The Scenic Route

Some nighttime shots of trucks and dogs collected over the last few months

That's the moon yo!


Truck looks so much better with bigger tires on.. Here's a shot from last summer and km2s, 265/75r16, barely 31.5.. but the stock 265/70r16s just look small now. want 33's


A few layers for pooch, because -40 windchill.


The gang, Charlie, the brown Cane Corso/Italian Mastiff, PrettyPants the Pitbull (in white), and my gemini, being a bully


Found this poor soul at one of my dog running spots, his pooch had taken off after a coyote, and he had gotten his f150 in deep trying to chase them down. Pup was okay, 10 month old gsd.. No pics, I had him put his dog away, just to keep the situation sane. Mine is poorly behaved around unfamiliar dogs.. Obviously not all dogs, but it's a work in progress, she still freaks out when a new dog walks past.


I love low light photography, all of these shots are after midnight, most of them at least 30s exposure..

 

I think you should paint the steelies desert tan now, but it's your truck. But you should do that

 

huh.. show me..
i did a quick image search for examples, but couldn't find any..

I really like the swb and matte black combo, waiting to find a set of 33"s to find out if the fender flares will work without trimming, but if I have to pop them off, they're getting sprayed down too..

But i do still have my 17" black iron wheels, they've just been spray canned black, the chrome is awful... might be willing to esperiment with those

 

you on mobile? i noticed signatures don't show up on my android unless i go landscape.. was pretty handy for checking out builds on mobile, Im always turning it sideways to ogle at folks trucks

i also upgraded my sig, cause that TW banner is fresh af

 

I don't know if it's been done in with blue, but this gives you an idea of a tan steelie, think the 2 colors work together. Matte black looks good too. I had some on my first taco but never got around to paint.

 

I asked the photoshop folk to do up my alloys, just to get an idea of how the colors play with each other, but I really like the look of the steelies, I'm surprised actually..
Ill add photos to this post..

The 3rd gen's did nail the colors down, I don't really want one of the trucks, but the paint jobs look awesome..
Guy on here had to replace a write off and landed up with cavalry blue.

I might be a sucker for military inspired colors, despite my lack of service
anything is going to beat rust and road salt brown tho

 

Went ahead and blasted that rear hub with a fresh coat of black.
Quick wire brush treatment and hit it with some heat to help it set up a bit quicker, didn't have a lot of time, had to get to work and finish up some back-framing.




It's a little easier to look at. I'll bite the bullet and wash it tomorrow, it's been a week since her last bath, and I'm trying to stay on top of it.. With spring around the corner is doesn't last much longer than the drive home from the car wash though.
I also want to sand and paint the exhaust pipes, just for a cleaner look.
I have plans to take it into a local exhaust shop to have an H pipe welded in, as well as have the pipes routed out the back. I love how my truck sounds, but it gets old doing any significant highway driving.


Driveshaft could also probably survive a sanding/painting. As soon as the roads are dry.

 

Found some 33's, but they come packaged with some steel wheels.. So far I'm pretty sure they are from an SR5 package, most likely a Hilux.. Spent a lot of time browsing around wheels & tires trying to find another user who might be able to provide information about weight and BSing
Anybody recognize these?


16" rims, steel..


They are a looong drive away, and I'd like to confirm some information before I commit a day to go pick them up..


These are off a landcuiser 40, 60 or 70 series, with a backspace of 4 inches..
I did a buy.
I do a like.

 

I'm digging the build. You mentioned you removed your sway bar. Worth it? I just don't want my turd gen to feel like it's gonna roll every time I take a corner.

 

I removed the swaybar at the same time as putting in bilstein 5100s, on the highest setting on stock coils, and honestly did not notice a difference..
A year later I swapped stock coils for 886s and 5100s were adjusted to the lowest setting, and it felt even more solid.. Body roll is negligible while cornering at normal speeds..

I think the main issue with removing the sway bar is understanding that truck will respond differently performing high speed maneuvers. Do a google search for 'moose test' THIS is when a person might regret removing a sway bar, and it's difficult to say what various insurance companies would do if they found one missing after an incident.
So responsibility is yours, and it might void insurances/liabilities...

but personally, im going to take mine to my cousins forge to melt it down and make swords with.

 

One step forward, two steps back, wha cha cha chaa..

Took yesterday to properly detail the truck.

It looks niice, and while it won't last long, it does make me happy seeing it shine.

While it was inside, dry and warm I took the opportunity to grind the rust off my exhaust pipes and add some high temp mat black paint..

Went over the pipes with a wire cup on an angle grinder, and went hard with a wire brush where the grinder wouldn't reach.
Then covered anything I didn't want over-sprayed and went to town.

Light coats, 2-3 in places.


A job, not even half done. Still need to do the same thing to driveshaft with some rustoleum, and the frame with por15, but this is at least a step in the right direction.

The inconsistent readings by my o2 sensors was also cluing me in that I had an exhaust leak somewhere along the line, so I put on my sherlock holmes hat and actually starting going over everything..
It didn't take long, there's like 2 feet of pipe between my AF sensors and my HO2 sensors.. There was a pinhole on the downstream seam of the passenger cat (bank 1, which was giving me the zero volt readings until under load.)



So I grabbed some JB weld and mixed up a small batch, and worked in into the hole, trying to make sure I got enough all the way thru to make a plug. This isn't the high temp JB weld, and it's not supposed to withstand exhaust temperatures, but for troubleshooting all I need is a temporary plug to see if it normalizes everything.





After letting everything set up for 4-5 hours, and doing a curing on the high temp paint I took it out for a rip.
My sensors were giving normal and consistent readings right off the driveway, and it all seemed well.



However after about an hour of ripping around, the levels on my passenger bank dropped again, and by the time I was home I had the CEL on again.
I checked the JB weld, as I didn't really expect it to work, but it was holding fast.



My attention immediately turned to header gaskets, as I've read enough by now to know that these are super troublesome, and assuming that 4 years with zero maintenance, to still have a good seal and tight bolts was simply not realistic.

I'd done some visual inspections over the years, and done some SeaFoam treatments, and never had any super obvious signs of leakage. No exhaust tick in the engine, no fumes, I'd say no noise, but the JBA/Magnaflow/pre-axle dump is such a loud combination I wouldn't know if it was coming from the engine bay or under the truck, so that's a mute point.
Today however I am seeing some signs, and non of them are encouraging.
There are definitely some drafts from around the header flange, there is -some- carbon residue around the bolts, and it looks like there is some gapping on the upper edge of the flange.

The header flanges also appear to be cracked/corroded thru where the mounting hardware is, which seems strange to me, but I'm sure it'll make sense once I pull the headers off and take a look at the the gasket.


The bolts are also missing any sort of locking hardware, so it probably goes without saying that they loosed off somewhat. They also seem to have rusted together as one, and they are going to be pure joy to remove.

So my next step is to order new header mounting hardware and gaskets, and in the meantime, bathe the bolts in PB Blaster, and try to get them loose. If they are cooperative (10% max odds) then I'll anti-seize, and reinstall with locking washers, see if it makes a difference with how the truck runs.

I think patching one hole redirected the exhaust further upstream out the gaskets, and will only be making matters worse up there..

This job is going to suck. Headers are welded to the cats are welded to the pipes, which are bolted to the mufflers.. That's a big piece of metal that isn't going to come out of the truck without being cut, and I don't weld..

I'm also in fort mcmurray, where shop rates are $200+++ an hour.(cad)

Gemini doesn't care much about exhaust leaks, she thinks the truck looks great.

so easy to please

 

Ugh, I have cold feet...
I'm torn between trying to torque these old rusted bastards down, and playing it safe and waiting until the replacements are on the workbench..

I know the odds are pretty high that I'm gonna break a bolt, and then I'm proper S.O.L.
but also knowing that there's a chance, makes me wanna play cards!


This build is gonna teach me how to weld eventually, but I'd rather not brick my truck before I get my crash course. I still need to get to work, this is my daily driver, and my only driver.. Hard to bring a table saw on a transit bus.

My shopping cart on URD is getting pretty substantial.
Header gaskets and mounting hardware, on top of the clutch components that I've been waiting years to pull the trigger on.

My clutch slips in reverse, any time I'm backing up with any real resistance (trying to pull a stuck truck, reversing up a steep grade with a loaded box, etc)
I've played it safe, and have only made smoke twice since I bought the truck.
I've learned to get around the issue by avoiding the high stress situations, and using 4lo when I have to, and I have a winch, so I can still pull folks out of the ditch, but I'd love to be able to use my reverse gear without the worry. Between that and the TOB issue, I've had my mind set on a clutch upgrade.

I've had the TOB squeek since I bought the truck, and I attempted @gearcruncher 's instructions to adjust the free play, but I did not do a very good job of following instructions, and only adjusted a fraction of what I should have, and the squeek returned before too long.. At which point I just decided I'd be putting in upgraded components when the time came.

Going to spend the next week or so looking at the various options for clutch upgrades. If anyone has suggestions please chime in.

I have a nasty habit with this truck to make uninformed spur decisions, then do my research afterwards and find out that I did it wrong, I'd like to avoid that this time and buy the right clutch, first try..


Edit:
I'm going to have to remove (or at least it will make the job easier if I remove) my exhaust to swap in my clutch components, so I may as well do my exhaust gaskets/header bolts in conjunction with the clutch job, so this is going to be on ice until I can pep-talk myself into pulling the trigger.. This has been a fairly budget build so far with my clever use of used markets, but if I'm going to make this what I want it to be, it's going to take some coin.. bear with me

 

Hmm red truck owners must not like their canopies..... here is mine!

 

Actually, nice contrast. I like it!

 

Thanks, I currently have it off, I am sanding and refinishing it plan to rattle can it black.

 

Man, I wish i'd found one with no side windows.. went thru a huge headache trying to get some windoors sourced, but am apparently SOL. irregular shaped windows that they don't manufacture anymore..
nice lookin truck! those tires look like a tight fit, 33s? 285?

 

I was tempted to go black, but opted for the color match spraypaint, just to keep the temps down when I have to throw dogs in the back..

 

I was really happy to find the solid sided canopy, prefer it to having the windows. They are 315/75r16 Duratracs still waiting on my bumpers to finish the inner fenders and fender flare trim.

I am concerned about that as well, did you just get some color matched rattle cans? I was concerned the finish both in color coat and clear coat would not be good enough and make me crazy.

 

Color matched rattle cans from NAPA auto parts, for about $40 each. check the photos out for quality of match, although I was told there could be some variance between batches.. I had 2 cans made up, and it was not enough for decent coverage, so had 2 more made up, and couldn't tell much of a difference. The match is close enough for me, and you can only really tell in certain light conditions, and I am convinced that I could make it 99% by doing a proper buff/polish job..
Certainly more expensive than doing it black, just in cost of paint, but if you take your time, do adequate coats (3+) i feel like it is satisfactory...
I did mine in a back yard, in an afternoon, and did zero buffing/polishing.. just two coats of clear..

edit.. my photos wont tell you much, as they're almost all low light, and the only real difference between factory and rattle can job is how the sunlight reflects, but again, proper buff/wax and i feel like it'd be good

 

ok yeah, 34"+, that makes sense.. they look biig.. are you regeared, or MT? or ..