Build 2014 SR5 Tundra Build

[RedSun]

2014 Toyota Tundra 4.6L Double Cab SR5 in 202 Black

This is my documentation of my 2014 Tundra SR5 4x4. I'm coming from Tundras.com where i had an existing build thread, but thought it would be fun to share my progress over the years here as well.

Current State:

Current Modifications:
Interior:

• Husky Weatherbeater Floor Liners
• Center Console Organizer
• AJT Designs Full Interior Blackout

Exterior:

• TRD Pro Grille
• Black Hood Bulge
• 2018+ TRD Sport LED Headlights
• Tailgate letter inserts
• Curt recovery hitch
• Cali Raised Ditch Light Brackets
• Baja Designs XL Pro Ditch Lights
• Baja Designs S8 30" Lightbar
• Diode Dynamics SS3 Fogs
• Coastal Offroad Front Bumper
• Engo 10k Winch with Synthetic Line
• Factor 55 ProLink
• Custom TRD Hawse Fairlead
• TRD Pro Skidplate
• Talon's Garage Full Catalytic Converter Plates
• RCI Sliders

Wheels/Tires:

• TRD OR wheels w/ TRD Center Caps
• 295/70/18 Falken Wildpeaks
• Spidertrax 1.25" spacers

Suspension:

• OME shocks front and rear with 612 springs up front
• Toytec 1.5" block
• Toytec extended Ubolts
• OME brake/abs extension brackets
• Wheeler's Offroad Bump Stops
• Rear Differential Breather Mod

Bed:

• Go Fast Camper V2

As a little background, I previously daily drove a Mazda Miata. I was in search of my first truck and was set on a Toyota.

Finally stumbled on a great deal on a 2014 SR5 one-owner with 114k miles and took her home in 2019.

Truck was clearly owned by an ...older gentleman as a commuter as the truck had pinstriping added (not the cool off-road kind, literal painted pinstripes), along with showing signs of pretty much zero wear. The bed looks brand new.

It was also senior citizen dog approved:

So this was the baseline for my build with intentions to make it into a daily-driver, fishing/camping/hunting rig, and off-roader.

My first set of mods were to update the appearance. The great thing about using a chassis that has remained largely the same for over a decade is that its very easy to update the looks.

I purchased some 18+ LED headlights and a TRD Pro grille and hoodbulge and did the swap with my father.

Extremely happy with the updated looks. Looks much less geezer spec and the light output on the LED's is incredible, its night and day.

 

[RedSun]

Scored a set of TRD Off Road wheels with Michelin LTX A/T's on Craigslist for $150. Felt like i was robbing the guy. Was an older gentleman that was retiring and selling all his truck related items and just wanted the wheels gone. The tires have about 10k miles left in them, then i plan on upgrading to some Falken Wildpeaks.

Pictured next to my stock wheels on awful no-name tires put on by the dealer.

Didn't mind the stock look but went ahead and plastidipped them black, with plans for eventual gloss powdercoat.

And mounted on the truck. Didn't realize these wheels used different lugs from the steel wheel acorn lugs so had to grab some off Amazon. Very happy with the setup.

Got some gloss black vinyl to wrap the chrome bumper end caps black, along with some TRD 4x4 bedside decals. Plan on putting all of that on, removing the pinstriping, and debadging

 

[RedSun]

A few small mods I’ve done over the last few weeks.

I started by plastidipping the bumper caps black. Came out very nice and matches the bumper plastics well. Need to upgrade the fog lights though which are in rough condition.

Installed a Curt recovery hitch receiver and keep the shackle in my recovery box.

The truck came with awful pinstriping that was probably there for the full 114k miles before I got it. It wouldn’t come off by conventional means so I bought one of these detailing discs that’s essentially a giant eraser you put on a drill. Worked very well. Added some TRD OR bed stickers as well.

Finally did her first oil change as well. Very easy and took just a few minutes. I love the simplicity of Toyota’s.

 

[RedSun]

Got around to installing the ARB OME 2.5" lift. First impressions were great, the kit appeared very well made from the welds on the shock to the hardware included. I was not too thrilled about the finish though, it marred fairly easily.

Comparison of the stock springs to the 612 springs. These springs were very heavy and none of my spring compressors could compress them. Had a local shop do it for free thankfully.

The shock bodies were also much larger in diameter than the stock black shocks. The stock black shocks were pretty tired after 120k miles.

Install was very straightforward. I used the method of dropping the LCA which was easy and fast.

I also installed new rotors and pads as mine were warped and caused significant shuddering on braking. While i was there i added 1.25" Spidertrax wheel spacers. Pictured you'll also see my 1.5" Toytec rear blocks and OME brake/abs extension bracket kit.

Front suspension done.

Next i installed the rear suspension components including the 1.25" block and Toytec extended ubolts.

The OME brake line/abs line bracket extensions were a convenient kit. Installed with my favorite Hilti driver.

I forgot to take a picture after the complete install of the brackets. But this is with the first bracket in.

 

[RedSun]

I went to have the truck aligned after this and ran into issues with being unable to align the left side properly. Turns out one of my alignment cams was seized to the bushing. It would not budge, i actually broke my breaker bar running a 6ft cheater pipe trying to get it to move.

So i ended up buying a used OEM LCA from a Tundra with 20k miles. When i got the box, they actually included the alignment cams and bolts, which were basically brand new. Had to have been a mistake. Was very happy to see that.

On to installing the new arm and bolts. I used a Milwaukee Torch blade made for thick steel. It cut through the cam bolts like butter.

Once the LCA dropped, i grabbed my new (to me) arm and used a fine wire brush to clean out the bushing sleeve and bolts, then covered the non threaded portions in plenty of antiseize. This should prevent this from happening in the future.

I was able to adjust the cams myself without a problem and torqued everything to spec. Now i was finally ready to get an alignment and have the 295's mounted.

 

[RedSun]

Alignment went well. The tech told me that for some reason the right side didnt have quite the amount adjustment in camber and caster despite adjustment with the cams which were turning fine. The left side was golden though thankfully. He was able to get the alignment within spec, but i did have to sacrifice some caster to have a near zero camber. Granted i am also running stock UCAs, plan on upgrading these down the road.

Got the tires mounted and had some rub on the mud flaps so i pulled those off. Truck looks and drives amazingly well. So happy with it. Its filthy right now but i was too excited and had to grab a few pictures.

Next up is to install my Baja Designs XL Pro's and then getting the rest of the pinstiping off. Also contemplating putting on TRD OR stickers or grabbing a TRD OR badge from the new Tacomas.

Took some more pictures the other night. I've been getting lots of compliments on the truck from strangers. Its been great.

 

[RedSun]

Got the Baja Designs XL Pro's installed and then took the truck on its first trip out to Greenridge State Forest. Did some camping and fishing. The truck did great, i'm extremely happy with the suspension and tires. Handled mud and some more rocky sections well too, i just need to get more used to the size of the truck to take better lines.

Conditions were just right for some good trout fishing.

Made for a great dinner our second night

 

[RedSun]

Took the truck on another trip out to Greenridge State Forest for some camping and fly fishing. Had a great time. This truck has been the perfect balance of daily driver and offroader. Still netting 15.1mpg over the last thousand miles too.

 

[RedSun]

Met up with a Tundra friend a little while back. He’s put together a very well thought out Tundra build.

Bought some Colorlugs to black out my chrome lug nuts. Subtle change that looks great and was easy to install. Then took the truck out on a friends property to sight in our firearms for deer season.

Other than that, going to Fluid Film the undercarriage again in preparation for winter. The coat from last year still looks pretty good, but is definitely due for another coat. Also have a remote starter to install before it gets cold.

 

[RedSun]

Finally got around to some maintenance and installing my Wheeler's Superbumps.

Also did the rear diff breather extension mod.

Bought the unistrut for the DIY bed rails. I ran into some issues with my plastic bedliner so i have been between drilling it or just removing it and getting bedliner sooner than i planned.

This was all in prep for a trip to AOAA to explore some trails with friends.

 

[RedSun]

Had a blast at AOAA . First time wheeling in the snow and the truck did amazing. I was with a group of Jeeps and my buddy’s Ranger. Other than not fitting so great on small Jeep trails I never had any issues with traction in mud or snow aired down at 20psi. Very happy with the Wildpeaks.

 

[RedSun]

Installed the DIY unistrut bed rails and got the Victory 4x4 mid height rack fitted. Was going to go with a custom rack using some Relentless bars but this came up locally for a great deal. Very happy with it. The fit and finish is great and the modular design is well thought out. I’m excited to attach my bike, an awning, and some fuel cans to it.

Mocked up my traction boards with some carriage bolts just to see how it would look. My rooftop tent is coming in next week so very excited to get it all together.

 

[RedSun]

Got around to mounting the Smittybilt Overlander XL Gen2 to the Victory rack. The modular aspect of the rack was extremely helpful as the RTT brackets could fit flush against the rack rails ensuring the most solid fit.

I also mounted an ARB awning. The mid height rack is the perfect height. This plus the double cab bed creates a surprisingly compact package despite running an 8ft awning and an XL tent.

We tested the setup out at GreenRidge. I was so happy with this setup. The tent is great and coming from backpacking and ground tents feels like a hotel.

I’ll also never go without an awning again. I used to just use a tarp on a ridgeline but it was annoying to setup and dependent on access to trees etc. We found this random spot and made camp despite it being totally open. It works great.

Added a change to my cooking setup as well with a Coho rotomolded cooler. Another benefit to the rack is that with the tailgate locked the cooler or other boxes can’t be easily accessed or removed.

Hoping to do many more trips soon.

 

[RedSun]

Did another trip at Greenridge. If you can't tell, this is my favorite place to go camping in Maryland. Not many people know about it because its primitive camping and its almost always empty on weekdays. Spent two nights right by the water, great fishing and swimming. My dog had a grand time too.

Explored many trails too.

 

[RedSun]

Lots of maintenance has been due that i've been slowly working through. I picked up some new Snap On ratchets for the occasion to upgrade from my vintage Craftsmans. Still fantastic ratchets but i wanted something with a finer tooth count and a thinner head. The Snap Ons are amazing. Worth every single penny.

Started with changing out my sparkplugs. No issues coming out but it was well overdue at 139k. I feel like a midget working on this truck with a ladder but its the most comfortable way.

Subsequently did a quick cleaning of the bay which has not been cleaned in close to a year. Followed by a coat of 303 on the plastics.

Took a trip to WVA and truck drove great. My MPG went from 15-15.5 to almost 16.5 after changing the plugs. Found a sweet TRD Pro Tacoma and of course had to take some pics.

 

[RedSun]

Hit some trails and some more camping for the a few days at GreenRidge. September is one of my favorite months to go camping.

Our setup is fairly well dialed in. I’ve been eyeing a Decked drawer system though for ease of access.

This part of the forest had an overlook that looked into WVA. It was beautiful.

From there we set up camp in a more shaded site not far off.

Did a ton of hiking and some fishing.

Our second to last day we spent the whole day exploring trails. Found all sorts of fun spots.

 

[RedSun]

Installed some SS3 fogs. I have been driving through a lot of fog lately and the white light has been abysmal to try to see especially with deer everywhere. These ambers were plug and play with exceptional results. The unit itself is very high quality, output and cutoff is superb without blinding oncoming traffic.

I also installed a Rotopax 2 gallon on one of their mounts for extra overlander points.

Otherwise next move is to buy a mig welding setup and learn to weld. Coastal Off-road just released their diy bumper kit that I really like. I’d also like to build a set of sliders. I thought about just going with a C4 setup for both but for that money I’d rather put it in tools and learning a skill.

Got an AJT blackout kit for Christmas. Just threw it on, very happy with the kit. Only tricky part was the 4x4 knob and the climate control knobs. Looks so much newer inside now.

Next is to black out the emblem and get a new shift knob. It looks so out of place with all the new AJT pieces. Leaning towards the AJT V3 or getting a billet knob off of Etsy/ebay. Also want to eventually get the SR trim blackout pieces for the steering wheel and dash.

 

[RedSun]

Picked up a TRD Pro skid plate. Install was very straightforward other than doing it on the ice.

There is a remarkable difference between the two. As always, OEM quality is unmatched. It’s a very nice piece.

Hard to see with the factory bumper but my Coastal Offroad bumper kit is on the way and it should provide great coverage and look good with this skid.

Also received some new bezels for my BD XL’s. Baja Designs warrantied them because they were faded and had me a new set with hardware in just a few days. Extremely happy with the service and why I won’t buy any other light.

 

[RedSun]

The Coastal Off-Road bumper came in. Started building it today with the help of a friend.

Shipping time was a bit long but it was packaged well and customer service was excellent. They are good guys and upon receiving the bumper and diagrams it’s well engineered. Materials quality is also great. (Excuse my messy shop, being used for storage right now)

Started off by removing the front bumper.

This does require relocating the power steering cooler. This is not mentioned on the website but is in the included instructions. The bracket for the cooler must be modified (bent) and then the cooler is mounted on existing holes with a provided bracket. This allows the winch plate and bumper to be tucked much closer to the frame.

This is the base of the winch plate which includes gussets.

There are subsequent side plates that are also the recovery points for the truck that are 3 plates that are seam welded and plug welded.

These plates are then welded to the winch plate.

The front plate is then mounted with the factory recovery point bolts and is used to align the front section. Then it’s tacked into place. Pulled it off and then seam welded and stitch welded everything. Pic below was not completed but close.

Here it is mounted. This maintained a 3/8” gap from the body which helps with flex and mitigating contact with the body.

Next up was welding in each “wing”. This consisted of multiple plates, all of which needed to try to maintain the same gap to the body as the center section. This was all tacked into place.

That’s how far we got today. We also mocked up the Baja bar as well. Very excited for how it will turn out.

Hoping to wrap up the other side and then finish welding the wings tomorrow. Followed by paint and installing a Baja Designs S8 30” bar over the next few days.

 

[RedSun]

More progress on the bumper today. Got both wings tacked completely and then began the process of seam welding the exterior and stitch welding the interior.

My friend has been absolutely invaluable in this project as i'm a first time welder. He put a lot of time into this bumper as well.

I also swapped out the lenses on my Baja Designs XL ditch lights from a clear spot to an amber driving combo. Installed the lenses and also mocked up the baja bar on the bumper.

I was just using a cutting wheel to make adjustments to get a bit of an outward angle to the baja bar. Was very happy with how it came out. However, the welds around the left side of the bar aren't the prettiest.

Now it was time to grind all the exterior welds smooth. I started with a 40 grit flap disc and worked up to 120. Tacked any additional spots or pits and grinded further.

And that's where we're at now. It looks great, i'm very happy with it. There are still some minor details to be done. I welded the fog light brackets incorrectly because it was about hour 8 into this and i wasn't thinking clearly. So those need to be grinded off and rewelded. Other than that, going to get started on paint. Going with a Rustoleum self etching primer followed by Rustoleum spray on truck bed liner. I want something easy to touch up when this gets beat up and i've seen a number of other people use it on armor with great results.