What a deal! A quick trip and trade in later and I was the proud owner of a Tundra. Let the modifications commence!!! The truck I found was a 2017 Super White Tundra CrewMax TSS, plain jane Grandpa edition! LOL! Why a 2017?? Well that's the year, or 2016, I was looking for. Best ratings, no major issues, but most importantly no sensors on the front or back. But Why?? Again you ask! The safety, the tech, its so nice but it just gets in the way of the bumpers, winch and mods I knew were in store for this truck!


Modifications
Suspension:
Front:
FOX 2.5 DSC from Accutune. Upgraded from Icon 2.5 coilovers with Boss Offroad shims.
Camburg uniball UCAs. Upgraded from SPC UCAs
LCS Series Fab cab mount relocate Upgraded from SDHQ BMC.
Rear:
Custom Alcan leaf pack to trucks weight and purpose. Upgraded from Icon Progressive AAL later upgraded to Icon RXT leaf pack Stage 3.
FOX 2.5 DSC from Accutune. Upgraded from Bilstein 5160 shocks.

Wheels and Tires:
Method Racing MR312 17x8.5 0 offset
Toyo Open Country RT Pro 37x12.50x17. Upgraded from Toyo Open Country RT Trails 37x12.50x17. Upgraded from Toyo Open Country RT 35x12.50x17.
Exterior:
Bedlined Bushwacker pocket style fender flares
TRD Pro white grill
Form Lighting LED headlights upgraded from TRD Pro Halogen headlights
ARK splash guards
CaliRaised LED trail edition rock sliders
RCI Offroad full skids with diff skid
JoMax diff breather relocate and ABS shields
SOB Fabrication High Clearance Front Hoop Bumper. Upgraded from C4 Fabrication Overland front bumper
Badlands 12k winch with Factor55 fairlead and Flatlink E. Upgraded from Smittybilt 10k winch
Baja Design SAE fogs
Baja Design amber 30" S8 in bumper
Baja Design Squadron Sports on CaliRaised Led ditch light brackets
Baja Design LP9 Pros
Midland MXT275 radio with Heavy Duty Bull Bar Antenna
SOB Fabrication high clearance dual swingout Rear bumper. Upgraded from C4 Fabrication Overland rear bumper
Baja Design S2 reverse lights
Gear America Brand Yellow shackles
Baja Design and KC Cyclone rock light kit
ARB twin air compressor on @Bannock452 under hood mount
AT Overland Atlas. Upgraded from Xtrusion Overland Softopper height bed rack from RCI 12" HD Aluminum bed rack from Relentless Fab Low Pro Bed Bars. RTT 23Zero Weekender 62 roof top tent upgraded to CVT Mt Hood.
OVS Nomadic 270 awning. Upgraded from Darche Eclipse 270 awning. Upgraded from TuffStuff Compact 270 awning
Custom built cabinetry/ drawers. Upgraded from Decked Drawers
SnailArmor Tailgate panel. Upgraded from Mountain Hatch tailgate table
Powertanks mount for 11lb propane tank mounted to SOB Fabrication mounting bracket
Onboard 20 gallon water tank. Upgraded from WaterPort Weekender upgraded from WaterPort Day Tank.
Grove jack bracket and Badlands offroad jack on swingout
Backwoods Adventure Mods Jerrys can holder
Matching spare wheel/tire combo
Set of 4 Maxtrax mounted on New Holland Overland angled mount
Dobinson Snorkel with Snorkel Upgrade Pre-Cleaner
Northstar AGM31 cranking battery

Interior:
CaliRaised LED led interior light kit
Weathertech floor liners
Coverking seat covers
Rago Fab dash plate
Leather wrapped 4runner steering wheel
Custom painted dash trim
AJT Design blackout kit
Center console wireless charger
Desert Does It seat panels
Custom built 40% rear seat delete for Dometic 45qt fridge
SDHQ mount with SwitchPros
Added remote start and remote window controls
Upgraded to Int wipers and Auto headlights as well as removed the DRL module
Installed a nanny delete

How it currently sits:









If you're looking for discounts or just want to help my build without costing you a dime, be sure to check out my discount codes or affiliate links at https://linktr.ee/jonnys_tundra

 

[JNewton99]

Day 1 to early stages of the build.
I had seen roof top tents on vehicles for years on the forums. Back then "Overlanding" wasn't as popular of a word as it is today nor were the builds as common. I've grown up camping my whole life and loved working on and accessorizing vehicles so that's how this build started. I wanted an offroad capable vehicle that was rigged out and could haul my tent and camping gear around because there was no way I was paying that much money for a roof top tent....... or so I thought.

 

[JNewton99]

Interior shots

 

[JNewton99]

Our original camping setup. It worked and did so well but man was it a pain to setup and take down at the end of each weekend

 

[JNewton99]

After using that tent setup for awhile and packing everything in and out I started to think more about a RTT. They seemed so easy to use, all your bedding packs in the tent and you have a mattress but still they were so expensive... One day while scrolling Facebook Marketplace I noticed a 23Zero weekender RTT and awing for sale just a few hours away and for a decent price. I quickly looked online and found a set of relatively inexpensive bed bars by Relentless Fabrication and decided the price was cheap enough that I could justify trying the whole RTT thing out.







I ran this setup for awhile, upgrading camping gear along the way and continuing to build out the Tundra. Oh and the roof top tent, in my opinion, was worth the try! I loved it!

 

[JNewton99]

Some Mods along the way

 

[JNewton99]

May of 2021 I hit the road with a group of newly met friends and we explored New Mexico, Utah and Colorado for a week. My first "big" trip so to speak. Before that it was just camping locally and within a few hours of the house. Views I had seen thousands of times growing up around the area of East Texas but this trip really opened my eyes to the vast beauty of what all was outside of my "comfort zone." This trip had me hooked!

 

[JNewton99]

Right after the Utah trip I went to Llano and wheeled with a local group, Toyota's in Texas, for the weekend in July 2021. As you can tell I was also heavy on the contrast back in the day...... I feel like I've gotten a little better and maybe one day I'll go back and clean these edits up.... LOL

 

[JNewton99]

My next big trip didn't come until March of 2022 when a group of us got together and went and explored the Ozarks in Arkansas. Changes to the truck and gear were constantly evolving with every trip but I felt like I had a pretty decent system and packing method down. I was still loving every minute of this build and exploration!

 

[JNewton99]

One thing I didn't like about my system though was the lack of height in the bed below the bed rack, especially after adding the Decked drawers as seen in an earlier post and the lack of provision for a 270 awning which I had learned was a game changer while camping with individuals who had them!
So I jumped on FB Marketplace, found a taller bed rack and mounted it up, along with a larger water tank which I could now hang from the bed rack.

 

[JNewton99]

Around February 2023 I made a trip out to Nogal, New Mexico and had an SOB Fabrication high clearance dual swingout bumper installed. Talk about a work of art and killer bumper! This was needed for the Tundra as I gained a ton of ground clearance and moved the spare to the swingout which meant I could go up in tire size as well!!!





Travis, the owner of SOB Fab, was even cool enough to take me out to some trails afterwards where we learned this Texas boy isn't to good at snow wheeling! LOL



Travis' monster of a rig next to mine. This picture was also foreshadowing of what was to come of mine but little did I know at the time!

 

[JNewton99]

Back at the house I got the SOB Fab bumper all cleaned up, shackles and Baja Design S2s installed.
Now I just needed to get my matching full size spare set up and figure out what I'm going to mount to the bumper swing out.

 

[JNewton99]

While 35s had done great on the Tundra I decided I wanted to gain a little more ground clearance and with needing tires soon I decided to prep the truck for 37s. I ordered up and took the time to install hte LCS Fab Cab Mount Relocate bracket, pushed the UCAs forward and set caster to 6.4 which was maxed out on setting A with the SPC UCAs, and threw some 2nd hand 37x12.50R17 Cooper STT Pros on. I think it came out pretty nice but man that's a lot of tire and gas mileage really went to crap! LOL
The 0 offset of the wheels didn't help any for clearance but it seems to be clearing everything for now.



This is just mock up. I threw a longer bolt in there once everything was finalized!



Pinch weld sliced and hammered in then coated in 3M body seam sealer.





Not totally flexed out but its all I could find for now to check for clearance. There rear tire is about 1/8" from the inner fender when smashed on the bumpstop pretty good.

 

[JNewton99]

Not long after we went out for a trail run with the Toyotas in Texas group. Camped at the lake Friday night then made our way down to the coast to camp on the beach Saturday night. I hate sand........ but the kiddo had a blast.

 

[JNewton99]

I had been trying to decide on what I was wanting to mount to the swing outs on the bumper when I noticed Backwoods Adventure Mods teasing a new jerry can holder they were building so I ended up waiting for their Jerry can holder to be released. I can say it was worth the wait!