Arrowshots Build

You will be invited to the next one for the front bumper. That said I am strongly considering taking off the rear bumper again to re-cut the left side of the truck. Haven't tested the flex in it yet but I might not have cut it high enough by about a 1/4". Also getting the bushing in to do the ECGS needle bearing mod. We have plenty more to do. Will give you a call so no wimping out when I do.

Tires? We don't need no stinkin tires!!!

Brian is doing the final touches on my grill though. Told him he will probably have to quit his day job when the orders start rolling in.

 

yeah he sent me a pic of that grill, you found the proper paint yet for the inner?

Brian and I did the ecgs bushing on his truck, not hard, prob be even easier on yours being brand new and not been dipped in mud yet (that I know of )

And yeah you need some more aggressive tars! I happen to know of a really good deal on almost new ones too... what a cowinky-dink! you have even seen the tars i am speaking of! let me know if you want details...

look forward to getting the call for wrenching parties soon! and it will have to be soon, working on finalizing and hopefully soon setting a date for my relocation.

 

Deer hunting in north Florida all next week. Looking forward to blasting around Point Washington for the week. Want to install the bushing weekend after I get back, more or less. Will keep you in the loop. Also might want to drop back bumper again also for some additional trimming.

 

East Coast Gear Supply (ECGS) Differential Needle Bearing Removal and Bushing Install

The following is the ECGS bushing intall modification for my truck. Have not had any issues with vibration but considered this essential to preventing them in the future. Fortunately Brian had the tool and all I had to buy was the bushing and the seal (didn’t use the seal since the original one was fine). Justin came up to help us and between his and Brian’s expertise it went well with only a few hiccups. By the way, do not go by the East Coast Gear Supply video for this install. The video only shows the removal of the needle bearing and insertion of the bushing. I was pretty much clueless about everything else you had to do to get to that point. Here are pictures and some basic descriptions of what we did.

Picture 1 – Undo the sway bar linkage, the UCAs, the brake rotor and eventually the hub.



Picture 2 - Me tugging on a bolt somewhere down there. More about getting the hub out later.



Picture 3 - Getting the CV axle shaft out of the hub mount.



Picture 4 - Got it out and hooked the special tool (camouflage was extra cost that we probably didn't need) and Brian underneath.



Picture 5 - Continuing to pull and pry to get the CV axle out.



Picture 6 - Justin continues to pull while Brian works underneath.



Picture 7 - Continued.



Picture 8 - Finally got it to pop out and the gear oil oozes out.



Picture 9 - Brian positioning the special tool to catch the gear oil.



Picture 10 - Continued position of special oil catching bucket to maximize retention.



Picture 11 - Positioning the ECGS bracket behind the needle bearing. Not an easy task to do.



Picture 12 - Bracket is positioned as good as possible and rest of tool is attached to pull the bearing out.



Picture 13 - Needle bearing after it has been pulled out. Broke the lip getting it out and Brian said that all of them he has pulled this has happened.



Picture 14 - Made sure to find all three pieces of the metal lip after looking it over carefully and checking to see if any other pieces were in the differential (that's why placing a piece of plastic behind the bearing is so important).



Picture 15 - Inserted the new bushing in.



Picture 16 - Using a large socket that matches up in size with the bushing and tapping it in.



Picture 17 - Tap, tap, tap.



Picture 18 - Bushing is seated well. Removed the plastic and getting ready to reinsert the CV axle. Goes in much easier that taking it out which is generally the case for everything.



Picture 19 - Continue to put it in place.



Picture 20 - Putting the hub back on and then discovered an issue. While I was using a pry bar to pop the hub out I was working to close to the bolts and ended up messing up the threads on one of them. Bolt wanted to cross thread and I was becoming extremely nervous about it all going back together. Justin proved to be the expert by taking it out, working on the threads with a set of cutter pliers (just ran the sharp side of the pliers around the threads till they were more well defined). Next try and it the bolt screwed down with no issues. Made me happy as a pig in crap when that was resolved.



Picture 21 - Finishing touches with castle nuts.


Picture 22 – Done.


Took us from about 10 in the morning and finished up at 5 or 6 in the afternoon after a lunch break. Probably a 4-6 hour job depending on your expertise and comfort at really turning wrenches and removing parts. Almost essential to have someone that knows what they are doing as well as a partner. We had three although I discount me as being much help when it comes to knowing how things are pulled apart. I do know more now though which is a good thing.

Good Things
[FONT=&quot]- [/FONT]Fairly cheap mod if you discount the manual labor. Parts could be had for about $60 (ECGS bushing and a quart of gear oil) as long as you have the right tools.
- If the truck is fairly new such as mine was you do not need to buy the seal for the CV axle. Mine was so new we really didn't consider removing it after looking it over.
[FONT=&quot]- [/FONT]Will really teach you how everything goes together on the front wheel wells. I continue to learn even at my ripe old age of (fill in your own estimate).
- Hopefully eliminated any vibration issues in the future. Did not notice any significant wear on the CV axle which was expected with my low mileage anyway.

Bad Things
[FONT=&quot]- [/FONT]Be careful prying the hub out. It is easy to drive a pry tool into the threads of the bolts and mess them up. Not a pleasant thought having to buy another one of those or too replace the bolt if that is possible.

Extreme thanks to Justin and Brian. Its great to have friends like them!

 

The following install took place over 4 days.

Picture 1 – I got my dual battery plate from Armor Tech Offroad (ATO). Tried to get one from Columbia Overland which was supposed to be specifically made for mounting the Diehard batteries. Got in touch with them one time and then they just disappeared and never answered any further Emails and phone disconnected. ATO plate was set up for Odyssey install but after talking with them and looking at some diagrams and going to Sears to check the Diehard batteries I knew it was close so I ordered it. I had to grind off about 1/8” off each side of the edges to give me enough room to get the batteries to fit.



Picture 2 – Disconnected the OEM battery and removed it and the plate out of the truck.



Picture 3 – Removed truck seats. Make sure battery is disconnected before you disconnect the air bag switches under the seats. I almost screwed up and was holding on to one to do so when I thought about it. Will they deploy if you don’t? I certainly don’t want to find out.



Picture 4 – My well organized work bench.



Picture 5 – Painted up the new battery plates.



Picture 6 – Removed all of the console after getting all the seats out. I was really shocked how easy this was and it makes me look forward to some future work.



Picture 7 – Bottom plate is in. Of note if you use these plates. I had to re-drill holes in the plate and reposition the plate because I set the right side of the plate a little too forward initially. More about this in next picture.



Picture 8 – Top plate in and you can see I have already messed up the paint on the left side checking battery fit. I spent more than a few hours working to get the batteries to fit in between the headlight bracket/light and the fuse box behind the plate. It was extremely tight. I finally took my 4.5” grinder to the fins on the batteries (hasta la vista Sears warranty) and took off major portions wondering if they were meant to dissipate heat (found out later they are not). Still very tight and finally I decided to move my fuse box about ¾ of an inch. No problem with self-tapping screws and this finally gave me a little leeway although it remains within ½” of the headlight bracket. I decided I would rather deal with a busted headlight than see the batteries move the fuse box if they ever shifted in the truck.



Picture 9 – Batteries are finally in although this is an earlier shot before I moved the fuse box.



Picture 10 – Big 3 cabling is installed. Notice the caps are still on the battery to prevent any accidents.



There is a video on YouTube at this link that was an excellent reference for doing the install. I got my cables from manethon on TW who works with Shok Industries. Hellaciously thick cables and very pleased with them. I have also now crimped and soldered about 6 1/0 connectors and consider myself competent enough to proceed ahead to the rest of the install.

Picture 11 – This is the back seat and I am installing the fuses, the Blue Seas fuse box and a solar controller.



Picture 12 – Console back in the back of the truck and have put the deep charge battery in place.



Picture 13 – Installed switch panel in the back for future hookups and it also includes a 12 volt plug.



Picture 14 – Panel with IBS equipment and Blue Seas fuse box behind the batteries.



Picture 15 – Installation is complete.



So here I am after installing all of this stuff on my electrical system and it is time to turn the key early in the afternoon on the fourth day of working on this install. I am nervous as hell and when I hit the ignition the truck turns over and stalls. Try it again and it does the same thing. Sweating bullets now and looking/smelling for smoke I give it a third shot and this time the engine settles out and there are no warning lights in the instrument panel. Thank God about 30 times over the next couple of hours or so for helping me get this finished with no glitches (still thanking him for that matter every time I start it up). Put everything back together and finished up about 1700 on Presidents Day. Thank you Lord that I have a fully functional truck to get to work tomorrow and I am not going to have to rip things apart and put the OEM battery back in.

Hooking up all of these over-sized cables was one heck of a job and I had to change the positioning a number of times in order to get them to fit well and have some semblance of order. I installed split loom tubing on as much of it as possible and have pulled everything away from engine/exhaust heat sources but still have some cable management to do before I am really satisfied. A couple of them are tight and some are looser than I want. Also have quite a bit of wiring to do for the switches, various lights in the truck and need to consider how everything else will be set up. Have a lot of time to think about it now that the hard part is done.

Many thanks to Wil at Sierra Expeditions whom I purchased my IBS battery control system from. He literally took a few dozen phone calls from me over a number of months regarding everything under the sun and probably some dumb questions as well. He had accurate answers for everything I asked him and was there within a few minutes every time I called. He is a subject matter expert and I highly recommend their company.

 

Such an impressive build! Props for your courage to learn as you go!

 

Appreciate the comments. We were out your way this last summer for a few days in Aspen. Would like to come back for elk archery this next fall.

 

Come on back--there's plenty of elk to go around, and we've had a real snowy winter, so the herds should be fat & healthy next year.

Here's a picture I took on the morning of day 1 of first rifle season last October. I spent all weekend on those skis!

 

That would be the other reason I have for coming back out there. I went to a Navy school in Jan-Apr 1978 at Lowry AFB and got a lot of time in at Breckinridge, Keystone and Arapahoe. Been trying to set aside some time for a few years to get back there.

 

Finally had some time to go back and organize all my cables a little bit better. Here's what I did:

• Shortened various pieces of the heavy wiring that had more slack than they needed.
• Flipped the metal shelf holding all the control devices and my Blue Seas fuse box on its side rather than having it straight up on the side.
• Coated the connectors on the IDS control boxes with liquid rubber to prevent any shorts.
• Changed to quick disconnect connectors on the primary and secondary battery (was a big pain removing all those cables previously as well as having to rotate the battery connectors in order to do so). Can take these off fairly easily (sort of) compared to before.
• Ran the cable for my CB and Ham Radio. CB has high SWR and won't be able to use the Ham radio until I get my license but have it set up to install.

In the back:

• Rearranged things at least four times to get all the wires running neatly.
• Got a new Blue Seas fuse box with the internal grounds for the wiring. Was going to do this in the front also but ran into size constraints with that box on the small shelf that I installed everything on. Also will not take all that stuff apart on the front again without some major pressing reason.
• The white box in the top left is the solar charger. Can hook up to two 60 watt panels if I want to recharge the batteries.

 

The steel box I ordered from CBI just did not work out. I spent a few days searching and finally came up with this box however it also extended too far out from the swing gate for its intended purpose (to house the Flojet water pump, the Eccotemp L5 Portable Tankless Water Heater and Outdoor Shower, and the assorted hoses that go with with them). Have a friend whose son welds aluminum and he cut the back off and re-welded to make it a shorter depth. He did an excellent job and it came out great. It also did not cost me an arm and a leg. This box actually works out better for my purposes as the door swings down and provides easier access to the box as well as an additional shelf if I needed it. Painted it to match the truck. More to come on the shower later.

 

Removed my UWS box out of the back and fastened the inverter to the side. Put the box back in the truck, connected the wires to the inverter, then bolted the box down and pulled out the remaining slack in the wires to make a connection to the battery in the back. Did quite a bit of research on inverters and while it will most certainly power up anything I need the question remains about how quickly I would drain my 3 batteries (I know it depends on what you are powering up). Please feel free to comment if you have some experience with inverters. I read every review on this inverter on Amazon and you could pretty much power up a small house with a somewhat larger set of batteries and 2-4 60 watt panels provided you weren't running everything at once. The primary reason I purchased this was for processing my deer or elk in the backwoods and running any other appliances I carry (skill saw, drills, blender – LOL).

 

Moved the hot water shower components into the new box. Fits perfect with no wasted space and plenty of room to put the hoses in and maybe a few accessories. Have yet to test it (see switch box further down-I tested it after I had the 12v wiring run to the back and it worked fine) but installed another one in a friends and it exceeds my expectations. Instant scalding hot water. Have a shower privacy tent that opens like a portable hunting blind and a plastic Coca-cola box to stand on to keep the feet clean.

 

Bought a connector at a local radio shop and fitted it into one of my empty plugs under the radio. Bought the Midland 75-822 40 Channel CB-Way Radio and it works although my SWR is high and I can't seem to adjust it down any further with the antenna. Something to look at in the future when I get busy with the Ham radio (another install awaiting some time and I need to pass the test).

 

Brian put together my Satoshi grill and it really adds a lot of character to the truck. He also painted it the nice golden/brass color so it more or less matches up with the rims. Very happy with it and will really look good with the Relentless bumper I ordered. Have had a few questions regarding the III emblem (will post this picture later) on the front and I usually tell them it refers to the Holy Trinity!!! One individual (a security guard at a military facility) asked and when I told him what it stood for promptly wished me a "Blessed Day" and I returned the wish. Those in the know will figure it out and if you can't PM me and I will let you know.

 

SeaSense Marine 5 Way Switch Panel in, drilled a few holes in the sides for my wires to enter and exit and then ran the wire from the Blue Seas fuse box in the back. I had to take my rifle box off the shell in order to get this mounted. Not hard to get down but a real pain to hold up while I put the bolts back in to put it back in place. It was a major job running wiring from the Blue Seas fuse box in the back of the truck to each of these connectors in the switch box. Even so I have already ran out of inputs on the Blue Seas fuse box. Here is what I have the switches for:

• • LED lights for the back
  • Flojet water pump for hot water Shower
  • Camp light for swing-gate light
  • Line for Tepui tent accessories (light or fan)
  • One extra undedicated line
  • 12 volt outlet for whatever purpose needed (using for fridge)

 

The first thing I hooked up to my new switch box in the back was some bling. I got some green LED lighting and installed it around the windows in the back. It actually does have a purpose as green is somewhat less observable than red or another color. Kind of pimpy but I like how it came out.

 

Got a set by 4X Innovations (great price) and finally found someone that was not afraid of welding them (surprising how many shops did not want to mess with them). I had to disconnect the triple battery system (not as hard with the quick disconnectors now but still not much fun) and dropped it off for them to do the initial fitment. After that I took them to have them powder-coated and got them back to the welders the day after and they did the final welding. Really happy with their work and the fact that I was able to get them installed with just a minor bit of angle up so I can easily still use them as a step-up into the cab. Bought some no-slip 2" adhesive from Home Depot and they are done.

 

Had to go back and forth a few times to get the right ones for the front but finally have them fitted out. I would say I did get a somewhat firmer bite when I step on the brakes although it might be minimal. Search OCtaco in the forum if you would like a pair.

 

Well, the AALs I got with my Icon Dynamics Stage 3 system were not cutting it after I added on all the weight. I added the stock overload leafs back on at first to get a bit more lift and then put the swing gate on (shower box, full propane tank, two jerry cans full of water). I then put 430lbs of weight in the back with some full jerry cans evenly distributed throughout the back. I ended up with almost negative arch and could feel it bottom out when I purposely hit some bump-stops at higher than normal speeds. All this weight might be the normal load I carry while hunting or camping so after looking at a lot of posts I figured the All-Pro Expedition leaf springs would be the answer. So off with the old AALs (Tacoma stuff is ridiculously easy to sell locally on Craig's List by the way) and overload leaf, and on go the All-Pro springs. DANNNG DANNG SWEET POONTANG!!! Now that is what I was looking for. Truck is really looking good now and no more need for any further lift. The Icon Dynamic shocks are still doing their great stuff and I am very happy with the lift and how well it handles on the road.