chris's white 3rz ex-cab build

OKC Sub'd, looking good

 

Long strange trip and story, the AF was around 20+ yrs ago, I did my hitch out at Edwards back in the late 70’s, that is where I got my high desert jones.
Since then I have spent a couple years on the front range in Colorado, then worked in Death valley for a few years, caught a chance to go up to Denali National Park, that set the hook.
I migrated between DV and summers in the shadow of the great one. Started moving up there in 89’ . Went to trade school HVAC/R in Az in 92 and have been kickin it in Ak, and McMurdo station, Antarctica for the last 15+ yrs or so(since 95) Got kinda bored with McM, got involved with a big coring project out on the West Antarctic ice sheet, then got on the annual resupply ship to McMurdo, babysitting food and science samples.
This spring was the last trip for me, for awhile, getting settled down somewhat now. Time for some new challenges.

I ended up getting a mount fabb’d up over on the other side behind the CC.

Lots has happened since my last post, upsized to 16” wheels- had 2 flats on the way to work, as good a time as any, had to hustle up some 8” Tundra steelies- only had a week to get that sorted out between shifts.

Started having some idling issues- tracked it down to dirty TB and knock sensors, then a couple overheating events- leaking radiator (found while installing the TRD header- spend enough time laying the engine you see a few things). So a new Champion radiator, finished the TRD header install and SS Borla.
Did a radiator flush and viola’ a blown head gasket= salvage engine( tear down after the fact revealed a couple future rod bearings so the salvage engine turned out to be a good call)
Finally got the Tundra brake upgrade done this summer. Busy times.

Switching over to Tundra OEM spare steelies next week, and finishing running the feed to the fuse panel, and finalizing the 04 console install and adding a couple marine rated 12v power points in the console.
Next month new batteries in the diesel and replacing some battery cables while remodeling the farm house. Fun stuff, hope to get some photos posted on my build page once I get through the project list this month.
Your rig is looking good man, keep it up.

 

Still going strong. This truck has been great to me. Currently sitting at 269k miles.

Since my last updates:

Moved to Oklahoma for USAF pilot training



Lived there for a while. Bought a miata because I missed having a manual rwd car. Quickly realized the reason no one buys anything but american cars out in the midwest - there are NO twisty roads. None! It was fun but I got tired of it and sold it before I left.



Tried on some 33x10.5x15 KO2's. They looked anorexic so I stuck with the Duratracs.




When hail is in the forecast, and you're opted for student cross-country flights, you take the jets off station and your homies shelter your vehicle on the flight line.



Me (left) and my bro after landing at Chennault KCWF for the weather evac




Got lucky enough to get a fighter assignment and I'm temporarily in Oregon. Drove the trusty gal back across the country to the west coast.



Did some climbing in Moab on that road trip



Back in the snow on the west coast. The truck is a beast with the wide tires, great floatation, and locked rear/LSD front.



And that brings me to now. During the lockdown I've had a little time to give the truck some love. The rear end started whining a bit so I took it apart and discovered a bad carrier bearing. The Sierra 4.56 gears are still in great shape so I'm replacing all the bearings with Toyota OE Koyo's.





Still waiting for some more parts but I expect to get it up and running next weekend. Stoked to be able to take it out on some of the trails out here in Oregon. Stay tuned!

 

So they are still flying T-38s? It has been quite awhile since I saw one of those. They were testing A10, F16, F15, and B1 while I was at Edwards.
What type LSD up front?

I am hoping to get my diffs swapped out this summer, they are currently hostage to the quarantine over in Montana. Was going to swap the 4.56 diffs in up in Am this summer but the border closing and the lock down has put a sizable dent in the schedule and the budget. On board air will have to wait, so testing out the ARB locker will to.
Finishing up the moose and fog light replacement, and started the heated power mirrors- wiring to follow next year I guess. Some bucket trimming for the Hella sealed beam conversion as well- wading through the spring honey do list on the farm right now.

It is shaping up to be a warm one down here, already missing my cabin up north. As we say, if it isn’t one thing it’s 10. Best of luck, take care of your self and enjoy the rig.

 

Yup, all UPT bases and IFF programs still fly 38C's. U-2 and B-2 guys plus an agressor squadron still flies A models. It is a good jet in a lot of ways, but it's old and ready for replacement. The oldest tails I flew were from the 60's! The T-7 that's coming online is pretty sweet..

I'm running a trutrac LSD in the front. It's a great device and kicks ass in snow. I'm lucky enough to have the manual hubs, otherwise I wouldn't be able to run it in a Tacoma.

Hope you can get those 4.56 gears in eventually! Regearing + locker/lsd the best upgrade you can do for a 4x4

 

Agreed, given the abuse I have uncovered during this build- I think it spent some time in a creek or a washout- I found about 3/4” of packed sand underneath the center console when I swapped the 04 console. I figured to go with complete rebuilt cores from ECGS, and am planning to replace the front axle bearing as well as the rears, just to be a one and done. An LSD up front could be in the future though, lot’s of other thing ahead of it in the queue. Oddly enough, I grew up in the Wind River mountains in Wyoming and wheeled all over up there in an open diffs 52 CJ2A and did just fine. That’s kinda why I figured to wait on a true trac- for the front diff, going with an ARB aft, and wait and see how that goes..

 

Sub'd. I enjoyed watching your truck progress. My truck is very similar; 00, 2.7, 5speed, high miles.

 

Parts have started showing up!

New 700lb springs, as well as new lower shock bolts, which i had mutilated to remove from the truck. They're a pretty close fit - and I had to remove a few thousandths off the bolts with fine grit sandpaper to fit comfortably in the reducers. Plenty of anti-seize this time too.



Installed


Meant to replace the oil shield I mutilated to remove a pinion bearing... accidentally ordered the outer dust shield. Luckily there's a Toyota dealer in town and the part is only 1 day out.





Made what progress I could until I needed the oil shield. Pressed in the rear pinion bearing and race.




Spent a lot of the day making this big spanner wrench to preload the carrier bearings. Inspired by Zuk's homemade tool




Once I get that oil shield tomorrow I can get this diff put back together. Updates to follow

 

The 650lb springs I was running are available for sale if anyone is interested

 

Truck is back together! Here’s the progress.

Installed 700lb springs and replaced some lower mount hardware. On mobile so these photos may be a little out of order.

 

Reassembly without the crushable spacer for pattern checks

 

Accidentally ordered a new dust shield so I replaced it. It’s a bitch to get it to not wobble but a few strategic light taps with a mallet will straighten it out



Teardown for the pinion spacer


Reassembly and pinion seal


Crushing that sleeve up to 14in-lb static pinion preload

Missing a few photos here because they are a pain to upload on mobile. The giant spanner I made worked great to preload the carrier bearings. Final backlash set to 0.010” and pattern checked again. These gears were installed by a friend who works at a diff shop a few years ago and are still in great shape.

 

Back on the trail. Truck is riding great with the stiffer springs in the front, which matches the rear All pro springs a lot better. Diff is totally quiet now. Didn’t realize how loud those bearings were until they were replaced! Also fixed my e-locker actuator, which now works perfectly. The truck is running great and kicks ass off road. Still loving this thing after 9 years of owning it