The Getaway...Crom's build and adventures

Just ordered these. I get more good ideas from Crom than any other three TW folks put together.

 

I lifted the L track idea, works well. The rivet nuts for the inaccessible areas was something I hadn't seen before either.

 

Oeaux, it's integral? So glad I don't have that either.

 

Thanks. Add me to the list of those helped.

 

I didn't know about this build until the awards started. I've been lurking these last few pages and I really appreciate all the DIY shit and how well your build page is set up. I seriously think its going to take a month of shitter reading just to read all of it.

So because the person I voted for BOTY didn't make the cut, I changed my vote to you.
I'm also a product of the 70s and a huge Arnold 70s & 80s fan. Conan the Barbarian is in my top 5 Arnold flicks.




Keep up the great work OP and thanks for helping to keep me busy while pooping.

 

Me too! @Crom

 

@David K

Thanks Bruce. At least half of what you see was taken and adapted from other members. I guess my talent is showing the mods in action, sharing what works and didn't work, etc.

That's great to hear Adam. My inspiration for the L-Track idea was a guy named @Eddie Van in this post here.

I also went back and edit my prior post and listed the actual part number from McMaster-Carr for the rivet nuts I used. Also includes picture schematic, hardware properties, and the home made tool I made to pull the rivets.

Yes, precisely. I have a future post coming called "The War on Dust" in which I'll share in detail what I've done.

ATRAC is actually pretty helpful to me. With the rear locked, and ATRAC operating on the front axles my Tacoma feels unstoppable. lol
In reality it's allowed me to take the truck into places that no stock struck should go without armor. I bit of luck, driver skill, I've not managed any serious damage to the truck. But have sweated many bullets. I can't wait for belly armor and some proper off road bumpers.

Thanks Will do! I saw some of your posts boxing rear frame and stuff. Looks fun!

 

Yea man, its going to be a huge project over the next few weeks. I'm buying another members old rear setup and taking some advice from some of the experience on here.
I've started to rebuild my thread and will add all the build pics to the 1st few reserved spots. I think the frame plating and shock relocate will be a helpful post for some.

 

The War on Dust Intrusion.

My war on dust intrusion has been a struggle, but my persistence has paid off, and I have won (edited 02/27/2022).

My strategy was to attack the biggest offenders first and then go after the little ones.

There are numerous different ways to find air gaps. Here are a few:

1. Get inside the shell and look for daylight and take notes where light is coming from.
   
2. Get inside at night and have someone shine a light in from the outside and take notes where the light is coming from.
3. Use hose water to splash in body gaps and cracks and then check to see what comes in.
   
4. Go offroading and note where most dust comes in.

Some things are just obvious.

Dust intrusion around the tailgate is probably the worst. There is no seal from the factory. At the present time I'm using a product called

$40 Lund 30002 Genesis Tailgate Seal

Lund 30002 Genesis Tailgate Seal. It works, but it's a universal fit and design.

One of the best things I did for myself was to take a quick lesson in seals. This video below in particular was very useful. I utilized the knowledge in that video on my auxiliary weather seals for the cab which turned out pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQiZyZi723w

In the video they recommend to use modeling clay inside a joint to determine the necessary thickness for a seal. Kids playdoh worked great for me. Recommended compression of a rubber seal is said to be 25-50% of original height. Compressing more than that will damage the seal.

I can tell you that the Lund product is working, but it is far from ideal, and with a little time someone could make a much better seal for the Tacoma.

Getting down to business, the biggest offender, the tailgate.

I used silicone to seal between the composite bed and the steel bed upright. Cutting the seals at 45* angles in corners can help greatly to form a continuous seal. If you look closely I did not and, not a big surprise, dust comes in, something I need to address in the near future.


Here is a profile view of the Lund product. It must be installed in the correct orientation.

A top down view after installation.

Another picture of the Lund tailgate seal product, on the upright support.


Another big dust offender is the four cubbies in the composite bed. I had to seal around the edges for the two in the forward part of the bed. And all four have several drain holes that must be sealed. I'm using Gorilla tape to accomplish this. Removing the cubby and applying silicone is also very effective.

Notice all four corners of this back cubby have the holes sealed with tape.


I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that special considerations and extra effort are required when dealing with the rear cap door hatch and tailgate. Every manufacture A.R.E., SnugTop, Leer, Etc. they are all different. My A.R.E. is a PITA when it comes to sealing. I'm using some EPDM seal where the two meet, but the surface is irregular. The corners are the hardest for me.

Here is the result of a water intrusion test which was very telling to me in that I discovered invisible vents in the rear hatch. I'm going to seal them with some black RTV sealant. And if you look closely in this photo, you can see brighter light on the right side, again due to the curved irregular surface of the shell door hatch.


Also, remove, clean and apply silicone to the inverter plug in the bed. The bracket, and the drain hole inside the plug door. Long post on this.



Driver side rear bin, removed, cleaned, holes taped up and silicone applied. Link to long post on this.


Here it is, secured back into its home.


One other interesting bit of info with the shell is that I leave the small square window in the front glass open 24/7/365, even when wheeling in the desert. It may contribute to some weird positive pressure in the cap to help keep dust out. I don't know. All I know is that window stays open all year long.

Lastly, there are three drain holes in the front of the composite bed. I sealed those up with tape.

 

I've been taping up the gaps in my tailgate. PITA. Genesis Tailgate Seal ordered. Keep 'em coming Crom!

 

That's genius. Thanks for posting. I didn't realize those were called T-nuts. Turns out I can buy them at a local nut & bolt shop.

 

An August 2014 at about 50K miles I replaced my OEM serpentine belt with a brand new

$20 ban.do 7PK2120 OEM Quality Serpentine Belt

Bando 7PK2120 OEM Quality Serpentine Belt.

There is no provision from Toyota to change it, but I wanted a new one anyways. I was always worried that the desert dust was doing something bad to the belt.

I got a number of things from the experience. Mainly a trail spare, and a serpentine belt diagram, something that is not documented in our owners manual or under the hood! It would be stupid to get stranded because of a bad belt and not have a $20 part to self rescue.

Now I have the part, experience, and the diagram.

The Bando product is legit.

I've got 18K miles on it now (July 2016), zero issues.



Routing diagram for 2nd Gen Tacoma



Used a ratchet on the belt tensioner to align the hole to place a screwdriver in. Then take the belt off and replace.

Install is very straight forward after reading Derk's instructions.


A closer view of the screwdriver locking up the tensioner.


Since the late 1990s, automotive manufacturers have phased out Chloroprene (neoprene) serpentine belts and are now installing ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM for short) belts on current vehicle models.

While it's hard to tell Chloroprene and EPDM belts apart visually, EPDM belts far outlast and outperform their predecessors. Chloroprene belts have a life expectancy of 50-60K miles and as they wear out, cracks, chunk-outs, and other visual signs of wear will occur. EPDM belts rarely show these symptoms, even at 90K+ miles. Instead, as EPDM belts age they gradually lose rubber material similar to the way a vehicle’s tires wear out. Over a period of 100,000 miles, a belt can lose up to 10% of its rib material. While this may not seem like a lot, the consequences can be significant. Just 5% wear can begin to negatively impact vehicle performance.

http://www.gates.com/products/autom...ds/belt-wear-diagnosis/neoprene-vs-epdm-belts

 

In Jan 2013 I wanted to do something fun with shell lighting in the back. It was around Christmas time in 2012 and my local Costco was carrying some Sylvania LED strips. I looked at the package carefully and I could see on the rectifier that it's output was +12V to the controller. I seized on that immediately and bought two packs. One was for in the house and the other was going into the truck.

I believe that this is modern equivalent of what I bought

SYLVANIA General Lighting 72344 Mosaic Starter Light Kit,Four 2-Feet Color Changing LED Strips and Connector Tape Light, Multi Color

Sylvania 72344 Mosaic Flexible Light Kit for $31




These are the parts it came with:

Here is what it looks like in the back of the truck.


The controller takes a barrel connector style power fitting that I picked up from Amazon and wired the circuit through a normal lamp switch and then to the Blue Sea fuse block.

Switch and remote pictured below.

What is really neat about the controller is that it will remember the last color it was programmed to display. So when the switch is activated you get what you had last. This is really great!



Here is a pic of the controller stuffed into the corner of the shell. I use velcro to secure everything and it does a good job.



Welp, because I have small kids and the remote is wireless, often times the remote winds up in really weird places like the roof.



I have very strict instructions for the kids, that after they are done playing with the lights, they have to return them to white color, put the remote on the wall where the switch is, and turn off the lights with the switch.

It has taken a lot of time, but they are pretty good about it now. I used to not let them out of the back until they found the missing remote and put it back.

And here are a couple live action shots from one of our last camping trips. Purple is a favorite color of the youngest kid and somehow she was winning against her older sister for battle of the lights. lol

 

This is great Crom!

 

If you don't help me win build of the year!

 

DCLB probs for me. No OR/locker, and I didn't want the Sport for a variety of reasons, and I figured if I ever try to go anywhere and I cannot because of traction issues that airing down and the LSD and my skill can't take me, then I would look into aftermarket lockers. As I get to know this truck offroad (I've had zero real chances since I bought it in August, the new baby has precluded most anything on the truck, including even taking a good poke around the hood, removing that plastic cover, or even mounting my hood struts), I'll learn more about what I really need for how I use it, and my guess is that protecting this long ass chassis with some sliders and looking into that dangling cross pipe will do more for helping me not get hung up. I have no plans to take it up black diamond mining trails anyway.

My biggest frustration so far on one dirt road was that 4WD is a fucking little diddly plastic dial, not a J shift stick with a satisfying mechanical klunk.

Anyway, I really enjoy reading your thread for great ideas, and seeing your kids out there helps me (and my wife) envision what fun we'll have with Bennett!

 

I've been attacking leaks around the back corners of my used 2008 Leer. Teasers, I'll post more stuff in my thread when I have some spare time LOL. I've had to work so fast in such limited windows I generally dont' have time to take comprehensive, clear pics. My goal was to stop water before the pineapple express started. I had leaks through the third brake light but also the main seal and those insidious corners at the back, which were made even specialy-er by the Relentless tailgate plate.

Shitty, blurry pic of condition of OEM Leer XQ "seal" with failed adhesive and rusted rivets:


Removed. Wow, what were they thinking?


My prototype new seal of 1/8 thick neoprene rubber gasket material adhered with 3m trim tape. I did not want to go totally bullet proof with a higher grade or 3M tape at this time because this will all have to come off again in 2016 when I have the cap painted. So this was a chance to experiment. The next challenge is how to seal the gap at the bottom of the proprietary Leer main door seal (I'll buy a new one for after repaint) and the tailgate plate and side flap.

 

Here's my 'I don't have time to f#*% with it' solution:



Sheesh...

 

I was thinking about this yesterday, and figured I could fab a vent similar to Crom's, but taller, smaller diameter, and with a 90* bend such that the open end faced forward. Thoughts?

 

I have always liked your signature green tape.

That's pretty good solution for those PITA corners. I may try that. Thanks.

I looked into it briefly. I know the Australians do it.

I may have a little bit going on, not sure. I never close that little square window in the shell.

I need to return to the dry desert to do more product testing.

You're very welcome. I'll tell you my plan, at the first sign of trouble I may look at installing a manual shifter. Take a page from Logan's Project Apocalypto, one of the most unique builds I've seen. He harvested a manual 4WD shifter from a boat.

Thanks Jon. I got a good laugh from that.

For those that don't know, my build thread is in a poll for build thread of the year. If you're up to voting, feel free. I am humbled just o be nominated.

Will update with thread link.

Welcome!

Welcome! Another idea pioneered by someone in the bed rail attachment thread.