The Getaway...Crom's build and adventures

I'm saving mine to sticker bomb the hell out of my stand up freezer. Got a beer fridge?

 

I've got tons of stickers from my skateboarding days and now have a collection of outdoor places and a few various companies. I have a few on the truck and camper. My propane tank, small tool box, RTIC cooler, and water bottles all have various decals applied.

 

I started sticking them on the inside wall of the bed, but the sun and heat made trash out of them. I am in the process of cleaning up the mess.

I think you should put them on the rear window of the Cavalier.

 

Spoons are sharp indeed my friend lol Just replied to your poll just for shits n giggles

 

Incomplete poll, "stick onto terribly parked cars" not an option.

 

lol I Can't put them there.

Interesting indeed! Stickers are an interesting way of expressing opinions

I like how you save them, ad infinitum. I can keep doing that.

All good options. Thanks

I like this idea a lot. I am long overdue for a proper toolbox. I am thinking next year for purchase if I can hold out that long.

That's a good idea. Alas, I don't drink, and have no extra fridge. I could try a few stickers on the one inside the house? lol

I like that U.S. 395 one you have and DV of course. I too love the outdoor stickers, and I put those to good use as well on my ABS pipe. It's these vendor stickers...

Okay. I'll put the Hi-LIFT sticker on the Cavalier back glass. That's got to get some laughs.

Oh I like this! ROFL!!!

That's hysterical! Thanks!

 

Coming soon to a post near you!

 

Relentless Fabrication Aluminum Tailgate skin and, repairing the Tacoma tailgate.

I finally had it with the beat up tailgate and ordered the Relentless fab aluminum tailgate skin. Mine weighed 10.34 lbs. Initially I was going to retain the factory composite (poly / fiberglass) skin (weighs 7.08 lbs), but in the end I was so pleased with the look of the aluminum so I left it bare for now.

I did paint the edge black.

Prior to installing the skin I had to repair my tailgate. It was shaped like a god damned banana. I tossed aside the factory skin, and cleaned it out. Then I used a rubber mallet and a wooden dowel to pound and bend back the stanchions into proper position. I then cleaned with rubbing alcohol and used some

$23 3M 5200 (06500) Permanent Bonding and Sealing for Boats and RVs Above and Below the Waterline Waterproof Repair, White, 10 fl oz Cartridge

3M 5200 Adhesive sealant and bonded the internal stanchions to the outer tailage skin. It takes a long time to cure, like 7 days, but after it does it's bomber tough. That's what they use to bond the decks to boats at sea. Incredibly good stuff!

About three days into the 5200 curing, I removed all the factory nylon retainer nuts, about half of them were stripped out anyway and put them into the trash. Toyota wanted $3.99 for new ones--I just laughed and hung up the phone! I shopped Dorman, but could not find exact replacements. So I ordered up some Rivnuts.

I used a dremel with a grinder cone and grinded very briefly the square holes, so that they would accept a 9mm rivet nut, or rivnut. It only took very brief grinding on each hole like 15 seconds each. Then repeat for all 15 holes. Then I used one of my daughters fine tipped paint brushes and painted some rustoleum to the places where I grinded.

I pulled 15 rivnuts using my Astro rivnut tool and proceeded to check them after pulling to make sure they were all good. I used 1/4-20 rivnuts.

I put some 1/8" self stick insulation foam on the inside edge of the backside of the skin so that it won't contact the outside skin when installing.

I sealed up the holes on the top of the tailgate with some carbon fiber tape I had laying around. This will help mitigate dust intrusion.

I also put some 1"x 1/16" urethane foam down on the inside of the tailgate in select strips, before finally installing the Relentless Fab aluminum skin.

I used some Stainless 1/4-20 x 0.75" button head socket cap screws to hold it all down with a little blue lock tight on them.

Once installed I noted that the shell glass closes much more firmly now. This is a good thing. The reason for this is because the shell glass door is square and so is the new tailgate skin! This is a win, because it's easy to seal among square edges.

My tailgate is better than new now. I love the look, and it's really strong now.







On November 3rd, I added carpet to the tailgate skin. This was done because the aluminum will get dangerously hot in the sun, and can act as a mirror causing temporary blindness. Ask me how I know.

 

EZ Down tailgate assist (Custom)

Many years ago I had an EZ Down tailgate assist installed on my truck. It worked. However in the end, it sucked because it ruined the cable and I had to buy a new cable Well with this new skin going on I thought I'd try something new.

EZ Down strut plus some aftermarket brackets. I used rivnuts in the tailgate.

Seems to work pretty well so far. I'm dedicating this post to my wife, who doesn't like heavy things. Oh and for whatever reason the alum skin only netted me 3.26 additional pounds over stock!

So this mod is just a convenience / luxury. I love it a lot!

 

Any pics of your bent tailgate? I don't recall reading about any damage that bad. Better put some grippy stuff on that slippery surface...you will be doing the Flinstones cartoon dance on that before falling off in the lonely night during some future Death Valley trip.

 

It's the subtleties that make the difference.

 

Good point, that could be a real slickery surface.

 

I'll find some and post in a different thread. The pics make me mad.

The stanchions are a thin piece of sheet metal shaped like a Z or L. They connect the internal skin to the outer skin through a chemical bonder under the commercial name of body mastic. On the 10 stanchions, only 2 were still bonded, all the others had vibrated apart years ago.

What happened next was bending.

When I stood or Sat on my tailgate, the thin sheet metal strips of the inner side that join from the forward section and rear section got stretched out. My factory composite tailgate skin was shaped like a long bow. It really wasn't that obvious until i removed it.

The repairs helped a lot. It makes me mad because Toyota was so damned cheap with the design and materials. I enjoy working on the truck, but fixing mistakes like this kind of sucks.

Anyways, I'm glad it's done now.

I'm really liking the raw aluminum. Hard to cover it up. Honestly, as far as things go, it's the most graceful beautiful thing on my truck! lol

Current family thought for covering the aluminum is green outdoor carpet. I have a roll already, just need some adhesive tape. But we're spilt. Youngest kid and I like the aluminum. Wife and older kid want the green carpet.

Thanks Sam!

 

Hmm I've been wanting a tailgate skin but at the same time haven't noticed any deformation so I haven't bothered. Maybe I should pull off the skin and take a look.

 

I had heard so many stories of the notoriously weak tailgate that when I bought my 2015, it was my first mod. When I pulled of the fiberglass skin, I was shocked at how flimsy the entire tailgate structure was. Easily deformed with minimal pressure from my finger.

So, if you ever, you know, load and unload shit out of your truck...look into it. The reduced quality in materials from 1st gen to 2nd gen in many regards is pretty shocking.

 

Only a time or two or more guess I'll take a gander at the relentless one. I know mobtown has one as well

 

Oh good lawd you're a poster child for this mod.