TheNatural's 2012 Totally Expo Trail Limo Build

Put the Clazzio center console cover on today. Took a lot longer than expected because I spent forever trying to get it perfect. I'm still not sure about it, but it doesn't look as sloppy as it did at first.



Also started rewiring the heated seats properly. It got dark before I got the last couple solder joints done, though.

 

Ordered a cobra 75 and wiring/mounting stuff today. Firestik has been en route for a couple days as well. I needed to spend another $2.33 on Amazon to get free shipping, then this happened.

 

That's a long list of future plans! Looking great so far! Definitely will be watching to see it progress.

 

Got 5 reels of 5730 LEDs in the mail today. They're supposed to be super bright and I look forward to testing them out. I plan on using them for rock lights, hood lights and bed lights. Please chime in if you have mounting ideas for the rock light ones.

Unfortunately the package says the min operating temp is -25C. It gets much colder than that in the season of eternal darkness, so we'll see how they hold up.

 

Sweet, looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

The Cobra 75 and some wiring stuffs came this week. I'm starting to have a pretty big pile of stuff in my garage and more on order... I need to finish these damn renos so I can get back to working on my truck!

 

I gave the ol' gal a quick rinse today to get the mud and salt off of her. I was expecting a lot of rock chips, but I was surprised at just how many there are. I can't wait for a nice warm Sunday to give her a good polish and wax.. as well as touch up the frame and skids that have a couple of little surface rust spots.

 

Punched holes in the weatherstripping on the roof to accomodate the roof rack a couple days ago. Apparently can't measure and messed one of them up so I'll have to fix that when it stops snowing.

Ordered some CV's for spares a few days ago.

Ordered a 35mm socket for CV's today.

Ordered a Crawford Eco Block today. The extra mpg sounds pretty sweet, but we'll see how it works out.

 

What is the crawford eco block? Throttle body spacer? For more HP?

 

It's a spacer for the MAF. Moves the sensor from the middle towards the side of the intake where the air velocity is lower. The goal is to trick the ECU into thinking there is less air than there actually is so it supplies less fuel and leans it out. It's pretty widely stated around TW that our trucks run rich from the factory, so leaning out the AFR a bit should get the engine closer to optimal efficiency and increase braaap and mpg. The down side is that you're eliminating or reducing the safety factor Toyota shipped the engine with. The initial response from TW guys has been pretty good with most claiming a 1-2mpg increase and the worst reviews being no change. There's no long term testing yet, but if you have some time to kill you can read the thread here

 

Cool, thanks for the explanation man!

 

House reno's are soaking up too much of my time and money lately so there haven't been many changes to the truck. I did some highway driving on Sunday though. Got so much ice buildup in the wheel wells that my 265's were rubbing like crazy around slight corners or bumps.

 

Excellent news! My Crawford Eco Block showed up today. I ran outside to install it right away and it's probably the easiest mod ever done (remove engine cover, remove 2 screws that hold the MAF, insert spacer and replace screws). Hopefully I get the boost in MPG other members have been getting!

I also followed up with my many things that are on order. My custom SOS Concepts bed rack is finally in production, my armor and antenna mounts from BAMF are almost ready to ship, and my custom lightbar mounting brackets from PrInSu are at the powder coater's.

 

Love those pics ^ gotta love our northern weather

What kind of MPG gains have been recorded?

 

Just checked the PO Box and found more goodies. 35mm socket (for CV's) and the pin switch for my hood lights are here!

Most guys report a gain the neighborhood of 1-2MPG. Some have said they haven't noticed any difference. I figure a 1MPG gain saves me a few thousand dollars in fuel over the lifetime of the vehicle so it's well worth the $50 if it lives up to the hype! (actually more like $90 after shipping and currency conversion)

 

Ordered a UHMW gas tank skid. That completes my set of armor until the fairly distant future when I shop for a HC bumper.

 

How have the uniball's done in the snow and salt? I was told that BC isn't the greatest place for them because they experience pitting pretty quick.

 

It's only been 6 months and 10,000km but they're good so far. I was told the same thing so I went into it expecting to replace them annually.

 

I fixed up the weatherstripping on the roof after work yesterday. Nice to have that stuff back up there under the prinsu rack.

 

How did you make out with getting prinsu stuff into BC? I'll be looking at doing a fairly similar build to yours and looking at prinsu as my roof rack of choice. No qualms as of yet?