Zam15's Adventure Build

Getting close! Have they had your truck the whole time or did you take it for a bit to do some shake down runs with the suspension and take it back to get the bumper done?

 

Yes, had it for a few weeks for on-road and off-road testing. Found a few minor issues that they are working on.

But overall the truck handled better than it ever had before.

Bumper defiantly gives the build more of a finished look and a place to put my spare.

Mostly body work at this point.

 

Alright, a little more tweaking. Truck may be ready next week! Minus paint and I still need to tub the front wheels wells to fully stuff the 35s

Had the shop drop in larger pins, apparently they've swapped out many of the latch setups with a pin setups as there have been many issues with the latches coming loose over time ect.. Also added a point for a heavy duty discus lock to secure anything I would put in the bed. Only way in would be to smash the camper shell side windows. So the coil-overs should also be safe from tampering. The lock would also act as a redundancy from anything opening up while on the road.


Table appears to works great too, can't want to get some use out of it!

Had to do some troubleshooting on the fuel tanks, guess my old pressure release valve was closed and so I was only able to take on half of what it should have.
Should be good now. It's actually pretty nice having direct access to the top of the tanks, just have to pull the cover. Would make swapping a bad fuel pump on the trail super easy.
Some people were also curious about the bedside bracing with the fiberglass to support the weight of the shell + RTT. Should hold up until I upgrade to a Go Fast Camper and can directly mount it off the bed cage/shock towers for a truly stout setup.

 

While we are held up for the spring loaded locking pins for the swing-outs to arrive I decided to toss on my Jerry Cans, Shackles and test fit my lock, got tired of the stuff sitting at my place. Feels even closer now. Have to swap out one light that was bad however.

I was also worried about the opening around the shock towers and getting some pretty bad dust and dirt in the back, I was concerned especially if I was going with a camper setup in the back. Worry no more! Some quick fiberglass work at the shop and it will soon be completely sealed up!

Before:

After:

 

i wanna see more of that caged double cab

 

Probably about as "caged" as she'll get for a while. Good enough for the trail, but not race ready.

Truck is back on the lift, this week the front end was torn down to finish up cam tab gussets, while up there the lower bushings were replaced along with the cam tab bolts that have gone through some abuse, also the limit straps got some adjustment as they have stretched over time. Should cycle nice and smooth now!

Just stopped by and she's mostly back together 95%! Should be able to grab her next week!

 

I meant this one lol

 

Oh yea she's built like a brick house too, the rear bypass shocks he has are insane.

 

Front end is back together! Got a full alignment, apparently you can do that when you have a 4-Link.

Just waiting on a fiberglass cover, swing out spindle seal and locking pins.

Should be road-able tomorrow with most of that taken care of!

LCA Cam Tab Gussets complete. Will be much harder to knock her out of alignment now.

 

First stop the car wash!

Old girl is back at home!!!


Shock Covers:

Bed all locked up!

 

Took a quick getaway to Monache Meadows, left solo but ended up camping next to some folks from San Diego as well. They included a 1970s Land Cruser (Iron Pig), Jeep and a 4Runner. Made for a fun trip and new friends.


Truck did great! Only issues what the front end is going to need some serious trimming so I had to limit my speed a bit. Didn't even have a chance to test out the lockers! But the road into the valley was a good wheeling opportunity with tight squeezes between trees, hill climbs and boulders.


Overall great weekend, awesome weather, clear star filled skies with plenty camp sites on the river. Love the bumper, the table, water can and Trash-a-roo makes everything convenient.

My type of sign!



One of the last places to grab a cold one and supplies.



Getting info and updating my fire permit



Cows and that means lots of cow pies! Watch your step!







Exploring the meadows.








One of the river crossings.






Camp for the night.







2nd Day of exploring.





Bears seem to inhabit the area!



Places is just too scenic!









Critters



Off into the sunset!



Crossing Videos:

 

How much flare do the front fenders have? Nice taco! I like the half prerunner half expedition look.

 

Thanks!

6"+ Fenders and Bedsides, even then I still have to chop them for the 35"s

 

Dang dude. I wanna run 35's too. How much cutting you having to do?

 

The work continues! Making sure the truck is trip ready, looking to hit Death Valley soon.
Guess after 150k and a lot of dirt miles the transmission support decided to give up, one side was completely detached so I swapped in a new one.

New carrier bearing going in soon as well.

Picked up some circuit breakers for a few systems. Slowly redoing the wiring on the truck.

Ditched the useless clock that they Toyota decided to place behind the steering wheel.

Mounted an A pillar gauge pod, thinking boost/trans temp and oil temp/pressure?

Also who needs a GoFast when you can just build a camper out of scrap wood?

 

Carrier bearing was toast as well, should help with any vibrations and keep everything in place off-road.

 

The parts keep coming and they don't stop coming...

18 Gallon tank to go between the wheel wells. Not a ton but enough for a handful of quick showers and dishes. Hope to get it installed in the next week or two.

Have everything minus the heat exchange, still trying to decide on what to go with.



Getting the frame layout for the bed platform, looks good so far. Will likely add some vertical supports as well, either on the side or middle.

Going to keep it level with the wheel wells to get the most amount of space up top and keep it relatively low.

Hope to have everything above deck a little more dust tight.

Need to pickup some marine grade plywood and then I can start organizing!

Should give me a good amount of cubby space!



Also have some new rear springs on order, hope to get them swapped out before Christmas. Should help with the weight I've been adding and they'll match the front now! Silver vs Black

Current
14" x 250Lbs Upper
18" x 400Lbs Lower

New
16"x 300Lbs Upper
18" x 400Lbs Lower

Ideally you want 50-100 Lb spring rate separation on a dual rate coil-over, 150lb max separation. So this should get me closer to an ideal setup.

 

Traded out the old Eibach springs that were being used to find a good spring rate with new Kings, ended up with the same lengths as no 16" 300Lb were on hand. Already bumped and strapped so extra spring length would not have helped much, just don't like seeing unused thread. We'll see how these work out. So far so good! No more shock body rub, wanted to get that fixed before heading out. Truck is nice and level now when loaded up and ride is a little more firm.
Old:

New:


New
14"x 300Lbs Upper
18" x 400Lbs Lower

Still working on the bed platform, plan to pick up some wood tomorrow for the floor!

 

Happy that the truck is still a truck, was tight but squeezed in the plywood needed for the project



Have the first half of the floor installed, need some more hardware to bolt everything down then everything will be flush.



Plan to coat the wood and add access holes for storage down the road.

 

Water tank is in, added some tie down points, rubber mat to protect the tank from vibration from the bed liner and a ratchet strap tie down. Tank wont budge! Just need to decide if I'm going to mount the fill port internally or externally If I get a go fast camper I can mount it internally and just flip open the side door to fill. Also wont have to drill a hole in my bedside.





Main sections cut, just waiting on hardware to bolt everything down and I need to pick up some flap discs to polish it up a little and remove some material around the wheel wells to it fits nice a snug. Overall super solid! Finally have a fridge slide in route, no more bouncing around the bed!