[lawfarm]

I've had quite a few cars and trucks in my day, and I drive a lot. I've had everything from expensive luxury cars to bare-bones Ford Rangers, with full size trucks by Ford, Dodge, GM and Toyota. I've had vehicles from Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Chevy, Jeep, BMW, Dodge, Ram, Chrysler, Volkswagen, GMC and more. A few years ago, I bought a 2015 Dodge Durango Citadel, and in the course of a year, put 30k miles on it. Thereafter, my wife needed a car, and so she started driving the Durango. Not wanting to keep getting new vehicle depreciation hits, I picked up an excellent condition, used 2007 GMC Yukon. It was built out pretty well, and I enjoyed driving it, racking up nearly 70k miles in 2 years. However, towards the end of its life with me, it started getting more and more expensive to maintain. In the last year, it had upper and lower control arms, shocks, struts, CV shafts, brakes and rotors, tires, batteries (2), swaybar links (replaced twice), a main fuse box, 3 blend door control motors and more. It was time to put it out to pasture.

I wanted to stay in a full-size vehicle with 4wd and good towing capacity. However, having spent much of the past 2 years under the Yukon, I valued reliability over just about everything else. I looked at everything available in SUV and trucks, and decided I wanted to go back to a pickup truck. I looked at every manufacturer, and was turned off by the amount of crap on the trucks that could go wrong. My vehicles are usually fully-loaded...but this time, I wanted something a bit more basic. I didn't want navigation, didn't want a sunroof, didn't want a ton of options. I did want heated, leather seats. After test-driving and researching, I set my sights on a Tundra. (I previously had a Tundra back in about 2009).

IMG_9339 by Dean Frieders, on Flickr

I found my truck, a 2018 MGM Tundra SR5 Crewmax 4x4 with the SR5 and TRD options packages, exactly how I wanted it (minus the leather). This will be the build log for the truck. It isn't going to be a high-speed desert pre-runner; it is going to be a functional, do many things truck for moderate off-roading, camping trips, trailer pulling, and a lot of business miles. This will be the tale of the Wundra Tundra.

IMG_9413 by Dean Frieders, on Flickr

 

[McGovTundra]

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidey hooooooooooooooo. Here we go.

 

[kparrow]

Can’t wait to see what you do! Eager to customize myself on a bone stock 08 DC SR5. Keep us posted!


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[drleephd]

My 2016 Double Cab has that same sag when I hook up our travel trailer (30 feet) with a weight distribution hitch. I’ve been trying to figure out the most economical and practical way to fix that. So far I have three options in mind.
1- Airbags in the rear
2- A 3/1 Leveling Kit
3- Both
Please let me know if you have figured out a fix for yours, and my factory trailer brake is a joke!
Great Looking Truck! Hope you enjoy it as much as I have mine.


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[lawfarm]

Wasn’t sagging. Just uneven ground.

 

[Fuguchan]

Welcome to the forum from Southern Maryland, Land of the Amish. Interested to see how your build comes along. Like yourself, I had a lot of different vehicles, most of em' had problems / lemons, I got fed up with wearing out credit cards. 3 years ago, I bought a 2015 Tundra Platinum. Lifted it, added accessories and stuff and found myself buying more stuff than I needed. It was fun, but you know, not one thing broke the whole time I had it, not even a light bulb. Later I heard about Toyota having a 3 year / 100K mile trade in offer. I checked it out and went for it. Traded in my Tundra with over 93K miles on it and just 6 days short of the 3 year mark. Toyota gave me a very good trade in offer, so now I have a 2018 Toyota Tundra 1794 Smoked Mesquite with all the new safety features to include an ARE-Z cap with Bed Rugs. Love this truck. My wife loves it too. After 7 months now it has 20K on it with no problems. Tundra's are great trucks.

 

[jeffwarrington]

Following this one! Ordering virtually the same truck, only with the bench seat option for the kiddos! Have fun with this one!

 

[lawfarm]

Updated to add the P&P Engineering Sliders installation post, which is here.

IMG_9567

 

[lawfarm]

With previous trucks, I had some shock damage caused with moderate off-roading, including denting a shock body when engaged in some recreational mudding on private property (with permission). When I saw the P&P Engineering shock skids, I was pretty stoked. Having a great experience with my P&P Engineering Sliders, I knew their products were beefy, and as always, Mac was great to work with.

The skids bolt to the shock mount, opposite the shock. They also bolt to the lower shock bolt itself (and P&P includes all hardware necessary for the install). Installation took all of 10 minutes, with most of the time being maneuvering the shock into place. I jacked up the truck by the receiver hitch, to extend the rear suspension and make this a bit easier.

IMG_5352
The profile of the skid makes it easy for them to function well and slide over obstacles.

IMG_6620

And they tuck out of the way as close to the rim/tire as possible:

IMG_5467

IMG_0434

They came nicely powdercoated, and I'm sure they'll do a great job!

IMG_7005

 

[lawfarm]

Also in the realm of truck gear, with some of the camping we do, I wanted a reliable dual-battery setup for powering a 12v ARB fridge/freezer. After evaluating many options, I ended up opting to install the 2nd battery in my toolbox, isolated with a 12v constant duty solenoid up by the main battery (and fused on both ends). My toolbox also houses recovery gear, tools, and some specialized equipment for my work. In addition, it serves as the storage point for my ARB TRED Pro recovery tracks, a hi-lift jack, a max-axe and a halligan bar.

The Treds rest atop the toolbox, held in place with a cargo strap:

IMG_1046

The hi-lift is on a hi-lift mount, bolted to the toolbox, and the axe/halligan are mounted to quickmount tool mounts below.

IMG_5255

 

[lawfarm]

Up next will be a bumper mod to hold an integrated Warn Zeon Platinum 10S I have kicking around. After that, the plans are for a mild lift (probably 2.5-3 up front and 2-2.5 in the rear), and eventually an ARB rear locker. I already have full skids underneath (TRD up front and RCI transmission, transfer case and fuel tank skids).