Since our last post of the Tokyo Truck build, the team here at The Gear Shop had worked tirelessly through the day and night to complete this project.
Genny, our awesome journeymen welder, completed welding up the Total Chaos spindle gussets and the Total Chaos cam tab gussets to the frame for added strength to take the future abuse of fast gravel and loaded down trips to Baja, Alaska and Patagonia at speed.
Assembling the axles were much easier than we're used to with the 2nd gen Tacoma axles. Normally we have to cut the old shaft, and press out the cut stub with an incredible amount of force. This made for a very happy long travel CV experience!
The factory bed sides had to be drilled out at each spot weld, after an insane amount of drilling, the SDHQ rear glass fitted really well as did the fronts. Once all the glass was drilled it was sent off to Screamin' Paintworks for their expertise in body work. Paint matched to the truck they worked long and late hours to complete the fenders. Dan at Screamin' pulled almost an all nighter to get them back to us so we could complete the build on time. Huge thank you to their insane dedication and hard work which makes them our go to.
Arms, spindles, axles and Fox 2.5" Coil Overs all fired into the Tundra smoothly. TRD Pro grill swapped in for a more stealth look paired with SDHQ's incredible front tube bumper. Under the bumper sits Bud Built's Tundra skid plating to keep the rocks and stumps off the critical drivetrain components.
Vic and Rhyse fitted the front fenders, working in the headlights and the front grill making sure all the body seams were even along the door and the hood. We were impressed with the fitment. The rear bedsides were just coming out from curing, when one side cured, Alex picked it up and then the fitting began on one side. Once the other rear bedside finished curing, Alex went back to pick it up to complete the rear fenders. 9PM rolled in fast Friday night as our deadline was to finish for Satruday. Still have the other bedside to fit, adjust the coil-overs, and align it.
10PM rolls by as the other bedside is fitted by Christian, Vic and Nate. Now the Tundra is taking shape into a very aggressive adventure beast. All the head lights and tail lights get plugged in and then the Ray's TE37 OMF Beadlocked wheels are ready to be bolted up.
The stance is perfect, tires just outside the fenders giving a strong appearance and will keep trees away from the fenders. 1:30AM comes as quick as we thought it was only 11PM, and the Tokyo Truck comes to life. A quick test drive to make sure everything is working properly and the project is a success.
Aside from our pretty low quality iPhone photo's, we need to bring in some real media experts to make this truck look alive. A quick call to Chase at Tamarack Media and they were on it to take some shots we can send to our client in Tokyo.
We're excited to see where our client will explore with this Tundra. We're thankful for this opportunity to work on this build with a first in wheel combination and the solid team work with Fox, SDHQ, Ray's Engineering, OMF Beadlock, Camburg, Total Chaos Fabrication, Bud Built, Timbren, Deaver Spring, Screamin' Paintworks and The Gear Shop Team.
Stay tuned for the next build!
