EscapeDivision: 2001 Tundra Access Cab build thread.

[EscapeDivision]

Hey guys. I thought I'd start a thread for my '01 Tundra. I've had it for a long time, and she has served me well for all of it. I never really did much with it before, because... well... I just didn't. I liked it too much at the beginning to really beat it up too much, and I was a broke young kid. This thing was pretty much the pinnacle of vehicle ownership for me when I bought it in early 2003, and I loved it dearly. I bought it from an old man that put towels down over the floor mats. It had 24,xxx miles and still had the new car smell. It was bone stock, down to the tires. I saved my money, bought some 265/75r16 BFG All Terrains, had the front windows tinted to match the rears, and continued being young and broke, but with a sweet new whip.

Most of the small amount of extra money I had back then went to dirtbikes, musical equipment and drinking. When I got bored with that, I joined the Army as an Airborne Infantryman. I had always liked camping, but this is where I really figured out that I loved the outdoors. I got stationed at Fort Richardson, Alaska. Although a lot of people love Alaska, it just isn't for me. Not for living, anyway. BUT... you absolutely cannot deny it's beauty! We'd camp and shoot when we could (the fun way, not the Army way :sombrero: ), and the truck served it's purpose for that.

When I got out of the Army, I got bored almost instantly. So I bought a KTM 950 Super Enduro, loaded it up with some gear, and took off for about a month.

I made it from Northern Nevada into Oregon, Idaho, Washington, back across Idaho into Montana, down through Wyoming into Colorado, and east into Kansas before my trip got cut short and I had to return home. I camped the whole way, probably smelling like a bag of smashed buttholes after a couple weeks (except for Colorado, I knew a couple people there!), but I had a blast, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. My only issue was, I wanted to do this kind of thing more often. And I didn't want the weather to play such a huge role in planning. And being of a military mindset these days... I wanted to be more prepared. The bike only afforded me so much in the way of payload. Sometimes it was a good feeling, not being burdened with much gear (even though I felt like I was packed to the gills), but sometimes, it sucked. Like when things started going wrong mechanically, and I was in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming, and the next nearest town had only a gas station that MIGHT be open that weekend.

SO... I decided to slowly start morphing my Tundra into a camping/off road/overland/expedition/whatever vehicle. It'll be slow going, because though I'm older now, I'm still broke (or slightly more financially responsible/less willing to part with every penny)... but.. hopefully it will be somewhat steady.

Hope you guys enjoy.

 

[EscapeDivision]

All the chrome in the grille and front bumper started bugging me a while back. So I ran to the store and grabbed some plasti-dip to take care of it, thinking it would be a temporary solution. It turned out looking a little better than I expected!

 

[EscapeDivision]

UPS Man began dropping things off. :wings: Icon Extended Travel coilovers, Camburg uniball uppers, Icon 2.0 shocks for the rear, Wheelers aal, Mickey Thompson Sidebiter II 16x8 wheels, and 285/75 MTR Kevlars. There's some new brake rotors and pads in there somewhere too. :smiley_drive:

I started getting excited.

Unfortunately, the install did NOT go smoothly at all. I also don't have photos of it. Years of Alaska winters and general neglect had left my bushings in dismal form. They were toast. Everything was seized up, and it was just a general PITA to get anything done at all. The driver side lower shock bolt was seized so badly, we ended up using a giant C-clamp and a breaker bar to try and push the bolt out of the bushing and mount. We thought it was working until we pulled the clamp and socket off, and realized we had just bent the holy hell out of the lower shock mount.. and the bolt hadn't even BUDGED from the shock bushing. It was late and all the shops were closed, so we threw everything back together hand tight (it was halfway in my buddy's garage), and got her back on the tires and out to the street.

I decided to bite the bullet and just buy new lower control arms. Somewhat surprisingly, I found a new set, in stock locally the next day. Bought them up. Ran around to some different part stores, and had a set of SPC camber/caster bolts and cam sleeves ordered in to Oreillys, so I could pick them up the next morning.

When I got back to my buddy's house the following day, he had already taken apart some more of the front end. We loosened the steering rack and moved it up and back to remove the LCA hardware and get the lower arms off. You can see the driver side arm and strut that came out in one piece (still seized together) by the trash can in this picture!

Once we got the arms out and the upper ball joints free from the spindle (read: torch and bfh), everything started going back together pretty smoothly.

Until we realized we were short one lower shock bolt... that was still stuck in the old lower arm. Off to the hardware store. We picked up a couple grade 8 bolts and got back to it, with the goal of getting just the front done that day. We pretty much made it. Except when we went to torque one of the brand new grade 8s in the lower shock mounts, it just kept spinning. And spinning. ******? Is this thing stripped? Well.. take it out. Except now it won't come out. NOW it wants to get tight. Get the breaker bar on it.. and SNAP! Sheared the freakin thing right in the mount. Blew my mind. Oh well. Used a new bolt, and this one went without a hitch.

Next day, we threw the Wheelers add-a-leafs and rear Icon shocks in with no problems. No pictures, either though. I finally drove the truck home. Got her aligned the next day, ran it through the car wash, and here she was.

Oh yeah.. with some new headlights, too. No more foggy yellow lenses!

 

[EscapeDivision]

And that pretty much takes us to where it's at now.

I just talked to Billy at Brute Force Fab yesterday, and should have a new front bumper headed my way sometime soon. :wings: Got a couple HIDs on the way. We'll see after that. I'd like to do a rear bumper and sliders, also... but I'm debating on whether I should do that first, or get started on a bed rack and rtt first!

 

[rickashay]

This is like the new 1st Gen Tundra HQ.

Very clean build, really like the truck. I wish mine was flareless. How does all the new suspension ride?

 

[Derek24]

Looks great! Love those tires!

 

[EscapeDivision]

This is like the new 1st Gen Tundra HQ.

Very clean build, really like the truck. I wish mine was flareless. How does all the new suspension ride?

Thanks! Suspension is like night and day. This thing was riding like a clapped out crown vic before, and was in serious need of some love. The ride is firm now on the road, but body roll is greatly diminished, even after ditching the sway bar. Off-road ride is fantastic, though there is a definite disparity between the front and rear. I think if I was doing it again, I'd forego the add-a-leaf in favor of a new leaf pack all together... But I still can't complain!

 

[uscg2008]

Sound like you had some hiccups but turned out nicely

 

[character zero]

Nice truck and build!

 

[seanpistol]

Nice man! When I went to the plate bumper with a winch I switched from the 13" 650 lb coils that came on the coilovers to 14" 700 lb coils to compensate for the added weight. Super happy with that. The stock coils weren't up to the task.

 

[EscapeDivision]

Thanks SeanPistol. I was a little worried about that. I didn't really plan on doing a bumper this soon, but I'm rubbing just a hair on the corner of the front bumper while turned and compressed, so I figured it was a perfect excuse. :sombrero:

I'm sitting a little lower in front already, and I don't want to crank the coilovers any higher, so I guess we'll see how it goes with the bumper and no winch. Winch will come a little bit later. If it gets much worse, I may be swapping coils sooner rather than later!

 

[Greenyota]

Thanks SeanPistol. I was a little worried about that. I didn't really plan on doing a bumper this soon, but I'm rubbing just a hair on the corner of the front bumper while turned and compressed, so I figured it was a perfect excuse. :sombrero:

I'm sitting a little lower in front already, and I don't want to crank the coilovers any higher, so I guess we'll see how it goes with the bumper and no winch. Winch will come a little bit later. If it gets much worse, I may be swapping coils sooner rather than later!

Looks amazing, that was one sweet overhaul of the suspension. I'm looking into getting one of those bumpers towards the end of the summer. I'm curious to see how the suspension holds up with the added weight. I have OME 886s with Bilstein 5100s right now and it's super stiff, so I was thinking the bumper would smooth everything out.

 

[climber-420]

nice, clean, user friendly vehicle. awesome.

 

[airbornegrunt82]

I think I finally decided what my next platform will be due to this build. Already looking great and can't wait to see the next phase.

Keep the knees in the breeze airborne brother.


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[EscapeDivision]

So much for being steady, I guess! I received my bumper from Brute Force Fab months and months ago. I got really excited when it showed up, but then some life stuff hit and I ended up getting distracted, so it sat in my garage for way too long.

Well, I finally got myself straightened out, had the bumper powdercoated, and last weekend I finally put it on, and wired up some lights with the awesome help of some friends. Here's how she looks now. Brute Force did such an awesome job with the bumper. Everybody that has seen it has loved it, and the thing went on super easy, and it fits the body nice and tight.

Off with the old:

Brute Force resting in place:

I was having some rubbing issues with my tires on the old bumper. And on the frame. And on the pinch weld. So I threw a set of Spidertrax wheel spacers on at the same time. Also... the truck was a little raked out, so we removed the overload springs from the rear for now to help level her back out. I beat the pinch weld back in the front, and cranked the coilovers a little more to help with rubbing. It's not gone entirely, but it's pretty damn close to being rub free. And it's really nice being able to crank the wheel lock to lock and not hit the frame. I tested the rubbing thing by taking her out in the hills by my house for a little bit.

The lights in the bumper are Rigid D2 driving lights wired into my stock fog light button. The 7" lights on top are Pro-Comp Explorer HID spots. Man, they throw some freakin light. I can't get enough of it.

And just cause I'm so stoked with the Brute Force bumper and how it fits.. here's a side view. I'm gonna have to notch my grille a little to clear the lights when opening the hood. I can open it now, but I have to pop the hood and shove in pretty hard on the bottom of the grille to flex it away. Won't be long before I break it doing it like a caveman.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll have a new rear bumper and some sliders from Brute Force Fab soon, too!