92Shawman's 1992 3VZ-E SR5 Pickup

I just checked and got 41.5" on the frame and 64 at the corners of the bumper so I'm thinking it will fit.

 

Yeah I'm a fan of the Amsteel blue. Higher weight rating, no recoil if it breaks, and about 40 pounds lighter than the steel. I could toss the coiled synthetic rope around in my hands like a thing of yarn. You gotta put some muscle into just lifting the steel!

I asked JLee if he could measure his truck since he's got the Elite bumper and he'll let me try it on my truck if the measurements match and he said he could do it. If you are bored and feel inspired, go ahead, but no pressure if you're busy. Thanks, though!

 

Sweet, thank you!
Do you mean 41.5" for the frame?

 

Yep Typo

 

Sweet, thanks Jerry!
I'll pm you about coming by to try the bumper on, just to make sure.

 

In early 2012 I met logcabinwc in school and he introduced me to TW because of the BAMF slider group buy. That was the next large modification for the truck, and so far has proven to be the most useful. I got the 79" 1 gen tacoma regular cab sliders and had Jerry custom cut the legs to fit my frame. I was waiting on someone at school to see if they could weld 'em on for cheaper, but ended up taking them home to San Diego during the summer and having the SD Truck shop weld them on. I shoulda just had Jerry do it because the truck shop left some gaps between the leg gussets and the frame plates that could have been filled but weren't so back to Jerry I went to finish the welding.

Before they were installed, though, I went to Knoxville OHV area with logcabinwc, the first offroading that he had done in his truck. We mostly stuck to the main fire road but took one side road that ended up turning into an atv trail and then I tried a more difficult, steep, and rocky trail and failed once it got loose at the top. I didn't have a portable compressor yet, so I wasn't able to air down for the loose stuff. I ended up backing down that, but it's all good.
Photos from the steep road:

IMG_1975_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

I used the winch for the first time to get up out of these ruts:

IMG_1983_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Then I ran out of places to winch to up here, so after this I just backed down

IMG_2009_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

In spring 2012 we had some late snow so I went up to the Mormon Emigrant Trail to check it out in April. I went until my girlfriend was uncomfortable and asked me to turn around...unfortunately turning around I went into some deeper snow than I could handle (not very deep, to be honest, but deep and slick enough) and I ended up getting stuck. We dug out the snow from behind the tires and were able to get moving again no problem.
Here's where we stopped for lunch a little lower down on the road:

IMG_2875_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Then I went to SD for summer, got the sliders welded on, and went on a family trip to Sedona, AZ. We went on Schnebly hill trail and the oak-creek homestead trail. Schnebly hill was a nice easy trail with fantastic views of the red rock country. We got up to the top and a thunderstorm began just as we were beginning to head down. Amazing lightning shows. Oak creek homestead trail was farther out of town so it was less popular and had some more challenging bits to it, which was really nice. We only saw two other people out there, versus the half dozen vehicles we saw on Schnebly hill, not including the pink jeep tours. It also went down to a creek where we went swimming in the heat of the day to cool off. It was really nice.
Here are some pics of the challenging part, a steppy hill. It was rather difficult going back up with an open rear diff, but I picked a good line and made it just fine.

IMG_4355_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


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And my mom following:

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The next trail was Eagle Lakes up in Northern California with logcabinwc. We both drove in and then he parked his truck at the base of driveshaft hill and we took my truck through the bypass and up and over to eagle lakes. This was the first time the sliders actually took any hits . Unfortunately I also took some hits to my lca mounts, transmission skid, and crossmember, but nothing serious.

Here's logcabinwc driving in. Fun little drive in the beginning.

IMG_4845_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_4849_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

IMG_4854_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

I had these little cheapo lights that I put in the back as auxiliary back-up lights because my reverse lights didn't throw enough light out so if it was dark out I couldn't see behind me very well. They were in a bad location, though, so they always got knocked off. I broke two of them before taking them off all together. Luckily they were only like $12 a piece.

IMG_4863_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_4868_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Logcabin smashed his stock rock guard thingy on a root and it caved super easily...lead to a replacement Relentless IFS skid!

IMG_4874_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Poser shot...

IMG_4895_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_4906_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

And then I went to slickrock with TW. It was fun open/open with 31"s and no lift... Carnage: scraped the body behind my rear driver tire on a rock, scraped my catalytic converter, rear diff a little bit, lca mounts again, front skid a little, front cross member, transmission skid, hit the rear bumper coming off a ledge, did a number on my mudflaps, and slammed down on my carrier bearing skid. That last one was the scariest I think because it dented into my driveshaft, so every time I drove forward I heard a terrible grinding noise. Ended up un-bolting it on the trail to stop the noise. The scrape in the body looked pretty bad, but ended up not being to bad after a bit of paint and tucking the little chrome fender thing back into place.

On to the pics:

IMG_5105_edit_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_5108_edit_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Yay sliders!

IMG_5120_edit_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

But this is what happens after the slider ends...

IMG_5123_edit_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_5126_edit_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_5228_edit_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

This was a crazy picture:

My truck resting on sliders_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_5314_edit_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_5339_edit_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Got out and thought for a moment...

IMG_5343_edit_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

After fixing up the scrape in the body:

IMG_5427_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

I really want to go back now with the lift to see the difference. Maybe I'll wait for a steel rear bumper first...

 

Alright, I'm catching up! Only about 8 months behind now...but it was a busy 8 months!

Next project was the CB radio. I got the Uniden Pro 510XL with a Wilson 1000 magnetic roof mount antenna. Checked the SWR and was at around 1.1 on channel 1 and 1.2 on channel 40 or something like that. It was really low and I didn't even have to mess with it! I think it has a great range, but I haven't tested it. I definitely pick up chatter from long distances (aka Georgia and Tennessee in Sacramento), chatter that other people with fiberglass antennas don't get, but I'm not sure exactly what distance it'll transmit.
Radio went right into the ash tray slot, like lots of other people have done.

IMG_5467_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

First wheeling trip with the CB was out to Valley of the Moon and the trails to the West of the main valley with my parents and logcabin. That was a fun trip. A little challenging but not too bad, pulled the winch out to help logcabin up a sandy "bypass" trail that was actually harder because it was steep and put the vehicle at a bad angle.

Here you can see the antenna a little bit. This trail went right up to the border. Logcabin's truck is nose to the border line!

IMG_5464_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Logcabin

IMG_5469_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Mum's truck

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This was fun. Super crazy angles, a bit a**-puckering

P1020363_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


P1020365_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Don't actually have too many pics of my truck from this trip...

Later that winter I went back up to the MET. They had plowed a lot of it! There was a ranger at the front saying there was a bunch of ice on the road, I said I knew, and he told me what CB channel they were on. The BFG all terrains performed admirably on the ice. I was quite impressed. I ended up falling off the ice ruts at one point trying to pull over for some on-coming rigs, but I got stuck so they pulled me out. Later on another guy did the same thing for me and I winched him out. Fun trip, great learning experience.

IMG_5503_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

 

i'm lazy, if you need measurements than i can get them, but i won't now.

 

Now for some modification changes.
In the end of January I installed the Superstrut channeling into the side of the plastic bedliner at a norcal mod day in Fairfield.
To do so I had to remove the camper shell. It was the first time in about 17 years that the shell had been removed! I had no memory of it, so it was neat to see. The nuts on the bolts holding the shell down were difficult to get to underneath, through the bedliner, so that was a pain and we ended up saws-alling the bolt head off to get the shell off. It's a heavy sob, too, all galvanized steel. I'm glad there were a lot of people there to help pull it off! Thanks Nor Cal folks!
Here's what it looked like without the shell:

IMG_5536_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_5538_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


Truck sans campershell_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

The finished project of the channeling:

IMG_5540_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_5542_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Superstrut spring nuts and square spacers and hardware store eye-bolts for tie-down points

DSCN5090_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Hi-lift mounts:

DSCN5086_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


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IMG_5592_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

The problem is that the bed liner plastic is too soft to fully support a hi lift, so I stacked my wheel chock blocks in the corner underneath the foot and added a piece of plywood that could serve as a bigger base for the jack, too, to fully support the heavy part of the jack.
Also got the neoprene jack cover to protect the pins from any dust and trash/debris that floats around in the back of my truck from various clean ups.

DSCN5088_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

My biggest undertaking so far for the truck: OME suspension! Dakar medium duty springs in the rear with OME N94 shocks, OME steering stabilizer, OME N98 shocks up front, and SDORI 1.5" Ball Joint spacers. I bought the OME torsion bars but I heard that that they might make the ride too stiff, compromising the flexibility off road, so I haven't put them in yet. I actually loosened the torsion bars a little recently to make it a little better off-road. So far I'm very pleased with the performance.
I'll get the official before/after measurements and pictures later, but here's the before and immediately after (before alignment and t-bar loosening and spring relaxing):

IMG_6237_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

IMG_6252_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_6284_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_6250_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


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IMG_6244_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Had to get rid of some corrosion on the shackle pins

IMG_6239_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

I added some nylon spacers to space down the carrier bearing and the carrier bearing skid plate to try to reduce some vibrations. It did reduce the range of speed during which there were vibrations, but it didn't completely eliminate them.
I learned a lot from this install, I'm very glad I stuck through it and did it all myself, with the help of my parents.

I added 1" front diff and sway bar spacers to improve the front axle CV angles and to reduce some full-droop binding in the front driver wheel.

DSCN4185_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

The diff hanging down makes me a bit nervous, so maybe an ifs skid is in my future.

DSCN4189_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

And that's pretty much how it stands today. One little light in the rear up on the rack in the campershell to replace those other lights that I had before, but I also got new lenses for the taillights, so I can see much better in the dark when backing up.

DSCN5093_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Wired through the campershell, turned out pretty well if I do say so myself.

DSCN5094_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

 

Haha, yeah I think I'm good now. Thanks for the offer, though!

 

The first wheeling trip on the new suspension was out to the Carveacre trail and pancake rock with T4R, FJC forum, and MrGrimm and I repping TW.
It was great! I was the only one with both differentials open, but a little bit of appropriately timed throttle and momentum got me through beautifully. I hit a little of the transfer case skid, I think, quite a few slider hits. And the last thing was a rear bumper hit that pushed the driver side into the body, causing a dent.
Overall a very nice trip!
Big turnout:

DSCN4242_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


DSCN4246_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


DSCN4260_cleaned_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

It was a crazy trail

DSCN4277_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

The pancake. I didn't go up without a rear locker

DSCN4297_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Lots of great pictures of my truck from other people. The following pictures were not taken by me, but other people on the trip:

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And that's it! All caught up.
Hopefully I'll get out to the desert before going up to Davis but it's going to be so damn hot this weekend...maybe next week if it cools down enough. Otherwise hopefully the next trip will be somewhere up in northern California.

 

Finally went out today to get an "after" picture after the new suspension and to get measurements after the springs settled and I loosened the torsion bars.
Before:

IMG_6237_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

After:

IMG_6970_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

Measurements:
Measured from center of hub to fender
Before --> After = Change
Front driver: 21.25" --> 22" = +0.75"
Front Passenger: 20.75" --> 22" = +1.25"
Rear Driver: 18.75" --> 22.125" = +3.375"
Rear Passenger: 19.00" --> 22.25" = +3.25"
I was saggin' in the back before. Now it looks really good and I can actually load the bed full of stuff without it looking like it's gonna die.

Oh and I slipped a piece of an old bicycle inner tube in between the two longest leaves at the hanger pin on the Dakars to cure the infamous Dakar squeak. It works!

IMG_6972_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


IMG_6974_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

 

I got two of these little monopod LED lights from the Treklights group buy...very glad I got my lights! That gb turned into a massive mess and some people were out $1000's.
Anyways, I already posted the pic of the one attached to the camper shell rack in the back. I wasn't sure what to do with the second one because I really don't need two of them in the back and one is not bright enough to do anything better than the headlights can already do, so I wired it up to make a spotlight. I bought a $10 radioshack cigarette lighter plug and wired it to the light. Then because I didn't like being limited to the truck I bought a cigarette lighter plug end and a 12V rechargeable battery all for like $40 or something so now I can carry it around. I already used it for some night-time amphibian surveys for work and it was excellent! It threw a LOT more light than my co-worker's spotlight but didn't have the central spot that goes long-distance. I am very pleased with it! Now I just need a handle...


DSCN5099_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


DSCN5101_small by 92shawman, on Flickr

 

Went out to Valley of the Moon yesterday! Awesome trip with my mom. We drove all the way to the top of the mine for the first time! No damage to anyone, just scraped my transfer case skid and my mom hit a slider at one point, and I think I touched my bumper on a rock.
Pics coming soon!

The bike innertube in the rear springs shifted forward so the squeak is back, but I think if I wrap the extra around the top instead of underneath then it should be held in place, we'll see.

 

Did an Elliot Mine/Smuggler's Cave/Valley of the Moon off road trip with my mom to finish up the summer. Awesome trip, made it all the way to the top of the mine! The suspension made the road much much easier than it was in the past. I just walked through each obstacle with no problem. The only two spots where I had issues were once when I had two wheels off the ground and once coming down off the mountain where a rock got in the way of my transfer case skid. For both places I just had to back up and re-position to keep going with no problem.


DSCN5102_small by 92shawman, on Flickr


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She almost rolled her truck coming down off the mountain when she got to the hairpin turn after that rocky obstacle...

 

Nice rig! Just curious, how many miles does it have??

 

About 195k

 

Did a snow trip this last weekend with some folks up here in NorCal for the first snow this season! It was a fantastic trip. Driving through the fresh powder was a piece of cake, until I stopped on a hill with my tires at around 35psi...I spun for a while until I finally found some purchase and started moving again. Later the same thing happened, so I aired down to 25psi and got out just fine.

Here are some pictures:






Beautiful drive! Driving in pretty heavy snow was pretty crazy, too! I had never thought about frozen wiper blades being an issue...

 

Looks like fun