Phoenix
"Snow Ninja"
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2008
- Messages
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So I’ve been really MIA from the forum in the past year or so since I sold the XR. I gave him up in October and bought myself a 2004 Tundra and have been hooked ever since on building my “Jack”.
He came to me stock as a previous lot truck for a dealership and I knew my work was cut out for me. I started working at a shop here in Calgary that upgrades 4WD’s for some serious expedition type travel and was privy to a lot of parts and pieces to upgrade the truck with. First things first – maintenance. Oil changes, timing belts, serp belts, bubbles in the coolant lines, other general and some random maintenance... you name it I’ve pretty much tackled that truck head-on with much swearing, bruises and unfortunately I bled everywhere after cutting my finger wiiiiide open. I figured in order for me to know my truck inside and out I’d have to do everything myself. So painstakingly I’ve taken the time to learn each part, piece, suspension part… etc.
First mod up was my new tires. Now, you may think that this is a cheesy upgrade. Tires for me were SUPER important due to deflating while traveling over rocky terrain and travelling dirt roads (makes it easier to handle, less tread pattern, etc). However when you go from 30’s to 33’s on a stock truck there is a LOT of cutting of body pieces to be done. I ended up tearing off my mud flaps about 30 seconds after pulling out of the tire shop. Dudes at the tire shop were petrified it was rubbing so bad and I just laughed my fool head off. Mostly because I had a jigsaw in the back of the truck to cut my front bumper down and part of my quarter panel.
Ended up plasma cutting the pinch welds off on both sides and grinding it down so I had a nice smooth non-rubbing surface, and I cut off quite a bit of bumper as well. 33’s definitely need suspension on these things to look proper.
Second mod up – spacers. My birthday is the day after Christmas so my boss surprised me by buying me 1.25” All Pro spacers. It was the perfect addition after the tires for barely any rub (unless at full lock), and I have a really aggressive stance. I LOVE it. Also took off my side steps and chrome trim pieces.
Third mod – suspension. I’ve been debating whether or not to LT the truck as I do enjoy some pretty gnarly trails, however for the location that I’m at and the trails we run here I decided just to stick with a full 3” lift via Bilstein, Total Chaos UCA’s and an Add-a-Leaf from All Pro. For the longest time I was running 1 ¼” spacer in the front to even out the rake I had leaning forwards. That was a bitch to fit in .. *photo is of stock UCA's
Anyways, for the time being I’m really happy with my set-up. I have a few things planning in the future, but unfortunately there aren’t a lot of companies that deal with aftermarket parts for my generation of Tundra (i.e.; bumpers, sliders, skid plates, etc.) so I’m having to work close with whomever we work with at The Gear Shop (my shop) to get some things custom made. It’s been exciting thus far though!
But anywho.. here’s some pictures showing what it is I actually do with this thing….
Just a hard park.. haha
We had one of our supplier rep’s come from Cali so I took him out in the truck. Kinda funny to see a 200+lb dude sitting beside 100lb me while I’m driving up a rock face..
This would be the beautiful back country we get to ride up. This trail is called Top of The World and the view is INCREDIBLE. I’m the little spec crawling my way up at the bottom:
This is one of the many “little” puddles we had to traverse on trail (using Tread Lightly principles of course):
This is headin down one of the river crossings. Doesn’t look steep, but in reality all I could see was the river bed:
And going up that same river crossing on the way back (that rut underneath my truck that I’m straddling was about 3’ deep:
And this is how he currently sits:
I’ll try to keep this updated as I progress if you guys are interested. I know, I know, it's no XR but we all have to have a hobby, right?
:canada:
Phoenix out.
He came to me stock as a previous lot truck for a dealership and I knew my work was cut out for me. I started working at a shop here in Calgary that upgrades 4WD’s for some serious expedition type travel and was privy to a lot of parts and pieces to upgrade the truck with. First things first – maintenance. Oil changes, timing belts, serp belts, bubbles in the coolant lines, other general and some random maintenance... you name it I’ve pretty much tackled that truck head-on with much swearing, bruises and unfortunately I bled everywhere after cutting my finger wiiiiide open. I figured in order for me to know my truck inside and out I’d have to do everything myself. So painstakingly I’ve taken the time to learn each part, piece, suspension part… etc.
First mod up was my new tires. Now, you may think that this is a cheesy upgrade. Tires for me were SUPER important due to deflating while traveling over rocky terrain and travelling dirt roads (makes it easier to handle, less tread pattern, etc). However when you go from 30’s to 33’s on a stock truck there is a LOT of cutting of body pieces to be done. I ended up tearing off my mud flaps about 30 seconds after pulling out of the tire shop. Dudes at the tire shop were petrified it was rubbing so bad and I just laughed my fool head off. Mostly because I had a jigsaw in the back of the truck to cut my front bumper down and part of my quarter panel.
Ended up plasma cutting the pinch welds off on both sides and grinding it down so I had a nice smooth non-rubbing surface, and I cut off quite a bit of bumper as well. 33’s definitely need suspension on these things to look proper.
Second mod up – spacers. My birthday is the day after Christmas so my boss surprised me by buying me 1.25” All Pro spacers. It was the perfect addition after the tires for barely any rub (unless at full lock), and I have a really aggressive stance. I LOVE it. Also took off my side steps and chrome trim pieces.
Third mod – suspension. I’ve been debating whether or not to LT the truck as I do enjoy some pretty gnarly trails, however for the location that I’m at and the trails we run here I decided just to stick with a full 3” lift via Bilstein, Total Chaos UCA’s and an Add-a-Leaf from All Pro. For the longest time I was running 1 ¼” spacer in the front to even out the rake I had leaning forwards. That was a bitch to fit in .. *photo is of stock UCA's
Anyways, for the time being I’m really happy with my set-up. I have a few things planning in the future, but unfortunately there aren’t a lot of companies that deal with aftermarket parts for my generation of Tundra (i.e.; bumpers, sliders, skid plates, etc.) so I’m having to work close with whomever we work with at The Gear Shop (my shop) to get some things custom made. It’s been exciting thus far though!
But anywho.. here’s some pictures showing what it is I actually do with this thing….
Just a hard park.. haha
We had one of our supplier rep’s come from Cali so I took him out in the truck. Kinda funny to see a 200+lb dude sitting beside 100lb me while I’m driving up a rock face..
This would be the beautiful back country we get to ride up. This trail is called Top of The World and the view is INCREDIBLE. I’m the little spec crawling my way up at the bottom:
This is one of the many “little” puddles we had to traverse on trail (using Tread Lightly principles of course):
This is headin down one of the river crossings. Doesn’t look steep, but in reality all I could see was the river bed:
And going up that same river crossing on the way back (that rut underneath my truck that I’m straddling was about 3’ deep:
And this is how he currently sits:
I’ll try to keep this updated as I progress if you guys are interested. I know, I know, it's no XR but we all have to have a hobby, right?
:canada:
Phoenix out.
.....hopefully you forgive me 
