The Frankenstein Build! LT/Expo/Trail rig..and BS

Nah you'll be fine haha

And considering Jon and I have 0 issues..yea I'd say you don't need it ever.

 

Two new cvs for 70 bucks

Donor truck..



First one was already half out haha



Hell ya

 

I hate you! haha Cost me $90 just for 1 OEM CV at a junkyard...

 

35 bucks each man! Haha freaking awesome!!

Now I want to put different boots on them tho..

 

Meh! Run them tell they blow then swap them, unless they look shot already.

 

Nah they still work. Would be smarter to swap on better boots on the ones out then put them in the truck then swap on boots on the ones at are torn.

 

I would just throw them on and swap the boots on your torn ones so the will be safe trail spares and then just wait until the old ones go. Up to you though. Not sure what those Porsche boots costs, but my boots kits were like $35/CV.

 

FWIW, I agree with Brady. Swap in your "new" axles now, as is. Then rebuild your stockers, go with the high angle boots because you are going to need them.

I predict the "new" axles boots will succumb to the same fate as your stockers if you still have high axle angles. When they do, you can swap in your freshly rebuilt stockers with their spiffy orange colored boots.

 

Yes probably will do that. Although when I had my skid on today..my axles looked pretty flat..I'm getting heavy..plus once I finish welding all this 3/16s plate to it again holy crap haha

Did a ton of fabbing today with my dads torch. Was fun. Not as nice as a plasma cutter but I was glad I had it!

Cut out plate to weld to cover the TRD and the oil drain hole and add an extension to the rear. And cut out and fabbed a plate for the rear bumper and a swing out pin stop.

Got lots of welding to do tomorrow. Looking forward to it. My dad is talking about getting one so I don't have to go to Tim's shop. But we will see how that works out. I have some pics to post in a minute.

 

Here is the bumper part..




Some grinding..



Final version just have to weld it.



Rear extension plate



Front plate



And the tricky part





Lots of welding tomorrow!!

Plus finish the Jerry can mount hopefully..and weld the tabs for the table.

 

What was your reasoning for covering the oil drain gap? Just for less things to catch on?

 

Yea and it didn't line up with the oil drain in the first place..it would hit just before the forward arch. So fuck it. I'd rather it be flat then catch on some rock. I have no prob with taking the skid off to change the oil.

My dad had a cool thought of possible putting a hose one the drain pluge and a valve on the edge if the skid..might fiddle with that. Got all weekend now.

So gonna weld shit tomorrow. My dad is gonna pick up some welder, hopefully a miller. Especially since a bed rack is in his future. And sliders. So that'll be sweet!

Then change my cvs and oil. Then clean up some more wiring and other stuff. No camping for me this weekend sadly. But my bro want to go climbing so ill take my new truck for that.

 

Nice! I like the idea if running a valve... Too bad that's not the annoying part to changing the oil on these things... Stupid oil filter... Haha which brings up a question, I change my oil every 3,000 miles out of habit. But I was talking with a coworker and he says that changing every 3,000 miles on synthetic is wasteful. What's your opinion?

Hoping you do get a Miller welder. Definitely the best out there in my opinion. All my dad ever uses and all we ever used at my school. I'll definitely get a Miller in my future.

You've got a lot to do this weekend, all I might do is paint some stuff...

I'm still jealous of your two Tacomas... Haha that will never end!

 

I wouldn't say its wasteful, but Changing any oil at 3000 miles is overzealous.

Modern oil is very good, and even dino oil can be let go to 6000 miles with no adverse effects.

Synthetics can easily be let go to 8,000 miles as long as you aren't running in really dusty conditions.

 

Just a heads up on your skids (or any full skids for that matter) If you get into some muddy trails now and then it's a good idea to pull your skids and spray them off. Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters runs Budbuilts on his truck and he pulled the skids after a couple long trips to southern Utah. Skids weighed 150lbs more than they wer supposed to because of all the dirt/mud that had built up on top of the skids. The situation can get worse quicker if you don't have any holes in the skids.

Kurt has since cut several holes in his skids to at least let some stuff drain through.

 

Yeah... When I swapped my broken CV, my diff skid got all of the gear oil coming out and there was no drain hole so I'm sure it is building up in there. I have yet to clean it up though.

 

Straight as an arrow Although I get the idea it is supposed to have an S shape to it.

Nailed it the 2nd time though, holy shit that is clean!

 

What MX said. I don't change oil unless I'm past 5k. It still works good up to 6-8000 some say even 10k.

And yes. Dual tacos!

This

Yea I remember Jon pulling his after our crazy muddying escapade. Had tons of mud in them.

Maybe ill drill some 3/8s holes in them

Hahahahahahaha right! You can tell I got better with the torch as I went lol. Was tricky at first.

 

I really like your roof rack, did you make it yourself?

 

Monte, at what point does one begin to classify your truck as a bad ass offroad RV? Let me know when you add plumbing... Then I'll be impressed. MAYBE.