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Project Tundra // Winter (Pre-OXW) Update

RXT Rear Suspension

Late last fall, Project Tundra received a pre-production set of ICON Vehicle Dynamics RXT rear suspension – and the change these RXT parts made to the vehicle’s performance was profound.  The RXT system is made up of a user-configurable, Icon leaf spring pack that replaces the OEM Toyota leaf pack. Also included are Tundra specific shocks with increased travel, and a hydraulic bump stop kit.  Taken as a whole, these parts all work together to make your rear suspension next level.  Project Tundra already has the hydraulic bump stop kit, but adding the RXT leafs and shocks made a huge difference in the way the truck performs.  The best part about the RXT kit is that it can be configured to your specific truck and the amount of additional weight you have in your truck bed, so the end result is a system that will deliver much better performance than a one size fits all solution.  Here’s how it all works.

The RXT leafs for the Toyota Tundra can be configured in three ways all depending on how much additional weight is over your truck’s rear axle, or how much lift you want.  The leaf pack comes configured from ICON to handle an additional 250 pounds of payload while providing about 1.75 inches of additional lift.  If you swap out the third leaf in the RXT leaf pack with the provided additonal leaf, the pack will handle an additional 500 pounds of payload and add 3 inches of lift.  Finally, adding the additional leaf to the pack will provide 750 pounds of carrying capacity and add 4 inches of lift to the rear of an unladen Tundra.

I opted for the + 500 pounds option on Project Tundra, as two dirtbikes or our typical gear loadouts with the truck cap and roof rack come in around this mark.

Installing the leaf packs is easily done in the driveway on an afternoon with basic tools and an extra set of hands.  The first thing you’ll need to do is choose what configuration you want the leaf pack in, and then make any desired changes prior to mounting to the vehicle  A couple of C-Clamps will help you keep the packs from disassembling themselves when you loosen the locating bolt, and otherwise the process is well covered in the instructions.  With the packs configured as desired, lift up the back of the truck SAFELY and swap the packs out.

The other part of the RXT equation are the shocks which provide additional stroke over the 2.5 VS CDCV units that we’ve been using.  ICON offers three levels of shocks, named with their Stage-Number convention.  Stage 1 shocks offer vehicle specific valving, Stage 2 adds the CDC Valve, and Stage 3 adds Omega-level shocks that feature rebound and compression damping.  All RXT kits include the hydraulic bump stop Kit – another system we’ve absolutely loved having on Project Tundra.

As I mentioned in the last article, the performance difference realized by installing the IVD suspension on Project Tundra was huge, so the bar was already set quite high when the RXT parts arrived.  The RXT suspension makes a night and day difference over stock leafs or even an add-a-leaf – especially when you’re carrying any kind of weight.

Speaking of the Icon 2.5 VS CDCV shocks I took off the vehicle, I’m happy to report that after a year of use all over the Southwest the shocks are still in great shape and still fully functional.  Yes, there is pitting on the lower shock mounts and the aluminum bodies aren’t as shiny as new, but this wear has been earned from logging thousands of miles bombing around off-road and on wintry roads.  It turns out flying rocks are an equal opportunity destroyer, so I don’t care whose shock you have – pitting and aluminum oxidation are going to happen.  What counts is that all of the ICON shock shafts look great, and all of the seals are holding tight – so these shocks still have plenty of life left in them before they get rebuilt.

The RXT suspension has handled every type of terrain I’ve pointed it at so far with performance that’s perfectly matched to the front end, which is to say that the back end has now been turned up to match the front end.  The ability to set the leaf pack up for your specific vehicle depending on what you do with your truck and how much weight you carry combined with the damping adjustment from the CDCV and Omega level shocks make the RXT system the choice for Tundra rear suspension.

 

 

LINE-X

Spray-In truck bed liners are hands down the best way to project your truckbed from sharp tools, ski edges, car parts, the occasional steel-fab project, and everything else life throws at your truck bed.  The problem is that the OEM spray in liners leave a lot to be desired, which is why I took a trip to San Diego before SoCal Desert Rendezvous to make an appointment at Line-X of San Diego.

At Line-X of San Diego, Dallas and Chris applied their years of experience in truck bed coatings to come up with in a spray in bedliner application for Project Tundra that was exactly what I was looking for.  In addition to protecting the sheet metal, I wanted to do a few custom things that would make the bed of project Tundra better suited to my needs.  First up, I pulled off the stupid plastic caps that run around the bed rails of the truck.  These pointless pieces of plastic exist only to trap dirt and dust, and when sandwiched with a load (like a truck cap) become plastic backed sandpaper that wears on your paint and in no time at all, starts wearing on bare metal.  Taking the plastic caps off also allowed Dallas and Chris to do a true over the rail bedliner, providing extra protection to the bedsides from the truck cap and from me when I’m loading heavy things over the sides of the truck bed.

With all of the holes in the bed rails covered, we then turned our attention to sealing up all of the drain holes in the truck bed to make the thing as dust proof as possible.

Line-X is also a great thing to spray on your truck’s rocker panels to protect them from rocks and other road debris that are constantly tossed up by your tires.  I sprayed the rocker panels on my Tacoma, and it’s held up great to hundreds of thousands of miles of dirt and rocks.  Again Dallas and Chris applied their expert hands and took the time to remove the plastic wheel well trim so that they could tuck the Line-X under the plastic bits once installed – a detail that will only serve to help lengthen the lifespan of Project Tundra’s sheet metal.

Chris and Dallas devoted an entire day to applying Line-X to Project Tundra, and the results of their attention to detail and skill speak for themselves.  Project Tundra’s bed and rocker panels are now armored-up to handle hundreds of thousands of miles of dirt and rock, and all of the gear hauling I can throw in the truck bed.

ABOUT THOSE HUB CAPS

I’ve had a couple of the hub caps on my ICON Alloys Six Speed wheels break, and when I called Icon to asking about buying new hub caps, I was really happy to hear that they’ve redesigned the caps to fix this very issue.  The new hub caps are screwed together (the old design was a snap-fit) and I do not expect to see any failure or issues from this new design.  I need to give ICON props for revising and continuously improving their products, rather than simply selling more copies of an imperfect design.

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Yes, Project Tundra will be getting fully armored – but as with any good thing, it takes some time.  So in the mean time I’ve been working with Pelfreybilt Offroad to design brackets for the Tundra’s A-Pillars and stock front bumper, so that I can add some light while I’m waiting for my armor to arrive.  With a bit of time spent in Solidworks, I’ve developed A-Pillar brackets for the Tundra that will hold an XL 80, as well as brackets that will allow me to run a Baja Designs 30” S8 light bar in the stock bumper.

Project Tundra will be receiving it’s armor soon, so I’ll leave this update with a photo I took of what’s to come.  Stop by and see us at the American Adventurist booth at Overland Expo West (PS1) and say hi!

Full disclosure:  ICON Vehicle Dynamics provided the RXT suspension for review and testing purposes at no cost to Chad de Alva or American Adventurist.  Line-X of San Diego installed their products free of charge.

 

 

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Project Tundra // Suspension

Back in May, I installed some things on Project Tundra and something weird started happening.  I started getting this muscle soreness whenever I would drive the truck, and the problem seemed to be exacerbated by driving on dirt roads—especially when driving in a spirited manner (If I’m being honest, it happened on paved roads too….especially the twisty-windy ones.)  After seeking the help of various medical professionals with no luck, I took my problem to Google.  Rabbit holes were explored; but to no avail.  Months later, I can only conclude that I’m suffering from the thing that I hope has afflicted everyone who drives a vehicle off road:  Soreness of the face from too many Grins Per Mile.  And I put the blame squarely on the Icon Vehicle Dynamics (IVD) suspension for making my face hurt from grinning so much.

Not only has the raw enjoyment of the truck increased by installing IVD suspension, but the real world performance has improved considerably as well.  As a quiver-of-one vehicle, Project Tundra does everything from long hauls on America’s interstate system, to frequent trips on our favorite dirt roads.  Therefore, the truck’s suspension system needs to keep the vehicle rubber side down while dodging exploding semi-truck tires at 80 MPH in Utah, and soak up washboarded dirt roads in Arizona so that passengers can still play Jenga in the back seat.

Off the dealers’ lot, the stock TRD suspension is respectably capable—but there’s certainly room for improvement.  The folks at Icon Vehicle Dynamics have spent hundreds of man-hours developing suspension products specifically for the Toyota Tundra, and all of this R&D time enables them to suggest specific parts based on how you’re going to use your rig, and what you’re going to carry with it.  After talking about the end state of project tundra and how it would be used, IVD came up with a selection of parts that would make the Tundra perform like a magic carpet over a wide range of loads and roads.

PARTS OF THE PUZZLE

We were fortunate to get our hands on Icon’s new 3.0 Series coilovers and billet Upper Control Arms (UCAs) sporting the Icon Delta Joint for the front end of Project Tundra.  The 3.0 coilovers take the proven performance of the 2.5 Series coilovers and turn everything up to 11.  Everything on the 3.0’s is massive, as are the performance gains they provide over monotube shocks in every metric.  You can’t help but call the stock TRD-stickered Bilstein units ‘cute’ when they’re placed side by side with the 3.0 Series coilovers.  Installing a larger coilover assembly requires installing an aftermarket Upper Control Arm (UCA) that will clear the new coilover, yet this also provides real performance gains for suspension performance.

Icon’s Billet UCA’s with the Delta Joint give Project Tundra more wheel travel in the form of droop travel and the Delta Joint is far stronger than the stock ball joint.  Additional droop travel allows the tires to better stay in contact with the ground as the suspension (and thus tire) is what falls into a hole instead of the whole vehicle, keeping the vehicle more level.  The Delta Joint is a new product from IVD that combines the durability of a ball joint with the range of motion of a uni-ball.  The Delta Joint provides the benefits of both types of joints, and I’m quite eager to see how they hold up in the long run.  The UCA’s also allow for camber and caster adjustments, which can be used to help clear larger tires or dial in additional positive caster to tweak handling performance.

OUT BACK

To keep up with the front end, Icon provided us with their leaf expansion pack, hydraulic bump stop system, and VS 2.5 Series PBR Rear shocks with CDCV.  The leaf expansion pack provides ~1.5 inches of lift to the back of the truck and maintains the load carrying capacity without making Project Tundra ride like a dump truck.  The pack is installed between the stock main and overload spring so that factory towing and load characteristics are retained, and lift and comfort are added.  Icon has something spring related on the horizon that will be of great interest to the overland / adventure travel community and we will be updating this article as details emerge.

The hydraulic bump stop system was added to help keep the rear of Project Tundra in control, especially while carrying the additional loads that overland-style travel typically places on a vehicle.  Toyota’s stock bumpstops are about as soft as a lacrosse ball, and they instantly release all of the energy compressed into them right back out which can cause the back to the vehicle to kick or step out.  The bump stops provide bottom out control and are speed sensitive so that they can soak up big hard hits without limiting articulation and slow speed suspension movements.

Rounding out the system are Icon’s 2.5 Series shocks with Vehicle Specific (VS) valving, and the Compression Damping Control Valve (CDCV).  VS valving is the result of spending hours playing with shim-stacks, pistons, and other suspension variables to create a shock tuned specifically to the Toyota Tundra.  The CDCV allows me to dial in the amount of compression dampening we want in all of the shocks on project tundra, so we can crank up the compression for better road handling and big hits, and back it off for a more compliant ride when we’re going slow and doing technical trails.

WHEELS AND TIRES

When combined with Icon’s suspension system, a set of Icon Alloys Six Speed wheels allows project Tundra to clear a true 35 inch tire. These 17 x 8.5 inch wheels were developed with a specific +25mm offset that allows for lock-to-lock steering throughout the range of travel from full stuff to full droop. We wrapped our shiny new Six Speed wheels with Falken Tire MT01’s and A/T3Ws. Keep an eye out for a long term test on their tires, and we’ll be talking all about wheels and tires in a future Project Tundra article.

INSTALL

Installing all of these parts on Project Tundra took two days over the course of a weekend, and with the exception of an air chisel, no real specialized tools were required.  On Saturday, Chazz Layne and I were able to install everything on the front end with no real visits from Mr. Murphy.  You do have to cut a factory bumpstop to clear the new 3.0 Series coilover, and rather than take a corner off as the directions suggest, I opted to cut the whole bumpstop off, so that I could weld the bumpstop back on if I ever needed to in the future.  Likewise, you need to trim the ends of the swaybar, but I just opted to remove mine.  (DISCLAIMER:  AA and IVD can’t be held responsible for what you do to your truck…+LEGAL WORD VOMIT AS NEEDED)  We also had to elongate a hole on the reservoir mounting bracket, but other than that, everything was a bolt on installation easily completed in a leisurely day in the shop while stopping frequently to take photos.

On Sunday, I tackled the back end by myself, and here’s where you’ll need that air chisel I was mentioning.  The factory bump striker plates are riveted to the frame, so you’ll need to grind / chisel these mounts off so you can install the IVD mounts.  Installing the shocks is straightforward and took me maybe five minutes in total.  Installing the leaf expansion pack is also a pretty easy process, especially if you remove the leafs from the truck and use a jack and some planning to help haul your axle around.  With everything installed and properly torqued, the next thing to do is get the truck aligned.

SHAKEDOWN

Backing out of the garage, the difference was obvious, and things only got better from there.  The installation was done the week before Overland Expo West, and over the course of this summer I’ve taken project Tundra all over the Southwest, driving on everything from desert freeways to Colorado passes.  In every type of terrain, at high speeds and at low speeds the suspension has soaked up and confidently handled everything I’ve pointed the truck at.

Even when loaded down with the family and toys for a long weekend of play, the truck still had outstanding handling and performance.  While the addition of cargo weight obviously sags the suspension out just like it would any vehicle, being able to add compression dampening with just a few clicks helps keep the truck’s handling in check when loaded with gear.  Where a monotube shock valved for a lightly loaded truck would blow through it’s travel when saddled with additional weight, the IVD suspension keeps things in in control with a few additional clicks of compression dampening.

IT’S TIME TO REDEFINE ADVENTURE TRAVEL / OVERLANDING SUSPENSION

Just like any other sport or industry, the overlanding / adventure travel industry has its stigmas about what constitutes suspension perfection and about a million other ‘best options.’ Well, stigmas were meant to be broken.  If folks didn’t bother to break the mold and try something new, innovation wouldn’t be a thing, which is why I’m so glad that Icon Vehicle Dynamics is pushing their suspension into our industry.  Call it desert racing suspension or whatever you want, the fact of the matter is IVD’s suspension systems are brilliant for how we use our vehicles.  I’ve logged hundreds of thousands of miles on Australian-made monotube shocks, and while those systems work well and are certainly an upgrade from any stock suspension, they’re not on the same level as Icon suspension.

Going with a top shelf system from Icon Vehicle Daynamics is certainly going to cost more than a monotube shock setup—but this is an upgrade where you get what you pay for.  I know that conventional thinking in the industry would steer folks to stick with the tried and true, but I’m a big fan of tinkering, and trying new things.  Going with ‘desert racing suspension’ has worked out quite well for me and project tundra.  The performance (and safety) gains are night and day, and I don’t see any reason why these components wouldn’t last as long, if not longer with proper maintenance than anything else out there.  And besides, having suspension that can handle the occasional surprise whoop section or occasional airing out of the tires happens to be a hell of a lot of fun.

Full Disclosure: Icon Vehicle Dynamics, Icon Alloys, and Falken Tires generously contributed products for this build at no cost to Chad de Alva or American Adventurist. That said, American Adventurist staff members have been using and abusing IVD products for over a decade with zero trail failures in the some of the harshest terrain in North America.

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Project Tundra

I’m watching an epic Arizona sunset from the bed of a truck parked on a volcano, and I can’t help but grin from ear to ear.  Stretched out before me is an endless expanse of Northern Arizona painted in the kinds of colors you find on Instagram when someone first discovers the saturation slider—but this isn’t an enhanced image.  This sunset, viewed from my current vantage point is the reason why we get outside: because outside is awesome.  The truck that got me here happens to be pretty awesome too, it’s a brand new 2017 Toyota Tundra.  And in it’s factory-stock form it happens to be a really capable vehicle, as evidenced by the fact that I’m not parked at the bottom of the volcano.

This Tundra is the platform that over the course of the next few months, with the help of some great companies, I’ll be building into a quiver-of-one adventure vehicle that will help me and my family do what we love: spend time outside.  To get an idea of where we’re going with this project Tundra, I need to give you an idea of what I’ve been doing with my current first-gen Tacoma.

Over the last ten years, I’ve taken my Tacoma all over the Western United States seeking out the ends of countless dirt roads, and dozens of awesome destinations.  I’ve cut first tracks and driven to the top of the San Juan Mountains only to pull out skis and venture further on when a snowbank blocks the road.  I’ve driven to the Eastern Rim of the Grand Canyon to learn from the locals about the many threats that face one of our Nation’s most iconic National Parks.  I’ve carried bikes, dirtbikes, skis, and all kinds of other gear on all kinds of adventures to explore our world.  While the Tundra will almost certainly never get to pass through a certain gate at the top of a certain iconic waterfall, it will be built to do everything that the Tacoma does, and more.  There are big plans in store for this project, but I’ve also been really enjoying my time with the stock truck.

Without changing a single part on the Tundra, I’ve had some great experiences with it.  I’ve gotten to spend time in the woods and on the Mogollon rim with my family, and everywhere else I’ve gone with the truck has helped me refine my plans of what attributes I want to enhance on the Tundra.  The objective is to build something where all of the changes and additions complement each other to bring the baseline performance of the truck up.  Rather than buy all of the things, we’re going to be adding and changing the things that make an impact and help us have a better experience outside.  With this approach in mind, the goals for the Tundra are:

  • Tackle terrain wherever I may roam. From the deserts of Utah to the high passes of the Rockies, the Tundra needs to inspire confidence in any terrain.
  • Carry gear for other sports: bikes, skis, SUPs, tow/haul dirtbikes, and other adventure gear.
  • Be a basecamp/support vehicle for adventure projects and remote, off-grid film projects (day job).
  • Carry the gear needed to safely travel into remote places and stay there for an extended period of time.
  • Be a reliable tool for my family and friends to explore and experience the world with.

The Tundra will wear many hats and fulfill many roles in the coming years.  It’s certainly a larger vehicle than my Tacoma, but that increase in size makes for some really exciting potential.  With two more doors and a backseat that someone bigger than a five year-old is stoked to sit in, the adventure and the experience can be shared with more people.  The 6.5 foot truck bed adds a few more inches of space that will allow the Tundra to swallow up bikes, skis, and other large pieces of gear with ease.  It’s also more than long enough for a couple of adults to sleep while fully stretched out, which is a great option when you’re going fast and light.  The power and towing increase over my Tacoma means that towing a trailer that’s ideally laden with motos or snowbikes or some other form of awesome is now a realistic idea.  The potential for the Tundra is great, and we’re just getting started.

Kicking off a build project is an exciting time—it’s really easy to get caught up in daydreaming about adventures to come and all of the great places to be explored.  Yet, I think that it’s also important to enjoy the moment and that simple fact that a stock vehicle can take you to some staggeringly-awesome places.  By getting the Tundra in the dirt from day one, I’ve now got a comprehensive understanding of where the baseline is for the truck, which means that I’ll be able to understand (and fully appreciate) how adding parts and making changes improves what can be done with the Tundra.  We will be documenting the process in a number of articles that you can find right here on American Adventurist, and I’ll be maintaining a build thread in the forums that will go into greater detail.  Here’s to new roads and new experience outdoors doing what we love.  Welcome to Project Tundra.

 

 

 

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A Big Bike, A Small Dog, and a Long Dusty Road

Adventure comes in all shapes and sizes.  Here in Arizona, it usually involves the search for a secluded waterway where one can attain a reprieve from the baking sun and wash off the dust from the trail.

When most folks think of the deserts in Arizona they imagine a parched landscape full of cacti and broken dreams.  They’re right, but there is also a thriving ecology closely packed around a surprising number of lakes and rivers.   And when you live at 7,000 feet above sea level in Arizona, it snows the night before you leave for a trip to the desert.

What else can you do, but layer up, press on, and keep a vigilant eye on the forecast?  As so many of us today are corralled into set schedules and pre-planned vacations, sometimes simply pushing on is all you can do.  Despite the snowflakes falling outside, my wife and I packed our Super Ténéré for a weekend’s adventure to take the back [read: two-lane, twisty-windy, dirt road, and generally awesome] way to Alamo Lake, AZ.  There’s a saying in Flagstaff that “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” And this once again proved true as we jumped on a break in the snowstorm and pointed our bike South toward warmer weather, sun, and miles of twisty-windy two lane goodness.

Our route would take us on two lane roads from Jerome, through Prescott, and toward Bagdad (AZ!), and on toward the middle of nowhere, which as it happens, is near Nothing, AZ.  We were so busy enjoying this wonderful ribbon of tarmac, we missed our turn, and were ‘lost’, round 1.  After consulting the GPS, we found an alternate route; a 33 mile dirt road that was supposed to be a well maintained, smooth cruise.  Not so much. We were lost again, round 2.

Pretty soon, the washouts, sand, and several additional wrong turns had us re-thinking ourselves.  “Keep going. There’s a darn lake at the end of this.  How far have we gone?  Only Three miles! This is going to be a long afternoon…”

Perseverance won the day however, and before too long, we were cooking along in 5th gear on a wide, well-graded dirt highway.  Sometimes, all you need to fix the roads is to cross a county line.

As the miles ticked by, we started to get into the groove again.  Things were looking up, and we had plenty of daylight, plenty of fuel, and we hadn’t lost our mascot, Tortellini the turtle.  (Editor’s note:  Tortellini is known to fly out from his perch on the authors Ténéré from time to time.  This most commonly happens on rough roads or at high speeds. –Chad)  Before we knew it, we were looking for a campsite and changing into our swimsuits.  We had made it to Alamo Lake.

After a quick dip in the lake, some warm food, and making a campfire, we were watching another world-class Arizona sunset and reflecting on the day.

It seems like the farther I can get away from civilization, and the closer I can get to undeveloped wilderness, the more content I am.  The trivialities of life fade into the background as I soak in my surroundings.  I’m dusty, I’m hot, I’m exhausted and I’m away from everything that makes home so comfortable, yet I feel more content and more joyful than I do almost anywhere else.  After all, I’ve got my wife, my dog, and my motorcycle – what more could I ask for?