SAR_Squid79's Rig of the Month

[SAR_Squid79]

I'm Jamie Franks (SAR_Squid79 on most boards). I'm a United States Navy Rescue Swimmer, Petty Officer 1st Class. I am originally from Selma, North Carolina, and have been in the Navy for over 9 1/2 years. I got into the Off-Road scene while I was staioned in San Diego, CA when I traded in my stock 1997 Nissan Hardbody 4x4, and purchased my 2000 Tacoma TRD PreRunner, in 2002. I wheeled it as far as it would go in 2WD, but I realized I needed to convert it to 4WD to reach the vehicles full capability. My goal has been to build a well-rounded truck capable of everything from daily driving, to trail riding, to mild rock crawling, to self-sufficient overland expedition. I have proven my rig on trails nearly coast-to-coast at such locations as Ocotillo Wells, and Corral Canyon in San Diego, Moab Utah, MIOBI in Iowa, Superlift in Arkansas, and The Cliffs in Illinois.

I am currently stationed at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois, where I am serving as a Water Survival Instructor at the Navy's Boot Camp. I have orders to return to San Diego this September.

[SAR_Squid79]

Full List of Mods:

2000 Tacoma TRD PreRunner SR5 Converted to 4WD

Engine:
3.4L V6
TRD Gen. I Supercharger
URD Supercharger Fuel Upgrade Kit
URD 2.2" Pulley
IPT Valve Body Upgrade
URD O2 Simulator
Hayden 679 A/T Cooler
4" Deckplate Mod
Airaid M.I.T.
True Flow Air Filter
Custom Magnaflow Exhaust System

Suspension:
~3" lift
Front:
Donahoe Racing Extended Travel Coilovers
Camburg Uni-ball Upper Control Arms
WabFab Off-Road Sway Bar Quick Disconnects
Rear:
OEM Leaf Packs
Alcan Add-A-Leaf
Bilstein 5125 Shocks

Drivetrain/Brakes:
Inchworm "Lefty" Transfer Case w/ 5.0:1 Low Range
FROR Twin Sticks
Budbuilt T-case Crossmember
Rear Differential Extended Breather
OEM 4.10 Gears
TRD Rear E-Locker
Cross-Drilled / Slotted Rotors
Carbon Kevlar Brake Pads

Armor:
4xInnovations Custom Front Tube Winch Bumper
Demello Rear Hybrid Wrap-Around Bumper
Demello Front Skid Plate
Demello HD Round Sliders
4xInnovations Transfer Case Skid
Inchworm e-locker Guard / Skid

Recovery Gear:
Superwinch EPi9.0 9000lb winch with Viking Combo Synthetic Line 3/8" x 100'
Front ProComp Recovery Hooks
Rear Receiver Hitch Shackle
Hi-Lift Jack with Jackmate & Hi-Lift Winching Kit
Full Recovery Kit

Electrical:
Odyssey PC1200MJT Battery
4xInnovations Custom Odyssey Battery Hold-Down
Painless Waterproof Auxillary Fuse Block
Roadless Gear in-cab winch control

Auxilliary Lighting:
4 - Long-Range KC Titanium Slimlites (Front)
2 - Blazer Amber Driving Lights (Rear)

Wheels and Tires:
32 x 11.50 R15 Cooper Discoverer STT's
15x8 American Racing Mojave Teflon Wheels

Accessories/Other:
Custom 4xInnovations Swing-out Tailgate / Spare Tire carrier
4xInnovations Tacoma Tube Doors
Uniden Pro520XL CB
Firestik Firefly 4 Foot Antenna
Innovate LC1+XD1 Standalone Wideband Kit
TRD Boost Gauge
Line-X Bed Liner
Demello Off-Road Bed Bar (new style w/ billet Hi-Lift Mounts)
Four Treks Shovel Mount
Delta Low-Profile Black crossover toolbox
(2) ExpeditionWare Jerry Can Mounts
Redline Tuning Hood QuickLift System
Garmin 60CSx GPS Navigation
SCION Radio Mod W/ Sirius Satellite Radio

FUTURE MODS - COMING SOON:
4XInnovations Frame Reinforcements
Custom Alcan Leaf Springs
ARB Front Locker
ARB Safari Snorkel
Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seats
Alternator Upgrade
Dual Battery set-up
URD Crankshaft Pulley
JBA Exhaust Headers
Powertank System
Expedition Trailer build in progress

[SAR_Squid79]

CHAPTER 1:

While I was living in San Diego in 2002, I bought this truck bone stock.

It WAS a 2000 2WD SR5 TRD PreRunner.

I don't even have a picture of the truck when it was bone stock. When I bought it, it had 31" BFG All-Terrains on it. I kept the truck stock for about a year until it needed new tires.

The first official mod was upgrading the tires - 32 x 11.50 R15 Bridgestone Dueller M/T's:

I have to admit that when I bought this truck, my plans were to Supercharge it, lift it, and turn it into a shiny & pretty "Mall Hauler - Street Queen". After my first little wheeling trip (pictured above), I found TTORA and I was bitten by the bug.

[SAR_Squid79]

CHAPTER 2:

If I was going to build this truck for Off-Road, I was going to need to lift it, so I could fit my tires without rubbing. I was on a tight budget at the time, so I couldn't afford the Donahoe setup that I wanted. ToyTec had just started up. They were inexpensive, and had a great reputation going.

ToyTec 3" Pro-Deluxe 1000 Lift Kit:

The next thing that I had my sights set on was the TRD Supercharger and URD Kit. I finally saved up the money and bought the Supercharger and URD Fuel Kit. One fine day, at 65,000 miles, I changed my oil. The next day one of the cam shafts on my 3.4L DOHC engine seized. Since the factory warranty expired at 60,000 my extended warranty and Toyota split the cost of rebuilding my engine. The Supercharger was delivered while my truck was still being fixed. I got my truck back just in time for me to transfer to Illinois. I had read about the "Deckplate Mod" (which my father-in-law called the Poor-man's Supercharger)& "Rear Diff Breather Extension" so I did those, and went ahead and installed the Hayden 679 Aux. Transmission Cooler in preparation for installing the Supercharger system. I never got to install the blower.

[SAR_Squid79]

CHAPTER 3:

When I got to Illinois - my first order of business was installing the Supercharger + URD Kit, and getting her all tuned up.

At around the same time, I upgraded to the URD 2.2" Pulley. Installed the Airaid M.I.T., and a few other performance related accessories (Boost gauge, Innovate Wideband o2 Gauge):

[SAR_Squid79]

CHAPTER 4:

My truck stayed more or less in this stage for a while. New to the Midwest, I went on my first serious Off-Road trip. This gave me a real look at what my truck was capable of, and what it lacked, and where I needed to make improvements.

Toyota Tall Corn Event 2005:

At Tall Corn I looked at a few other Tacomas that were there, and got some ideas about what direction I wanted to go. I surprised everyone - including myself - with how capable my locked 2WD PreRunner was. I knew I needed some armor. The way I had my Hi-Lift mounted was weak, and I wanted to make a few cosmetic changes, and I saw the value of having a CB on the trail. I also met and became friends with a guy that would become very important in the evolution of my truck. Adam - future CEO of 4xInnovations!
Sliders - Demello HD Round Bolt-Ons
New Wheels - American Racing Mojaves
Bed Bar - Demello Bed Bar w/ Hi-Lift mounts
New Tool Box - Delta Professional Low-Profile (in fashionable black)
...and I had my bed Line-X'd

[SAR_Squid79]

CHAPTER 5:

My next big wake-up came at TTORA TakeOver 2006. I got to see LOTS of awesome rigs that were built in a million different configurations. By now I had a clear idea about which direction I wanted to go. I was already contemplating going to 4WD. I was thinking I wanted to do SAC, but I wasn't sure. TakeOver gave me the chance to see tons of options. My truck did well at Tall Corn and gave me a little bit of a false sense of security. TakeOver proved 100% that I had to be 4WD if I wanted to hang with the big boys. Running the rocky trails of Superlift ORV Park in the mountains of Arkansas in 2WD completely ruined my tires. I also found out that my CB was too powerful and was interfereing with my ECU and specifically fuel delivery.

Before the long road trip from Northern Illinois to Central Arkansas I finally upgraded my exhaust system. Dual in-line magnaflows. No more catalytic converters:

TakeOver & my ruined tires:

[SAR_Squid79]

CHAPTER 6:

Late 2006 - Early 2007 saw the biggest evolution of my truck to date.

After TakeOver - I was more than a little disappointed with the capability of my truck. I had made the definite decision to convert to 4WD. Originally I thought that I wanted to SAC, but at TakeOver I realized that I had not seen 1 single broken IFS 4WD Tacoma, but there were broken SAS rigs all over the place. That did it! Almost immediately after TakeOver I started doing research and amassing the parts I would need for my converison. First things first - NEW TIRES!!!

I saw a lot of rigs at TakeOver running these tires, and kicking ass. Good enough for me!

Cooper Discoverer STT's 32 x 11.50 R15:

Tall Corn 2006 - No big changes. Still prepping for the 4WD conversion:

At Tall Corn 2006, I talked with Adam about designing and building a Swing-away Tailgate / Spare Tire Holder. I also won the Demello Tacoma Skid Plate in the raffle!

FINALLY - over the winter of 2006 I finished getting everything I needed to do my 4WD conversion. I just needed to wait for Illinois to thaw out so I could get out there and do the wrenching. Me and a few friends went ahead and made plans for Moab in May of '07 - so there was the deadline that HAD TO MAKE!

[SAR_Squid79]

CHAPTER 7:

The 4WD Conversion:

I figured that as long as I was doing all this work, and spending all this money, I might as well do things right. I finally sprung for the Donahoe Suspension & Camburg UCA's that I had wanted from the start. I got an Inchworm Transfer case. ...and all kinds of other goodies! 2 Long days of wrenching, and I was FINALLY 4WD!!!

...Oh yeah - and Adam at 4XInnovations built me the front winch bumper that I wanted too!

PreRunner 4WD Conversion ( SAR_Squid79 ) - TTORA Forum

Moab - The best proving ground in the world!!

[SAR_Squid79]

CHAPTER 8:

Current & Miscellaneous

Since Moab, we've had Tall Corn 2007. I've added a Superwinch EPi9.0 Winch (with Viking synthetic Combo Line),
4 x KC Titanium Slimlite lights, and a Demello Rear Hybrid Bumper.

...and that's where I'm at now!
There are tons of other minor mods that I've done along the way, but this covers all of the major stuff. I'm happy to answer any questions, give my opinion, or help anybody out. At this point - there's not much that I haven't done with my Tacoma.

Thanks for looking.

[MOfj40]

Nice Rig! That's quite an evolution.

[Happy Trails]

Very nice!

[Jacket]

That 4wd conversion was an ambitious project-you gotta really love your rig to go that far. Did/do you have any regrets?

Real nice truck!

PS - Man, those Bridgestones took a beating

[bowyer2002]

WOW what an undertaking with really successful results! Kudos to all your work! The results speak for themselves!

I run Coopers too and had 73K on my first set, now on my 2nd - havent been stuck with them yet!

BTW is your front axel locked?

And MOST IMPORTANTLY - THANK YOU for your service to our country!

[SAR_Squid79]

Originally Posted by Jacket

Did/do you have any regrets?

PS - Man, those Bridgestones took a beating

No - I really don't have any regrets - only more plans for more mods! One thing that I have always sort of prided myself is doing my homework, and doing everything the right way, THE FIRST TIME! (even if it's the expensive way, sometimes)

Yeah - my wife wasn't happy about me chewing up those tires...

Originally Posted by bowyer2002

I run Coopers too and had 73K on my first set, now on my 2nd - havent been stuck with them yet!

BTW is your front axel locked?

Yeah - I love these coopers. I just wish they made them in 33 x 10.50. For my next set I want a taller tire, but I DO NOT want to go wider, so sadly I may have to say goodbye to the Coopers, and go with BFG's.

No - I do not have a locker in the front yet. That's on my to-do list. I think when I get back to SoCal, I'm going to regear F & R to 4.88, and add an ARB Locker up front at that time.

Thanks to everyone for all the kind words!

[Mars]

Great build! Did you contemplate doing a sold front axle instead of the IFS?

[SAR_Squid79]

Maybe it's just coinsidence, but every major wheeling trip I've been on, I've never seen a properly built IFS rig break.

Every time I've seen a rig break, it's been a SAC rig. It could be argued that SFA rigs gravitate toward the more extreme, but the rigs I'm talking about that I've seen broken down on the side of the trail, have been on the same trails as me...

That's the biggest thing that influenced me to build a beefy, armored, IFS setup, instead of solid axle. Not to mention the guys like Peter Parks, Scott Brady, and Chris Corley that have wheeled their IFS trucks right along side the big SAS rigs, with no problems what so ever...

[FlatlandTRD]

Originally Posted by SAR_Squid79

That's the biggest thing that influenced me to build a beefy, armored, IFS setup, instead of solid axle. Not to mention the guys like Peter Parks, Scott Brady, and Chris Corley that have wheeled their IFS trucks right along side the big SAS rigs, with no problems what so ever...

Well said, and nice write up! Glad to see another veteran ttora member.

[Mars]

Originally Posted by SAR_Squid79

Maybe it's just coinsidence, but every major wheeling trip I've been on, I've never seen a properly built IFS rig break.

Every time I've seen a rig break, it's been a SAC rig. It could be argued that SFA rigs gravitate toward the more extreme, but the rigs I'm talking about that I've seen broken down on the side of the trail, have been on the same trails as me...

That's the biggest thing that influenced me to build a beefy, armored, IFS setup, instead of solid axle. Not to mention the guys like Peter Parks, Scott Brady, and Chris Corley that have wheeled their IFS trucks right along side the big SAS rigs, with no problems what so ever...

Well said. For me, the only reason I'd go SFA is if I was going to build a dedicated trail buggy. For a daily (or even just comfortable road) driving rig, IFS sure is nice.

Thanks again for the great writeup!

[wadentrisha]

What's up Jamie. X2 on the SAS breakage comment. Went to the Lonestar Jamboree Gilmer, TX a couple of weeks ago and same story. Broken SAS'd tacos. The IFS tacos ruled! Your rig has come a long ways in the 2 years I've wheeled with you. Great work. Not sure if I'll make Tall Corn this year or not. My b-day is august 11th and I'll be coming back to Iowa for that. Not sure if I'll have the funds to come back 2 weeks later for TCCC. Lots of gas

[Renaud33]

Originally Posted by MOfj40

Nice Rig! That's quite an evolution.

x2

Good job Jamie!!

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

Hey Shipmate, your rig looks really Kewl! Very nice write up. Wish you were here in Hampton Roads area so I can wheel with you. Are those STT loud on freeways?