[Tom K]

I've had my rig since last June, and I was a bit surprised I've never gotten around to starting / posting a build thread.

So here's a bit of catch up, starting with the rig as I bought her in Vegas and mods since then. There's a couple of major new parts about to show up (bumper and winch) so I'll update when those go on as well.

Exterior mods:

• Icon Stage 4 Lift
• Ricochet Skids Plates
• Demello Rally Aluminum Bumper
• Warn V12S Winch
• Factor 55 Fairlead and Thimble
• Factor 55 Hitchlink
• Rigid Dually Floods (front) - now removed
• Rigid Dually Diffused Floods (rear cargo rack)
• BajaDesigns XL80 Driving Combo
• BajaRack Basket Roof Rack with Mesh Floor - removed
• Prinsu Roof Rack
• Maxtrax mounts & 4x Red Maxtrax on roof rack
• 48" Hi-Lift Jack mounted on roof rack using BajaRack mounts
• Expedition One windshield washer bottle relocation

Interior:

• LED interior lighting from Diode Dynamics
• 75W CB with Bandi Mount, Firestik antenna
• Springtail m-Pac side cargo basket
• Indel 51B fridge

As purchased, in Death Valley on the drive back from Las Vegas to SF. Only mod was the bajarack. ~50K miles.

Added Ricochet aluminum full skid plates. (I've already bent the hell out of the front bash plate, but that's another thread.)

All turn signals, brake lights and interior lights have been replaced with LEDs from Diode Dynamics.

Added Rigid Dually floods front and rear. The back ones are up on the Baja Rack.

The MaxTrax were originally mounted in the front of the roof rack, because I figured I might eventually put a roof top tent in back. I've since had to shift them to the back - they were causing the roof to vibrate loudly as air go squeezed between them and the rooftop.

All of the Toyota logos on the front and back have been blacked out with Plastidip, and I've considered removing the logos from the back. I don't know why they feel it's necessary to slap their name 3 time on the vehicle,

in December I added an Icon Stage 4 lift. This took ~3 months, because Icon sent me someone else's order on the first try - luckily it was different enough that we didn't try installing it.

Next steps: I have a Warn VR8000s winch sitting in the box waiting on the arrival of a Demello Rally-style Bumper. I've been waiting on that for 5 months now. Also have an Exp One washer bottle relocation kit, and some Baja Design XL80s to replace the front Rigid lights, which just aren't very bright.

For more photos of my rig on the trail, etc, check @fj_matilida on Instagram.

 

[Tom K]

Last weekend, with the help of Richard from Nestah Edition, the Demello bumper install happened, along with a Warn VR8000S winch.

The Warn control box had to be installed on the inside of the passenger side plate of the bumper as it was hitting the grille when on the bracket over the winch, which was our first placement.

We also pre-drilled the holes for the BajaDesigns XL80 spots on the upper edge of the bumper.

I'll be installing light bars in the wings and the XL80s next weekend. In retrospect, I maybe should have just one with two high power Baja Designs 8" light bars in the two wings, and not used spots above the bumper... it would have been cheaper and more clean for about the same lumens. Oh well.

Update: Feb 19, 2017
Installed 4 BajaDesigs lights on the top edge of the bumper. Two XL80s Driving Combos and two XL Sport Spots. Honestly, the sports are a LOT less bright than the XL80s (which are insane) but they're also 1/2 the price. This is about 25K lumens on the front bumper and it's BRIGHT. Maybe one day I'll be able to justify having 40K lumens forward facing and get more XL80s, but this will do for now.

Temporarily mounted my two Dually Floods lower down, shooting out more to the sides to illuminate for turns. They're wired to the fog switches. I think the long term plan is to replace them in that spot with a 6" LED light bar with wide spread (maybe Diode Dynamics) and maybe move the Duallys even further down to be "rock lights", or just replace them with Rigid Ignites (but those are $70 each!) It's hard to justify spending $160 on two Diode Dynamics light bars just to add them here mostly for cosmetics.

Rewired the front lights to use relays and in-dash switches.

Added ARB Diff Breather kit connected to the rear diff and e-locker, in preparation for a Mojave Road run next month that will include water crossings. Installed the breather in the left rear jack storage compartment. Still need to add a bit of silicone sealant to the rear grommet; used some on the push-in fitting I installed on the diff, just as extra insurance.

Update: Feb 20, 2017
Redid all front light wiring and moved them to 2 30A relays with in-dash switches in the center console. Will need to come back and wrap the wires with loom once it arrives from Amazon.

Update: March 5, 2017
Yesterday, my friend Sean helped me install the Expedition One windshield fluid bottle relo kit and emissions pump relo. So I no longer have my OEM washer bottle hanging out in front of my passenger tire, waiting to get damaged. The kit is great, and everything went smoothly (about 2.5 hrs) but it's a bummer that on the 2013s, you have to move that emissions pump back towards the passenger firewall and basically give up your place to put your second battery. Maybe I'll be able to solve that down the road.

Update: March 20, 2017
Installed Diode Dynamics 6" light bars in the Rally bumper wings. Getting them in nicely required finding a larger metric 6 bolt and adding a nylon spacer on the inside end (which I painted black.) I used one 3/4" (I think) spacer rather than two smaller ones to put the lights out to the edges, so they don't hit the center bumper so much.

Full front lights on.

April 6, 2017
Added a second Springtail M-PAC molle plate, this time on the left side. Immediately filled it with the fire extinguisher and a larger first aid kit box. (But I'm glad to get those out of the way, they were cluttering up the right hand side setup for no reason.

 

[Tom K]

Quick updates:
Added an Indel 51B fridge in the back - it's great, best "mod" ever when you have a cold beer after a hike.

Purchased a Tepui Kukenam Ruggedized at their Memorial Day sale and had them install it. Right now it's on the Baja Rack (perched across the rails) but I'm waiting on a Prinsu rack, if it ever shows up, so I can the 200 lbs of the tent as low down towards the roof as possible, and reduce my vehicle height and wind noise.

Here's a photo of the Tepui set up and camp on the Pacific coast of Baja California, Mexico.

Update as of 8/30/17
Last weekend, we pulled the Bajarack Basket rack off and installed the Prinsu. It's a little shorter than I had hoped for (82" of top space vs the 88" they quoted me) but IMHO it's still better than the BajaRack - a few inches more usable space means a lot when you are giving up 56" to the tent. Wind noise is also *much* better, although that may be in part because I've moved the hilift mount from the side to rear of the rack.

The install was a bear - 6+ hrs of work for 2 people in 90+ heat and sun. The big problem was the tent - we had to turn its mountain rails 90 degrees, lift it off the old rack, swap racks, then put the tent back on. Also had to pull down the headline to recover one mounting nut that fell in. But the new setup is way more streamlined - no more tent rails sticking out to the sides, no more Hilift off one side, etc. Much quieter at highway speeds, too!

Next up - I have BFG KO2 285/75/16s on hold at Discount Tire, trying to get them installed tomorrow.

 

[Tom K]

[Reserving a spot for future post 4]

 

[smoking_rubber]

Outstanding choice in vehicles. You're on the right track.

 

[ShockTherapy]

I think we follow each other on IG.

Hiya!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[COMtnFJ]

Good looking truck! I am also following you on IG

 

[Cayenne]

One of my favorite color! I really like you setup, cant wait to see your lift in person.

 

[FoxtrotJuliet]

Awesome truck. Liking the mods.

Are you happy with the ICON lift? Anything lift-wise you would do different if you had to do it again?

 

[FJX2000]

Looks beautiful! Always jealous of newer Trail Teams!

 

[Iconic_]

I like where this is going.

 

[ZerosFJ]

Looks great. Post up some more shots of the front end when you get all the lights installed.

 

[Tom K]

Are you happy with the ICON lift? Anything lift-wise you would do different if you had to do it again?

I really like it now that I've finally got in installed. But the ordering process was such a terrible experience I'd be hard pressed to do it again.

I ordered through Off Road Warehouse, and they were super helpful throughout the process, but it was way too hard to get done. I originally ordered in I think late September and I didn't get the right parts until mid-December, which was super frustrating.

I ordered the Icon Stage IV package, and a set of "shin guards" as well for the rear arms. I got a great price from ORW - my local Icon installer couldn't match it, said it was less than they paid for the parts.

First, they rushed me a set of parts. But when we broke them out on the garage floor (Motorsports Techniques in Hayward, Kin and his guys were immensely patient through this) we quickly realized it didn't have enough parts to be a full kit. I figured a box had gotten lost during shipping.

When I went back to ORW and they talked to Icon, they figured out that I'd been sent entirely the wrong order. I don't even know if it was for an FJ, but had we started installing it, it would have been bad.

I sent the parts back - ORW provided me pre-paid Fedex labels - and waited for the right order to get sent out, which took another few weeks. Icon gave me some UCA caps as part of compensation for the mistake.

They finally arrived, and we installed them - but when I was done, I realized they had sent the wrong rear lower links - tubular instead of billet. At this point, I was so tired of dealing with it that I didn't want to take them off again and swap them so I just negotiated and ORW got Icon to pay me back the ~$400 difference. But it was annoying - those billet arms were part of why I chose the Stage IV package.

So I have mixed feelings.... I was really close to buying Fox or King shocks before I found the deal on the Icon. If you asked me to do it again, and there wasn't a great deal available on the Icons, I'd probably go with another brand. That said, so far I'm really enjoying the new 2.5s and I can't wait to get on more trails with them - because of all the snow in NorCal, it's been hard to get on anything serious since the December install.

 

[FJGUY007]

I have a pretty much stock 13 TT and can say you have really done a great job....... Only if I had the time and a spare 15K!!

 

[Tom K]

I have a pretty much stock 13 TT and can say you have really done a great job....... Only if I had the time and a spare 15K!!

I think total is still like 7-8K. It could probably be done for 4-5 almost as well - just change the brands of lift and winch. Go OME lift and an Engo winch.

The time is the hard part. If someone had told me this would take eight months to get this far I would have just bought someone else's rig.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

 

[Loganbeere]

Awesome rig and build

 

[fensterer]

From a fellow '13 TT owner...Great job on the build so far!

Took me a little while to get to where mine is at but it's is still progressing and never ending!

 

[Tom K]

From a fellow '13 TT owner...Great job on the build so far!

Took me a little while to get to where mine is at but it's is still progressing and never ending!

Yeah, that looks awesome. I'm planning to bump my wheels up to 33s as soon as the current set wears down (they're getting there, maybe 2K more miles.)

 

[fensterer]

Yeah, that looks awesome. I'm planning to bump my wheels up to 33s as soon as the current set wears down (they're getting there, maybe 2K more miles.)

IT will make a big difference in the look. I had the KO2s for a while but I am really liking these Cooper ST Maxx Pros! A little louder but not bad at highway. Great performing tire and aggressive looking.

 

[Tom K]

IT will make a big difference in the look. I had the KO2s for a while but I am really liking these Cooper ST Maxx Pros! A little louder but not bad at highway. Great performing tire and aggressive looking.

Yeah, I'm only focused on the KO2s because they're supposed to be pretty decent in the snow / ice, and here in Norcal with the mountains that's key so you can go skiing.