Tire Size Calculator
6" Fabtech Lift
18" KMC XD Monster's
33" Nitto Mud Grapplers
DirtLogic 2.5 Coilovers
LR UCA's
Alcan Leaf Springs +300lb
K&N Cold Air Intake
Gibson Exhaust
2 Air horns, tank, compressor, electric air valve mounted on the underside
Inverter 400w constant
In-cab 115v outlets
ABS toggle
Weathertech Digitalfit floor mats
Allpro plate bumper
Hella 700FF Lights with 100w bulbs
Rear shackle bracket by Warn
Bed mounted spare
18" KMC XD Monster's
33" Nitto Mud Grapplers
DirtLogic 2.5 Coilovers
LR UCA's
Alcan Leaf Springs +300lb
K&N Cold Air Intake
Gibson Exhaust
2 Air horns, tank, compressor, electric air valve mounted on the underside
Inverter 400w constant
In-cab 115v outlets
ABS toggle
Weathertech Digitalfit floor mats
Allpro plate bumper
Hella 700FF Lights with 100w bulbs
Rear shackle bracket by Warn
Bed mounted spare
Tom Woods CV Driveshaft
Kobalt Low Profile, narrow truck box
Dual Optima Yellow tops, with 12voltguy winch+dual battery controller
Cobra 75, Wilson Flex, & 4' Firestik
XRC8 Winch
4x innovations sliders
co2 tank
Kobalt Low Profile, narrow truck box
Dual Optima Yellow tops, with 12voltguy winch+dual battery controller
Cobra 75, Wilson Flex, & 4' Firestik
XRC8 Winch
4x innovations sliders
co2 tank
Offroading Trips:
Shoe Creek - Sept '09
URE - Oct '09
Shoe Creek - Feb 2010
URE - April 2010
Beginning(4-10-2006):
Now:
The Build
Bullbar was free, my neighbor gave it to me. It was off a F-150. Somewhere in all this I put 2 KC Slimlites on it.
Lift time!
This wouldnt be possible, if it wasnt for my previous love. She deserves recognition here!
6" Fabtech basic kit
35" Nitto Mud Grapplers
20" Diamo Karat-17's
Camping setup
Frequently I end up camping. I had read about truck tents in a post on TN, and researched possibilities. I ended up getting the Adventur Truck tent from Enel Co. Cost about $230, couldn't have asked for a better product or customer support! I had recently broken 4 clips setting it up in some strong winds at the beach, Enel sent me new clips free of charge
Inside, there's 2 cots the length of the bed. I setup legs to hold them up, so you can stand in the center to change, ect. I used the lip running down each side of the bed to hold up the other side.
Flag pole bracket
This is one of my favorite things I have fabbed up. Mostly because of how well it worked the 1st go around, and how much better it is after some slight mods. Ill have updated pics of the mods posted here, and my dyi thread soon. You can see how I built the beta of the bracket here: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd...-brackets.html
I get alot of mixed feelings on this. Some love it, hate it, call me gay for it, you name it... its been said. To each his own!
Small random mods
ABS Toggle
Fogs on all the time
dtrl's
fogs on with running lights
Classic Mag light on the seat
USA Spec Ipod converter: pa15toy http://www.electotronics.com/usaspec...08toyotas.aspx
115v in cab outlets, and 400w constant inverter:
Here are my DIY's for these 2 mods...
In cab: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd...tml#post371662
400w: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd...tml#post372605
Bike mounts:
Updated:
Suspension Upgrades
Decided to upgrade from the basic Fabtech kit, to some adjustable coilovers. The front end had sagged a little, and I had plans on an allpro bumper. Which would make it sag more. So I went ahead and bit the bullet, opted to stick with Fabtech with a set of LR UCA's. The swaybar never made it back on during the swap
Front:
Rear:
Alcan's are on! Rode around for a day with them, they wern't so stiff at the end of the day. They flex REALLY nice! Ill save the pics of that for this weekend
I had to tweak my exhaust layout a bit, it was rattling on the springs. Side note: the torq on the U-Bolts is 93-116ft/lb!
Sitting next to the stock:
Got my u-bolt flip kit in today. Most people know my standing with All-Pro right now, but the kit was free because of my spot in the calendar($50 certificate) and I needed it. My Alcan ubolts were bent from some rocks and had to be cut off. Rigged up my own bumpstop mounts, ghetto style.
BTW, I hate salt!!!
Lesson Learned. 35's vs 33's
Decided to pull the swaybar, and see how it did. Looks pretty good posing on a pile-o-rocks.
I was at the beach, and some kids or redneck idiots left me a giant hole to hit. Im leaning towards the idiots...
Anyways, hit it pretty hard. Hard enough for my 35's to hit my fender.
After I got home, and assessed the damage. I decided to look into getting a smaller set of rims/tires. Ended up getting 33's with 18" rims.
Before:
After:
Gained 1mpg back, and it has more power... obviously.
Worked well all around IMO, the tires don't look so stuffed anymore and it looks more proportional. Also gave me the chance to box in my body mounts, and patch up parts of the wheel well that were cut out to clear the 35's. Started by boxing in the body mounts. Ended up looking clean, no one even notices
Spare Tire stuff
So I started on the tiregate tonight. Got what I think is a good start to the main bracket. I just hope its gonna be strong enough... time will tell.
Here's a 3D drawing I whipped up at work. Its not to scale, just to show the basic's of what im trying to accomplish. Im trying to get the tire lower to it dosnt block my rear view as much.
So I made some progress this weekend, its pretty damn strong for 1" thick wall conduit. I jumped on the tire bar before I had it supported and she didnt budge! Should have the rest of it done tomorrow. Then its time for the flap disk and paint!
Got it finished up yesterday. Supports my body weight open, and my old man's closed 150+. Only thing thats left is to paint, and wait for the wheel/tire to show up!
Here's some detailed pics of the tiregate for those who asked. The cable is just an extra measure of security in case it were to fall off on the road. Id hate to get sued for a 33 killing someone. Someone's also gonna ask about the studs, I couldnt find a drillbit big enuf to clear the little crush things.
And here's my most recent gas receipt. 16.5mpg with the tiregate, it went up just a little
And yes, that's how much my odo is off.
Removed the tiregate to get bed space back, and the tire thingy is in the bed. I like it much better... wish I could have made it myself though, not sure how I would have done the plastic part.
Truck Box
So I purchased a truck box. Its by Kobalt, slim and narrow... Lowes has them for ~$124, just got a post from someone saying it was dropped to $98. It was polished alum so brushing and painting it was a piece of cake. Used some indoor/outdoor polyurethane to seal and give it a nice hard finish. Directions at the bottom of this post if anyones interested in doing the same.
Painting instructions:
Mask off the latches and logo. Use a 3m scuff pad(http://www.azautobodysupply.com/scpr.html) that can be purchased pretty much anywhere, to turn the nice polished alum into brushed aluminum. Clean it with a solvent, denatured alcohol, ect... to clean up any oils and junk left behind. Dont skip this step, its very important.
I used Krylon flat black, I have a bunch of it as I spray my frame and everything else with it. I did 5-6 light coats. Then I used a satin indoor/outdoor polyurethane to give it a nice hard shell(4-5 light, 1 heavy), as the Krylon spray would scratch off pretty easily otherwise. Ace had the only indoor/outdoor that I could find... http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/%28...aspx?SKU=17014
Before you go ape shit with the polyurethane, test it on the back side. If you spray too heavy on the 1st few coats it will bubble the black!
I think it cost me all of $8 and 3 afternoons to get it painted and dried correctly before I handled it. I had scuff pad leftover from when I painted my bike. I also purchased a can of clear that wouldn't work... So I guess only around $4
For the inside... I don't care if its black in there. But I did put down 2 heavy coats of polyurethane inside... I did this because its un-coated aluminum, it would turn everything black that rubs against it. If you get it, rub your hand on the inside to see
I just wiped it out with a clean towel to get the heavy stuff out before spraying.Ended up having to re-paint the top a few months later because of a shitty prep job
OBA
This is pretty old, but I had just relocated it. Onboard air.
Ill be moving to co2 shortly.
Got the regulator and hose while I was in North Dakota. Put it together today, and as I figured... the regulator was just a little too big
Opted to trim the plastic cubby rather than try to hack up the regulator.
Driveline woes
As may people know, iv been fighting with the takeoff shudder. I was attempting to get a 2-peice shaft put together. The only problem with that is, there $800+. And one of those was for a rebuild!
In my talks with Tom Woods about upgrading the stock shaft to include a cv, he mentioned they are offering 100% back if the driveshaft dosnt solve the issues on our Tacoma's. I figured I didnt have anything to lose, especially for $475.
I pre-measures my pinion angles and had shims ready to go in. Only issues I had were the bent u-bolts, Kevin should remember this... "Hope you dont have to take those off anytime soon". Haha. Everything else went smoothly. I will need to trim my crossmember, its a little to close for comfort. Not a huge deal tho
Now to the imporant part, the shudder is obviously gone! My vibrations are minimal, and it could get better. I just need to figure out how many degree's worth of axle wrap for cruize load I was off. The slight vibrations are about 44-47 and a short spot around 68-69. The truck is smooth as glass otherwise, and sounds completly diffrent. Makes me wonder how bad that other shaft was flopping around under there...
Here's a new vid for those following the driveline shudder mess. Current axle wrap with 6" Alcans, 1-piece CV driveshaft. Figure ill need 1* more to get it right
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKBQaNfEv0Y
Communications
I purchased a CB kit from right channel radios, included a Cobra 75, Wilson Flex, cables, mount, and swr meter. Here's how everything came together, minus the fact it dosnt work properly as far as I can tell. SWR meter jumps past Set after throwing the switch. Pics below if anyone knows whats up with it.
Dual Battery Setup
Got my Optima yellow top in the mail today. The bitch was in a box 3x the size of the battery with no padding. When I picked it up from the porch it almost fell out of the bottom of the box.
Pulled it out of the box, and immediately noticed a corner was missing. On closer inspection, the fiber material inside the cell's is showing.
Gave Amazon a call, got transferred around a few times because its a hazardous material. They are sending me a new one, and asked me if I could dispose of the battery because I cant ship it back... Sure I can do that! My old man already has dibbs, hands off!
My 2nd Optima yellow top arrived today... in about the same condition as the 1st. It doesn't look like the cell's are busted, but Amazon refunded my money instead of trying a 3rd time. Guess I got myself 2 free Yellow tops... no complaints here. If the 1st one holds up to testing and dosnt fit my dad's f150, ill probably do a dual battery setup.
Here's the planned wiring diagram for my dual battery setup...
Dual battery setup is done! Only thing im not sure about... when the switch is in normal mode, the green LED stay's illuminated even when the ignition is off...
Winch
Sliders
4xinnovations. Still waiting on the gussets to show up.
Ended up making my own gussets, they didnt show for 3 weeks after I recieved the sliders.
Linear Mode
