Nate's build

Mind blown, thats a pretty awesome spot to mount.

 

Never would have thought to mount it under the rack

 

Seriously, low profile as fuck.

@Nate87 Is this the one you bought?

Renogy Solar Panel, Single

http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B009Z6CW7O

 

Yup. It's ALMOST a perfect fit. There are a few things that needed to be done to get things to fit. Depending on what cross bars you have (HD or standard) on the Prinsu rack will determine how much fitting is needed. Once I find the photos for that I'll get them up.

Low profile is what I try and go for. Most can't even tell it's there from the side unless I point it out.

 

Awesome!!!!!!! I want solar panels now!!

 

Thats what I like, no one knowing what you have. It would be nice if their was clearance on the side of the rack to where you could slide out the panel on L brackets and tilt down for better sun exposure. Maybe off the back that could be possible but would probably get in the way of some stuff

 

That's something that was considered but for what I need it to do, along with the foldable 62W panel I already have, that will suffice. For the access cab rack there is enough room to fit 2 of the 100W panels if one required more output. I'm sure it can easily be done with the double cab racks. I assume they are the same width. Just a bit longer.

 

Damn!!! You just keep making me want to spend more and more money

 

Wow

It's kick ass in here, good job

 

Can't wait to see more and read more about your build!!! So badass!!

 

Ha! Not me! That's TacomaWorld doing it to all of us.

Thanks guys. Trying to get the next update sorted out to post soon.

 

awesome! my next project haha. what kind of charge controller are u gonna use?

 

This is true haha I've spent more money on my truck in the past 3 months it's crazy

 

How is the solar panel working?

From all I've ever done with solar, they only really function at full efficiency when the entire thing is exposed to sunlight. I would think that the bar across it would throw that off.

Would you be interested in wheeling around up in SB if we got another meet going?

 

Same here. Even after two plus years, I tell some of my coworkers I have solar panels on my truck, and they're like what? They walk by them every day and nobody notices. lol That's how it should be. Stealth is good.

Looking good Nate!

 

Went with

$90 Renogy Wanderer 30 Amp 12V Advanced PWM Negative Ground Solar Charge Controller Battery Regulator Compatible with Sealed, Gel, and Flooded Batteries and Wanderer Temperature Sensor

THIS one from Renogy. Fits on the same panel rear panel as the rest of my wiring.

Shoot, I was planning this build before even FINDING the truck I wanted to buy.

I can't notice any effect from that one cross bar. Even with minimal daylight or overcast days that thing is putting out some good voltage. One of these days I'll see how long it'll keep things topped off with the fridge running full time.
And heck yeah I'd be down. Just let me know when and I'll make sure it doesn't conflict with work.

 

These were from a few months back with some TW members up at Cleghorn off the 15 freeway. Pretty easy trail to test how far you can take your rig/skills before needing any mechanical assistance. Photo dump courtesy of @RileyLAFD and guest starring @bustabenl @mtnceej























Ben showing how far you can take a stock Taco. Those factory tube steps became rock sliders that day!!














This one obstacle had a bit of a pucker factor so the rest of the tacos decided to take the bypass. Probably a good call.

Had a great time with everyone there and look forward to doing it again!

 

I'm pretty stoked about this next part! After a whole lot of communication back and forth with Wyatt(@awsumdc) from RST we were finally able to get the ball rolling, or crawling , with the RST twin stick FJ case and the Marlin Crawler Taco box with 4.7 gears. There was an issue getting the gears over from Japan but that wasn't a problem since there was no rush to get things in. Plus, Wyatt said I'd be getting some wicked siiick boom gnarly treated gears with some metallurgic wizardry that makes them super badass and even superior to the gears in his box. I just smile and nod haha.

After finding a day that worked for the both of us we locked in a date to get things going. I'm good with all the cutting, banging, measuring and wrenching stuff but after looking over the wiring involved, I figured that should be left to Wyatt. He's done this many times over and I know it would be done right. So over a few weekends we installed the cases then left it there to finish up the wiring, drive shafts and exhaust reroute. Here are some of the progress pics. And if that driveway looks familiar, that's because it's the same one where all the badass RST builds take place.

Cases going in


Unbolt shifter


remove two piece drive shaft. Will be going with a 1 piece


unplug any connectors to transfer case and unbolt/remove




Mocking up crawler






Input shaft to tranny


Clocking plate on the crawler. Didn't clock the transfer case any. Left it at 0




Factory transfer case vs FJ twin sticked version. Twin sticks are from Front Range offroad


First hole cut is for the crawler box. Measure a bunch and cut once. The smaller the hole the less road noise you'll have.


It'll be coming up through the coin slot on the auto trucks. Cut out that section


How it lines up


Ray was there with his BEAST of an access cab. My truck wants to be like his when it grows up.


Ray hard at work getting the shifters to fit JUST right. He did a great job!


Needs to be offset to come up in the right spot and also not interfere with the auto shifter


Random shot. You can see the side mounted LED's on the roof rack here.


Wyatt getting some and his badass truck!


Crawl box in and now testing fitment on transfer case


Beat in a few spots where contact was being made so it'll clear while installed and under torque/rotation






Hole cut for the twin sticks




Center console cutout for twin sticks


More to follow soon....

 

AWESOME!!!

 

Freakin' awesome!! One of my favorite builds getting even better! Great job Nate and mahalo for taking the time to post all them pics. I'm more of a visual kind of guy. I still count to 10 using my fingers.