Topic: BigMike's Big Journey: A 2016 Tacoma Build Thread

[emsvitil]

And mine is still wrong.............

I had 4458 for Tacoma................... not 4325

[BigMike [OP]]

How much does it cost to weigh your truck anyway?

It was $10.50 per vehicle which I know is rather excessive just for this test, but I figured I've always wanted to know what the Hilux weighs plus there is a recycler just down the street from our shop that has a scale for weighing loads of cardboard/newspaper and they give out free verbal weights. This is how I've weighed my MR2 over the years. But.... It doesn't need to be accurate. All it needs to be is consistent. But it would be nice to know how accurate it is! So on our way back to the shop I drove the Tacoma straight to the recyclers and pulled up on the scale and got a weight quote at exactly the same reading as the CAT scale. So I felt it was worth the charge even if just from a research aspect Nice to have official print-outs for a change.

BigMike

[BigMike [OP]]

I had 4458 for Tacoma

Thanks, got it fixed. It is now 0.6% closer! That is a nice guess BTW for the Tacoma.

Member	Truck	Guess	% error	Ave % error
emsvitil	1981	3,126	17.3	9.1
	2016	4,458	0.9

[Toyotadon]

LOL, you don't follow the rules, you don't get to win. 

[THK Matt]

time to cut that thing up!!!!!

[BigMike [OP]]

time to cut that thing up!!!!!

It will get some cutting done prior to the Round Up that's for sure

I have been out of town for the past 2 weeks; Planning to resume posting updates soon

It is going far slower than planned due to all the wheeling events and marketing going on. Had we received this truck when originally expected then we would have built it up during the winter / early spring months before the wheeling season got into gear. Now it's a big mess trying to get much of anything done on the side for me... Nevertheless it's Round Up or bust for the Tacoma!!

[Prismo]

Mike, I showed my lady this thread when she was searching for new vehicles. I guess she was swayed by it because we now have a new truck. I put the blame squarely upon you.   
It did get 16.5 mpg towing my "new car" back over 3 passes from Eastern Washington & the best part was only needing 4th gear twice going over the passes. What a difference from the 22re 4runner.

[kneedownnate]

I've heard by today's standards it is a quarter ton. Brochure lists a payload capacity of 1,620 lbs, listing this as GVWR minus curb weight. My door sticker lists GVWR as 5,600 lbs. Subtract 4,420 lbs and we get a total payload of 1,180 lbs. Minus me we get 1,005 lbs. So I suppose that technically it is a half-ton but people on different forums are claiming it's not a true half-ton.

That's the great thing about the internets; your own opinion can morph into fact, and you can corroborate your opinion when somebody agrees with you.  Name one 1/2 ton truck that's a true 1/2 ton, and go back as far as you can.  A great many come up well short.  I've loaded the 80 hilux up with roughly a ton of soil (assumed from weights found online) and watched an s-10 in front of me ask the dude if he'd take some out since he was on the bumps well before he reached half the load I had. 

Full size truck guys have always puffed out their chests and called the minis 1/4 ton trucks.  Can they haul the load?  Sure.  Is it going to drive and stop as safely as a bigger truck?  Probably not.

[79coyotefrg]

Here is another shot of the gap between the door and the slider. I can stack three fingers between the two. Will discuss more on this later.



The dimpled plate does look great once installed I have to admit.



View from the rear door



View from the driver's seat

I would think angling the sliders up on the outside would help a lot.

[79coyotefrg]

It was $10.50 per vehicle which I know is rather excessive just for this test, but I figured I've always wanted to know what the Hilux weighs plus there is a recycler just down the street from our shop that has a scale for weighing loads of cardboard/newspaper and they give out free verbal weights. This is how I've weighed my MR2 over the years. But.... It doesn't need to be accurate. All it needs to be is consistent. But it would be nice to know how accurate it is! So on our way back to the shop I drove the Tacoma straight to the recyclers and pulled up on the scale and got a weight quote at exactly the same reading as the CAT scale. So I felt it was worth the charge even if just from a research aspect Nice to have official print-outs for a change.

BigMike

Wow it was $7 when I started driving trucks and 8.50 when I quit. 

You should have split your weight on each truck to see how well balanced they are.  cost is the same you just have to park on the scale correctly. Did you notice the big scale had 3 or 4 sections?  thats how you split the weight.
Eighteen wheelers must know how much weight is on the steer axle, the drive axles and the trailer ale or axles.

[79coyotefrg]

Do you have to wait for the warranty to expire before modifying the suspension??

[Toyotadon]

It'll expire when he starts cutting. 

[OVRAROK]

cant wait to see this truck in person, parked at the rubicon springs 

[emsvitil]

From Scott Adam's Blog (Dilbert)


http://blog.dilbert.com/post/147352433956/how-not-to-buy-a-chevy-truck

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/147545750286/truck-buying-advice

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/148455234631/the-bait-and-switch-confusopoly-economy

[helipilot77]

Saw this sitting in the lot at the local dealership. Looks like they are starting to offer more manuals since you bought yours.

[redneckcustoms13]

It's now offered in a double cab with supercharged engine with 6speed as well. 

[Toyotadon]

The competition is stacking up. 

[79coyotefrg]

Hey BigMike,  our canadian friend Vman bought a 2016 Tacoma as well. his is a 3.4 and 6 speed.  He's hoping you start making some armor soon.

[V-Man]

Ok now that you finally have a modern truck. I think it would be a real good idea to try putting a Solenoid on a crawler like we talked about. 

I have the Double Cab TRD Sport with a short box, Manual 6 speed and 3.5L V6.


No more excises now likes see some stuff for MY truck.. 


First mod was a back rack to protect the rear windows and to give me a place to mount Antennas. Motor Kote in everything from Engine to Diffs, Transfer case and Transmission,  MPG goes up with Motor Kote.  Second was a set of Super Springs for trailer towing to stiffen the rear. I was going to remove them after, but I like the way the truck Rides now.   The Air Ram on the Front has to come OFF next time I am home. First snow bank and it's broken Plastic. 

[TimberlineBryce]

It will get some cutting done prior to the Round Up that's for sure

I have been out of town for the past 2 weeks; Planning to resume posting updates soon

It is going far slower than planned due to all the wheeling events and marketing going on. Had we received this truck when originally expected then we would have built it up during the winter / early spring months before the wheeling season got into gear. Now it's a big mess trying to get much of anything done on the side for me... Nevertheless it's Round Up or bust for the Tacoma!!

BigMike any updates??

[OTO Phil]

And pics 👍

Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk

[BigMike [OP]]

Hey guys, loooooong time no news, it was a crazy busy year last year for me and timing just didn't work out at all for the Tacoma.

I've been working on multiple big projects here that are dragging on now more than 2 yrs and I hope to get them finished soon so I can start working on the Taco. I was so busy that I only made two wheel'n events last year the whole year. I'm pretty sure that is the fewest amount of wheel'n I've done in a year since my family began wheel'n in 1983.

I did take the Tacoma out on a trail and will be reviving this thread soon enough with many, MANY updates to be taking place this spring!

I expect to really get back into all this after the extremely busy week of KOH is over with

Regards,
BigMike

[V-Man]

I just want a crawler box....shorten the shift handle and use a solenoid to shift it.   It can be an air or electric solenoid.  If you keep a thru the floor shifter I will still buy it...I will convert it to shift on a solenoid myself...
Ok a winch bump front and rear and some rocker Armour would be great....
I tow a trailer offroad so the reduction is really needed..

One lift kit and my 2016 will fit 35" rubber...4.88 with ARB front and rear...

Will be adding lift kit, front 2" reciever, 100 gallon aux tank in bed and a "Lock and Roll" offroad hitch to it this summer.  There are hundreds if not thousands of power lines and cut( gas/oil) right aways up in northern Ontario...

P.S. 
Is it ok to stop by the shop and talk to you about ideas?  I know you are very busy...

By the way you and I bought the last two 2016 trucks out of the texas plant...both custom orders

[Redbeard1]

Updates???

[BigMike [OP]]

Hello Crawler Land!

Ohhhhhhhhhh man. What. A. Year. Whew. I am sorry to say that I was only able to barely touch the Tacoma last year. The timing from the 261 day delay was horrible and I didn't line things up as quickly as I should have in preparation for the busy season. I took the Tacoma out on two trails and then the wheel'n, marketing, event sponsorship season kicked into high gear and I was too busy to work on it. Many more reasons preventing progress on the Tacoma such as a lot of restructuring here at MC and my wife and I purchasing our very first house!

Over the last month I've been making some good progress preparing for this year's wheel'n season so let's get this thread back up to speed!!

April 28 & 29, 2016: New Grille
My 1987 MR2 has a white-black Panda theme which I like so the Chrome TRD Sport grille has gotta go

I ordered a SR5 grille but when it showed up I discovered it had a grey shade to it...





So I did some quick research and realized I should have ordered the "SR" grill. The next day I picked that up for comparison and was happy with it. Returned the SR5 grille.

SR left -- SR5 right

[BigMike [OP]]

After work I swapped out the grille. Wow that was so easy. It is readily evident compared to my Hilux how things are better designed for mass-production.

Old grille off



New SR grille on



I like this much better



Lastly, not sure if I covered this, but I set-up my background image as a pic from Zion National Park

[BigMike [OP]]

April 30, 2016: TLCA's Annual Bakersfield Land Cruiser Swap Meet

Broke the truck's event cherry at the Toyota Land Cruiser Association's Annual Bakersfield Swap Meet

Leaving Fresno. Love the LED driving lights. They dim quite a lot once the headlights are turned on. I plan to override this feature.





At the Land Cruiser event in Bakersfield:





We had the Tacoma parked next to our booth featuring our newly updated MC11 Tacoma/FJ Cruiser Dual Case Unit



As you can see this one is for the 1GR-FE ("TACO BOX 4.0"). This should be very close to what will be installed in the new Tacoma, minus the nifty cutaway



Here is the Tacoma with Kay Spector, the widow of Marv Spector, who is essentially the Marlin of the Land Cruiser World (see our Marv Spector Tribute Album here).



From left to right: Marlin, Kay, Christine, Myself

[BigMike [OP]]

April 30, 2016 (continued): Road Trip to Los Angeles

After the event my wife and I continued south to Los Angeles to pick up some Supercharger parts for my MR2. We've hit 3,000 miles in only ten days!



Random lunch-stop pic



Near Santa Monica, CA



Finally back home. I have no other 6cyl truck experience but the fuel mileage through two mtn ranges combined with the idiot drivers who make up the notorious LA traffic was decent:




Edit: fixed incorrect picture order

[BigMike [OP]]

May 2, 2016: Toyota Floor Mats and Door Sill Protectors

Two days later I installed Toyota floor mats and door sill protectors, items which were on my original "Build Sheet" from August 2015 but were long since removed due to the enormous hassle in convincing Toyota to build this truck.

All-weather Toyota floor mats. Very nice quality here.



...and the Door Sill Protectors. It was very straight-forward. Just clean the sills and install.

[BigMike [OP]]

May 3-8, 2016: Toyota Land Cruiser Association's Annual Cruise Moab

The very next day I left for Moab UT for the 2016 Cruise Moab event!!

This is a four-day official TLCA event, and the largest annual Toyota-specific event at Moab.

For the past two years I've held a "Cruise Moab Live" thread coverage on our forum...

Cruise Moab Live (2015) Drove my '81 Hilux there & back
Cruise Moab Live (2016) Took the Taco!

...wherein I covered most of the event concerning the Tacoma in the above 2016 Live Thread but I'd like to recap here too. The event was great. I'd say a slightly larger turn-out than 2015.

Parked in Mesquite, Nevada


Spotted another white TRD Sport!! We both gave each other a big thumbs up! Too cool!



The Tacoma in the company of an absolute legend



Misc vanity shots







Made it safely to Moab, and now the Tacoma is in the prescence of actual, real, proper, Toyota trucks I mean, just look at that Turbo diesel 70-series Land Cruiser parked next to me!! SWOON! While Toyota of USA is braging about their "high strength steal frames" the rest of the world gets live-axle Turbocharged Diesel trucks with thicker, full-boxed frames. It's no secret that I'm in love with the Tacoma, I just wish Toyota of USA would offer more options.