'03 Tacoma Build

01tundra

Explorer
Guess it's time to start a new build thread.

Put some Bilstein 5100's on all four corners, set the fronts on the middle setting (1.25") and reused all the factory springs. Put Toytec 1" lift shackles on the back.

Also added a Truxedo bed cover, Husky floor liners, new stereo, Engel twist lock plug, gray wire mod for the rear diff lock, repainted the wheels, etc.......busy weekend :)!

Planning on putting some Hankook DynaPro MT RT03 (265/75R16) tires on it and a set of CBI bolt-on sliders.


Before -


Taco-1.jpg



b1-2.jpg



After -


T1-5.jpg



T2-2.jpg
 

haddix

Adventurer
Glad to see you got a tacoma but sad to hear your keeping it mild. Im about to start building up my 03 lunar mist dcab tacoma and would have loved to see how this one went.
 

juicebox

Adventurer
I am excited to see where this build is going, that is a very clean double cab you have there. I am sure it'll be nothing like your old tundra, but exciting nonetheless.

Could you do me a huge favor and measure from the center of the front hub to the fender? I have OME 881 w/ bil 5100 and my 881's are sagging. I was considering putting the adjuster ring on the 5100's up one notch, but I don't want to do that and have the front be sky high.
 
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01tundra

Explorer
Could you do me a huge favor and measure from the center of the front hub to the fender? I have OME 881 w/ bil 5100 and my 881's are sagging. I was considering putting the adjuster ring on the 5100's up one notch, but I don't want to do that and have the front be sky high.

I'm pretty sure that my factory springs have sagged some, but the driver's side was 21-7/8" and the passenger side measured 22". That was measuring from the center of the hub to the bottom of the factory fender flares.
 

01tundra

Explorer
I ordered a set of Goodyear Duratracs in 265/75R16 (C-rated / 6 ply) yesterday, they should be arriving at my local Discount Tire store before the end of this week.
 

juicebox

Adventurer
I ordered a set of Goodyear Duratracs in 265/75R16 (C-rated / 6 ply) yesterday, they should be arriving at my local Discount Tire store before the end of this week.

I have ran both and the KM2's were smoother, had less road noise, had less vibration, required considerable less weight to balance, and was as good in the rain. The KM2's definitely had better off-road performance.

I will never have another GY product on my truck, the Goodyear MTR/K were the worst out of the 10 various sets of tires that I've ran on my truck. The second worse were the original MT/R's.............

The Goodyears are terrible in any muddy conditions, lacked lateral traction on rocks, took a ton or weight to balance, sidewalls cut as easy as the KM2's, made the truck want to pull to the passenger side on the road (as they did with the several other rigs that were running them on our trip).........so now you've heard it from somebody that actually has ran both and no longer runs either.

Maybe the MTR/K's are great on lighter rigs, but they were terrible on mine.

You may want to consider the Hankook's also.
:coffeedrink: BUSTED! Caught in the act of buying another GY product!

Did you decide to give them one more shot or did you get them for a good deal or something?


Thanks for the measurements btw.
 
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01tundra

Explorer
Ha.....I know :p

I told my wife that I can't believe I'm actually giving GY another shot, if they turn out anything like the MTR's, they will be in the classified thread next week :)!

I was just struggling to find a C-rated tire that was semi-aggressive in 265/75/16. The BFG T/A KO's I currently have on it are D-rated and in my opinion are too much for a truck of this weight that doesn't really haul/tow anything. I'm reliving my tire dilemma in reverse now.......with the Tundra, I couldn't find any 37's or 40's that I liked in E-rating, until I found the Hankooks. I really wanted to run the Hankooks on this one, but I'm not a fan of an E-rated tire on this truck, mostly due to me wanting to keep this one as light weight as possible. If the Duratracs turn out to be not so great, I may have to bite the bullet and swap them out for the Hankook M/T's........
 

01tundra

Explorer
After much research, the next two items on the "list" are:

1. CBI bolt-on sliders w/ kickouts
2. BudBuilt skid plate set w/ rear crossmember


Anybody have any personal experience/input with any of the above?

*Edit - I decided to go ahead and order an Inchworm E-locker motor guard and low-profile diff drain plug.
 
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jim65wagon

TundraBird1
If the Duratracs don't work out Cooper has their AT3 and the original Discoverer ST in a C rated 265/75/16.......unless the SAC and the 35's replace the GYs
 

Rattler

Thornton Melon's Kid
Did Fetter buy your Tundra? Everytime it seems I talk to him he has another Toy. If I would have known you were looking for a bed cover I have a nice tonneau sitting in the garage I will probably never use again that is in great condition.

In for the build. . . . . .
 

01tundra

Explorer
If the Duratracs don't work out Cooper has their AT3 and the original Discoverer ST in a C rated 265/75/16.......unless the SAC and the 35's replace the GYs

I just noticed that the Cooper SST came in C rating.....I guess it's a little late since my Duratracs will be here tomorrow.
 

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