TacoFMS' attempt at a build thread

If it reduces the appearance of scratches, it would help my truck.

 

well finally got off my butt and worked on the truck this weekend. took the single 1.5" AAL off and put on a wheeler's 3-piece progressive AAL. Decided to leave the overload leaf on. while i had the rear end in the air I also figured it was a good time to go ahead and install the ubolt flip kit and do the squeaky leaf fix.

 

well up today is a new muffler and swapping tires back to get ready to go riding this weekend, hopefully i will come back with plenty of pics and my views/opinions of the wheelers progressive aal!!! and the wrangler authorities

 

Hope you guys have a blast. I was hoping to take my truck up to the lake and find a spot to go riding, but it looks like we're taking the wife's VW diesel to save money on fuel. There is, however, a polaris RZR up there...

 

yeah i sure hate that you couldnt go. we should have fun, since everyone else bailed we are gonna go on some of his private land that has miles and miles of trails and such instead of hittin up skyway. if it rains like they are calling for today should make things quite fun...... well even more fun than it will already be. plus its gonna be a nice little family style ride. its down to just me&my wife and jo and his wife

 

Did you do the Satoshi and Emblem?

 

only did the emblem, tacoalamode did the satoshi

 

few pics from the last outing
(thanks Jo for letting me "borrow" the pics)

 

Emblem looks Awesome by the way! Can't wait to join y'all out there!

 

Where was this?

 

private land of a buddies

 

ok so i got my seat covers in yesterday and was able to install the front two. I know that they dont fit perfectly and im sure someone out there has had better but i seriously doubt they got it for $70 shipped. plus this wasnt done for the cosmetic reasons, it was done to protect the seats since i have a very dirty job.

so even though that sounds like me being a smart ass (and i wasnt trying to) they seemed to be good enough for my needs and expectations. on with the pics

 

okay here is a tip for taking pics....maybe have the camera facing the things you want to take pics of instead of taking them sideways....

 

always a critic..... but i guess i deserved that after all the crap ive given you! cant wait for this weekend, hopefully ill get some more photos to add to this thread.

 

Finally got the illuminated 4x4 switch installed, thanks RCBS204 for the group buy and outstanding product

The lights are actually white letters with an amber arrow that matches quite well, just my phone made it look like yellow and a red arrow

another pic with a little outside light

 

well went riding this past weekend with some friends that are fellow TW'ers and had a blast, found out that I am quite pleased with how the truck is set up so far, not saying it is perfect but at least I know I am working in the right directions.
Anyway I know most only stop by for the pics so I will get on with them.









I know that this is mild wheeling for most but it was still very exciting for me and hopefully one day I will be capable and confident enough to do more of the wild wheeling others on here do.

 

Unfortunately during the wheeling session I did take a small amount of damage, which I thought was no big deal. I dropped into a rut and ripped off a rear mudflap, no biggie....right?? Well on the ride home I could hear a sligh rattle at stop signs and whenever I was idling. Got under the truck to diagnose and found this.

decided to make a cut here


doesnt look like much in the picture but that is due to my lack of photography skills. When I lost the mudflap it also pushed the exhaust up and forward and bent that last bend inwards. (The bend looked similar to a cobra that was flaired out ready to strike, round but flat if that makes sense.) I knew this was causing restriction because of the slight decrease in throttle response I felt I was experiencing. So I knew It was time to get the cutoff wheel out. Ran to the parts store and got a 45 deg elbow and clamp and this is what I came up with for a fix.


not perfect but I believe it will do, at least it wont be in harms way anymore. I plan to grab some black bbq grill paint sometime and spray the pipe so it doesnt stand out as much but gonna leave it dumping out right there.

 

You done all the breather extensions yet?

 

All? i only knew of the rear diff, since the front diff and transmission comes out in the engine bay..... am i missing one????? CRAP!

 

I dunno, only other one I could think of would be t-case. I guess I shoulda said have you done the rear diff breather. I could go read all of the pages in this thread I guess too... What's the fun in that though.

yeah yeah... I went back and read the first post.