Box Rocket - 2003 TRD Doublecab

When repainting the wheels did you just spray over the old paint and clear or did you sand all of the old stuff off first?

 

Prep is very important. Click the link in my sig for more info

 

I didn't sand it all off completely but sanded the wheels to clean up the rough edges from rock rash and to give something for the new paint to adhere to. So a good sanding, followed by some degreaser, then paint.

 

Perfect Trail/Camping Truck, sub'd for more updates

 

Thanks for the info. Gonna try to paint my wheels soon and was just planning ahead for the repainting. Hopefully my wheels look half as good as yours.

 

You'll be fine. Blackdawgs suggestion is dead on. Prep work is 90% of the final result. Take your time and it'll look great.

 

nice build adam! one of my favorite 1st gens on here. and prob on expedition portal.

 

Thanks to whoever voted me through to the next round of the Members Choice thread! 'ppreciate it!

 

Adam how big is your CO2 tank? How long does it last. I'm trying to pick a size of tank to get Adam not sure I need a 20lb tank.

 

My tank is a 20lb tank. It really depends on how you plan to use it. If its just for filling tires nothing else you can probably get by with a smaller tank. I use mine for tires and for shielding gas for my welder so a larger tank makes sense. But even before I had the welder I had the larger tank and I would fill it in the spring and it would last until the end of the fall wheeling season. Probably 10-12 wheeling trips in that time where I would refill my tires. This was back when I had my FJ40 on 37's and I was refilling them after a trail run from 12psi to 30psi. And a lot of the time I was also helping other guys in the group refill their tires too.

A smaller tank is easier to fit in the truck but I in my opinion the 20lb tank is the right size. I don't want to be in a situation where I feel like I have to refill the tank every couple months. If I can go more like 5-6 months on a tank it's much easier for me.

 

Thanks man.

I am going to use it for just tires for now but eventually I'll have it operate my ARB lockers. So I guess I'll buck up and get the 20lb tank haha it should last me longer anyways

Thanks!

 

You'll be glad you went with a 20lb tank. I love mine. Even though its a bigger tank its pretty easy to find space for it. You can even mount it horizontal if it fits your packing better that way, but you generally want it vertical when using it so you'd have to take it out if you store it laying down.

 

Ya i have read that. Was thinking of mounting it under the bed were the spare tire once was..be kinda tricky to get too tho..im sure i can come up with something kinda cool in the bed tho.

Where did you source yours from? I was just looking at WheelersOffroad and they have some for 387 thats a full kit of course.

 

Just curious, but what's a good price for a 20lb steel co2 tank? I found one for $80 on craigslist but I wasn't sure if it was a good deal or not.

 

Id try and find one aluminum man. Steel is gonna be heavy

 

It's looks like Adam is running a steel tank so I think the weight of the steel tank would be fine. Aluminum would definitely be better though

 

Definitely a good idea to find an aluminum tank if you can. They are much lighter. I used to have an aluminum beverage tank in my FJ40 but it went with the cruiser when I sold it.



I got it for free from a buddy that owns a local convenient store and had an extra from their soda machines. My current tank is in fact a steel tank. It works just fine and the only issue is the weight. I just had my tank refilled last week at a new place locally and the owner is a wheeler as well and told me to come back in a few weeks and he'd have some extra aluminum tanks and I could have one so I'll probably pick one up for the truck and use my steel tank just for my welding shielding gas.

Tanks can be kinda spendy if you are purchasing one but it is well worth the effort to ask around if you know anyone at convenient stores or anywhere with soda machines. You might get lucky and find one for free or for very cheap. Most of the beverage tanks come with the handles like you see in the aluminum one I posted above. Worst case is it's an older tank and you'll need to have it hydro tested, but that's ~$30 so no biggie. You can go cheap with a regulator that is non-adjustable. Sometimes the cheaper regulators can freeze up with extended use. I bought an adjustable regulator for $40 which has been nice. It will get a little frosty sometimes when it gets used a lot, but has never frozen up. So since I got my tanks for free, I'm into my current tank (and my last one for that matter about $40 total.

The most expensive part of it was the mounting bracket that I'm using that I sourced at a fire extinguisher supply place. The bracket ran me $65. But its nice and secure and can even be locked.

I actually have two of the brackets. One is mounted on the front of my trailer and the other is either in my Tacoma or can be moved to my Cruiser.

Here it is in the back of the cruiser with a custom bracket I built using the factory 3rd row seat bracket.




Here's where it's mounted on my trailer.


Having a dedicated tank and compressor on the truck would be cool but I love the portability of the CO2 tank. Only downside to it occasionally needing to refill it. Other than that I love it.

 

Looks good man.

Im going to have to ask around for a tank then first haha

the way i see it you can always get a smaller portable air compressor for back up if needed.

 

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