Scuba's 99 Single Cab SAS.. 5 Years in the Making

A couple days ago my Fiancé commented about how hot the floor was on the passenger side. I haven’t had the stock carpet in the truck for 5 years. Never really thought much about insulation. She said she couldn’t keep her feet planted for more than a couple mins. Since the exhaust manifold and cat are pretty much directly next to and under the passenger side floor board I knew I had to figure out a solution.
I got on summit racing and looked at all the heat/ sound insulation. There was a lot of products for a whole butt load of money.. then there was this offering from Summit that was $16 for two pieces of insulation that are 23x20”. I measured the floor board and 2 pieces that size are the perfect size for the floor board.
I wasn’t sure how well the insulation would stick to the floor being that it was covered in textured rubberized undercoating. Aside from that I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep the glare off of these extremely shiny pieces. My solution was a piece of vinyl that was sold as an office mat carpet cover so your office chair slides well. I cut it up the shape of the floorboard and stuck the insulation to the bottom side of it. Also stuck a piece 5x14 up under the heater core on the trans tunnel.
This stuff works wonders! I had a carpet mat from a 4Runner covering all of this and literally there is now hardly any heat.
I definitely am satisfied and I think this stuff is a great value!



Here is a link https://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-879008

 

I ran into the same problem on my truck too except my wife complained and I just ignored her for like 3 years figuring she was being dramatic...Then I burned a big bag of Cheetos under the seat and melted a pen to the floor and realized there might be some credibility to what she was saying!

 

Picked up 90’ of tubing so I could finish the front bumper and get started on the exo cage.
Made a stinger and some headlight hoops. Going wheeling next weekend. Won’t have time to start the cage before then but at least I got the bumper done.

 

Looks good! I love hoop bumpers

 

I’m about 8 years behind the headlight hoop craze. Almost talked myself out of them but I’m really liking the outcome.

 

Went wheeling over Memorial Day. Truck did great. I was reminded how badly I need to make a legit spare tire mount, though. It was my 3rd time out with the 40’s and, holy shit, the STT pros continued to amaze me. They’re no stickies but I am very happy with their performance. I was pretty skeptical and hesitant to switch from the Goodyear MTR’s to the STT’s but I my worries are gone.

Since then I have started on the cage.
I was going to make my main halo for the B-pillar go over the roof and connect to the sliders thus giving me maximum protection for the B-pillar. Apparently, however, I’m not that good at bending tube.. After the second attempt using 13’ of tubing I decided to modify my main hoop. I cut it down and used some 2.5”x2.5“ - 1/4” square tube to slug it and connect it to my bed frame. Seems like a very solid alternative. After I figured that out and moved on it took me 5 tries to get 2 matching A-pillar down tubes. Good news is I was able to cut most of the crap apart so I can use it as gussets and supports.

Pics..

 

Looking good man! What tube bender are you using?

 

Thanks! I have a Rogue Fab M600-HD. It uses a harbor freight 20 ton air over hydraulic ram. I bought the DIY kit and put it together as a Christmas present to myself. Fantastic piece of machinery. I highly recommend it.

 

A friend of mine came over to help me cut the cage off so I could weld the underside. Well, that didn’t actually happen.. she convinced me to make the lower windshield bar now instead of later. I gussetted the top of the cage and made 2 supports for the B pillar halo. Tomorrow morning I’ll finish the down bars for the windshield and make a couple gussets for some of the joints. Then my friend will be back at 2:30 to help me remove the cage for underside welding.

This will get gusseted to the frame


This will get 2 downbars between the top and bottom.

 

She’s off and almost fully welded. Need to finish up some welding tonight and then get to painting.

 

Holy shit look at that camber on the pax side!!

 

That picture makes the caster* look much worse than it actually is. It’s a bit off due to setting the caster with the shackle angle nearly vertical when I first did the SAS. Truck drives great and tires wear fine. It’s all good.

 

Oh btw, she done.

 

Is a truck really ever "done"?


Looks good though

 

lookin good

 

I meant “she” as in the cage.

I won’t fool myself into thinking the truck is done.. it still needs a wider rear axle, better rear suspension, a tire carrier, a supercharger, a harness bar and harnesses, a seat in the bed, a working e-brake, ARP knuckle studs..... I could keep going. But, overall, I would consider what I have now to be as close to what I’ve always wanted and envisioned as I have ever been.

 

Also, I didn’t choose the John Deere green to make a clone of Pepe’s Tacoma, but it’s funny how similar it is now.
To be honest, reading this magazine 12 years ago helped spark a fire that gave me my desire to go wheelin and build a Toyota.

 

Stock knuckle studs FTW.

 

Got the AC working again after 9 years.
One of the lines busted back in the day and I never got around to spending $300 for new ones. Then in 2013 the system threw the belt because the idler pulley seized up.
The new cab came with an intact and charged AC system however the compressor was for a V6. I replaced the idler pulley earlier this year and then realized that the compressor pulley sits much further forward than it and the pulley on the crank. The V6 compressor pulley is also .875” bigger than the 4cyl pulley. I ended up finding a 3 rib, 900mm belt that would use the back 3 ribs of the compressor and the front 3 ribs of the idler and crank pulleys. Then after figuring that out I found out that the system needed a charge so I picked up a can of refrigerant from Autozone. Fucker blows ice cold now!