Off Road Build with DIY and Production Mods on 37’s

I have been on a journey to figure out good springs for my DD/off road build. The coil air bags I installed popped, then put in OME 2864’s and while a great lift very stiff for my load. Today I put in progressive OME 2866’s and I think I found my sweet spot. On my initial drive the rear is more compliant and doesn’t pop quick so harshly like with the 2864’s.

My measurements from center of wheel hub to fender flare. I have about 350lb loaded or so.
2864’s
Left
25.5
Right
26 3/8”

2866’s
Left
23.5
Right
24 3/8


I thought it would be harder to put the springs in but it was pretty easy. The hardest part is just making sure you release about 6 spots for the ABS and brake lines. I used 2 jack stands and my floor Jack under the pumpkin to control the axle height. I took off the lower shock bolts and the rear sway bar U joints.

The passenger side was a little tougher to droop the axle so I used my bottle jack





Height of the 2864 vs 2866, the new black ones are the 2866. About 3/4” shorter


How the truck sits mostly loaded. The left side could use a .5-.75” shim as the awning I mounted makes it lean a touch. But when not camping my rack will come off so I’m hoping the progressive spring works well unloaded as well.


Torque specs I used from another member here

 

300 miles of dirt from North Idaho through the mountains to Polebridge MT and the very edge of Glacier National Park. The last shot shows my 270 freestanding awning with 2 poles down as it was blowing about 15-20mph for about an hour before sunset. I love off roading in this truck!

That’s my PullKitchen hanging out as well!

 

Awesome build!!

 

Well finally, 37’s!
I chose Toyo’s newer Open Country R/T Trails. Love the looks and solid reviews. This is how I made my 37’s fit.

The truck has Westcott’s 3” lift up front and 2” in the rear with OME 2866 springs.


Driver side cuts- the front felt fender liner needs to be cut, so to keep it looking more factory I made an arch and cut the liner and bracket just below the washer fluid tank. The mount is very strong there, you only lose the lower liner. I used a cut off wheel for all the cuts.


Washer fluid reservoir bracket


If you have the dynamic air dam you will need to shave off a small corner. The result


Driver Side Rear liner- unscrew all the lower 10mm screws holding the felt liner and underneath there are two 13mm screws holding in this mount. The mount has one liner clip going to it, that’s all.


The “tire safety nub thing” needs to be cut back to about 1” remaining. Primed and painted



There is a hole that you can put a fender plug in to pin back the liner

Passenger Front Fender Cut- the bracket for the lower front liner has a plug midway up attached to the backside, be mindful of it

Passenger Rear liner, remove the bracket and cut the nub like the other side.

Pretty easy. As I actually off road a lot I’ll see how it does at full flex and update any further cuts if needed.

 

That is one SPICY unit!!!

 

My truck converts from off road rig to daily driver in 10 minutes. I built a 4 point hoist that lifts each corner and off it goes or on it goes without breaking a sweat. My @KB Voodoo rack is so easy to take off and on with its tonneau cover brackets.


Loving the 37’s

 

Heading to glacier National park tomorrow, any tips? What to see? Where to go? I’ve got tomorrow and a bit of the next day.

I have factory suspension with some New LT wildpeaks. Probably not doing anything crazy as I still have a couple thousand miles to drive this trip.

 

See the tourist stuff you want to see via the west entrance. If you have time go to the North Fork entrance. To get there you go through Columbia Falls and then the road turns to dirt as you head into Polebridge MT which is an off grid place. The Polebridge Mercantile has amazing Huckleberry Bear claws then go into the park right there and everyone goes to Bowman lake, but I really like Kintla Lake. The road is about 15-20 miles of dirt but the pay off is amazing!

 

Blue Lake MT

 

Stupid Deer!

My wife and I just finished our anniversary dinner and we’re heading home by Lake Coeur d’Alene going only about 40 mph when a deer popped out.


Damage done


Geico will fix it but we leave Thursday on a 2,000 mile road trip to a family reunion.
Pulled off the whole grill and adjusted my stealth CBI bumper a little.


100 zip ties later it looks respectable. I had to do some zip tie Frankenstein stitching.


Couldn’t get this to line up, don’t judge me

 

One: that sucks.

two: damn man, that’s one hell of a nice quick’N’dirty repair job.


Also, it’s stuff like this that makes me want a giant solid steel bumper.

 

Yeah I’m contemplating a full bumper with bull bar. And thanks! I hate when stuff is broken

 

Today I installed Cascadia 4x4’s 75W hood solar panel. I placed it right on top of my hood decal and I’m happy with how it came out. The install is straightforward as outlined by Cascadia and there’s plenty of videos on it. I am hopeful that it will do a nice job topping off the battery as my fridge draws from it.



Zip Tie Fancy

 

I recently put on 37’s and used one of my 35’s as a spare. A friend gave me an older Lexus 17” wheel and I mounted it up today. The spare is a 265/70R18 at 32.6” which is a long way from 37”, so I figured my 315/70R17 (34.4”) is closer. A 37 will not fit under the 5.5’ bed.

I mounted up a 35 and it leaves just under an inch of room from the pan bar. The tire is snug against the hitch and I aired down to 12psi to help a little. BTW I have onboard air if I need to use the spare. I don’t foresee the width of the tire being an issue. I hit some speed bumps hard and the pan bar doesn’t touch so far. Yeah, speed bump testing haha

 

With my 3”+ lift in the rear I purchased DR KDSS track bar relocation kit. Pretty easy bolt on that allows the pan bar to flatten out so when the rear suspension cycles, it doesn’t cause bump steer.

https://drkdss.com/products/copy-of-botck-bolt-on-trackbar-correction-kit-tundra

The kit came really fast and was perfect. I had to jack up the axle a little on the passenger side to get the track bar to fit but then everything else worked great. If anything changes I’ll certainly update it here.

I’m keeping on eye on the 35” spare’s clearance as well. So far it hasn’t touched.

 

My next project for winter camping

(not to scale)

 

I don’t see why you added a disclaimer. That looks like a CAD drawing and 100% to scale.

 

My truck has a little brother. My 37mpg road warrior

 

Deer damage repaired. Since they were painting I had the mustache surround replaced with a paint matched version.

 

Reducing air pressure does not make your tire wider but longer giving you more traction. This is why many prefer 17” wheels to give a little more sidewall for wiring down

 

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/benefits-of-low-tire-pressure-off-road/

https://www.4wheelstation.com/blogs/information/4wd-tire-pressure-for-sand

 

Good articles! Thanks

 

@PapaDave418, the rig is looking great. I see you're in northern Idaho. How does the truck do pushing those 37s over high elevation passes when it's loaded down? I'm in Colorado and trying to work out all the pros/cons of 35s vs 37s...it's always a bit different with steep grades. Thx!

 

My experience has been nothing but positive. You are of course going to lose some off of the line quickness and miles per gallon with 37’s but the engine has no problem making more than enough power. I’ve gone over Highway 90 a number of times into Montana from Idaho and even fully loaded never has an issue. I rarely get above 2500 RPM and it never bogs.

 

I have the trd lift kit which is 3 inch front and 2 inch rear lift. The 2 inch rear is achieved via a spacer. I want some forward rake for when I haul the dirtbikes. Do you know how much the 2866 would lift the unloaded tundra?

 

Sweet truck! Nice work, all the way through!

 

I think the 2866 would sit nicely, if you need more rake just add some HDPE pucks if you need. Even a 1/2” cutting board and cut two circles. There’s nothing fancy about spacers if you can install them yourself.

 

Nice install PapaDave418. How did you run the wire across the engine bay? I have GMRS radio installed in center console, access to it via sliding back the little tray. I've got power wires run to the floor outside the console, but need to find constant on power somewhere. Is it available inside the cab anywhere? Since I only need a few amps, 4 maybe, I'm hoping to not have to go all the way to the battery for that. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

 

For HAM it is recommended to go straight to the battery as to not get electrical noise intertwined with the signal, not sure if GMRS is different? But under the glovebox is the fuse box and you could use an “add-a-fuse” power source and add your appropriate fuse for it. That would be very easy if it doesn’t cause electrical noise

Here’s how my wiring routes for all my wires

 

Bought a nice 5lb propane tank mount for my rack off Etsy