MobileAndMonitoring
Member
Long time lurker here on Expo. I've finally found some time to work on the truck and put together some pictures of what I'm doing to it. Also decided to create a new account (old account is MobTuff) as we'll be also creating a website to log our upgrades and travels on. There's been so many inspiring build threads and articles on Expedition Portal it's too difficult to name them all but want to say thank you to this great community for all the ideas that I soon hope to implement in my own way. I hope my posts can help anyone who's looking to modify their Tundra and I hope to gather some advice from more seasoned veterans along the way for my truck.
Being newly unemployed I finally have no excuse to start making modifications to the truck while I look for new work. I've also just rolled over 200,000 miles a few weeks ago so the truck is finally broken in
This first initial post will be mostly older pictures catching up to it's current form.
The truck has been my daily driver ever since I purchased it used way back in early 2013 with 40,000 miles on it. Since then at this time of writing I'm at 207,500. The truck was primarily used at work in the communications business. I helped build and manage a large microwave internet network for the past 8 years so lots of driving off road to repeater sites on a weekly basis. Some much more difficult to get to than you'd think. Below is one of the older pictures I could find of the truck back in 2014. Stock truck with added Snug Top camper shell and Rack-it lumber rack.
Circa 2014 stock truck with only camper shell and rack added on.
One of first upgrades to the truck was some basic Bilstein 5100's front and rear with an add a leaf from Wheelers Off Road. Below is the truck after the lift:
Added Bilstein 5100's front and rear along with an add a leaf.
Then after lifting the truck I replaced the stock wheels and tires with Cooper ST Maxx 285/75/16. I've really liked the Coopers ever since and have purchased 2-3 sets since then. I also have the Pro Comp Series 69 flat black wheels. They give just enough back spacing to look good on the truck but also the wheel indents enough so you can use your tire as a step to access the rack. Below is the picture after the new tires were put on.
Looks so much better than stock wheels and tires
After a year or two I actually broke one of the Bilsteins in the front. Wheelers sent replacements after some emailing back and forth but from there I just couldn't trust them. So I opted to upgrade the suspension to the OEM King Shock replacements and have SPC Light Racing upper control arms installed. I know there's lots of internet chatter about how people have had issues with the ball joint but I have nothing but good things to say. On my first Tundra many years ago I ran Camburg UCAs and could never get the squeeking to stop after trying all the steps suggested. The SPC uppers seem to work great and no need to worry about poly bushings.
Clean new suspension.
We had the opportunity to go to Overland Expo West in 2017 and while we were there we picked up and installed our AluCab Shadow awning. Installed it right in our camping spot. Only one trip to Home Depot for hardware. It's an expensive awning but now that we've had it for awhile it's completely worth it. We've never had to tie the awning down to the ground yet it really handles the wind well. We used 3 Fourtrek Awning mounts to attach the awning to the rack of the truck. They work pretty darn well there's just a small amount of play in the piece that connects the mount to awning but hasn't been any trouble. We also later purchased the wall kit that's been really great. I'll have to find some pictures showing it off...
Picking up and installing AluCab's awning at Overland Expo West 2017
We also pulled the trigger on a James Baroud Evasion RTT last year around this time. Much better than our previous RTC... I enlisted the help of my brother to help me weld more cross supports to accommodate the RTT on the rack. Got everything welded up painted and headed south to pick up the RTT. Took a couple glamour shots near the beach on our way home.
The bro helping with welding.
The unboxing and RTT mounted.
Testing the new tent out by the beach.
...to be continued
Being newly unemployed I finally have no excuse to start making modifications to the truck while I look for new work. I've also just rolled over 200,000 miles a few weeks ago so the truck is finally broken in
This first initial post will be mostly older pictures catching up to it's current form.The truck has been my daily driver ever since I purchased it used way back in early 2013 with 40,000 miles on it. Since then at this time of writing I'm at 207,500. The truck was primarily used at work in the communications business. I helped build and manage a large microwave internet network for the past 8 years so lots of driving off road to repeater sites on a weekly basis. Some much more difficult to get to than you'd think. Below is one of the older pictures I could find of the truck back in 2014. Stock truck with added Snug Top camper shell and Rack-it lumber rack.
Circa 2014 stock truck with only camper shell and rack added on.
One of first upgrades to the truck was some basic Bilstein 5100's front and rear with an add a leaf from Wheelers Off Road. Below is the truck after the lift:
Added Bilstein 5100's front and rear along with an add a leaf.
Then after lifting the truck I replaced the stock wheels and tires with Cooper ST Maxx 285/75/16. I've really liked the Coopers ever since and have purchased 2-3 sets since then. I also have the Pro Comp Series 69 flat black wheels. They give just enough back spacing to look good on the truck but also the wheel indents enough so you can use your tire as a step to access the rack. Below is the picture after the new tires were put on.
Looks so much better than stock wheels and tires
After a year or two I actually broke one of the Bilsteins in the front. Wheelers sent replacements after some emailing back and forth but from there I just couldn't trust them. So I opted to upgrade the suspension to the OEM King Shock replacements and have SPC Light Racing upper control arms installed. I know there's lots of internet chatter about how people have had issues with the ball joint but I have nothing but good things to say. On my first Tundra many years ago I ran Camburg UCAs and could never get the squeeking to stop after trying all the steps suggested. The SPC uppers seem to work great and no need to worry about poly bushings.
Clean new suspension.
We had the opportunity to go to Overland Expo West in 2017 and while we were there we picked up and installed our AluCab Shadow awning. Installed it right in our camping spot. Only one trip to Home Depot for hardware. It's an expensive awning but now that we've had it for awhile it's completely worth it. We've never had to tie the awning down to the ground yet it really handles the wind well. We used 3 Fourtrek Awning mounts to attach the awning to the rack of the truck. They work pretty darn well there's just a small amount of play in the piece that connects the mount to awning but hasn't been any trouble. We also later purchased the wall kit that's been really great. I'll have to find some pictures showing it off...
Picking up and installing AluCab's awning at Overland Expo West 2017
We also pulled the trigger on a James Baroud Evasion RTT last year around this time. Much better than our previous RTC... I enlisted the help of my brother to help me weld more cross supports to accommodate the RTT on the rack. Got everything welded up painted and headed south to pick up the RTT. Took a couple glamour shots near the beach on our way home.
The bro helping with welding.
The unboxing and RTT mounted.
Testing the new tent out by the beach.
...to be continued
