Roadie Build

After having some time to sit around the office bored I have decided to start on my build thread. My first Toyota was a 2004 DC that I bought new in 2004. Up until 2012 we traveled all over America working. I totaled it Dec 12 when coming back home from South Texas before finding my current Taco.





I never had a name for her until a few weeks ago. Sitting as a base model 2003 2.7L Ex Cab 5 Speed with 205k miles on her I decided it was time for some upgrades. I can credit @mechanicjon for the name. I bought an E Locker rear-end from him about a month ago. Fastenal sent the crate from Phoenix to Salt Lake to Chicago to Nashville to DFW then to me in Hobbs where I'm working. So "Roadie" it is.

Current Mods:
881 OME Coilover in the front
OME Dakar w/ Nitrochargers
FN Countersteer Wheels
LCE Short Throw[/URL]



Painted the outer hub with Autozone truck bed liner before bolting everything back up.


My typical work area because I'm never at home.



I have ordered the following for the truck:

Yota 1 Stage 1.5 2.7 Liter (Stage One Cam/Lifters, + 1MM SS Valves, Forged Internals, Full P&P)
King 2.5 Front C/O
King 2.0 Remote Reservoirs
All new front bushings along with LR UCAs

About 2 months ago I had a valve go out and Number 3 Cylinder is down right after I purchased my shocks. So I decided to spend a little tax money and go all out. I have a few other goodies awaiting also but that is the major stuff. I'm currently waiting for new seals and my limit strap hardware before I can mount my E-Locker and swap out the axles.

To be continued.

 

​

 

Finally got my behind the grill light bar mount sand blasted and painted. I had the guys that work for me sand blast it down then I used the Napa or Autozone truck bed liner I have left over for the paint. I like using it cause it handles chemicals and weather rather well. Thanks to @Taco Addiction for this part.



I also got my E-locker rearend cleaned up, checked out, new 3rd member gasket installed last night . Again @mechanicjon thanks for the help. I went ahead and ordered the Low Range Off Road Wiring harness. Should see some progress on this in days to come.

IMG-4007

 

Got off work and came walking up to this! Wife had already looked lol

A2FC8A9E-717C-4F3D-AA1A-64D3E8EFC09A

 

After taking the kids to watch Avengers IW, I came back to get my rear-end swapped out. So out with the old.

IMG-4117 by , on Flickr

In with the new.

IMG-4119 by , on Flickr

I used the E-locker wiring kit from Low Range Off Road. It was very straight forward and I utilized the factory rubber grommets under the driver side floor board to bring the wiring inside the cab. http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/ulti...rness-kit-by-low-range-off-road-tdi-elwh.html

I will add additional pictures of the route this evening once I finish with troubleshooting the locker motor not cycling.
Additional Parts added:
Wheeler Super Bump with U-Bolt flip kit.

 

IMG-4143
IMG-4144


Finally got around to getting the front end broke down the last few days. Only having about an hour or so every evening can make it a pain. I hope to get most of my front reinstalled and torqued down this evening.
Plan on taking off at lunch on Saturday to get my welding done on my rear TC shock mounts.

 

​

 

This last Saturday I took off early to get the Kings all installed. I will tell you that not having a lift make this a chore! But with enough moral support and a few beers, I overcame. Before sticking my kings in the front, I took some sand paper and roughed up the frame and upper fender well. This allowed me to get a better adhesion for the Duplicolor Truck Bed Liner I bought from Napa. I think it turned out well.

I purchased some splash guards from @cnote4l at Gear Tech, which should be here today. (Will post once installed)

So I moved back to the rear once everything was buttoned up.





Following the directions Total Chaos provided was fairly easy. But you had to do muscle work to get the fuel neck bent around to right location. All in all it wasn't too bad.



Haven't welded in about 10 years so this is about as slick as I can get.

/url]

 

So I had a chance to get my front wheel wells cleaned up and the new splash guards installed. They fit great and really look a lot better than the OEM.


While I was messing around I went ahead and installed the Sky Manufacturing E-Locker Guard. I haven't ever hit anything in this area but I like the added protection for sure. I still need to get my limit strap tabs welded on before I give the rear axle a good cleaning and new paint job.




And here are two pictures of it at work yesterday. I need to adjust for the Taco lean and rake here in a few weeks. Ill have about 2k miles on the new CO's by then.

 

Nice work you did. I've been all over TW trying to find someone that put on those King coilovers on a 1st gen with no added weight from stock. Are you happy with the ride? Are they the factory valving? Any feedback you have on them would be greatly appreciated. I guess I've just been fixated on the color blue for quite some time now.

 

Sorry I didn’t see your reply. I really like the feel compared to my OME. They are very rude wise but when hitting larger pot hole and RR crossings are much smoother now. I would like to have a little heavier valving on my rear shock but I’ll do those on when I need to rebuild them.
I’m running them without the sway bar at the moment and it’s such a nice ride.

 

New Motor by


New Motor by

Well my new engine came in and is sitting in the garage. I can't wait to see how it runs. I also have the Champion Radiator and LCE Pro clutch ready to install when the motor goes in.

 

So I haven't posted in while since I transferred out to North Carolina for a while. I now have about 7-8000 miles on the engine and I'm getting around 19.5-20 MPG. I did have to install a new exhaust manifold after the cylinder 4 weld broke on my factory mini-header.





For the most part I am done for now. There is quite a bit of stuff that I do want but I wont have time to do any of it.