Raz's '04 Tacoma TRD build

Ordered a whole bunch of new parts today. Figured i'd get them ordered before more companies shut down because of this coronavirus stuff.

From Wheeler's i ordered a pair of AALs for my Dakar springs, an extended rear brake line, 2 sets of those OME plastic leaf guides (part # CLK6 I think), and two shackles for the front bumper. I was initially going to just get the AAL and the brake line but it ended up significantly reducing my shipping cost if i ordered like $20 more to get over the $100 mark (hence the shackles). then i realized that i needed to order another couple of sets of those clips (mine got a bit banged up from shipping) so i threw those in the cart as well.

Then, since i realized i was almost out of brake fluid, I hopped on Amazon and ordered some more of that plus a bleeder kit (mainly for the hose) and a 90 degree coax adapter for my CB.

 

more stuff happened today:
took the good weather as an opportunity to open up my foggy lights and try and get them clean. not sure how well it will work, i didn't want to do it during the winter because i wasn't sure whether it would last and didnt want to clean them, only to have them fog up again. we'll see how long it lasts but so far they look a whole lot better. I also put some recovery shackles on the bumper, I picked them up from Wheeler's when I ordered the AALs and the extended rear brake line. Not sure if they'll stay or not. The rear brake line is here too so that'll go on sometime this week. Still waiting on the AALs, they were supposed to be here yesterday but according to UPS' tracking system they are still sitting in the depot in Portland OR. If they get here this week they'll go on too.
Some photos from cleaning the lights:
Before:

Halfway done:

After:


Also, an update on the wheels and tires:

Have the wheels picked out, going with Pro-Comp 69 series alloys in matte black. As far as tires, I'm either going with General Grabber A/Tx tires or BFG KO2s. either way, they'll be 285/75r16s (basically a 33x11r16). Not sure when i'll actually get them because this Coronavirus shit is screwing everything up. I will definitely have them by the time I move (planning to move to Montana this summer) but that still gives a pretty wide range. as far as which tire i go with, that'll depend on whether I buy them from Discount Tire or 4WheelParts (4WP doesn't stock Generals but because of all the discounts they give you, it ends up being around the same price for the KO2s which are pretty similar but are normally like $25 more per tire).

 

Just read through, very nice build!

 

Thanks!

 

Installed a Right angle CB Coax connector today. Very happy with the result. almost looks as nice as @Yetimetchkangmi's install now. as you can see before, the CB stuck out quite a bit (as evidenced by the velcro seen). the right angle adapter helped it suck in nicely. the pictures make it look like you can still see the velcro but in person it almost looks like a part of the dash.

Before:


Attached to the radio:


After:


and between that and the fuse taps i installed a month or so ago (not sure if i put that on here or not, did it to make the wiring look a little bit cleaner), I think it is safe to say that the CB and the rest of the dash stuff is pretty much done...for now. next piece of interior equipment is probably going to be an UltraGauge.

 

Installed the extended rear brake line yesterday, went in without a hitch, the hardest part was getting the threads started on the connections but once that was done it was all pretty easy. Also my first time bleeding a brake system. I've bled my clutch before but never the brakes. all in all it went pretty well.

Old vs New lines, the difference in length is pretty drastic. this should make installing the AAL for my rear springs easier, wont have to worry about stressing the brake lines.


New line connected, now i gotta get the other side done:


Aaaand done:


Still waiting on the AAL from wheeler's. UPS lost that part of the shipment. the shackles, clip liner kits, and the brake line all arrived on time but the AALs are, according to UPS tracking, still sitting in the Depot in Portland OR. I called wheeler's and they filed a claim with them so we'll see what happens. either way i'll get the parts but it might be a little while. As a side note, shoutout to Wheeler's excellent customer service.

 

well no bites on the sliders. I was going to sell them for a bit of extra cash... buuuttt i'm getting bored after being isolated for so long... so i have decided to revisit them. I practiced running a few beads today on my welder, it's an old ass Airco stick welder, which was why i was initially hesitant to do structural welds with it. but after buying some new electrodes, i'm pretty happy with the result; enough so that i'm willing to give it a shot. Turns out that 7018s run a lot better than 6011. a little bit of random porosity but i can deal with that. I lined them up on the truck today and came to the conclusion that the kickout is too much. even if i tuck the sliders way back (which wouldn't protect me from anything like trees or stuff anyways), they still look kinda goofy.



I do like the way that the rest of the sliders look though, which leads me to my next task: i'm going to cut the kickout section out and weld in a new section. i can find the correct tubing at the home depot so that'll be pretty easy, but then the question becomes whether to make the kickout less intense, or to eliminate it entirely. I don't have access to an effective way of bending the tubing so it'll look a little choppy (the tubing bender that i used was from my school shop) I don't have any of the correct tubing yet but i did do a mock up with some smaller square tube that i had laying around.


or


and then comes the brackets... i have been thinking about it and i think that i'm going to revisit the advice that @jbrandt gave me. I think that i'll mount them up, and then cut the bottom bolt bits off, then weld a plate on to the bottom. this should create something like CBI's system. I don't have a torch at home so i'll have to be a little bit more precise. shoudn't be a problem though. tomorrow (or later this morning i guess) i'll go and pick up some more tubing and some 1/4" thick flat bar. then i'll get the sliders cut up and ready to go. the only other tool I'll need is a drill press vise. Not interested in notching tubing without a secure method of holding it down. I do have Hole saws though so that's a plus. only other thing i can think of is a proper welding table but i'm not interested in spending that $70 at Harbor freight if i can avoid it.

well that about covers it for today, anyone have any thoughts on what i should do with the kickout? if so i'll be glad to hear them.

 

hit 160k on the odometer today. was going to the home depot to get steel for the sliders when it happened. that's one thing i love about these toyota trucks, the odometers show the age...because nothing else ever will... weeeellll, except for my clutch and a couple of odds and ends, but i stand by my comment.

 

@razhick4x4 , trying to get caught up on "Whatever" Posts. I'd leave them alone. With them sticking out a bit, they'll do the job they were designed for. May look a little "goofy", but better that than a ding in the side of the cab or bed. Just saying. I don't have any yet, but maybe one day. Also I'm sure that you do much more off roading than I do.

 

I already cut them down. they still have a kickout, but it's a lot less extreme. i've got a thread going on them, i'll link it below. it still protects the bed sides, but it doesn't stick so far out. I might not be able to use it as a pivot point any more but i'm ok with that. I do use my truck a decent amount, but the nature of it's use "off the beaten path" is such that it shouldn't be an issue.

thread for the sliders: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-1st-gen-rock-sliders.642218/page-2

 

Did a lot of work on the sliders today and since it's truck related, I figured that i would throw it up here.

for anyone interested, i have a more extensive thread devoted to the sliders alone here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-1st-gen-rock-sliders.642218/
I got the first one welded up. not the prettiest but it should be plenty strong. I kinda figured out what i was doing towards the end, so i went back over the part that i welded first and made a weld pad of sorts. that should give me plenty of meat to grind down to make it look good. i didn't end up having to use the bits of smaller tube, I made tabs to help it lock in better (was planning on having both) and the tabs held it really well. pretty happy with how it's turning out so far. stayed straight through the welding and all that so i've got no complaints. tomorrow i'll weld the other one, grind the welds on this one down, and then cap the tubing. I really wish that i had a bench grinder but the angle grinder is working just fine. it would mainly come in handy for stuff like beveling edges on tubing before i tack it up.

you can see here how i mocked it up on the table:


it was actually stable enough like that to set it up to see how it looked.

and for reference, before:


I was pretty happy with that. the kick-out is there to protect the bedside a bit more, but it isn't so overstated. it just barely sticks out past the tire. it should be right in line once i get my new wheels and new tires. planning on going with 285s (running 265s currently) and a wheel with 1/2" less backspacing, so they should stick out a bit more.


all clamped up, i put them both together to make sure that it was roughly symmetrical. I'm not looking for perfection since they'll be on different sides so you won't see them together, but they're close which is good enough for me.


tack welded. I went and tacked them up to keep them in place before unclamping them and putting a bevel+gap wherever there wasn't one with a grinder. it might've been easier to bevel them without them assembled but i didn't want to risk taking too much off and then the pieces not fitting. this way gave me a little more control.


and all welded up. like i said, i'll grind the welds down tomorrow (or maybe tonight if i feel like it), and then weld the other one up as well as cap the ends tomorrow. pretty pleased overall, they didn't warp or anything during welding and the two pieces should be seamless once it's all ground out. How do y'all like my makeshift welding table?





"Straight enough for the girls I go out with." - AvE

well that's all for tonight. I have some other stuff to do tomorrow but i'm hoping to be done with that by noon. Ideally i'll be done with the sliders by tomorrow night and i'll start on the bracket mods Monday.

 

Today I got one of the sliders pretty much finished. there are still some welds that i need to go back over, but TBH that's more for asthetics than anything else. they should be plenty strong but i'm not grinding the kicker welds down (want there to be as much meat there as possible) so i want them to look somewhat decent. I initially was just going to line the altered bracket up and tack it, but then i decided to add the other two brackets and see if i could get it tacked. then i just kept going and before ya know it... one is all welded up. The welds wont win any beauty pageants but they should be plenty strong... . tomorrow i'm going to clean the welds up a bit, and then hopefully get it primed. i'll try'n get the other side done too.

Bracket lined up:


I shoved a piece of 1/16th" stainless in between the back plate before i clamped it so that there would be a little bit of wiggle room and it wouldn't be so tight.


Bracket all tack welded up. overhead welds are hard. not too bad for my first ever time though...i got it done:


all the brackets on:


slider lined up and sitting on jackstands:


no supports!


off the truck for final welding. I did as much as i could on the truck, to keep it from warping. I think it turned out ok:


as I said, not the prettiest but it will do. you wont see these ones as they'll be hidden under the pinch weld. getting excited, very happy with how they're turning out. looks much better than before.

 

Made a lot of progress today on the sliders. I got the driver's side all welded up, the passenger side primed and painted W/Rustoleum bedliner, and the driver's side primed. the driver's side was easier to weld (i got some of the muscle memory down) but it was a lot harder to line up. the front and middle brackets went in fine, but the rear was being a real bitch. it took me well over an hour of grinding with a dremmel and filing before i could get it to sort of fit. even now, it's not perfect but it's plenty strong. my truck was in a minor rear end collision before i bought it so that might be part of why the frame is a little wider behind the rear body mount on the driver's side. then, as it that wasn't bad enough, i couldn't get the slider to sit level, while keeping all the brackets in alignment with the main tube. i think i found a good middle ground but it's still a little bit sloped. this was part of the compromise of bolt ons though... i can deal with it for now, and i can always upgrade to weld ons later if i really want. overall i'm happy that it's working out. I had to use a floor jack to get the final bracket to align right with the hole and it lifted the truck a bit off the suspension. the brackets are definitely strong, so i think i'll live if it looks a tiny bit off. the finished slider looks great though! i'll paint the other one tomorrow, then leave them to cure for a few days before touching them up. i'm still waiting on the hardware to arrive so i'd be waiting to install them anyways.

Passenger side finish welded. i upgraded my welding table too! no longer sitting on a set of ladders. ruined a decent piece of plywood though, still functional but now it's got all sorts of burns and craters.:


Primed up:


and painted. i applied three full coats, four with primer, so it should be plenty durable. looks great!


this is what i did to support the fuel lines since i had to remove this bolt:


it's actually a lot sturdier than it looks. i was pleasantly surprised at how well it secures the lines.

Finally got all three brackets on...that took longer than expected.


Tacked up, you can see the slight angle pretty well from here:


but it's less noticeable if you're not looking at it dead on from the side:

I also might have a little bit of room to play with on the front bracket. if i can drop that one down by a hair when i install it, then it'd probably make it look better and give the pinch weld some more clearance.

driver's side all welded up and cleaned up for priming. the welding on this one went more smoothly than the passenger side. looks like i'm figuring out what i'm doing.


and the driver's side is primed! I just barely had enough primer in the can to finish it. you can see the spots where it's a bit patchy, but it should work. thankfully this isn't the final coat... although i don't entirely mind the color admittedly.


and that's all for today. tomorrow i'm going to try and get the other one bedlined. and then it's just a waiting game for the hardware.

 

got an update from Wheeler's today on my AALs. UPS can't find them, and they don't have any more in stock, so they're going to ship them directly from ARB to me. Better yet, if they have them at the Renton WA warehouse i might be able to just drive down and pick them up. Excellent customer service from wheeler's though, I will be 100% buying from them again; now i just got to figure out what. i'm hoping to have the funds for new wheels and tires within a week, and after that my next two things will probably be a Hi-Lift jack and a Scangauge. I thought about an ultragauge originally but even though the scangauge is quite a bit more expensive, it is more a lot more compact which is especially important in the smaller cabs of 1st gen tacos. plus, from what i've heard the UG doesn't do well with heat, and while i don't plan on moving to Phoenix AZ anytime soon, i'd like to be able to leave it set up year round and not have to worry about the heat frying it. 1 dead ultragauge and the scangauge will have already payed for it's self. The extra gauges that the UG offers are enticing, but really i'm just looking for Average MPG, Instant MPG, Intake temp (for a makeshift thermometer), and then i'll probably do something like Battery Voltage or RPM. not too concerned about Trans temp or anything like that, but if i start towing more than those readings will be be useful to have access to too. I plan on putting the Scan-gauge on top of the steering column, which is why i am particularly focused on compactness. Kinda like this:

I just ordered some Rivets to start my Hi-Lift mount and get it attached to the bed. i don't feel like grinding away the Line-X that's there (that shit is expensive!) and i'm also not interested in trying to weld to the thin sheet metal of the bed with my A/C stick machine. Riv-nuts would be more convenient, but Rivets will do the same job and i've already got the tool to install them. I liked what @jbrandt did with his mount and i picked up some 1/8"x2" flat bar when i bought the rest of the steel for the sliders, so i'm all set. now all i need is the jack.

 

Finally bit the bullet and ordered a Hi-Lift jack. Supposed to be here by the 8th but i suspect it'll come sooner. all the shipping times are inflated right now due to the covid stuff, but in actuality i haven't found them to be that bad. I was initially going to buy from 4wp but Amazon had it 15 dollars cheaper and since i was having it delivered anyways...

I went with the All-cast one. might be overkill but i'd rather it not let me down when i need it to. once it arrives i'll be building a mount for it.

$103 Hi-Lift Jack HL-485 48" Red All Cast Jack

https://www.amazon.com/Hi-Lift-Jack-HL485-Red-Cast/dp/B000688VNE/ref=sr_1_2?crid=33G1FYR2TRQW3&dchild=1&keywords=hi+lift+jack&qid=1588227808&sprefix=hi+li%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-2&th=1

 

The extra leafs from Wheeler's finally arrived today. UPS couldn't find the set they lost so Wheeler's expedited another set out to me as soon as they could get another set in stock. Hoping to put them in sometime this weekend... maybe Sunday.


The sliders are all painted and go on tomorrow, I also just ordered a Scangauge for the truck. Supposed to be here on the 9th but again, i'm hoping that's a generous estimate. I'm waiting until Memorial Day to order my tires but i'm going with E-Rated General Grabber A/Txs in 285/75R16 (basically a 33x11R16). The wheels that i'll go with are Pro-Comp 69 series ("soft-8 style) in Black. They are 8" wide and have a BS of 4.0" so they should help to kep the tires from rubbing the frame. if they kiss it...not a huge deal but that was one of the things that drove me nuts about my old truck. Will deff be doing the pinch weld and cutting some plastic to clear them though. Next major project will be overhauling my canopy. i'm going to carpet the interior (a bit for insulation while camping as but mostly to keep condensation manageable when sleeping in the back), replace the seals, and Replace my conventional windows with vented Windoors (this is the main reason i'm doing it). I looked at ordering a new canopy but mine is already color matched, in good shape overall, and this is only going to cost me about $1000 all in for parts. if i wanted to buy a new one that would be around $2500 minimum. as much as i would perfer a flush roofline, it's not worth $1500 to me and the high-rise is convenient.

 

installed the sliders today. they went in pretty easily, but they warped just enough during the final welding to make it tough to do. plus... the weather turned to shit halfway through the install. after a whole bunch of swearing, hammering and the use of a floor jack though, they went in. pretty happy with how they turned out. for some reason, i couldn't get the last bolt in, but i don't think it'll make a whole lot of difference. the strength comes from the brackets, not the bolts, the bolts are just there to make it stay in place. i think they look good though!

Passenger side:

getting the passenger side bolted up:

the only bolt i couldn't get in. this one is on the driver's side front bracket:


they stick out just a little bit. should be a nice balance between low profile and protection. should take a bit of getting used to for getting in and out, but hopefully not too bad.

 

Ordered my wheels and Tires today! went with a set of BFG KO2s in 285/75R16 and a set of Pro Comp 7069 alloys in flat black, 16x8 w/4" BS/-12mm offset. was initially going to go with a set of General Grabber A/Txs (the poor man's KO2) but 4WP was having a sale so these ended up being cheaper than the generals. Only visible downside to these over the generals was that these can't be studded, but if i ever have studded tires on this truck it'll be a dedicated winter set. they're supposed to be at 4WP in lynwood in a week or so.
thinking i'm going letters out

 

Been working on a Hi-Lift mount. Been kind of a nice project, I've just been going out to the garage and working on it a bit every night.
i've been trying to build it exclusively with stuff that i already have, so that means only one lug stud to keep the jack in place. that'll be at the rear. the front mount will just cradle the jack, and will be right at the wheel well. i'm waiting to make the final cuts on the cradle until i have the jack, so i'm about as far as i can get before i actually have the jack. Also, since i hate pulling the tool box i keep in my back seat out and digging around in it (love having it, hate grabbing it), i took some paracord, drilled a hole, and tied an old cheap crescent wrench to the bracket. that way i'll have a wrench to snug the lug nut down on hand. this'll mean that i wont need to go digging in the back seat, just to get the hi lift out.

 

Got the AAL installed this afternoon. It went way better than i thought that it would; i'm always hesitant when it comes to dealing with potential energy and compressed springs (that's why i had a shop assemble my front struts) but these were a cakewalk. i was also going to replace the plastic guide liners but the cracks and chips that i noticed in them seem to have magically healed themselves. I measured at the bumper behind the truck and i got about 2" of lift there. prolly a little bit less once it settles but i'm more than happy with that. all i was looking for was something that wont sag below level when i have my topper on and sand bags in the back... this should be plenty for that.

Driver's side all torn down. U bolts and shock removed:


Driver's side leaf pulled apart:


All lined up. this was the hardest part. i finally used an old tent stake to get it all lined up and that worked great:


Driver's side pretty much done. passenger side was basically the same, except that the exhaust got in the way a bit.


Hmm, this could be an issue. perhaps an axle dump exhaust is in my future? it's fine at ride height but at full droop there is some obvious contact.


Before:



After:



Only casualty of the project was the plastic pump housing on my air compressor. i pulled the thing over when i was reeling out the line. still works fine though and it should just give the thing a little more character.