TheNatural's 2012 Totally Expo Trail Limo Build

Teaming up with Sarah now? I'm well aware that I need a diet, Bob. You don't have to rub it in.

 

diet or beef up the power and drivetrain...

 

I "finished" some more wiring and put the truck back together yesterday. All of my switches, including the new overhead ones, are wired. A lot of the lights need to be installed (or even purchased), but that'll be an easy job now that all the copper is sitting there waiting. I also ran the coax properly for the CB, installed the VHF, and redid my outlets in cab mod. Oh, I did the ABS kill switch mod too (previously the switch was just sitting there useless).

After I put the interior back together and fired it up on Tuesday I was right pissed that my airbag light was on. "The only airbag thing I touched was the connector under the seat, and it's fine!". After troubleshooting yesterday which involved reconnecting the seat airbag a couple times, checking every fuse in the truck, disconnecting the battery for a while (even though I read somewhere that it wouldn't reset the airbag system I remained hopeful).... I realized my dash clock wasn't working. I didn't connect that harness when I assembled the interior... which includes the passenger airbag indicator light. Plugged it in and great success - no more airbag light on the dash. Phew.

Aux speaker for the VHF that will live in the center console. Plug for the mic is in there too.


Out of switch locations again.




I tried to epoxy the VHF radio bracket to the side of the center console. I clamped it there overnight but it basically fell off when I removed the clamps the next day. Doesn't seem to stick to the plastic. I know the center console is dirty, but I cleaned the contact area with an alcohol wipe before applying epoxy so that's not the problem. Anyone have ideas for how to stick this bracket here?


And we went to this lake. I thought it looked cool so you get a picture.

 

Love your switches, I did this and should not have.

Subbed to your sweet build, your rig is amazing. I want all the things.

 

Thanks!

For OEM look alike switches check out AirOnBoard's ebay store! they're admittedly not as good quality as the OTRATTW switches I used in my custom switch panels, but they look much cleaner and they work fine. That's where I got the ABS Kill and LED Light Bar switches.

 

Put the last couple pieces on the rear bumper so I can finally call it installed instead of in progress. Bedside brackets will keep the bedsides from flapping in the wind, fold down table should be awesome at camp, and spare tire mount is waiting for my spare.



I decided to paint the rim on this spare before I bolt it on. Tomorrow it should be the same flat black as the bumper. I've had the full size spare for a while now, but I've just thrown it in the bed when I'm leaving civilization behind. It'll be nice for it to have a full time home.

 

I was just flipping through some old pictures from my attempts at learning to use Sarah's DSLR. I don't think I've shared this one anywhere yet, but I kind of like it. If you squint real hard and look through the blurriness, that's my dog! Also, we're in the middle of a major river which has to be good for some cool points?

 

I did neither. Put summer tires on, full size spare, and went back to the scales. 2560kg, which is 5632lbs with me in it. So just under 5400lbs stored. And that's without rack and tent

 

Grrr. I just went out and washed it by hand and noticed the OEM bug deflector is broken. So I removed it. But now there's some very sticky pads and it looks like whatever was used to clean the hood before sticking them on fucked the paint up.

 

So after I washed the taco I could tell how rusty (sliders and frame) and scratched (body) it was becoming. In my never ending war against rust I decided to up my game and go from a little wire wheel that went in the Chuck of my cordless drill to a bigger wire wheel on my angle grinder. This 4" wire badass was sent down from the heavens to slay the evil surface rust demon, and without waiting for batteries to charge half way through. WHY DID I NOT BUY THIS LAST TIME!?!!? 20k rpm of AWESOME! (well only like 13k I think because cheap angle grinder)

 

Looking good!
I didn't read through the whole thread but I wanted to ask you a couple things (sorry if you've already answered them)

What's your take on the ride quality with the 886s and just the US Offroad / winch weight up front?
And what made you regear for 33s? Just the plan to go bigger?

Thanks!

 

I found the 886s a little stiff before the skids and sliders. I didn't have much down travel. I also have a synthetic winch line on a light winch so my front bumper and winch combo is not much weight.

Regear was for bigger tires next time. The 33s were borderline on stock gears, but gave me a stepping stone so I didn't have to dish out cash for gears, lift, tires, etc all at one time.

 

Ugh. Internal struggle between my thrifty side and my cheap side. A local guy is selling the the cell phone booster I have on my "to do" list for significantly less than Amazon... but I'm broke and the next $$ spending mod was supposed to be rear suspension overhaul. LIFE IS SO HARD SOMETIMES

 

Cheap side won after the last post, but thrifty side won today.

I found a decent looking toolbox on sale so I ordered it. Is it for my Tacoma? well, mostly yes. My current system of piling tools in three different corners is adding a lot of time to mods. Finding tools easily should speed me up, thus more mods in the same amount of time. (I got the top & bottom, skipped the middle section in the picture)

 

Went for a casual little drive with my fiance last night to get out of the house. I was climbing a very long, steep hill that looked dry... Only to find out it was just a layer of crust on top of shitty clay mud. Damn it. Spent 2 hours washing it today. Doesn't even look like much but it dries like concrete

Edit: I think this is the unveiling of the snorkel too

 

@G.T. inspired me and I went hunting for mudflaps. I couldn't stomach the $250 CAD rokblokz were going to cost and I didn't like the idea of cheap plastic flaps, but I found something that I'm excited to try. Plain black 9.5mm thick (3/8"?) 24"x30" mud flaps. I'll have to cut them to size, but $74 for the pair sounded pretty decent. I might even have enough "scrap" to put some little flaps on the front and save myself some time repainting rock chipped sliders, rockers & doors.

 

Whiteline LCA bushings went on sale on Amazon.ca today. I've had them in my cart forever, but 24% off nudged me to pull the trigger. A few more things to assemble before I'm ready for the grand control arm rebuild, but this is a start.

Anyone in Canada that needs some poly LCA bushings for stock arms, check these out:

$146 Whiteline W53312 Front Control Arm Bushing, Black

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0070I9I12/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Aaaand the parts pile grows! My poly LCA bushings just arrived and I ordered poly cab mount bushings a couple days ago. Will do poly leaf spring bushings when I get around to doing the 63 swap, and the steering rack bushings will get done one day... then I think that's all the rubber outta there!

Trip planned: My 2nd half of July is going to be in the far north. We're going up to Inuvik which is currently the furthest northern road-accessed community in Canada (similar to Prudhoe Bay; not sure which is further North). Some sight seeing along the way.

Shit to do before I go:
-Oil change & regular service
-Mount my new custo-mud flaps
-Modify bed rack - lowering it a bit and making some weight saving changes
-Get RTT fixed up (some zippers and stuff have been ripped and need sewing back on)
-Add annex channel to RTT so zippers don't rip again (just ordered it from CVT)
-Check the diffs... maintenance intervals don't have me scheduled for changing diff oil until we're back from the trip, but if it looks like it's in need I'll just change it now.
-Mount bed rack and RTT
-Hardwire a power plug for the fridge
-Figure out how to mount a propane tank. And get a propane tank.
-Ditch the back seats and come up with a platform that has more room for both dogs and the fridge. (If time permits)
-Put together an essential tools kit and spare parts so I don't have to bring the whole tool box that I wont have room for.

Usually we have 2 vehicles. The dogs and some of the camping gear go in the FJ. This will be a little tighter.. one of those times I'm glad I got the DCLB

 

I've been catching up on TW over the past couple days, after quite an absence. Some of the progress on other builds has been crazy! And then there's @loco 's build..

I picked up a new accessory last weekend. I had to remove the tailgate to get it in the bed; thankfully the swing out gave me just enough extra length for a perfect fit. Now I need an expo trailer to put the RTT on!


The snow finally melted, so spring truck things have started (slowly, and with the easiest things in my parts pile). Today I put the summer tires back on, added some Wheelers superbumps up front, and did the uni-filter mod.

New bumps:



Old foam filter replaced by Uni filter. My foam had not fallen apart yet, but it felt quite dry and brittle. I could imagine it degrading more and falling apart in the next couple years

 

A couple weeks ago I did the first actual repair on my Tacoma, beyond the regular maintenance and replacing wear items that I expect to do on literally any vehicle. I replaced the EVAP canister to get rid of a CEL that has been on for quite a while. I waited to post to make sure the CEL was going to stay off.

I did some google searching beforehand but had trouble finding the best way to actually remove it (it's tucked in there kinda tight). I had to loosen the bed bolts and jack the bed up an inch or so to get it out. My brother is/was a Toyota tech and he said you just have to get the right angle to squeeze it out, but I guess I'm retarded because I couldn't Tetris that thing out of there for the life of me.