Project Serenity: an 08 Tacoma DC overland build-up

[Overland Hadley]

- replaced the in-cab air filter with a better washable version

Did you use the black Toyota one, or another?

 

[Overland Hadley]

Install complete

Thanks for posting about the BlendMount. I had not seen those before. It's now on the list.

 

[frozenground]

Did you use the black Toyota one, or another?

cheers from Ely, NV!

I did exactly the same thing that barlowrs did in his build thread. Bought a washable furnace filter, cut the frame thing to fit in the air filter slot, then put it all together and put it in there. Had to trim it a few times to get the fit right, but its working good so far..

DV here we come :elkgrin:

Wow. A reader steps away from his PC for 24 hours and look what happens...

You do excellent work. Very creative, elegantly simple solutions and with a high level of craftsmanship.

Your build says, "I know. We're going for a ride." Must be some relation to the Tam family.

Thanks for chronicling your build and spending all this time posting it. Now go have a good time.

Thank you for the kind words, good sir!

I am in the process of the good time thing right now :sombrero:

 

[Jamin_GX]

Great looking truck and kudos on all the fab skills. I always enjoy watching someone build their truck themselves vs just turning over their wallet for some else to do it.

Also,
Nice to see another fan of TAD and Magpul as well. :REOutShootinghunter

 

[robert]

Be very careful using those Ram mounts for laptops- one of the ambulances where I work part time got into an accident recently and the airbag slammed the Toughbook into the passenger's chest causing a rib fracture and some bad bruising. Make sure your passenger side airbag is cut off if using the laptop with a passenger; this is the main reason I hate having the things mounted in the cabs and usually swing it out of the way of the airbag (which then puts it in the way of the dash controls).

Speaking of dashes- all that work and you still have the crappy stock stereo. I finally got around to replacing mine earlier this summer and am much happier on trips now. The factory stereo is really bad and the speakers are simply awful. When you replace them you'll be amazed at how cheap they are- paper cones and magnets the size of beer bottle caps (yes, I know paper cones are used in a few high end indoor speakers but these are pure junk). I know I should have spent the money on a snorkel and some fancier wheels, but dang it makes everyday driving soooo much nicer. :sombrero:

 

[DarkHelmet]

Thanks!

LOL I was wondering if anyone would recognize those. You guys make some great kit as well. My next .22 cal can will most likely be Gemtech :ylsmoke:

Sounds like fun. Next June maybe, you know some good spots in central or eastern ID?

There are a ton of great spots in Eastern and Central ID. My wife and I would like to run the Magruder Corridor between Central ID and East Central MT sometime next year with our little one. The Pahsimeroi Valley in the Lost River Range is beautiful with some great places to camp and a few roads and trails we'd like to explore further.

- DH

 

[DarkHelmet]

used some super velcro to attach the remote here for now. it's kind of obnoxious there, but very easy to use.. still trying to think of a more permanent place for it.

How about dead center between your switches on the center console? Will it fit? Or even on top of the console lid? I have a buddy that has his remote mounted on the lid of his console in his suburban. It is a handy place to be able to rest your arm and control the light (or the passenger can also control it) while driving. I find things mounted to the dash are just out of reach to operate comfortably while on the move.

- DH

 

[robert]

One of those Pro-Fit mounts would probably work too (yeah, I'm kinda fascinated by them now that I've seen them).


And I think we need an Expo discount on Gemtechs! I need a Tundra and a Halo (and an Alpine) :costumed-smiley-007:ar15:

 

[oxi]

started by selecting some steel, 3x3 angle and box tube:

removing the bedside caps:

measured and cut the bedside caps, removing the overhang over the rail. once I had the fit I sanded down the edges and cleaned them up.

first cuts completed in the steel: fitting up nicely!

long cuts completed in the steel, hole patterns transferred and drilled, test fitting:

trimmed to length and shaped, starting to look good

front:

next i fabbed up the rack mounts from the box tube:

rack mounts all welded on:

Then it was time to put everything together in the bed and make sure the tonneau was gonna fit with the new system and the Frontrunner rack etc. I also needed to get the final measurements for the weatherstripping that I later used to seal between the bed rails and the tonneau rails.

pics from the mockup:

tonneau rolled up:

tonneau rolled down:

Everything fit together pretty well at that point, it is a little tight getting the header installed with the extra thickness of the steel, but it works. Much stronger and more stable than the original mounts I had made.

During the mock up and test fit, I decided to make some tie downs and weld them onto the new bedrail caps as well. Turned out sweet, and have proven to be very useful.

At that point I wanted to get them powdercoated, called around and both local shops had a 3 week wait. Well, we had a trip planned so as usual I needed it done and took them in to get Line-X'd instead.. big mistake, came out looking like melted poo and coated so thick with giant runs they wouldn't fit back into the bed. Got my money back from that fiasco, stripped the Line-X off, and rattlecanned them with Krylon. I have plans to take them out again later this winter to make some modifications and will get them powdercoated then.

So you just screwed the 3x3 metal pieces into the side of the bed? Is it sturdy that way?

I am looking to put a cattle gurad type side wall like this but smaller and use it as a base to construct my custom canvass cover and frame.:

To eventually make one of these, again in not such a tall scale but slightly taller than the cab that will accent the roof basket.

 

[frozenground]

We're back all safe and sound. Need to decompress, get the gear unpacked and get everything cleaned out.

trip stats: 12 days living out of the truck, 2,721 total miles, and over 800 miles in DV.

I will post a trip AAR and some pics in here once I get a chance to kick back and go through my notes

 

[frozenground]

Be very careful using those Ram mounts for laptops- one of the ambulances where I work part time got into an accident recently and the airbag slammed the Toughbook into the passenger's chest causing a rib fracture and some bad bruising. Make sure your passenger side airbag is cut off if using the laptop with a passenger; this is the main reason I hate having the things mounted in the cabs and usually swing it out of the way of the airbag (which then puts it in the way of the dash controls).

10-4 on this issue, this was actually a topic of much consideration before I installed it. After talking to an LEO friend whose dpt. uses the RAM mounts I decided to remove one of the arm segments from the RAM, leave the pivot a little loose, and move the passenger seat further back. The theory with setting it up this way is that the airbag will force the tray to pivot to the side and will miss the passenger. Is this ideal from a safety standpoint? No, but sometimes we have to balance risk with functionality. Besides, my wife insists on having access to the laptop while I am driving and I can't help but think that having it in the RAM mount is safer than having it on her lap.

Speaking of dashes- all that work and you still have the crappy stock stereo. I finally got around to replacing mine earlier this summer and am much happier on trips now. The factory stereo is really bad and the speakers are simply awful. When you replace them you'll be amazed at how cheap they are- paper cones and magnets the size of beer bottle caps (yes, I know paper cones are used in a few high end indoor speakers but these are pure junk). I know I should have spent the money on a snorkel and some fancier wheels, but dang it makes everyday driving soooo much nicer. :sombrero:

lol yeah, kinda sad isn't it.. I actually bought a decent Alpine head unit right after I got the truck. Never installed it though.. Ended up just putting in the ipod adapter instead. The JBL system is going to be a pain to rip out of there, and I'm not sure where to put the amp and sub... Would love to get a nice double-din touchscreen in there, but it's pretty low on the priority list.. need to get the rear end finished first :chef:

 

[frozenground]

There are a ton of great spots in Eastern and Central ID. My wife and I would like to run the Magruder Corridor between Central ID and East Central MT sometime next year with our little one. The Pahsimeroi Valley in the Lost River Range is beautiful with some great places to camp and a few roads and trails we'd like to explore further.

- DH

cool, sounds like fun! keep me posted :smiley_drive:

 

[frozenground]

How about dead center between your switches on the center console? Will it fit? Or even on top of the console lid? I have a buddy that has his remote mounted on the lid of his console in his suburban. It is a handy place to be able to rest your arm and control the light (or the passenger can also control it) while driving. I find things mounted to the dash are just out of reach to operate comfortably while on the move.

- DH

Won't fit in between the switches but I'm going to try it on top of the console lid like you suggest. It was just a little out of reach for comfortable operation during our trip just like you mentioned. Mostly just ended up removing it from the velcro and operating it like the handheld remote while in the cab..

One of those Pro-Fit mounts would probably work too (yeah, I'm kinda fascinated by them now that I've seen them).

hmm, gonna check them out now...

 

[frozenground]

So you just screwed the 3x3 metal pieces into the side of the bed? Is it sturdy that way?

I am looking to put a cattle gurad type side wall like this but smaller and use it as a base to construct my custom canvass cover and frame.:

To eventually make one of these, again in not such a tall scale but slightly taller than the cab that will accent the roof basket.

Yep, bolted into the factory bedrail mounting locations. Sturdy enough for my needs for sure. Have had no problems with it after many miles over all types of surfaces. Keep in mind I don't have a lot of dynamic weight up there. My RTT is the smallest lightest Eezi-awn model and the Bakkie rack is aluminum and very lightweight.

For what you are looking to do, maybe bolting your rack frame into the locations where the bed mounts would be a better solution.

 

[frozenground]

Death Valley and central NV

Here's a quick AAR from my notes on our last trip:

- as a native Montanan I am familiar with washboards, but Death Valley certainly has some nasty ones. Thanks to IVD for helping me stay on top :smiley_drive:

- no mechanical failures, no system critical malfunctions

- acquired some nice new pinstriping and a cute gouge in the passenger side slider

- doesn't seem to matter how much vibration proofing I do, something will rattle loose.

- acquired an electrical gremlin in my DTRL override switch wiring, apparently also affecting the remote lock function.. Loose connection in a splice most likely. Works fine with the switch in the off position, but intermittent while in the on position. Not sure how I'm going to get a soldering iron up in there behind the dash, but it brings me to my next note..

- butt splices suck, solder joints rock

- a couple screws in the ARB fog lights rattled loose. didn't even know they were there until they weren't, lol.. replacements will get loctite.

- a nut rattled off the Hi-Lift at some point, no biggie but it was a little disconcerting finding an anonymous nut knocking around in the bed until I figured out where it came from.

- Apparently I didn't tighten down the Stormcase enough that I put all the recovery gear in. It seemed pretty tight before we left but after a few days it started wandering toward the center of the basket. Noticed when I couldn't get the lid open all the way, so a quick re-position and re-tighten and it was fine the rest of the trip.

- Cargo platform proved it's worth again. Slept on it one night with a thermarest and it was pretty cozy.

- Took awhile to figure this out but when it's windy, taking the rain fly completely off the tent and tucking all the buckles into the tracks makes it less noisy and easier for me to sleep.

- Need to be able to carry more water and fuel without taking up more room in the bed. Looking at water tank options now..

- Left a valve stem cap somewhere near Ubehebe. Didn't have any spares.. bugged me for days afterward for some reason.

- The Engel wireless thermometer is great, when it decides to work. It displayed a double dash almost as often as it displayed the fridge temp. Maybe I have it mounted too far away from the fridge...

------------------------------------------------------------------------

a few pics from the trip:

OP now updated!