As she sits now




Just like others I have decided to create this thread to document the evolution of my 2012 SR5. I moved out to Northern California just about a year ago and have been out of the 4x4 game for almost 10 years. One of my passions is track driving and for the last three years I’ve been driving around in a 2011 E90 M3. Here she is in action:



After a few months in NorCal I started to pick up another old hobby of mine mountain biking. For a few months I carted my bike on a roof rack that I took on and off whenever I went riding. Then one day a friend’s bike decided to topple off the rack and caused $3,000 in damage to my roof. That incident combined with the abusive roads that I sometimes need to travel to get to trailheads were the last straw. I decided I would stop abusing my beloved car and instead would find a dedicated mountain bike shuttle machine.

After months of research I found a cherry CPO 2012 SR5 at a dealer relatively close by. Took a bus two hours south and picked her up. This is what she looked like on day 1:





As soon as I got her home I was already dreaming of upgrades.

Upgrade 1: BFG AT KO2s 275/70r17

The truck came with no name pep boy all season tires that just didn’t sit well with me. So I decided to replace them immediately with some decent rubber.



Upgrade 2: Kuat NV Hitch Mounted Bike Rack

Since this truck was going to be a bike hauler I needed to get a decent rack. The NV is probably the best built rack you can get out there. On top of that it's a breeze to operate. Here is a shot of it doing its thing.



An action shot from said ride:



Upgrade 3+4: Rocker trim delete + FN F(X) Pro Wheels

I couldn’t stand the look of the OEM SR5 rocker trim so it needed to go. At the same time I decided to get rid of the stock wheels and go with something a bit more stylish. So I went with FN F(X) Pro wheels.





Upgrade 5: Lighting Upgrades

No, pictures for this but I upgraded all the interior and license plate lights to LED. I also performed the headlight H9 bulb mod and installed Morimoto LED fog lights. To be honest I am a bit disappointed with the LED fogs as I think the OEM halogen fog lights had better output. Perspective buyers should consider this before buying. At least they look cool?

Upgrade 6: Full Speaker Upgrade

One of the first things I noticed while driving my truck home from the dealer was the horrific sound coming from the stock OEM speakers. I’m no audiophile but I think I’ve heard better output from tin cans. So I called up the folks at Crutchfield and we pieced together a full solution using Infinity Primus speakers. I didn’t want to replace my OEM headunit or run an aftermarket amp so these speakers fit the bill. The performance difference was DRASTIC, totally blown away. Look for a thread describing this upgrade in the near future.

That’s it for now. Will most likely be getting new skid plates, rockers and Gobi rack in the near future. Looking forward to my first 4x4 outing once the trails dry out here in NorCal! Will update as the upgrades pile on.