Bell Build Thread (1 Viewer)

[CruiserNewby]

Hello all, after consuming content here, I figured it was time to post some up in return in case anyone else finds it useful.

I purchased a new-to-me 2014 LX-570 in May of this year after 10+ years of having full-size trucks. Priorities to me for vehicle selection were off-road capability (we do a lot of camping and climbing in remote areas with rough TH access and I try to get out to Moab a couple times a year), volume to accommodate said trips and comfort for long road trips. Our trucks over the years have accommodated all of the above, however we recently had our first baby and added to the list was ease of loading/unloading car seats and a third row to accommodate guests/friends and future family expansion.

So, with the vehicle purchased I set about to start fitting it to our needs.

Goals for the build were:

Increasing and organizing available cargo space

Making truck as off-road capable as budget allows and as is practical for a daily driver. The caveat with this and part of the reason the LX works better for me than the LC is it has to be able to fit in my work parking garage with 6'9" clearance. The ability to raise and lower the suspension on the LX was therefore a big advantage for me. This also limits my ability to use the roof as storage.

Lastly, I also race bikes on a near-weekly basis so the ability to transport bikes and maintain the functionality of the rear hitch and bike rack is a must. Therefore, bumper swing-outs probably won't be in the cards for me.

To meet those goals, items I plan on installing/adding in order of priority/practicality/budget-allowance:
18" wheels
All-terrain tires
Drawer system
Ski rack or box top (clearance allowing)
Water/extra fuel storage system
Dual battery system
Fridge
Air compressor
Sliders from Slee
Aftermarket front bumper
Front winch

Picking up at the dealership:

 

[CruiserNewby]

Step one was to get rid of the 20" stock LX wheels which had snow tires on them from the dealer. I'll keep these and rotate them on for the winter.
I picked up a set of take-off Tundra TRD wheel with nearly-new Michelin all-terrain tires (265-75-18) . Tires work for now, but I plan on upgrading them to something a bit more stout after a season or two. I have liked Cooper's ST-Maxx in the past so will probably look at those again.

I also pulled the Toyota logo off the wheels and sprayed them with plasti-dip to make the logo a little less conspicuous. I am considering dipping or wrapping some or all of the chrome, but haven't decided yet.

Original wheels and tires being taken off:

New wheels and tires with Toyota logo dipped:

I also performed the AHC mod for the front at about this same time and got the well-documented ~3/4" height increase which removed the rake. Haven't had the alignment checked yet.

Lastly, installed front and back weathertech floor liners. It was my first time using these but so far they have been great.

 

[CruiserNewby]

Coming soon, DIY drawer system that leaves the third row installed and functional.

 

[tbisaacs]

Welcome to the board. Looks like you are off to a great start!

 

[CruiserNewby]

In regards to the drawers, after spending a lot of time looking at options people had implemented here and based on my experiences with drawers on my previous truck, I decided to go the DIY route and try to make something relatively modular that could be easily disassembled if needed.

Step one was to create a false floor to act as the base for the drawers and to serve as the attachment point to the existing tie-down anchors.

I used the rubber floor mat as my template and made the cuts mostly using a jig saw. I used 3/4 sanded ply for the base and top, whereas I used 1/2 for the boxes.

The cutouts are for the cargo tie-downs and the attachment points for the third row seats.

I had to create a channel for the edge of the seats to sit down into.

Test fitting:

Success:

 

[CruiserNewby]

Next step was to create the boxes. Length and width were easily determined based on the vehicle dimensions, but height was more nuanced. Ultimately I decided to make them as flush as possible with the middle row when folded down to serve as an impromptu sleeping surface if it's just me in the vehicle overnight. This came out interior box dimensions of 41' long, 17.5" wide and 8.5" deep (add 1/2" for exterior dimensions). I am currently looking for bins that fit those dimensions if anyone has any suggestions.

I also routed out channels for drawer slides to sit in mounted to the bottom of the drawers. These were standard soft-close sliders from home depot I had lying around from a different project that never happened. We will see how they hold up long-term.

I then used the same rubber floor mat as my template for the top. The only issue was I forgot the top would be longer (deeper) than the base so this step actually happened twice. Whoops.

The pair of holes on the left and right side will be the attachment points for the top piece down to the base using turn-buckles and U-bolts. This is what will allow the whole thing to be quickly removed if I need to use the third row. Undo the turn-buckles, slide out the top and slide out the drawers; done.

 

[CruiserNewby]

At this point I started to get a little impatient and it looks like the number of photos taken dwindled because of it.

After test fitting and making sure all the attachment points worked, I sanded and then coated the drawers and top with Rustoleum's truck bed liner. I did two coats sanding in-between and then gave it a final sand with 300 grit.

Since the base will always stay in the truck I wanted something a little nicer looking and that would provide a slightly smoother surface for the drawer bottoms, so I used two coats of a spray-on poly and stain combo, sanding between and after.

Finally, I coated all wood to wood contact points with a bees wax and citrus based wax paste.

Last step was to install recessed handles and install it in the truck. Overall I am pretty happy with how it turned out, but I will likely have some tweaks or additions to it in the coming months.

Some final thoughts on the build:

We will see how the turnbuckles do for anchoring the top. While plenty strong in the vertical direction, they allow for a little bit of play laterally (towards the front and back of the vehicle).

Time will tell how the rustoleum holds up. It was easy to apply, cheap and can be touched up if needed so hopefully it works ok.
That being said, I had the whole system sitting in my garage for almost two weeks after being painted and before being installed and it still faintly smells in my truck. I can't imagine installing it any sooner than that. Just something to be aware of.

I'm also not sure about the sliders. Like I stated above they were lying around not being used so it's not really costing me anything to try them, but I have my doubts they will hold up for years of abuse.

I also need to find bins or pouches that fit the dimensions of my drawers. If I was going to redo this I would have made slots in the side walls of the drawers every 8-12" to put divider slots into. I unfortunately didn't think of this in time.

I am also likely going to need to line the drawers to help with vibrations and things moving around. I will probably just use the same stuff that lines the drawers of my tool cart.

At some point when I get a fridge I will likely add some sort of slide or anchoring system to the top platform, but I will address that at a later date.

Let me know if anyone has questions about how this went down, overall it wasn't too bad, it took me a couple weeks only because I was working on it for 1-2hr stretches at a time #newbornlife.

I'm lacking on pics of the mounting points so if there are questions around that I can take some more pics but I think similar things have been done on this channel already.

Anyways, I guess next on the list is ski storage, and an extra water/fuel solution. I'm toying with the idea of fabricating a mounting point on my fold-down bike rack that can hold rotopax carriers. Has anyone seen anything similar?

 

[SQRRRL]

Nice work brah!

 

[speyrod]

Nice work, how do you remove the deck and drawers when you need to access the 3rd row? For what its worth in 18 years of Cruiser ownership I don't think the 3rd row got used 50 times. And that included raising 2 kids in boosters.

For the TRD's I almost went that way and think they look fantastic in a gloss black painted like the TRD PRO's.

 

[CruiserNewby]

Nice work, how do you remove the deck and drawers when you need to access the 3rd row? For what its worth in 18 years of Cruiser ownership I don't think the 3rd row got used 50 times. And that included raising 2 kids in boosters.

For the TRD's I almost went that way and think they look fantastic in a gloss black painted like the TRD PRO's.

To remove the deck I just loosen tension on the turn buckles, unhook them from the stock cargo tie-downs and slide the top out. The drawers simply release from their slides via a little thumb latch just like pulling out a kitchen drawer.

I agree, I really like the look of the glossy TRD pro wheels. I can't get the same gloss finish with plastidip otherwise I would have done it already. Perhaps when I take the wheels off to swap on snow tires I will have them powder coated.

With the 3rd row, we have family out of town that visits somewhat regularly. Keeping it in place allows us to transport everyone in one vehicle which is nice for the half-dozen times a year we need it.

 

[speyrod]

I was planning on doing a careful rattle can job if I went down the TRD route. I ended up getting an ok deal on some RW's and plasti dipped the rings and caps. But the lugs are nearly $150 by the time they are shipped and taxed. All in all I am happy where I ended up but think the TRDs in gloss do look a little better than RW's.

 

[Cliffordbf]

Would you mind sharing the hardware you used (maybe some pictures)? Nice write-up!

 

[CruiserNewby]

Would you mind sharing the hardware you used (maybe some pictures)? Nice write-up!

Sure, I'll snag some better pics when I get home later tonight.

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Doin’ awesome @CruiserNewby! Love seeing stuff like this.

 

[CruiserNewby]

Would you mind sharing the hardware you used (maybe some pictures)? Nice write-up!

Here are a couple close-ups of the attachment points for the platform. I used turnbuckles and u-bolts from home depot.

The base platform is attached with bolts into the existing attachment point for the stock d-rings. Everything was recessed and counter-sunk so the surfaces would be flush.

 

[Cliffordbf]

Very cool! Do you have any way to anchor anything to the top of the cabinet? Plans for that?

 

[CruiserNewby]

Very cool! Do you have any way to anchor anything to the top of the cabinet? Plans for that?

Thanks!

There isn't anything currently in-place. It's definitely something I have thought about though. I think I am going to spend some time using it and see where and what type of anchoring systems would work best for me. Basically deciding between some sort of track system or fixed tie-down anchors. I also plan on eventually installing a fridge so that will need to be considered as well.

 

[Sac Cerevisiae]

@CruiserNewby It’s been a year; any opinions on the slides or construction? Any changes you’d make?

 

[CruiserNewby]

@Sac Cerevisiae A year in and everything still works as well as could be hoped. Slides and construction are still working great. I did add some felt pads to the bottom of the leg pieces to stop wood-on-wood squeaking and with that done, the whole system is silent. I am also working on figuring out how to make the system easier to remove as right now it's really tight to maneuver through the rear hatch but I haven't come up with anything yet.

 

[OvrLandCruiser]

Nicely done. Exactly what I am hoping to do myself. and by "myself", I mean, find someone locally to help me make it.