My 1999 Taco TuRD Build - I sold it

Chrome acorn style, probably Gorilla since they require a special socket. Direct replacement otherwise. Wheels and tires were done at Discount Tire by the previous owner so I really don't have the details on them.

 

perfect, thank you. Love the build by the way!

 

Thanks!

 

Completed the install of my Uniden 520 CB this morning. I installed it into the pocket under the stereo and needed a 90 degree coax adapter for the antenna since there is very little room back there with the air vent conduit. I originally tried heating and deforming the conduit but that still would have left a really tight bend in the antenna cable that I wasn't comfortable with. I also relocated the Scangauge to the ashtray location. I prefer this setup visually for me instead of having the CB and Scangauge swapped.



This is the 90 degree coax adapter -

$10 Ancable UHF PL-259 Male to UHF PL-259 Female L Shape Right Angle 90 Degree RF Coaxial Adapter Connector for CB Ham Radio Antenna Pack of 2

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MR1G4CP





You can see how tight of a fit it is and why I chose to use the adapter. It would have taken a lot of deformation to get the straight antenna cable in there and it still would have left a very tight bend in that cable. I could envision the cable failing eventually like that.

 

Wrapped up installing a Magnafine power steering filter and small Hayden power steering cooler today. Tightened the belt some more while I was at it. I still have some whine but it seems to be going away as I drive the truck. This was after purging the system of air with the wheels off the ground. I think with the way I have the flow routed through the cooler, air will take a little longer to work it's way out of the system no matter what I do.

Got the parts to redo the washer reservoir but haven't started on that yet. I am going to see if I can change things up a little more and mount it from the driver's side since there is a ton of room there.







Also replaced the radiator core support body mounts with the ones from the Energy Suspension kit I have. Not ready to tackle the rest of the body mounts just yet. I did these since I was in the front end already and they are easy to access.

Old one on the passenger side. I discovered the frame horn is slightly tweaked downward from one of the POs attempt at pulling someone or something with the frame mounted tow hook. The cross brace for the skid plate is also bent up slightly. I checked the whole front end for collision damage but there is none and both fenders and the core support are Toyota originals to the truck. Someone just did something stupid and fortunately the damage isn't worse and doesn't really affect anything.



And the new one. This is the driver's side.

 

How is that cooler actually mounted in that location?

 

Comes with plastic push pins that run thru the A/C condenser fins and has securing buttons for the back side. Pain in the ass getting the lower ones on. I had to pull the bumper and unbolts the radiator so I could move it out of the way enough to get my hand in there.

 

Ah gotcha. I’ve seen mounts like that before. Just couldn’t figure it out from the photo. Looks like a clean install. What is the desired outcome of that UG?

 

Great build thread, makes me miss my 2000 access cab. You're taking really good care of this rig!

 

UG?

 

Thanks!

 

UG = upgrade

 

Duh, I'm dumb....

PS cooler never hurts, especially with slow going off-road. The filter, those never hurt either. Mainly, I want to make sure this RP last for a good long time with lots of abuse.

 

Figured out and completed the relocation of my relocated washer fluid reservoir. Now I can work on mounting my air compressor in the passenger fenderwell.

This was the first configuration I tried. Copied the design from @Blackdawg, using ABS plastic sewer pipe in stead of the PVC and a Y junction instead of the T junction he used. Everything looked great until I tried fitting it. To get the washer pump high enough, the pipe was pushing the bottom of the fan shroud into the fan. And everything was extremely tight in there which would have made installing the power steering cooler lines and filter near impossible.



So, I had to rethink things and decided that I would try mounting the reservoir on the driver side since there is a TON iof open space on that side. But the Y fitting would allow me to drop it in from the top and the horizontal leg was preventing me getting it past the lower radiator hose.

So more rethinking and seeing what others had done. I saw that @cbechtold had made a similar reservoir and had used a large 90 degree elbow. So I picked up one of those and started playing around with fitment before glueing everything together.

This worked much better for me and would allow me to drop the reservoir in from the engine compartment and becure it to the fan shroud. The washer pump would be at the end on the passenger side and the whole thing was slightly tilted in that directions when in place so there was no issue with an air pocket in the tube either. This is what I finally ended up with. The 2 added rings on the vertical tube are just extra tube with a chunk cut out so they will snap over the main tube and glued in place. These are positioned so that I can run zipties underneath them and through the fan shroud to secure the upper part and not have it drop down any.



I drilled a 3/4" hole into the capped end of the pipe and added a small piece of pipe I cut to help keep the pump level and not put too much strain on the fitting going into the rubber grommet. Secured the pump with zip ties, probably overkill but it won't hurt anything and I was later able to route the washer hose thru the zipties to keep it out of harms way.



I reused the cap from my first attempt. It's a test cap with a large rubber oring sandwiched between the upper and lower plastic pices and tightened with the wind nut. I drilled a breather hole in both the plastic caps so the washer fluid would flow properly.



Here's how it looks dropped in place. Again, I just lowered it into place from the top down. Cap clears the hood just fine.



Secured in place.





I did have the add about 8" to the wires for the pump and also extend the fluid line about the same but that was easy. Now I have all the room I need to fit my air compressor in place and not have to worry about moving or losing my cruise control.

 

Nice work! Glad to see it all worked out!

 

Thanks! The cap idea I borrowed from you as well. Works perfect!

 

Yep. Guess I should add one thing to the cap. If the hardware isn't already stainless, get stainless hardware for it. I ended up needed to replace my pump about 6 months ago due too it being clogged with rust from the bolt that is in the reservoir. Cap has worked perfectly otherwise for the last few years.

 

Noted! I'll have to see what I can find in stainless to replace it.

 

Purchased a 4xInnovations front skid plate to replace the flimsy stock skid. Super well built, made from 1/4" plate and weighs in at 67.2 lbs.







I painted the skid with Herculiner spray on bedliner that you can get at Autozone. $10 for a can. Let it dry overnight and then installed. The install itself ended up taking some time because I was having problems getting the bolts to line up on the 4 rear mounting points. This is no fault of the skid plate, one of the previous owners had hit something and managed to bend up and rearward, the front cross brace that the skid plate bolts to. Bolting the new skid plate up to the front has straightened the cross brace out some but it was still slightly off and too a lot of maneuvering with a floor jack and a prybar to be able to get those 4 bolts started. I plan on replacing the front cross brace with something a lot more stout, probably with 1" or 2" x 4" rectangular tube. The frame horns are 3" but the cross brace drops down a further 1", hence the 4" tube. It will also need to be welded on slightly forward of the current location. You can see in the pics below that I had to shove the skid as far forward as possible to get it mounted. The rear 4 bolts are all at the front of the slotted holes.







The mid mounting points are super beefy.



As are the rear. I definitely see a need to improve of the stock mounting points for the skid in the area. Probably 1/4" plate cut to fit and welded in place.



I love the fact that there is a ton of room around the radiator now. The stock skid was slightly rubbing the bottom of the radiator, which would have led to an eventual issue. No worries of that now.

 

And I finally installed my Wheelers Superbumps. Had to enlarge the hole for the spring center bolt some since I have the All Pro axle relocation plates.