TIPICOTACO's "Rad Baron" - '01 DC

I've been working on fabbing up a TC skid this past week.. I wanted there to be a bit more coverage than is offered by BB and Skid Row, so I designed my own based largely on the ones made by BoxRocket and HBtaco02.

First I made a wood template of the cross member out of some old deck spindles I had lying around. Added some gussets for strength


then I cut some frame plates out of 1/4" angle iron





A buddy and I then made the x-member out of 1 1/4" square tube (1/8" I think), welded on the frame plates, welded in the x-member, then welded a front-to-back support bar from the existing oem mid x-member to the new one. ... (Go easy on me about the welds.. it was literally the first time I ever used one.. they are solid as hell though)

Frame plates could have been a bit shorter, could still cut them down if I get around to it (not fully welded)


DS frame plate had to be notched out b/c of the hard lines in the way






Here you can see the front-to-back support that was added



I bought a sheet of 3/16" plate and began cutting it up.


Only had an angle grinder to do the cutting but it came out really nice. I drilled out two holes in the new x-member for through bolts and drilled some oblong holes into the skid. Got it all mocked up into place and it fits perfectly!! The TC skid 'underlaps' my RAT tranny skid and uses the same mounting hardware.

Just need to finish doing the 'whiskey bend' technique and get it all painted

 

Looking awesome Tyler. I always dig custom work.

 

Thanks Mike! I LOVE building things and engineering my own solutions to things. Such a great sense of accomplishment too when its all done

 

well I finally got around to upgrading my rear shocks, 10" Bilstein 5125s 255/70 valving



I had to drill out the bushings that came with them b/c the ID was too small to fit on the mounts, and also added an additional washer to the bolt side of the mounts to make up for the difference in 'width' of the eyelets/bushings. My previous 5100s were about 3/16" bigger (shown above)




I ordered a pair of Daystar 4.5" wedge style bump stops that I'm gonna bolt to the strike plates on the frame, should have them Tuesday


No more over extending my shocks!!



MERRY XMAS TO ME !!

 

Where did you order the 5125's from?

 

Dude your truck is awesome. I thought I would never seen aa dc on here like mine lol. Great build

 

Ordered through Amazon prime.. $150 w/ free 2 day shipping .. DSM was like $30 more, "no TW discount" per whoever I spoke with, soo $$ talks this time of year !

Thanks bro! Seriously you're like my doppelgänger! Very of that rear bumper you got !!

 

Got the bump stops figured out.. Daystar 4 1/2" #

$85 KU09009BK 4-1/2" Tall x 4-1/2" Long x 2-1/2" Wide Single Stud Competition Style Bump Stop

KU09009BK

I hated how it looked bolted to the frame, so cut off the mounting bolt, and came up w/ something that I think should work pretty good



I modified the base to allow it to be installed flush against the leaf pack, (the two holes in the corners were there already) just had to drill out for the centering pin and shave down the corners.


I also drilled out some of the poly bump material to make space for the bolts

 

Haven't done much to/with the truck lately.. the weather has been fuckin frigid, work has been real busy, and I busted my hand up pretty good a couple wks ago; but this wk I did a couple things that I've been wanting to do for a while

installed a Pop & Lock


replaced the cracked/failing 3rd brake light on my cap


and FINALLY replaced the sliding window on my cap that I shattered back in July @ Rausch Creek.... .080" plexi-glass
naturally had to replace the sticker as well

it's the little things, ya know?!

 

Nice build bro! Diggin the custom TC skid plate, are you gunna make your own HC rear bumper too?

 

Thanks I really need to get some updated pics of the skid posted, I've got the bends all done and it's painted up now.

Yea hopefully get to building the bumper this summer/fall; trying to get a design together has proven difficult, too many options!! Soo I'm in the process of stealing ideas haha. CBI, 4x, Relentless, 01tacoma, BoxRocket, to name a few

But first it's box the frame, shock relocation, etc, etc, etc lol

 

Those are definitely all good people/places to source bumper ideas from. looking forward to seeing some more of the stuff you do. Do you think since I haven't boxed my rear frame that I shouldn't get towed by my rear bumper?

 

Na I wouldn't worry about towing/recovery as long as you have upgraded bumper mounts. Your CBI prob mounts with 1/4" or 3/8" brackets so I'm sure you're fine.

I wanna reinforce the rear frame so that il have peace of mind with handling the constant weight of whatever I do with a plate/hybrid HC bumper, ie swing-out, winch mount

 

Yea I think it was 3/8" but can't remember. Phew one less thing I have to worry about doing haha.

 

So whats the total lift you got in the rear with the wheelers 5pack, AAL, and shackle?

 

"Total lift" from stock is tricky to figure out since my stock leafs were totally shot when I got the truck w/ 135k on em. My best guess is 3.5" -3.75"

The rear fenders are at 40" on both sides (265/75/16 tires 50% tread)

Also the leafs are well worn in now carrying a topper, hi-lift, and small tool box full time. Still about a 1/2" rake though.

 

I see. It looks good. I'm running 5100s in the rear with 1.5aal with overload in. Was thinking of adding the wheelers lift shackle, but wasn't sure if the 5100s would be too short.

 

I think if you add the shackle your 5100s might be maxed out on droop when offroad. I overextended my DS and had to go to a longer 5125

 

Thats what I was thinking. I guess ill just wait until I just do a whole new leafpack in the rear and upgrade my shocks too. Thanks!

 

Yea if you're planning a new leaf pack any time soon just wait until you get that installed (with or without lift shackles) then measure for new shocks. That way you don't need to play the guessing game with shock lengths and you can get setup with the right ones.