MolonLabeTaco Build Thread!

I couldn’t justify the cost for a simple mounting plate for an extra fuse panel so I made my own out of some scrap I had in the garage. $0. It’s not perfect but good enough for me!

 

I build every thing i can for my truck. None of it is perfect but i wouldn't change it.

 

I couldn’t imagine paying $149 + $56 shipping for the All Pro hidden hitch for my bumper so I’m building my own. $29 for a 5’ stick of 2.5x2.5 sq. tubing, $20 for the receiver piece, a couple hours painting and welding. I’ll take it!!!

I’ll post more progress pics tomorrow.

 

Finally welded the hitch in last night. $49 and a couple hours taking my time having some cold beer and bullshitting with my buddy that helped. I painted it after I took the pics. It's not 100% perfect but it'll work just fine. I'm going to use some O-ring 'shackles' looped around the inside bumper holes for the chain hook-ups or weld some onto the bottom end, not sure yet. I was going to gusset the reciever piece on the bottom but after I welded it to the slot it's running thru, I decided it'd be a waste. It ain't going anywhere. I won't be towing more than 1,500lbs so it's plenty strong enough.

 

Tried the new hitch out today on a heavier trailer than I ever planned towing. Did great!

 

Changed serpentine belt to a Bando. Lubed u-joints and UCA’s. Changed oil. Wiped the engine bay with a dry towel. Whatever the dealership used when I bought it 8 months ago was impressive!

 

Dakar leaf pack looks fucked. Sending pics to OME tomorrow. ~10K miles, 7 months and they seem to be warped. I’ve only seen leaf packs do this from massive axle wrap (torque). Well, I don’t have any torque!

 

Replaced both front wheel bearings and hubs. First one took 3 hours, 2nd one took 55 minutes. Made all the howling sounds go away!

 

Looks good! Nice and shiney!

 

Finally got a hard camper shell today. Needs a little work and changed to white but I like it so far.

 

Looks good

 

Thanks. I’m not too crazy about the color. I think I’m going to plasti-dip white, with glossifier, now and then this spring Monstaliner it white. Still not 100% on liner or vinyl, as they’ll both be about $175.

 

Painted it with plasti dip and glossifier. Turned out good enough for now:

One of my co-workers decided the plasti dip on the window looked like spray snow so he made it festive for Christmas!

 

Yesterday I:
drained all 3 drains (left on block, right on block & radiator)
filled the system w/ distilled H2O (it would only take a little less than 2 gallons, supposed to take almost 3)
ran it for 15 minutes
drained all 3 holes again (it came out very pink still from the rad.)
replaced both rad. hoses, rad. cap & t-stat w/housing
refilled w/<2 gallons of Zerex made for Toyotas
ran for 30 minutes burping the system
(101,500 miles)

Would've only been about 1 hour worth of work but I dropped one of the nuts that hold the t-stat housing & couldn't figure out where it went for 30+ minutes searching. It first fell behind the fan pulley so I removed the belt, fan & pulley. Then it dropped again & I spent another 30+ minutes trying to find it. After searching & almost giving up, I decided to bump the motor over a couple times to see if it'd pop out somewhere. Well, after doing that I saw that the damn thing fell behind the crank pulley!!! Luckily, there's slots in that pulley & I didn't have to remove it. Took an extra hour+ due to dropping that damn nut.

 

Hey man nice build just read through your thread. My newly purchased fox 2.5's are being rebuilt by Texoma right now and after reading I'm a little nervous haha. I was also planning to get pretty much the same exact same suspension setup that you have with dakars, etc. Is there anything you would have done differently had you just started building your truck? Tips? I'm hoping to not throw a lot of cash haha

 

I wish I had gotten front C/O's w/14" 650lb coils. The rest I'm happy with.

 

I had a dent in my d-shaft. I'm assuming it happened last time I went wheeling. I've had a vibration since I installed the lift & it seemed to have been getting worse so I bought 3 u-joints & a carrier bearing. I took the d-shaft & associated parts to a d-shaft shop in Dallas.
3 u-joints $96
Carrier bearing $60
Re-tube $150
Install 3 u-joints $45
Install carrier bearing $50
Balance $60
$461!!! Shit that was a bunch. I could've got a single piece d-shaft for another $90 but I didn't want to lose the ground clearance. Shitty part is, I STILL have take off vibes even w/3° shims & CB drop kit.
Pretty pissed about it to be honest.
Hopefully I'm good for another 100K miles. (102K miles now)

 

BTW, this did nothing for lowering my engine temps on the highway under load. Oh well, @ least it's done!

 

Is that because you have a bumper?

 

I was just about to do all this since I'm about at 100k plus I also wanna lower engine temps. What are your temps on the highway now? I'm considering doing the CSF radiator since it will be drained anyway