Nice build!

 

I went back and forth quite a bit on if I want to keep street driving the car or not. While the car remains fully streetable with all the amenities, I am now running Hoosiers and the option was going to be either to build a tire trailer or just trailer the car. I am going to be brining more stuff to the track now also and want the ability to bring my girlfriend when she decides to come so I decided to go with the truck and trailer route again. This time, I am going to do it right and get a trailer that will making loading and unloading the S2000 alot easier. More on that later.

As far as the truck, I just scored this very sweet 08 Tundra with only 15k miles on it for a very good price. I was looking for a stock truck but this thing was way to cool to pass up and the price was right.

It has a 6" Pro Comp Stage 2 lift kit and 35's. Not the ideal rig but shouldn't have any problems towing a open trailer with a S2000.

 

nice build sir and nice non-stock tundra

 

So there has been a drastic change in plans. Unfortunately I've been spending a lot of time in the hospital taking care of my father and I've had a lot of time to reflect. This is a very risky hobby. I work in the aviation business and we are constantly evaluating risk and mitigating it for everything we do.

I came the conclusion that I have a tow vehicle, I have a trailer, and I don't have any financial constraints that would prevent me from getting a cage. I really prefer to keep my car how it is because it is setup as a very fast but comfortable enough street car but at this point I'm driving way too fast and way too often to keep taking this risk. While I'm not wheel to wheel racing, I am only a single flip or a spin into a exposed tree at Summit Point away from being seriously injured or worse.

This isn't a risk I am willing to take anymore for a hobby. I'm hanging up my "street car" cred and going fully caged. The process has started and the car will be going in for the cage in the first week of March.

 

sorry to hear about your father (been there, done that). with you on the cage. can't wait to see the progress pics.

 

I continued to strip the car down for the cage over the last few days. The car currently has a custom build half cage and I am having Piper Motorsports in VA complete it. In the next few days, I have the decide if I want to go NASCAR bar vs X bars in the door. I would like to retain the glass and power function. NASCAR bars require you to remove the glass which just adds one extra step and item to store.

I also spent some time prepping the truck for the season. I installed a Chinese Android 7.1 headunit into the car with a front and rear facing camera. This unit does anything a phone can do and it will also mirror your iPhone. The cameras are great for a truck this big where visibility is severely limited. I also installed a Firestone Ride Rite airbag system. The truck is lifted in the rear on 3" blocks and an add-a-leaf setup from Pro Comp. The airbags will help with rear sag when towing and loaded up with track goodies in the back. Having the carpeted bed area is key for a track truck. It gives you lockable storage for you wheel/tires and other goodies. My setup is also fully carpeted so I will experiment with throwing a cot in there and see how that is one night. I also booked hotels for all my planned events out for the year. If I can set it up to be comfortable enough in the truck I might just crash in that.

I'm also happy to report the first test drive with the truck and trailer went great. One of the most annoying things with my old car trailer setup using the factory t hook locations was that I would need to get under the trailer every time to run straps and hook up the t hooks since the center of the trailer was blank. I had 8 D rings welded all around and am using wheel straps now. After many recommendations, I decided to go with MAC straps. While they are 3 times more expensive to similar looking products on Amazon and else where, they are American made and of the highest quality. Getting the car loaded was breeze. Since there is a stock suspension on the car while I wait for my AST5100s, the car was high enough to just drive onto the ramps with no blocks. I was able to get the car off the trailer into the garage in about 8 min total. I think I will get loading and unloading down to about 5 min once I have more experience with this setup. The first tow was without airbags and the truck handled it no problem. My old Tundra was getting about 11mpg towing and with the lift I am getting about 10mpg, so no huge harm there. However, under normal highway driving without a trailer I am getting 13mpg compared to the 15 I was getting with my stock Tundra.

 

I always wanted to try that to see if it would get rid of some of the creaking.. I got rid of my forbidden now for an OEM hardtop but really curious to hear if spray insulation inside the top will help quiet it down.

edit: just read the newer post. very interesting results!

 

I'm happy to report the trailer has been working out great. The MAC straps are definitely worth the investment. I'm also happy to report the roll cage is done and the car is back. I picked up the car last night and started painting. It wasn't really as bad as everyone made it seem and I had it done in about 3 hours.

I had two cage options available. Wilson Racing and Piper Motorsports. A few S2000 guys have had their cages done at Wilson and they looked really nice. However, Piper was local to me even though it was significantly more expensive it wasn't as bad when factoring trailing and spending 3 days in NC to get the cage done. Additionally, Piper is a very reputable shop whose cages have stood up to many big crashes in many cars without failure. I had a Piper cage in the car I bought from Rob Robinette. When I sold the car, the buyer told me his biggest sell was the fact Piper built the cage. I felt a well done cage by a brand name cage builder would help resale in the long run just incase I end up selling the car. My intention is not to sell it but if you've read through this build you can clearly see I have a problem with hanging on to cars.

Speaking of hanging on to cars, a colleague heard I was some what regretting buying a lifted truck and was very interested in purchasing it. He made an offer I couldn't refuse and that is now sold. I'll be buying a normal size truck that will be a much better tow rig in the next few days.

My car had a weld in roll bar from Fat Head Fabrication in AZ. They built it as a weld in half cage setup and Piper was able to complete it. They really did an incredible job and it is a work of art. We added the full front half section of the cage with FIA gusseted X bracing, foot bars, dash bar, and an additional diagonal in the rear. I was able to save some money by gutting the car myself and painting it. We retained the glass, power mirror/windows, a/c, cruise, heat, etc. The only thing I am removing is the radio but it will remain wired. For TT5 I still need to add ballast so there was no point in hacking the car and killing resale when I needed the weight anyway.

The next step is putting all the interior back in and coming up with something to finish up the door cars.

 

should probably change your thread's title now

 

Thinking about it but this car will still be streetable. Full A/C, heat, cruise, etc. My only hesitation driving on the street would be hitting my head on the roll bar!