The Getaway...Crom's build and adventures

Ground control to Major Crom!
Commencing countdown, engines on...

 

LOL! that's what I was thinking! When you going to mount the 50 cal? Great work as always

 

Thanks Sam! Phase 3 will be to dial in the mounts and accessories. I'll be sure to post feedback pics. I'm interested in anything custom you come up with too. This was one of the projects where I looked around a great deal at all the options and pictures of what others had done.

Yeah, GPS City rocks! When I leaned they were in Las Vegas, I thought of you! I'd love to be able to lay my hands on all the different mounts out there, and try different things. Fun creative stuff!

Here is a well put together Ram mount thread showcasing some great options in the Tacoma.

@DrFunker ^ Don't clink on link, it's a trap, you'll buy more Ram mounts.

If you're going to have your dash apart for another reason, I would definitely plan on doing electrical at the same time. My advice is this, make a plan beforehand, and specify whatever outcomes you want before you take the dash apart. Scope creep tends to be an issue for me when the panels are apart... i.e. Gee, I can run a wire into the center console for powering accessories in there too... Mmmm k...

Also, If you need wiring for in the cab, I recommend skipping auto parts store, and going to your favorite home store, and buying some extension cords, cut the ends off and you got yourself some quality 2-conductor 16AWG copper.

This one pictured below is rated to 1,625 Watts!

Thanks!

Thanks Bruce.

Love that! Thanks!

Here is a picture of @sytfu510 's interior. Inspiring for sure, he has run the Tech Deck for a long time and his reports were very helpful to my decision to go ahead with it.

Thanks Alex!

sytfu510's Supercharged Long Travel Overland Tacoma

^pic links back to Alex's build.

THanks. The .50 Cal gets mounted on the roof rack.


Prior to having a roof rack, I used to mount the dual mini-gun in the bed. Did you know the Tacoma is also space worthy?

 

[QUOTE="


THanks. The .50 Cal gets mounted on the roof rack.


Prior to having a roof rack, I used to mount the dual mini-gun in the bed. Did you know the Tacoma is also space worthy?

[/QUOTE]

Yup just mount the rocket boosters to the sliders and your good! LOL good stuff

 

Lol nice! That .50cal will come in handy during rush hour.

 

Nick,

Amazing work. You are killing me. The best I could manage was the yellow wire mod. I found out I don't even know how to solder.

Tom

 

Nice work with the electrical. I really like your use of those SPDT switches.

 

Crom - From Battery: do you run a neg cable as well from the battery, or are these grounded to frame? Same question on the Sub #2 fuse box: Do you run a neg cable from Sub #1 fuse box to #2? Its looks like its grounded to frame on your new diagram. Just double checking.
Also, would you mind sharing exact Bue Seas Fuse Blocks that you use.?
Thanks again!

 

Nick,

Still happy with your suspension? Are you using your rig for a daily driver?

Tom

 

I'm putting the finishing touches on my cover of Nick's second battery setup...

 

This is sweet!! Mad props

 

That is an interesting looking setup. I see that you have a CTEK dual d250s and also what looks like a CTEK 120v wall charger in that case. How are you using this thing?

 

Thanks. Everybody had to start somewhere.

Run off battery, and run from fuse block. I'm using 10-AWG zip-cord to make my connections. But you don't have to do it this way. It's not better, and it's more expensive, but perhaps more convenient. I think it's best practice to keep the grounds as short as possible. You can use the frame, cab body, or run off the battery.

EDIT: Here is the fuse block I'm using

A great tool for finding suitable grounds, is an

$17 ATD Tools 5513 Heavy-Duty Circuit Tester

automotive test light.

Yes, daily driver.

I love the rear setup. The 885 spring / 5100 combo has been good, however, aftermarket UCA's are recommended.

I'm 99% sure that if I were doing the front today, I'd get the Bilstein 6112.

That looks wonderful! Well done! I'm a huge fan of making things modular, portable, and easy to service for maintenance, upgrades, changes, etc. It's a big time saver.

 

I pressed four (4) Lower Control Arm Bushings in 40 minutes.

If you plan to keep your Tacoma for a while, you will ultimately face the question about what to do with LCA maintenance. I will discuss this in a later post on what the options are, as I've researched them.

I've decided to refurbish another set of used factory take offs, so my rig doesn't have to be down. LCA maintenance can take some time.

I have never installed or removed rubber suspension bushings before, until this weekend. I pressed four LCA bushings using a bottle jack, and propane torch. Using this method is about the closes thing to magic there is. Other methods involve burning them out, pressing them out with a shop press, cutting them out, all of which are in the realm of "very-difficult-pain-in-the-ass task"

The Tools.


The setup. I need to explain this a little bit.

The bottle jack is placed between the arms and mild / medium pressure is exerted on the rubber bushing. The bushing is a soft rubber and it will "give" and stretch in the opposite direction of the bottle jack. I laughed and had fun doing this. I applied jack pressure until the silver end of the bushing was about 1/4" from the LCA. I wasn't scientific about it, and most of it was just intuition and feel.

I then heated the LCA "eye" with propane torch, moving the flame around and heating as evenly as possible.

The bushing begins to smolder right before it releases from the LCA.

When it releases the pressure, it can make a thud noise. Only one of my four bushings did this, the others were more quiet.

It took about 2.5 minutes of heat in my case to release each bushing.



Bushing has been released.


Good bye.


All clear, ready for new bushings.


Not my video. It's a great example of how to do this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ5BMfkuHlM

 

Great write up as usual Crom!

 

This is Nick's idea for a second battery setup that I adapted slightly. I will use this in the truck bed along with a deep cycle battery to power my ARB fridge, lights, chargers, etc. I saw the Dewalt toolbox while at Home Depot and my cerebral gears started turning.

I really like how the Anderson connectors allow rapid disconnects to free up the entire truck bed quickly. Can also do a quick disconnect and reconnect to jump start the truck if needed. I ran a 2 gauge wire from the starter battery to the rear setup.

 

Camburg Ball-joint UCA's are in! (~67,300 ODO)

Over the weekend I tossed in some new Camburg Ball Joint UCA's. It's really great to have some caster back, and my rig drives and tracks great again.

The Camburg arms come with a Moog K80811 Ball Joint pressed in.

There is some additional setup time involved with these UCA's which makes them a little different from a factory arm. I had to thread on six (6) self-tapping zerk fittings. One for each ball joint, and two for each arm. Easy to do. The poly bushings got greased and press fitted into the arm with light pressure from bench vice.. It was somewhat difficult to fit the washer in between the frame and bushing for final assembly on the truck.

Fit and finish on the Camburg is excellent. Everything was packaged really well. The instructions were detailed such that I was told what to do, what not to do and in some cases why. Very good IMO.

I don't know what manufacturer made the grease for Camburg, but it was unlike any other grease I've worked with. I know it's PTFE based synthetic. It was incredibly tacky and waterproof, like I couldn't wash it off my hands! lol

I speculate that it was Prothane Super Grease.

 

This is just too bitchin. And thanks for yet another great how-to on the LCA bushings.

 

Nice Work!