2007 Tundra - Xedition Build
Well it was time for another expedition down to Baja Mx, but this time we were traveling farther south and into areas with little or no roads. Normally I would take my 97' Troopy however since it is from Aus it is right hand drive and that is not the best for Mexico (main route is 2 lanes lots of passing) so my buddy suggests that I take my 08' Tundra, at first I thought why would I do that, then it was more why not, I don't think anyone that I know has built up a tundra for an Expedition yet, so this is the Xedition (catchy I know) build.
First let’s start with what I have to begin with: 2008 Toyota Tundra double cab Limited 4x4 (got it mid 2007) so one of the first 4x4 ones in CA. This one was made in the Indiana plant. 5.7L V8 (381 HP), 6 speed Auto Transmission (2 overdrive gears), Full options except the DVD player, has back up camera, Nav (which is useless in Mexico) 480watt factory JBL Sound system. Also has the TRD package but I think that just meant it had different wheels & billstein shocks.
Shortly after I purchased the Tundra I felt cheated because the 4x4 models are the same height as the 4x2 models, so I put a small 3" lift on it. Then when the Complete Crap BFG Rugged Trail tires had some miles on them I got rid of them (that is whole other story) and replaced them with Goodyear wrangler Silent Armor tires (these have proved to be great).
So what would I need to do to make this Expedition ready for this journey of around 15 miles. First I need a fuel range of around or at least 400 miles, and currently with the 23 gallon tank I come in a around 300 (around town I get a little over 13) now on the highway with this beast I get around 18 sometimes but with it being mostly trails at best and being fully loaded I was hoping for 14 but planning on 10. Regardless I was going to need an aux tank or bigger primary tank. I found the only maker us a direct replacement tank that holds 46 gallons, so I was set with that.
Next I was going to need to make a mount for my Engel Fridge, can't go on a trip without that, and since I have a double cab (has 2/3rds rear doors and seat 3 adults in the back) I had plenty of room behind the driver seat to use that area for the fridge.
If you are going to run a fridge typically you are going to want an addition battery and hook it into the charging system. Well that is where it got complicated. You would think under the hood of the new generation beasty Tundra you would have lots of room and could find an easy spot to stick an additional battery, well I could not find an easy place to put one without major relocation of something, I am not sure if that it because of the 5.7 or in general but the only place that made sense was in the truck bed, and with the short window to build this I decided to leave the extra battery out, also helps to know that my buddy has two on his HJ60 Cruiser so I was set if I had a problem.
The last thing I needed to do was build a Rack for the truck bed to mount my Roof top Tend on, and in the process I made a spot for an additional spare tire (always take more than one spare into Baja), and some water/fuel cans. It is also a good idea to leave enough space to get things in and out of bed easily and it allows military and border folks easy access to check things out.
Here are some photos of the build and a ones of the Tundra on the Expedition. The tundra worked out great and I ended up averaging 14.0MPG for the entire 1400mi journey.
Cheers,
Michael
Well it was time for another expedition down to Baja Mx, but this time we were traveling farther south and into areas with little or no roads. Normally I would take my 97' Troopy however since it is from Aus it is right hand drive and that is not the best for Mexico (main route is 2 lanes lots of passing) so my buddy suggests that I take my 08' Tundra, at first I thought why would I do that, then it was more why not, I don't think anyone that I know has built up a tundra for an Expedition yet, so this is the Xedition (catchy I know) build.
First let’s start with what I have to begin with: 2008 Toyota Tundra double cab Limited 4x4 (got it mid 2007) so one of the first 4x4 ones in CA. This one was made in the Indiana plant. 5.7L V8 (381 HP), 6 speed Auto Transmission (2 overdrive gears), Full options except the DVD player, has back up camera, Nav (which is useless in Mexico) 480watt factory JBL Sound system. Also has the TRD package but I think that just meant it had different wheels & billstein shocks.
Shortly after I purchased the Tundra I felt cheated because the 4x4 models are the same height as the 4x2 models, so I put a small 3" lift on it. Then when the Complete Crap BFG Rugged Trail tires had some miles on them I got rid of them (that is whole other story) and replaced them with Goodyear wrangler Silent Armor tires (these have proved to be great).
So what would I need to do to make this Expedition ready for this journey of around 15 miles. First I need a fuel range of around or at least 400 miles, and currently with the 23 gallon tank I come in a around 300 (around town I get a little over 13) now on the highway with this beast I get around 18 sometimes but with it being mostly trails at best and being fully loaded I was hoping for 14 but planning on 10. Regardless I was going to need an aux tank or bigger primary tank. I found the only maker us a direct replacement tank that holds 46 gallons, so I was set with that.
Next I was going to need to make a mount for my Engel Fridge, can't go on a trip without that, and since I have a double cab (has 2/3rds rear doors and seat 3 adults in the back) I had plenty of room behind the driver seat to use that area for the fridge.
If you are going to run a fridge typically you are going to want an addition battery and hook it into the charging system. Well that is where it got complicated. You would think under the hood of the new generation beasty Tundra you would have lots of room and could find an easy spot to stick an additional battery, well I could not find an easy place to put one without major relocation of something, I am not sure if that it because of the 5.7 or in general but the only place that made sense was in the truck bed, and with the short window to build this I decided to leave the extra battery out, also helps to know that my buddy has two on his HJ60 Cruiser so I was set if I had a problem.
The last thing I needed to do was build a Rack for the truck bed to mount my Roof top Tend on, and in the process I made a spot for an additional spare tire (always take more than one spare into Baja), and some water/fuel cans. It is also a good idea to leave enough space to get things in and out of bed easily and it allows military and border folks easy access to check things out.
Here are some photos of the build and a ones of the Tundra on the Expedition. The tundra worked out great and I ended up averaging 14.0MPG for the entire 1400mi journey.
Cheers,
Michael
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