The Does Everything, but Sucks at Everything Build

I can’t believe all the issues you’ve had with what should have been a “bolt in” axle swap. At least Currie replaces the axles at bearings. Are the new hubs at least in spec? And with out any wobble even with your measurements?

 

Yeah I knew it wasn't "bolt in" when I was looking into the axle, I guess their definition of "bolt in" means you need a 20+ton press and a welder for the install.

I didn't even bother checking the new axles, the truck had been on jack stands for about 2 months at that point, I just wanted to get it back on the ground and start making progress on the suspension.

 

After I got the truck back on the ground I took it over to frame shop since it appeared that the frame was tweaked in the rear as I had some measurements on the shock mounts that were off by quite a bit. The guy that did the inspection said he couldn't find anything wrong with the frame and checked everything he could think of. All he could find that was weird was that 1) The brand new leaf springs are basically flat (I already knew that) 2) The driver side spring was sagging lower than the passenger side by 1/2".

I had the following regrets after everything was said and done:

I don't intend on adding any cross bracing between the hoops so I added a lot of gusseting, maybe too much, but hopefully it'll hold till the truck gets retired from camping trips.

I fucked up my set of 2.0 hydro bumps, I needed to lower them down a bit to limit the leafs going negative and tried to half ass it by putting spacers in above them. This placed the nut that holds the bump in a hollow section of thread can't hold shit for torque. I snugged one up perfectly fine, but the other didn't snug up and just kept spinning and ended up snapping off part of the threads. Looks like I'll be selling a fucked up (but usable) set of 2.0 hydro bumps in the near future

Gussets on the hoop bosses are basically ornamental since the hoop->frame gussets do all the reinforcing. I suppose they look cool though

Minor regret, wish I had used the long curved style shock->axle mount instead of the short/tight style would have been able to tuck the shock closer to the leaf pack and kept the shocks at a marginally better angle.

I probably could have added another hole in the frame plates, but drilling those out was a royal PITA and wasn't sure where the boss gussets were going to end up.

I made the front hoop->frame gussets welded from the top to the bottom and put a gusset on the front and back of the hoop, this ended up making a cavity that was going to collect water, mud and sand. I had to add a top plate to cover up the hole I had created. If I was to do it again I would leave a gap at the bottom of the gussets to allow water/sand/dirt to drain out

I ended up getting 2.5 hydro bumps and I angled/placed the cans too far forward and were contacting the ubolt nuts/threads and ended up gouging the teflon/aluminum annoyingly bad (even with the excess thread mostly cut off) especially on the passenger side. Ended up having to cut off the can mounts and shifting it back and angling it different to clear the nuts/thread. Later when the leaf spring issue is resolved I'll cut off all the excess thread, but for the time being can't.

The giant ass cross-member double bracing was a fucking PITA, I just picked up what I thought I could make work from the remnant section at IMS. I ended up not being able to get everything lined up really well and was dealing with some big ass gaps while I was welding. In retrospect I wish just added some generic triangle shaped gussets to go in on opposite corners in the center, it would be lighter, easier to fab, and probably just as strong

After I got the truck back I stripped everything off yet again and started to tack and weld shit up. Whatever the issue was before that was throwing off measurements wasn't there anymore and the shock mounts were lining up properly.

here's the gist of my @jberry813 mostly-copy-cat-rear-hoop-set-up and then boxing the rear

Hoops and plates(and useless gussets) welded up


Put them on the truck




So after I fucked up one of my 2.0 hydro bumps I was deciding what to do about it, and was thinking about just welding some tubing to a jam jut and capping it off to protect the schrader valve....but then I thought fuck it, I'll get some 2.5s..... made up some bolt on mounts for 2.5"s. I had a couple small discrepancies between cycling/set up and the final product that forced me to have to modify these as the teflon pad and aluminum backing plate was getting gouged by the ubolts/nuts. Also I read a warning about welding too far down on the cans will shrink the opening and you'll have to grind them out, I did it anyway since I wanted the extra weld on them. The warning was right, definitely had to grind a bit to get them open enough to receive the bumps.


Next came removing the bed chopping out the stock cross member


Added frame boxing, cross member, and hoop->frame gussets



Added the cross member bracing (which I seriously regret) and rattle canned everything. I'm going to have to keep an eye on the reservoirs to make sure they don't interfere with the leaf spring pack brackets, I'm not a fan of fashion, but I thought reservoirs looked too good there to not try and see if I could make it work.

 

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Holy shit. Dude this is damn impressive. Why the new cross members? After all was said and done your frame wasn’t tweaked. Is this just insurance so it doesn’t happen? Or for something else?

 

Insurance, in order to completely box the frame the old cross member has to be removed. I think jeffzors sells plates to go around the cross member too, but isn't as strong as the full plates.

 

That is some nice work right there! That new cross member design looks bomb proof.

 

Ah, missed the step of boxing the frame when I was reading last night. Now I understand. It isn't that much more work remove factory cross members while you already have everything torn apart and a better option.

 

wow... subbed

 

Less than 10000mi after I did a power steering feed & bleed my fluid is already turning brown. Also I have been running into a lot of reports of people having issues with power steering and big tires, so trying to be proactive and hopefully prolong the life of the steering I threw in a cooler. The larger power steering coolers looked like they were just small transmission coolers and the small transmission coolers looked like they are just large power steering coolers. Said screw it and got a

$43 Hayden Automotive 676 Custom-Add-On Rapid-Cool Transmission Cooler 11.0” x 5.875” x 0.70”, Not for Direct Replacement

Hayden Automotive 676 Rapid-Cool Plate and Fin Transmission Cooler and threw it in there.
Pretty cheap so if there are any issues with it I'm out more time than money if I don't end up keeping it installed.

 

Changed out the fluid in the rear diff for the first time.

Removed and/or loosened up the bolts on the cover and separated it to allow the fluid to start draining out.


Kind of a pain in the ass trying to get the fluid out since it doesn't have a drain plug, ended up scooping it out with my hand and then "siphoning" out the remainder with a syringe and hose. I'll have to come up with something better since this was annoying and never did get EVERYTHING out, just got out as much as I could.



Put the truck in neutral and spun everything to make sure all was good. Didn't find any issues anywhere and everything looked like it was in great condition.



I have no idea why, but Currie put silicone and a gasket on the cover. I didn't feel like calling and asking why, I just did the same, I cleaned up the gasket really well and put a small bead on both sides of the gasket with some quick-set gasket maker. The premade gasket they have is some kind of weird feeling plasticy-rubber stuff, not quite sure how to describe it. If I have any leakage issues I'll have to call them and ask why they have both and the best way to seal up the cover.



Cover back on and bolted up.

 

Some more recent-ish truck photos

 

for future reference when you need to replace the power steering pump..


Genuine Toyota Power Steering Pump reman by AcDelco $132.79 plus core at rockauto.com

http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=5744385&cc=1441488&jsn=379

 

I've got a funny feeling you just jinxed me.

 

on my second rack and PS pump, I think that it's about due...

 

Sounds like your PS system is doing better than your chassis sheet metal.

 

I was thinking about adding a ps cooler...out of room up front though....do you have an addition tranny cooler yet?

 

I inspected my transmission fluid at around 40k and it was OK so I haven't bothered to look into a replacement for the stock one. I'm going to do a transmission fluid feed and bleed at 60k (I'm at 55k) and will decide at that point whether to get a larger one based on how the fluid looks at that point. I've been more concerned about the PS system since my fluid went brown so quickly and have come across a lot of people have issues with theirs recently.

 

Do you minister trans temp? Thing gets extremely hot with 35s....mine would get to 240-250 easily

 

Are you regeared?

I haven't checked mine, I'll have to monitor it on my next trip, if its getting that hot I'll have to go ahead and do the feed/bleed and put in a bigger cooler.