TacoFMS' attempt at a build thread

you just wanted to make me sweat didnt ya??? after the explaining i have already had t odo to the wife after this last trip i thought i was gonna be in for some more...... i'll have to get ya back for this one.

 

lol. whoops.

 

Where did you get your grill from?

 

Got a day to work on the truck today so I went ahead and installed the dakar leaf packs that I got as well as the center pin shoulder extenders and 3* axle shims. only took the one pic because by the time I was done installing the second side I just wanted to clean up and go inside. (for those thinking of doing this install by yourself i would strongly recommend rethinking it. I did accomplish the install but it pretty well threw a beating on me.) I also took the opportunity to paint the drums and the exhaust pieces I added for the cut off. (which i now realize you cant see the exhaust in this pic.)

 

thanks OZ! between you and chris i was saved from going into panic mode, you too xodeuce. thanks to all of you guys for the info to reassure me while doing it, bad when you get halfway into a project you pretty well know how to do and start doubting every move you make for some reason.

and btw, the truck rides like a dream now, no squeaky leafs, no take off shudder, nothing. just a nice smooth even ride!!!

 

Who did you get your shims from? I need some.. Since my on-piece drive shaft I have slight vibes at 53mph.. So I've read that that comes from not having it shimmed..

 

just found a FS thread about 2 hrs after i posted a WTB thread...... but they were toytec shims. hope that helps

 

I thought if you went double cardan one piece you didn't need shims? (not to totally derail Justin's thread)

 

i can kind of understand why you might still need shims, not sure if you would need 3* and not like a 1.5 or 2??? guess the old tape measure trick wouldnt work on that though??? hmmmmm

 

I'm too lazy to read this and transcribe something relevant.

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Driveline-101.shtml#Double-Cardan-Measurements

 

heck, im too lazy to click on the link..... jk ill read it later, thanks for finding it. gonna try to get the cb installed sometime over the christmas break. gotta go to radio shack and get the stuff i need. what should my list consist of? new end and a crimping tool??? also what is the crimping tool labeled as? i mean i know there are like r6 and r something else tools but what am i looking for?

 

not too much of a mod but hey at least i got around to doing something.
mag light mount

 

well after what ended up being just shy of a full year I finally got my cb installed!!!!!



not really much to see because of what kind of cb it is, but i ended up mounting the antenna to the toolbox then running the cable through the back of the bed and dropping it between the gas tank and frame rail and just hugging the brake lines back to the engine compartment to get through the grommet.

now lets hope while i am still in the mood of doing mods i can keep the ball rolling and knock out a few more that are lying around waiting to go on the truck.

 

well figured while i was able to get some time to work on the truck i would give it a quick wash and then install the oem roof racks i got.



like usual just a crappy cell phone pic but enough to get the point.

 

well I decided to get creative after seeing a post on here about making your own bed rail hi lift mount. Since I have a toolbox in a dcsb there isnt enough room to mount a hi lift on the side of the bed. Had to think of something else.

This is what i thought of after seeing similar for sale on Amazon for around $35




Decided the toolbox was the perfect spot to mount it as well, plus that is kind of how I saw the other name brand mounts was by looking for something to attach it to the toolbox.

here is the finished product with my tractor supply farm jack(close enough it gets the job done for me)



so what do you guys think, I realize it isnt perfect but I think it will work just fine?? Thoughts/ideas?

 

figured since i was on a roll might as well keep going. didnt like the rattling of the hi lift handle while runnin down the road and didnt feel like paying $20 for a handle isolator that may or may not work on my offbrand jack. So I spent some time looking in the toolbox and tool shed and found a factory rubber exhaust hanger that was taken off when i had my exhaust redone. figured i would never need it for the stock exhaust since the stock exhaust cant go back on anyway. spent about 2 minutes with a razor knife to modify it to fit on the handle.

what i came up with



then slide it down on the handle



and mounted it all back up, its raining pretty good today so just snapped a rushed pic.



so total cost for me to make the mount then mount it up and make a handle isolator thingy is right around $8-$9. not too bad in my opinion.

 

finally decided to pull the trigger on the basket for the new roof rack. I wasnt totally sold on the baskets i found that would work but found one i thought "had potential" and ordered it. got it in the mail assembled it and set it up on the racks to have a look.


was not impressed..... and i know most would think i am not right in the head for ordering and dumping the cash on something i dont even know if i will like but hey, sometimes you just gotta wing it and have faith. so off to lowes i went. with an idea in my head and a shopping list in my hand.
ended up getting some flat bar and spray paint. (decided to have even more faith in my idea.)



cut some lengths of the flat bar to my liking



got my trusty tools gathered and spent some time in "pretend land" imitating an old blacksmith.


came up with these(only ended up with 6 of them when all done)



unfortunately i didnt take any pics while i secured the new "pieces" to the rack and then welded them in place, but im sure you can fill in the blanks. this is after all the new bars were welded on then welds blended in with a grinder and a quick light coat of semigloss black sprayed on. still gotta spray some bedliner on it and then mount it but i wanted an idea of the progress so i just placed it on the racks.





figured this beefed up the initial "bare" appearance of the basket, plus would later down the road give me a place to attach accesories like shovels and tools of the such. giving me a flat section to fashion a mount to.

So having said all that and taken the pics what does everyone think??????

 

good job

 

I love it dude! I want to do a roof rack also..