2014 Tacoma TRD Off-Road spinning my wheels build

[AreWeThereYet]

Here's my build thread, the end goal is to have a truck that I'm just as comfortable driving across the country as I am driving on the trail.
2014 Toyota Tacoma Double-Cab, Short Bed, TRD Off-Road 4x4

After enjoying my Scion tC for almost a decade I bought a Tacoma in November of 2015, approximately 1 week before I was about to move across the country from Austin to Nashville.

Current picture of the truck: (9/15/19)


How I drove it home: (12/7/15)

Summary of Mods:

Interior:
- Husky Weatherproof Floormats 11/15
- Lost cup holder mod 8/16
- LED Dome/Map lights 12/16

Exterior:
- Steadfast 14" antenna 12/17

-TRD Shorty Antenna 11/15 - Lost on trail 10/17​

- Bike mounts on quick rails 11/15
- UnderCover Tonneau SE bed cover 12/15
- LED 3rd brake light 10/18

Armor:
- Mobtown Offroad bolt-on sliders with kick-out and fill plates 10/17
- The OG SOS Concepts Streamline steel bumper with Line-X 10/17
- Steel plate rear bumper 10/18
- Mobtown Offroad aluminum IFS skid 2/19
- Mobtown Offroad aluminum trans skid 2/19

Recovery:
- Smittybilt X20-10 Comp Gen 2 wireless winch with synthetic rope 10/17
- Factor 55 Prolink 10/17

Wheels & Tires:
- BFG KO2s 265/75-16 on stock wheels 3/17
- Full Size Spare Goodyear Discoverer on matching wheel 07/17

Suspension:
- Fox 2.5 extended length coilovers
- Fox 2.0 rear shocks with reservoirs
- Wheelers 3 leaf add a leaf
- Wheelers U-bolt flip kit w/ SuperBumps
- Front Wheelers SuperBumps
- SPC Light Racing upper control arms
- Wheeler's Strut Top Plate poly spacer 1/4” driver (to account for taco lean).

Communications:
- CB Radio- Cobra 29WXNWST 1/17
- CB Antenna- TRAM Center Load 703-HC 1/17
- PA Speaker- Pyle PSP8 1/17

Random Truck Pictures:

 

[AreWeThereYet]

I put the lift on yesterday with some help from a few guys and after about 100 miles there's no vibes, rubbing, or other issues so far. I'll look over everything again tonight when I get home. I didn't get any measurements because the truck was off the ground by the time I thought about it.
- Fox 2.5 extended length coilovers
- Fox 2.0 rear shocks with reservoirs
- Wheelers 3 leaf add a leaf (left overload in)
- Wheelers U-bolt flip kit w/ SuperBumps
- Front Wheelers SuperBumps
- SPC Light Racing upper control arms
- Wheelers Strut Top Plate poly spacer 1/4” driver side

Got the truck up on jackstands

Starting taking off parts, found some strange bar spanning my front wheels, so I got rid of it.

The first corner is always the hardest

Front before the wheel was back on

Rear on with flip kit and superbump

Before and After Pics:

My wheel/tire combo looks small now.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Been a while since I've updated anything here so here's some of what I've been doing the past few months.

I finally got around to extending the rear diff breather, here's the parts I used.

Here's the hose connected to the new union.

I decided to mount the new breather in the storage compartment in the bed.

Afterwards I touched up the sliders with some bed liner.

Wife decided it was a good day to replace some of the ugly thorny bushes with new ones, and I'm not one to pass up an opportunity to use the winch.

Before:

After:

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Went to LBL a while back and had a blast. It was the first time out since I put the lift on, and I was shocked (no pun intended) at how much nicer it was. I knew there would be an improvement but this went beyond what I was hoping for.
Favorite thing about offroading with the new setup is probably the bumpstops. The difference this makes when bombing a hole, or dropping into something was huge, but I really loved all of the new suspension.

When we first arrived at our campsite

Our camp site and view of Neville bay. This was also our first time using the EZ-Up cube tent, it’s simple to get setup, and did great through the storms and everything.

Got out into the woods and did some wheeling and exploring.

After I got home and had a chance to admire my mud art.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

This birthday was good to me. Got a few new things for the truck, all the little stuff that I don't ever want to spend my own money on.
Got organizers for the glove box (didn't take a pic yet) and console.
Before:

After:

Set of pouches that slide between the seat and console, haven't decided what to keep there but it's handy spot to stick maps, papers, phones, snacks, drugs, the usual stuff.

Also going to do the secondary air injection filter mod:

Deflating will go a lot quicker now:

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Someone got me the filter as a gift so I went for it. Replaced the foam filter for the secondary air pump with the UNI-107. I also really need to clean my engine bay, but that won't happen until after Red River Gorge this weekend.

I'm hoping the cover doesn't restrict the airflow too much, but it hasn't seemed to cause any issues. I can definitely hear it sucking air when I'm outside the truck.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Haven't had too much going on with the truck lately, last week I touched up my sliders and my shackles. I also gave the truck a good washing inside and out, then had it rain an hour later.

At the end of June, and beginning of July I took a couple of trips, here are some pics.
Red River Gorge June 21-24, 2018:

The guy featured in the video above created this video of our trip below:

Nemo's Tunnel July, 1, 2018:

 

[Kyle & Kari Frink]

Been a while since I've updated anything here so here's some of what I've been doing the past few months.

I finally got around to extending the rear diff breather, here's the parts I used.

Here's the hose connected to the new union.

I decided to mount the new breather in the storage compartment in the bed.

Afterwards I touched up the sliders with some bed liner.

Wife decided it was a good day to replace some of the ugly thorny bushes with new ones, and I'm not one to pass up an opportunity to use the winch.

Before:

After:

Love seeing guys use the winch to remove shrubbery/plants/tree stumps and such lol.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Love seeing guys use the winch to remove shrubbery/plants/tree stumps and such lol.

Haha, It’s anything you can do to get your money’s worth out of them. I don’t think I have any video of me winching trucks.

 

[Kyle & Kari Frink]

Haha, It’s anything you can do to your money’s worth out of them. I don’t think I have any video of me winching trucks.

@AreWeThereYet

Hey it's like you said, make the most of your money.

 

[Dcwn.45]

nice!
looks a bit like my 2013!

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Removed a few stumps this morning. At this point I’ve done more landscaping than recovery with my winch. At least it makes the wife glad I have it.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Installed a new AFE Pro Dry S filter, it only made sense to get one that I clean out and re-use after I go off road. On another note my engine bay still needs a heavy duty cleaning.

Old Filter:

New Filter:

I also did a little bit of mall crawling and exploring the other day, decided to take a couple shots flexing.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Finally got around to checking out the TN Dirt Devil with a couple of guys, it was a good time just riding through the country.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Installed my new rear bumper last night, I did it with basic hand tools by myself, but an extra set of hands would've made this a lot easier.
First I removed the old bumper which took about an hour.

Then I put the new one on using a jack, a couple stands, and some odd yoga poses.

As soon as I was tightening the last bolt my wife got home from work and was eager to help with the last 30 minutes wiring up lights. 2 hours and one soldering iron burn later the plate lights were wired, and we figured I'd wire up the LED pods later.

This morning I went out and wired up the pods. Wiring is one thing that I have never been any good at but I wanted to give this a try.
No surprise, my wiring didn't work. I'm hoping I blew a fuse or something simple.

Update: I went back and messed with this wiring again. I tapped the positives and one of the grounds into the driver side reverse light, and the remaining passenger ground connected to the license plate light ground wire. Now they work!

 

[brobin15]

Loving the build process. Just realized you are in Hendersonville, TN. Thought I recognized the area. I grew up there!

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Loving the build process. Just realized you are in Hendersonville, TN. Thought I recognized the area. I grew up there!

Thanks! Hendersonville has been pretty good to us, we just moved here a few years ago. There’s a lot of cool places to visit within a pretty short drive.

 

[French]

Great Build, working on my 2013 thanks for all the great posts!

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Great Build, working on my 2013 thanks for all the great posts!

Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed looking at my build. Your truck looks sweet, I really like the TX edition trucks, especially the wheels.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

My wife randomly ordered me a new third brake light, and since the ones on our 2nd gen Tacomas still look like they're from 95 I went ahead and installed it today.
The stock housing, wasn't expecting it to take a star bit.

After I unscrewed it I used a flathead screwdriver to pry it up a bit then peeled it off the old adhesive foam.

Old housing once it was removed.

This one was just plug and play so I didn't have to deal with any wiring.

New brake light.