2nd Gen Tacoma PERFECT DAILY | Rig Talk

how's it going everyone welcome back to the Tacoma Beast Channel where as you all know it's all about the taco today we're going to be going over Mike's 2015 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro let's get to it hey Tacoma Beast my name is Mike and this is my 2015 Tacoma TRD Pro [Music] dude Mike thanks for being here driving two hours down here really appreciate that man how long have you owned this Tacoma for so I owned it ever since uh 2018. I did buy used bought it with roughly 40 000 miles on it now it has 116 000 miles or so a lot of the models is from just traveling Utah Colorado Las Vegas stuff like that how long did it take you to build it to where it is now or did you already buy it like this everything that's on it I did put on it or I did cut on it buying parts here and there getting stuff putting it on when I have time and I also do my own work myself so I do everything other than welding pretty much and uh what is it that you do if you don't mind me asking yeah so I work in logistics I work at home.work remote so I have that flexibility of being able to stay at home or travel if I went to is there anything that you did on this truck that you regret doing if I could go back I would try not to cut my flares and fenders so much pretty much I noticed you have the Viper cut that's one something that I've always seen on social media and I'm always kind of like I'll cringe at it I'm like oh I don't like how it looks I know it creates a lot of clearance up in the front and I did hear that you mentioned it on on one of your videos on your YouTube channel that that was another thing that you regretted would you have rather gone with like a bumper or how would you have saw that I probably just wouldn't have cut the actual Viper cut in the actual bumper itself I didn't think it really is needed for clearance and I thought it was one of those things you have to try in order to see how it looks and I did it and there's you know no turning back dude I know that uh on Instagram I've always asked you I'm like dude do you plan to do a front bumper and yeah in my head I'm like leave it the way it is man because that thing is so clean it looks so good it's one of in my opinion one of the nicest looking SEC engines out there yeah I appreciate that yeah I mean like you know everyone gets front bumpers and I do understand it has a purpose but for me I feel like just the rear bumper itself is enough to get onto whatever Trail I want to get to it's more now just Cosmetics making it look like a you know a stock truck pretty much just you know slightly built with suspension I saw you have a massive display there how big is that thing it's from Top display it's actually a new product recently new it's not available for any other year other than 12 through 15. um no way they literally just made it for the 2012 to 2015 Tacoma uh yes I would I do believe it can fit the older ones with a little bit of modification but I haven't you know actually tried it myself but I do know that it is not available for the third gen unfortunately so in my case I actually love that because there isn't that many products for the second gen dude that's 100 truth and how do you like the interface and like are you able to like do Netflix on it as well yeah so you can run like all the hot spot running like Netflix Hulu and watch you know all the videos as you drive one thing that I notice you also have is like a gauge right on like right behind the steering wheel what is that for all right so that one's a scan gauge too so it pretty much just plugs into your OBD2 port and you're able to read the computer on the truck so like you know your trans temp your engine temp your intake temp I noticed you also upgraded the knobs on your truck yeah what are those yeah so actually uh upgraded the climate control knobs to ajt design the ones on the second gen in my opinion aren't that great um this one just gives you you know a little more aesthetic pleasing and just looks a little bit better you know how you turn the knob and stuff I agree man did you upgrade your interior light kits by any chance both my map lights and dome lights are from miso Customs actually version two uh dual map lights so they're red and the white but I always honestly keep it all that red especially driving at night if I was on a road trip driving that night it's cool to have the red because it's easier on their eyes dude I totally agree with you man like I have the red ones too it's like you're inside a tank yeah dude and what about the sound inside your cab I did uh kind of surf through your Instagram and saw that you had done that mod where you get basically sound deadening uh how tedious was that project and is it worth it well first I do believe it's 100 worth it it was very tedious as if I had to take off every single interior piece except for the dash and do three different layers pretty much it took probably I would say almost a week but just like working on it every couple hours a day you also did the the headliner as well so the roof I actually have two layers of sound deadening and then I also have insulation for heat to kind of keep the cab a little bit cooler in the sun because you know the roof takes all the heat that's something that I actually want to do to my truck I've been wanting to do it for the longest time I definitely did not know that it was going to take a week also when you're on the trail like it doesn't sound like a rattle can it's pretty much the everything just feels solid you know what about for communication what do you have do you have any radios in there for communication so I actually run the Midland 275 for the antenna I run it on top of the Miso custom starter brake light I was wondering what that was yeah what's that little thing back yeah so yeah you can hook the like any Midland antenna Will Go On Top of there you just screw it on and it gets a pretty good range too as well that's badass dude moving to the outside of your truck let's start from the front what headlights are you rocking and how do you like them so I'm running the alpha Rex Nova Series in afro black I've had them for almost two years and I I love them I haven't had any issues with them I'm running the Amber daytime running lights as well they look so good with the black truck man and what do you have for the fog lights I love the accent that yellow accent that comes from the bottom yeah so the fog lights are Baja design so it's actually a new product that just came out recently it's the Baja design SAE lights the version two so these have more of a sharper cut off line uh to be street legal you know not blind everybody I hate it when I see like another fellow whether it's a Jeep guy or a Tacoma guy and they have their lights like and they're in the city and I'm like dude what are you doing man you're gonna make it you know yeah you're gonna spoil it for us like turn those off yeah you know that there's obviously there's those guys out there that run them during the daytime too right night time and stuff like that and I I get it you know it's cool and they are pretty bright but it does blind some people at night time and I wouldn't want to be in front of that so so in order to pair the headlights with the fog lights did you do a mode so that when you flick them on they can both turn on at the same time or during DRL mode yeah so pretty much I did a do-it-yourself mod that I found online that you're able to run the fog light by itself without having the headlights on what did you do for like power control for power control I'm running the uh rlb so rear light bar control panel I was walking around your truck and I noticed you got a couple Battle Scars what do you have for the skid blade for the skate plate it's actually a homemade skin not by myself but from someone online been on the truck ever since I bought it what about the sliders I love the cutout on these sliders I love that angle in the back uh what are those yeah so those are actually made by regofab I don't believe they make these anymore for the truck I did love them because of the kick out it doesn't the kick out doesn't close it just opens up and just stays like that dude I love that band at the back it's so sick I wish they had him I don't know why they stopped making them I I don't know either I love them what I love about your truck is how it all comes together right it's extremely clean to the point where it almost looks like the sliders match your rear bumper what rear bumper do you have all right so for the rear bumper is made by out gear Solutions I did like it too because it's a two bumper and it does match the sliders as well that's the reason why I did want to get it because it all just flows so well together now there's a lot of cutting with that bumper where you hesitant at first to be like ah man because like yeah you think twice before you cut a perfectly looking truck right yeah for sure yeah um I didn't do it myself I had Joe at out gear do it for me but yeah cutting that bedside it's probably one of those measure like five times you know cut once you know you just want to make sure that you get the right amount of Gap you want it to be perfect yeah because you know if you have too much gap between the fender and the the bumper you can't go backs now for the tail lights I see that you kind of match the headlights with going without works correct correct but you're always switching between two tail lights you have two pairs one's the Luxe series and one's the Pro Series so right now on the truck is a pro series um I just personally love that look of that one because it flows with the truck better and the ones from the Lux Series in my opinion just fit the third gen better but I do have both because yes I do get tired and I kind of like to change it up a little bit we kind of brushed up on the third brake light the Miso one you're able to fit Baja like the Pod lights right is it too bright though for like someone that's behind you I guess what I do have in there is three Baja design Rock lights in Red so yeah when I do press the brakes it is pretty bright so it's just kind of a cool look to be a little bit different and they are pretty bright for sure at night time all right man if we look at your truck bed I see you you have some Molly panels back there how do you like those what do you use those for uh so I actually mainly use it for my water port to hook on to the side when I go travel very helpful for like you know mounting locations yeah you have a bunch of mounting locations and then uh for your spare tire I see that you have it back in like just hanging there in the back yeah it's just temporary honestly I haven't come down to a solution that I've liked really a lot what about to stiffen the bed did you do anything yeah so I do have the total chaos bed stiffeners that was like one of the first things I did what do you have for the tailgating sir so that one I'm running the AL off-road Trail gate so it's cool to have that like you know flat surface to do whatever you want on there and also have the cup holders as well dude even to sit on it right you're not sitting on like ridges you're always sitting on bumps you're sitting on like something that's nice and flat and you got cup holders there too now dude I know you wheel this truck you must have onboard air right for sure yeah so for the onboard air I am running the ARB single compressor with the expedition of Central's bedside Mount I do love having it right there in the beds really quick really simple and it's out the way now let's dive into your suspension how much lift do you have and what kit is installed it's roughly lifted around two inches or so so not that much lift I am running the King Cole levers in the front the 2.5 with the reservoirs and they're also the extended version as well and then the upper control arm I'm running the SPC that does help with the adjusting to fit the 35s you know getting your alignment within spec so in the rear I have pretty much the whole entire archive garage setup I have the shock relocation kit the hammer hangers and I have their cross tube and I'm also running their u-bolt flip kit too as well dude so I have a couple questions for you regarding everything you mentioned right now did the right obviously when you upgraded your your shocks to King you you must have felt the difference right but when you switch to all the archive garage stuff did you feel a difference because you also have the bar right that's the difference the rear yeah it gives you more of a solid ride for sure yeah so I do feel that mostly like you know like on the small washboard uh roads they're like out in like you know the country of the desert the bed doesn't feel like it's rattling around it just feels more planted and solid so that does help with the hangers in the cross tube and then of course when you have the 12 inch shock or the fortunate shock you get more Flex so more droop now dude with having those big tires you obviously need to strengthen the spindles did you do that I gusseted the spindles with the total chaos kit I did get that too and I went to 35s because I was always worried about you know just bending the spindle pretty much what about your sway bar is it still down there uh so no I took off the sway bar probably two years ago feels great right yeah I absolutely love it especially when you're off-road you don't feel like you know being jerked around and stuff like that you definitely uh obviously lose some of that uh stability right and you have to be cautious for sure if someone definitely crosses you on the road that could become a hazard but as long as you're looking out for it I mean I love I just love the ride and I love what it allows us to do when we're out off-roading it oh yeah for sure I suggest that when people who are interested in doing it just to try it yourself because that's really all you can go by is you know do it yourself and then see if it does work for you you know in your driving style dude so I don't know if you knew but uh the 2024 Tacomas are actually going to have a sway bar disconnect so they'll just be able to push a button they won't have to be dealing with us having to completely remove the sway bar you know when they need it for the off-roading they disconnected yeah and when they got back on the road they just connected I know how sick is that that's very convenient too without having to you know remove it physically off the truck too you know and what are your thoughts on the new uh Generation by the way um I I personally love it I love the design of it now especially you know you got a different motor I really can't wait to see when people start building them up you know dude right out of the factory they're going to be able to have 33 like some of the models 33-inch tires which I'm like crossing my fingers that is going to be a lot easier to fit 35s and you know second gen Tacomas or third gen so it's a bit of a mission you know since you don't have much weight back there what leaf springs did you decide to go with all right so I'm running the icon pack the rxt multi-rate pack as of right now I'm running on option one which is pretty much no weight other than just a spare tire pretty much because the back bumper really isn't that much more weight added to it so so they got to be super smooth right yeah so it's smooth it's you know minimal weight it's not you definitely can't pack a lot of weight into it and you can't expect a lot of lift out of it but I have the option to go option three if I wanted to so it's cool to you know be able to change it out now with the Arca garage shock relocation kit you obviously have to extend your brake lines that you have to do that yeah so I got the extended brake lines I believe they're 26 inches yeah that was like one of the first thing I did because you know with the shock the longer shock the brake lines do extend what wheels and tires are you talking and what size are they both Tes 37s it's the model X they're 16x8 with the negative 20 offset and I am running a 30 millimeter wheel spacer and I'm also running The BFG km3 in 315 75 16 tires mud terrains so essentially 35 yeah essentially yeah um and in my opinion I think these are the best mud terrains you can get out there dude I agree with you 100 definitely quiet definitely worth the money I've had no issues in the rain and stuff like that so I love them so there's a lot of controversy behind spacers a lot of people tell you hey man you're an idiot for riding them and then you have the guys that are like legit going through like some insane trails and they're using them and nothing happens the wheels don't fall off you know to fit these massive I say massive because for Tacomas you know 35s are pretty big what did you have to do to kind of avoid the rubbing first I had a body mount chop of course had to be really really aggressive in order to not rub I also did cut the fenders and flares about two to three inches all the way around I also had to beat the pinch Weld and the fender and also Hammer a little bit down too as well it still does rub very minimal but I can you know definitely take it anywhere I want to without having that crazy amount of rub did you re-gear no I haven't re-geared it's mostly just by choice I just don't see a reason for me to do it right now for one there's not that much weight on the truck and second if it's just where I live at 90 of the time I'm on the road in Houston it's all flat I don't really feel the pain of having 35s it is slow but it's not like nothing I can't get used to so dude you actually have a second gen right with the 4.0 and it's just it's completely different than the third gen I've owned a second gen and I've had my third gen they've both been on 35s and the third gen needs it although we do advise that if you go up in tire size you have to get you know gears on the fourth gen is like yes you have to re-gear but it doesn't need it as much as the third gen yeah that's why I hear people say that people say the third gen you know I just like the motor and transmission just it's really sluggish with the 35s you know but I'm sure if I do rigor and when I do it's probably gonna have some more oh it's going to feel great feeling to it oh yeah all right man what's the future for your truck what do you plan to do with it are you gonna leave it like this what's the goal so I've had this set up probably for a couple years now I do have some big plans and so you got to stay tuned it's going to be pretty epic dude I can't wait man I I almost don't want you to do anything to it I'm like leave it like that it looks perfect but uh you have good taste man so I appreciate to see what you're gonna do if you could give the viewers advice on you know they're getting into this Hobby what to avoid or what to do what advice would you give them my advice is that you know if you have a Tacoma figure out what your goal is you know are you wanting to you know have a long travel truck go fast are you wanting to do the Overland thing or you just want to keep it a simple daily driver use it for work or whatever and go camping on weekends I definitely recommend two things for sure it's just armor and suspension thank you so much for uh allowing us to do this interview with you and do it I'll see you in the next one all right man thanks see ya foreign

Channel: TacomaBeast

Views: 133,456

Keywords: toyota, toyota tacoma, prinsu, tacoma, trd pro, trdpro, MYKOSPRO, tacoma build, diy tacoma, tacoma setup, tacoma 37s, 2nd gen tacoma, perfect daily, archive garage, tacoma king shocks, tacoma lift kit, 3 inch tacoma lift kit, walk around, rig walk around, lifted tacoma, 2nd gen tacoma off road, tacoma build out, tacoma mod talk, 35 inch tires on tacoma, tacoma headlights, tacoma tail lights, fit 35 inch tires, trd pro style grille, bfgoodrich km3, tacoma performance mods

Id: iNcaZDG_5uo

Length: 17min 29sec (1049 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 10 2023