Chris(NJ); Slowly but surely, a build journal

7/24/20 and 148,501 miles the Cab mount chop was completed up front while the back received Archive Garage Hammer Hangers and Cross Bar as well as their U-bolt flip kit. Also chopped off the TRD exhaust at the downturn over the axle.

 

Oh, I also relocated the spare to the bed. Still stock size spare, but maybe eventually I'll cough up the cash for a full size. Until then.... Stuffed a scissor jack under there too since I don't have any other way to jack up the truck if I need to. All in all, seems pretty solid.
Also stoked on the hardware I used for the d-ring. sits nice and flush in there. 1/2", stainless bolt/washer/nut.

 

my friends opened a box of macaroni in the back seat and it spilled all over the floor and went under the passenger seat into the black tubing haha Now i cant get it out.

 

lol that sucks.
Park on a steep incline, put the fan on full blast and use a shop vac all at the same time hahah. Otherwise, and more realistically, getting down to that black vent tube isn't so bad. 4 bolts for the seat and yank the carpet up.

 

Gotta post up yesterday's alignment numbers. But also changed the oil at 149,785 miles, rotated the tires and got that alignment and road force tire balance done. Only half the tires needed weight. Those coopers balance out well.

 

TRD short throw shifter installed today. Super easy installation. No pics along the way. Only takes like 45 minutes from start to finish. Mileage at 153,678

 

New OEM Lower Control Arms @ 153,986 along w/ some Taco Tabs. Getting an alignment done friday am, so we'll see how these things handle it. It drives straight. So I'm hopeful that once the steering wheel is straightened out, things will be good. But time will tell!

 

New driver side CV from cvj axles went on today w/ the ECGS bushing. 155,069 miles.
Old needle bearing looked surprisingly in damn good condition. Truck still drives the same lol. But at least the axle has boots that have grease in them now

 

156,485 miles. A few things got done yesterday and today. ES 8.4109 body mount bushing kit. I put the radiator support bushings in. Nice difference! Also changed out the brakes to StopTech pads/rotors and also 2x new wheel bearings.

 

you might want to take that top washer off. Because of the metal-metal contact, it could develop into a squeak

 

I did see that a few people went w/o the washer. I figured I'd run it like this first and if it does squeak, I'll remove it. It's such an easy install that I figured it can't hurt.

 

Catching up here....Last weekend I did the -3* Exhaust Cam Gears. Awesome upgrade! Had to cut a new gasket for underneath the XTP manifold spacer. Only hiccup was the bank 1 OCV cracked when unhooking the connector. New OEM Toyota sensor, to the tune of $110 later and the truck drives super smooth and simply put, feels free. First highway road trip this weekend yielded a nice mpg bump.

Took the ECU out today and shipped that down to JustDSM for some wizardry. All mods done at the 157,350 mark.

 

After driving the truck around w/ the new cam gears installed, I sent the ecu to Justdsm for a tune. Mileage was 157,656.

After getting a crushed box from UPS, I had some anxiety until it was hooked up and running. No harm though!

The truck does show signs of more responsiveness down low. That was immediately noticeable.
Will have to report back on any other gains. But overall the truck is driving fantastic right now.

Tire rotation and an oil change coming up next week.

Then install some bed lights for camping. Every time I look in the bed of the truck (ok, in the cooler, for beer) at night at the campsite I say to myself that I need to install a new set of LEDs. Well, they're finally on the way here.

Also replacing the disgusting hose on the roadshower. Tried replacing w/ the same size it came with but took some hunting to find a 5/8 ID reinforced hose. Regardless, thats on the way too.

Then maybe I'll finally get around to doing that new stereo.

 

Nice Rig! I love that color when the sun hits it.

 

Thanks!
If the pollen would stop falling I'd wash it so you could actually see the blue and not the layer of green at the moment

 

I hear you. Im in Southern Atlantic Co. so im in the same boat.

 

Bed lights are done! Should make finding things at the campsites a little easier now....

 

Prinsu CabRack mounted with some grab handles. Got the Roam case and one other case pending install and it'll be ready for the August xc road trip.

 

160,215: some last minute things before the trip on Friday. Rotated tires, oil change, radiator drain/refill, greased zerks, lubed UCAs. Etc.



General route looks like this:

 

Some post-road trip maintenance today. Bled the brakes. Some pretty dirty fluid. Last time I did it was when I changed the brake lines to stainless. Mileage at 167,687