Deeezy's Locked Sport Grocery Getter Build

Yeah man, I was a little unsure of it at first but I didn't really have a choice because the tires were coming in few days. We'll see how good the tires clear everything on my next wheeling trip. It was more work than I expected. Thanks for kinda pioneering that cab mount relocation!

 

A few pics of the new tires. The pics are at ride height but it looks like it Will be alright. If anything I can clearance wherever it rubs when stuffed. Looks good enough to Wheel though.

 

Looks sick. Like that they’re actually 37’s.

 

My gosh those look huge!

 

looking good dana

i may try 37s when i get LT installed and the 35s wear out.

 

Yeah man! You might have an easier time with LT and 37's. That size tire is definitely the limit for my truck. There's just no more room to cut really. Even the interior kick panels couldn't fit after it was finished. I had to trim those too. Lol

 

It was one of the best mods I did. Having a good fabricator like Gary to take my idea and actually build what I was wanting made it really easy. I really like what you did with your inner fenders! Ill be looking to do mine real soon and will be referring to your build to help me.

 

37s are so gay

 

Flexed the truck today to check tire clearance at full lock and stuffed. The tires clear pretty good. There's about 1/2"-1/4" of clearance where the tire gets closest to the firewall side of the fender. I also cut and "tubbed" the front upper portion of the fender which cleared at full bump. I'm happy with the clearance and can't wait to go wheeling.

 

Seeing your truck in-person is humbling. LOL. Fully functional and looks so clean! You’re the man, Dana!

 

Thanks man, I really appreciate it!

 

I had some free time so I recut the front upper fender and trimmed it wider. If you look closely, the corner cut out in the pic is the second time it's been cut. The fender used to extend all the way to the edge. It's cut about 2" higher than when it was uncut, at the area where the 35's used to rub slightly. To do this, the battery had to be relocated and the windshield washer bottle either removed or replaced with a shorter one. I chose to try and cut down the stock one so it could use the same mounting bolts. I melted and "welded" the bottle back together and then plastic weld epoxied the seam to totally watertight it.

 

I also had a chance to take the truck offroad to see how everything works. The tires clear pretty damn good, better than the 35's used to. I couldn't get the front to rub, even on full lock and hard compression. I don't know if it's the extra tire height or if the tread pattern is slightly different, but these 37's grip a lot better in slippery off camber stuff.

 

I saw some posts regarding the "smart" alternators in our Tacomas and decided to check what the recommended charging voltage for my battery was.

See this snippet from Optima's website for their Yellow Tops. Alternator charging voltage: 13.65 to 15.0 volts. Once warmed up and idling, my truck max charge was only 13.5 which was below the voltage Optima recommends. The "smart" alternator lowers the voltage per the temperature and electrical load, which probably is fine but meant for the stock lead acid battery.



I picked up a new thingy that Mike Singer from Singer Alternators came up with. It plugs inline with the plug on the alternator and boosts voltage to 14.65 at a cold start. The highest voltage before was 14.0v which would lower to 13.5v after warm up.



Now cold start, 14.65v at the ECM.



This 14.65v is at the battery in my bed.



I only had the truck idling for a few minutes but after shutting the truck off the battery voltage was up a little.

It boosted voltage by about .65v which brings the charging voltage right in the middle of the recommended range from Optima.

 

You have a link to that part?

 

There's was a group buy feeler for this thing, which is where I found out about it. But to order you would need to try and email Singer Alternators. They do not have a store to just order it. Or you could wait for the group buy to go through.

Edit: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/mike-singer-voltage-booster-groupbuy-feeler-thread.541223/

 

Alright going to check it out thanks man!

 

Is this thing a need or a want? I haven't had any issues starting nor battery issues for years. Just wondering if you had issues or whatnot...

 

I would call it a "want". I originally thought the resting voltage for my Optima battery was a couple tenths low, but that may not be the case. Maybe my battery always was like that since new. I really had no battery issues and my truck winches fine. I just bought one after seeing what the recommended charging voltage was for my Yellow Top battery. I checked my battery after a long drive last night and the voltage stayed almost the same as before the booster, maybe slightly higher. I'll check again after driving around this weekend.
Tacoma batteries have been surviving without a gadget like this for all these years anyway.
The voltage leveled out at 14.0 volts when the truck was warmed up. Before it was 13.5 (below recommended charging voltage)

 

Picked up this beast. I figured that a good group 31 would be best since I don't want dual batteries. Northstar seems to have the best reviews. I bench charged the battery before installing because who knows how long it's been sitting and voltage was about 12.7. Our alternators aren't for charging batteries, just for maintaining them. I also ran a second grounding cable from the negative battery post straight to the frame under the bed.
The recommended charging voltage for this battery is between 14 and 14.8V, right where the voltage booster adjusted my alternator to.