geekhouse23's "LIFE'S WAITING TO BEGIN" Overland & Home build and all the Adventures in between!

Oooh, definitely hit me up. South of Boston

 

I think im going to be in western MA. Also on 2 wheels. But ill definitely hit you up. Im not sure how many sections we can do in a day, but this is the route.

Offroad on a motorcycle is much different than offroad in a truck. Less luxuries (aka no rtt or fridge )

 

I'm not opposed to driving somewhere either...

 

UPDATE: Passenger side UBJ needs to be replaced. And coincidentally, that is the side that is out of spec on alignment in regards to caster. Last time they needed to be replaced was July 2020. I am sure Firestone did not give a fuck to tell me this because they are sick of dealing with me and wanted to refund me the lifetime warranty. This local shop is pretty cool. Lots of old cars; there was a 68 Chevelle and a 40's Ford pickup out front. The people there are great. The alignment rack looks about as old as I am if not older, however, they specialize in lifted vehicles, aftermarket parts, and all ranges of suspension geometries. The technician was not afraid to put their hands on the truck at all (at least not until the busted UBJ is replaced).

I placed the order for the UBJ kit with Headstrong Offroad this morning and I hope they can get it to me by Monday/Tuesday. I will probably follow up with Marie and the team at Headstrong in a couple of hours; it's been a while since I talked with her




In overall build updates, I would like to be able to get my gusseted spindles on as well as the new wheel bearings and even get the ECGS bushing replaced in the next month or so. However, I have been thinking of swapping out the old, rusty & crusty SPC upper control arms with something new/"better" so I would just wait to swap everything out when I do that. I also want to start looking at wedge tents instead of the RTT. I like the idea of having the tent on and ready to go at all times; just load maxtrax, a tote of camping/cooking supplies, the cooler and a bag of clothes. The issue I have is that I want something very low profile where I can park in the garage at night. Otherwise, I would have to do the whole bed bars setup again and I am not interested in that; definitely a cost effective option, though.

But, I do not want to get ahead of myself. The next coming months are going to be VERY good to us and VERY exciting. LOTS going on.

 

Thought about other options myself for my rtt. I like the GFC style deals but I swap around too much for that I think. I go back and forth between bars and shell. I guess you can say I have a spring/summer set up and fall/ winter. Lol

I threw together a little make shift rack in my garage to put the shell on and to make it easier to take on and off.

 

I would like to be able to have the tent on and ready as well as being able to park in the garage. Having it all in one package ready to roll with minimal prep would be great. No tent sitting in the corner of the garage or up on the ceiling out of the way (out of sight out of mind kind of thing). It makes it more irritating having to have an extra set of hands or two to put the tent on; that on top of not being able to fit into the garage with it on either. If I have a shell and bed bars setups, storing the bed bars isn't hard but having to find somewhere to store the shell when it's off the truck would not be ideal.

I need to look at pre-fabbed ones and height clearances or make my own. If I make my own, I can do it my way, custom height to my liking, span as far as I want it to over the cabin, etc. Might be a good project for me to get into welding.

 

Marie is no longer with headstrong,, they got bought out a year or so ago.

 

how hard was it to do? my driver power door locks no longer work so I have to manually use my key to get in. Been meaning to buy a replacement and just swap it out but maybe I'll try taking it apart first and seeing if its a simple fix.

 

Oh shit. I must've missed a thread or whatever. I'm not as active as I used to be and definitely won't be as active over the next few months. Although I'll try my best to.

Once you do it once or twice, you get the hang of it. I've taken apart the rear driver's, rear passenger and front passenger twice (?) now. The only one I completely swapped was the rear driver's from a seller on ebay and I sent my core back. I tried fixing it because I thought it was the actuator, but the whole unit was too far gone; maybe wiring or something else.

The one in the photo is the front passenger so the driver's side is the same but obviously reversed.

Swapping the actuator is the cheapest option, but when you take it apart, you have to make sure everything lines back up before you snap it back together. But make sure you test it in the door first, and make sure it shuts and works as intended. And then make sure the screws go back in before you button everything up (learned the hard way).

It's probably a 6 out of 10. It's a tight space, getting everything internally lined up but then back in the door lined up and making sure the doors lock/unlock and the window goes down and back up. I would rather do this all day than do any type of wiring project. Hate wiring (more than a positive and a negative).

 

sweet. thanks for the info. One day, I'm going to stop being lazy and actually try to fix it.

I love wiring, until I'm about 20% of the way thru then I hate it and just cut corners to finish it up telling myself I'll fix it later ... but of course, never fixing it later so I just have a big ugly mess hidden throughout the truck. haha. One day I'll fix it ... is what I will keep telling myself.

 

If you need help with links of parts for the door locks, let me know.

 

Too bad you guys dont have long beds. Id trade my GFC for a cap (and eventually get another rtt) + cash right about now. Still need dry storage, but havent been camping lately. Or getting into moto camping more.. LB > SB

 

Speaking of SB.. this guy says 7500 obo!

 

FTFY. Too bad you don't have a SB.

The yellow is interesting. Wouldn't be my first choice. I guess it would be useful should the need for hi-vis arise in an emergency situation.

 

UBJs arrived yesterday. Found a shop that can get it done this week. The other shop from last week is 3 weeks out when I called yesterday. The shop that can get me in this week can also get me an alignment at a shop that specializes in lifted trucks with aftermarket parts. Fingers crossed.

 

Did you always have TC uppers or did you have something else before them? How do you like them? Would you go with them again if you were to do it over?

 

I've had them for several years. I think first I had SPC, maybe around 2016?

The TCs are great. I've replaced the uniballs once. About ready to do them again. I think they are lasting about 3-4 years with VA winters. I lube the uniballs every time I wash the truck or every oil change.

I would go with them again. And seeing so many threads about other companies issues, Im glad I made a good choice

 

Thanks for the info. I'm torn between replacing my SPC's with the something similar like the JBA off-road uppers or the TCs in the next two years. Since these new UBJs are going in, and I can get between 2-3 years out of them (at the current rate) I'm considering replacing them once personal life slows down and the need for a replacement (in 2-3 years) rolls around again.

The SPCs are almost 10 years old and the Midwest has beat them up a good bit.

I also need something that works with the taco tabs so that the alignment can get dialed in.

 

I think JBA were the ones I had seen bad reviews on. Uncle Randy switched them out really quick, I believe.. @EatSleepTacos . But i don't know if they have been updated.

The TCs are fixed in terms of adjustments. But arent LCAs and Taco Tabs directly related? Not so much UCAs.

Edit: TCs can also be fitted with Icon Delta joints if you wanted a sealed joint instead of a uniball

 

I was doing some research on the JBAs yesterday and people seem happy with them. Some of the information I read was that some people switched from SPC to JBA and liked the change; probably mostly because places like Firestone shy away from the adjustability of the SPCs. I have experience with that too, except for the shop yesterday. There was no fuss no questions. The JBA's have 4* of caster built into them. Bae has a lot going on so I know he is not as responsive.

I saw that you tagged me in that thread where TC's are for sale. I know @XPOTRPR has TC UCAs and the taco tabs with Kings. I was going to try to pick his brain about his alignment specs with the TCs and taco tabs. I was going to check that thread about the taco tabs and some of the builds to see what they are running.

I was also looking into the JD fab UCAs: https://jdfabrication.com/collectio...tacoma-05-18-upper-arm?variant=31908289446003

Of course, all of this is a moot point since I have new UBJs on the SPCs and I have plans on putting new UCAs off for a year or two..unless I can get a good deal, now..maybe.