Scott B.'s 2015 AC Build - Expo Style

Probably so. I like to avoid the constant shifting into and out of overdrive.

I do pull it into 4th (sometimes) going up hills, depending on how the truck feels.

Overall, very happy with the 4.56s and would do again.

 

Appreciate the feedback Scott. Think the same gearing is in my future also.

 

Earlier this month, I went to California on a 2-week expedition through the Owens Valley. (OK, so it was car camping and exploring. )

We traveled from Jawbone Canyon to the Bristlecone Pines, stopped by Cerra Gordo and Manzanar. In all, we spent 8 days exploring the valley.

We had a great time, keeping a daily journal and taking over 1000 pictures. I also learned a lot about the history of the valley - which surprised me as years ago I lived nearby, and frequented the area.

For those interested, I have started a trip report.

Follow along and be patient - we hope to add daily updates to the report.

 

Air Springs

The rear suspension of this truck includes heavy-load bearing Deaver springs, to accommodate the shell and interior, and all the stuff I normally carry in the truck. There is a little extra in the springs to accommodate the teardrop, yielding minimal sag.

However, when loaded for a multi-week trek, with trailer, extra fuel, water, food, etc., the rear end sagged more than I preferred.

I have known about air springs for many years, but never thought them the right solution for my use - which includes off-road travel. As it turns out, three of the trucks that usually accompany us on our westward travels run air springs. Their vehicle use is very similar to mine.

That knowledge set me to re-thinking my situation.

A big negative factor to me was the limiting of downward travel of the rear axle. My research led me to Daystar Cradles, which allow the bottom of the air spring to freely separate from the axle, allowing full suspension droop. Firestone specifically says not to use them. Without the cradles, the air springs would not fit (work) within my design parameters. I have read about many successful uses of the cradles out there, so I figured I would try them also.

The air spring kit, designed for a Tacoma.



These are the bottom mounting brackets. They normally mount the bottom of the air spring, but instead will carry the cradle.

There is one more issue with these. Stock Tacomas mount the u-bolts with the nuts down - I have a u-bolt flip, with the nuts up. These brackets need to be modified to clear the u-bolt nuts.



The cradles.



Modified brackets to the right, the spacer blocks and vertical support plates I made.



The spacer blocks will sit like this, on the bottom of the Firestone bracket. The lighter color on the bracket is where I sandblasted off the finish for welding.



A mock-up of the pieces.



Welded and painted.



I got a new set of 5/8" u-bolts from RuffStuff. U-bolts are a one-time use fastner.



Here we go. What I started with:



The lower bracket with the cradle mounted.



A view showing the vertical support sitting on the axle.



I ran the air lines (red) inside fuel hose, for added protection.



The finished product. The upper mounting bracket and air spring are mounting just as Firestone specified, so I did not include that here.

The red lines behind the shock are extended brake lines.



I finished the installation right before my multi-week trip to California in September, and the springs worked very well. No issues or problems.

So far, I am very pleased with this mod.

 

Bed Braces

Reading through the forums, (which is never good for the wallet!!) many people have found the sides of their truck beds splaying or spreading under load - bed rack, shell, etc. This problem is not limited to our composite bed trucks - full steel beds have been known to as well.

My truck bed did not exhibit much of a problem, but seeing as I have a shell, and go off road, I thought it better to be safe.

There are several companies that build braces for our trucks. Aside from the cost, none of the ones on the market will fit in my bed with the sleeping platform, without doing some modifications. Not only that, I have a welder. So, I decided to build a set myself.

A few minutes of figuring, and I came up with a workable design. By keeping the cross brace somewhat short, I won't have to modify the platform. Even short, it should be long enough to get the job done.

To get started, I bent and drilled some 3/16" steel:



I cut some 1/4" steel for the cross braces. And, made some really ugly welds...

I was having some problems seeing, but got sufficient penetration. Strong, but ugly.



Fortunately, the paint does a good job of hiding the mess.

I had some leftover ARP bolts from my 5.0L engine project, which dressed up this project nicely. Along the bottom, I used the factory bed bolts.



Here, you can see the cross brace stops just under the platform.



Assuming the welds hold, the bed sides should never splay.

 

hopefully it holds. I know my bed with the braces still bowed. Mind you I am thinking the weight of my cap and driving style off road may have had something to do with it.

Just throwing it out there for you to keep an eye on it.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

Oil Pressure

I guess you can say I am somewhat old school. I always like to monitor what is going on in the engine - with analog gauges. I have always been leery of "idiot lights".

When I added the transmission temperature gauge, I also added an oil pressure gauge. I finally got around to installing the sender. To be fair, one reason it took a while to figure out how to mount the sender was the location of the factory oil pressure sensor. I wanted to tap into that port, but doing so would interfere with an upcoming mod. More on that later.

I found this adapter plate made by GlowShift.



It installs between the oil filter and the engine.



The filter mounts on top of the adapter, as normal.



This turned out to be a very simple solution to the problem - much simpler than I was originally thinking about.

So far, it works well, and does not leak.

And, it gives peace of mind knowing/watching the oil pressure.

 

This Happened...

 

Just getting broken in.

By chance since you have your oil pressure gauge, have you done any tests like when first starting how long does it take for it to build pressure? Also curious what the idle pressure vs highway cruising pressure is if you can remember!

 

The last several weeks have allowed me time to get a lot of things done to the truck, both maintenance and mods. The scattered days of warm weather have helped, too.

First, a big maintenance project - u-joints and carrier bearing. While they might not be "worn out", I just passed 100,000 miles, so they are due for replacement.

Spicer parts



About to go back under...



Other maintenance items included a new serpentine belt and new spark plugs.

The first mod was seat spacers.

Reading all the commentary on seat spacers really got me wondering. Could tweaking the seat bottom angle really make that much of a difference?

To answer that question, I cut some 1" blocks out of a scrap 2x4, and placed them under the seat. No, I didn't drive this way - this was only a static test. Yes, moving the seat does make a difference.

However, being 6'2"+, I normally look out the upper 1/3 of the windshield. With the spacers in, my gaze out the windshield is even higher. But the seating is much more comfortable.

I sent a message to @olecoot, asking if he could cut me a set of 3/4" spacers. No problem - and they showed up the other day.



Using bolts that I already had on hand, the entire set installed in a few minutes.



I am anxious to take a long drive with them.

The next mod is a 5 for 1 deal. The base change is swapping the silver center dash trim piece for a black one. Purely cosmetic, but looks much better to me. I have always liked black interiors. Since the dash was coming apart anyway, I was able to do 4 other mods that each required the dash coming apart.

1. USB Charger
One of the 12V ports was replaced with a Blue Sea Fast Charge.



The lower dash, power ports removed:



The finished product



I had to open up the hole in the dash ever so slightly to fit the Fast Charge. For wiring, I made a short adapter from the factory wiring to the FC.

Why install the Fast Charge when I can just use a USB charger adapter? Simple - with my CB mounted under the dash, the adapter will not fit in the left-side port.

2. Seat Heater switches
As can be seen in the above pictures, I installed switches for seat heaters. I have the heater assemblies, and will install them once I figure out which way to upgrade the seats. Meantime, since the dash was apart...

3. TPMS Light Disable
After 3 1/2 years, my TPMS light is off!!!!!!!!

I cut the blue wire and tied it to the red w/white stripe. Works great!



4. Hypertech Speed Calibrator
After 3 1/2 years, my speedometer is much closer to my GPS reading!



This mod was purely plug and play. Program the box, plug it in. The hardest part was pulling the dash apart.



We're not done yet...

 

Black Interior Trim

The stock interior trim pieces on my truck are a metallic-ish silver. They are bright, and I prefer a darker dash. Fortunately, someone was looking through the parts catalog, got an idea, and posted it. The rest, as they say, is history.

I bought a set of black interior trim pieces - steering wheel controls, console cover and radio surround. The steering wheel controls are from a 2016, and the surround and console parts are from a base model truck.



I also picked up a 4WD switch from a HiLux. These are black - and lighted.



Installation was straightforward.



It looks so much better to me.

I will have post a picture of the entire dash back together.

 

I almost forgot -

I PlastiDip-ed my emblems



and finished the 2nd coat of paint on the front bumper.

 

Looking good Scott. Carrier bearing and u joints are on my list too.

 

Air Pump Filter

As a preventative maintenance measure, I did the "Uni-Filter Mod".

For those that may not know, the newer 4.0L engines have an external air pump that runs under certain conditions. This pump has a foam filter that tends to fail. Its failure can cause small pieces of the foam to enter the pump and cause valve damage (to the air pump, not the engine.) A simple fix is to replace the prone to failure foam filter with a pleated filter.

I picked up a made in USA Uni filter.



Here is the air pump (under the cover)



Here is a view of the filter (the air pump lid is upside down)



The foam filter and dirt deflector (at the front, or right side of the picture) are removed, and replace with the Uni filter.



With the cover on, you can barely tell the difference.



The filter failure problem is not as prevalent on the 2015 models, but why risk it?

 

Cheap insurance there. Nice job.

 

Nice to see your recent maintenance & updates Scott!

 

Thanks, Nick.

I am way behind on posting updates - 2nd battery, front bumper, winch, ...

Coming soon - I hope!

 

Scott,
Are you still running the blocks under your back leafs? If so are you happy with how truck handles?
Thanks,
Arrowshot

 

Yes, I am. 1 1/4" on the left, 1" on the right.

The truck handles fine with (or without) them.