Scott B.'s 2015 AC Build - Expo Style

I love the setup. The truck runs nice with 4.56's and 285's. It's not a race car, but moves along just fine. Towing the teardrop, you can barely tell it's there.

To be fair, I only ran the stock tires and 3.73 gears for about 4,000 miles, so I don't have a lot to compare to. But, what I have now is very driveable, and I have no plans or needs to change.

Also, the engine temperature is always normal (even in hot weather towing the trailer) and the trans rarely gets to 200*. I don't think there is any unnecessary straining happening due to too high of gears (low numerically, with tall tires).

My suggestion is to save your pennies and make it happen. You will not be disappointed.

 

I live in the foothills of the mountains so we are up there quite a bit with the camper. It’s not bad with the MT I can just down shift and keep rpms up I’m just Leary of the extra drag wider tires may create. Maybe I’ll get the tires and see how it does. I’d love to step up to the 34’s but idk if that’ll happen

 

Scott,
What kind of rear springs do you have on top of your lift blocks? Weight capacity and lift in inches would be helpful.
Thanks,
Arrowshot

 

They are Deaver springs. He made them for me before they had "Expedition Series" springs. My truck is heavy - he built the springs to my weight.

Get the heaviest ones you can, with as much lift as you can. Your truck is heavy, too.

 

Deavers are definitely the way to go. Stage III U402's here and I am VERY, VERY pleased.

 

I got ALCANs with 3.5" lift and 1000lb capacity. Noted that my bump stops are a lot closer to the top. Have you removed your sway bar? It certainly rides different and need to get trailer hooked up to see how it rides while towing.

 

I am very happy with my Deavers as well. I had a set on my Ranger before the Tacoma - those were great springs as well.

 

Yes, no front sway bar - I am also running 700# springs on my 6112s.

I have added air bags to the rear suspension, since my load varies quite a bit with and without a trailer.

 

Dual Batteries, Part III

I want to be able to monitor the state of both batteries, especially when the truck is not running (camping, etc.) Being old school, I like analog gauges. I decided to add two Autometer voltmeters (gauges), to match the ones I mounted on the A-pillar.

As with all gauges, they needed to be mounted in a visible location, but out of the way. The dual cup holder at the front of the console looked to be a good place. Since mounting the CB radio above the cup holders, they were of limited use. Besides, I needed a faceplate around the CB to clean up its look in the truck.

I got started with some CAD work.



To mount the panel, I utilized small L brackets. 8-32 rivnuts were installed to accept the panel mounting bolts.

BTW, this piece is NOT symmetrical side to side.



The final pattern transferred to metal (aluminum).



I fabricated a makeshift brake to bend the panel.



The almost finished product. It still needs the mounting holes drilled.



Another test fit.



As I was wiring up the gauges, I realized that these gauges did not have an ignition/on lead. Once connected to a battery, the gauge reads voltage. I don't think a gauge would apply much of a draw on a battery, but I didn't want them on all the time. But, I also didn't want them on only when the truck was running. I really want these to monitor the batteries when the truck is not running. Besides, if they were wired to the ignition, I would need the key just to check the voltages.

The solution I came up with was a switch. I found a DPST switch to put between the batteries and the gauges. I ran wires direct from each battery to the switch/gauges and grounded everything to the chassis. Also, I used a Weather pack connector to allow for easy removal in the future, should that be necessary.






Here it is installed in the truck.



The location has worked out well - both driver and passenger can read the gauges. The only drawback is at night - I get a little reflection off of the passenger door window.

All in all, very happy with these.

 

Yeah, I am sooooooooooo far behind on my updates.

 

Just stumbled across your build... I can say I've thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to seeing your updates!

 

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.

Updates soon - honest!

 

Rear Bumper Tire Carrier and Fuel Can Swingouts

I haven't updated this thread for a while, but I have been working on the truck. A while back, I completed the tire carrier swingout, and plan to complete the fuel can swingout this week.

While this carrier looks like many others, I incorporated a couple of details I have not seen on other trucks. The idea that took the longest to come up with was the latching mechanism. Since I have dual swingouts, I needed to latch the arm somewhere along the length of the arm, rather than at the end. I went through a couple of designs before settling on this one.

To get started, I cut a rounded end on the 2x2 using a hole saw, to mate with the pivoting tube on the bumper. I also verified the length would work with my teardrop.

Here, I am determining the height I want the swingout to be.



A cardboard cutout of the tire was used to determine placement. I didn't want to block the taillight, and wanted to keep it somewhat high.



A side view, determining the approximate angle to carry the tire.



To mount the tire to the carrier, I picked up a front wheel hub (this one is a Dorman - much less expensive than a Toyota branded one.) The plan was to put the bearing-mount part of the hub into the 2x square tubing. Unfortunately, the diameter of the hub was greater than the opening in the tubing. We have a "Hobby Shop" at work, and there is a mill. This was a great project to learn how to operate a mill.



Several hours later, I ended up with a squared off section, that fit perfectly into the tubing.



Since these photos were taken, I drilled two holes in the tubing so I could rosette weld as well.



I realize using the mill was not the most time efficient way to cut to hub to make it fit, but it was a learning experience. And, the resultant cuts are perfectly square. I don't I could have been perfectly square using a flap disk.

Here are the arm pieces, laid out. The angled cuts are 40*, giving a 10* rise to angle the tire back.



Makeshift welding table, sitting on a sawhorse. Crude, but it worked. Lots of clamps to prevent/limit warping.



Test fit on the truck.



Here is a closeup of the machined and fitted hub.



Continued...

 

Looking slick on that tire mount

 

Nice build Scott!

 

Rear Bumper Tire Carrier and Fuel Can Swingouts, Part II

Tire carrier assembled, test fitting on the truck.



I bent and welded a piece of metal to the bottom of the swingout to act as a stop. This turned out to be a great place to mount the latch mechanism.



Both swingouts in the open-locked position.



Test fitting, with the spare mounted. Getting excited now!



The 10* forward angle.



The latch mechanism keeps the arms from swinging out; the plate keeps the arms from swinging into the truck. However, the only thing that keeps the arms from moving up and down while driving is the pivot itself. The pivots are know to fail from fatigue - from constant flexing.

To inhibit the up and down motion, I created a pin that locked the arm to the bumper.

The pin is made from 3/8" steel, and goes into a drill bushing, which has been welded into the bumper. I used a plastic flange bushing to eliminate the steel on steel. All these parts were source from McMaster-Carr.



Here is the drill bushing in the bumper, and the flange bushing in the drill bushing.


Here is the pin in the swing arm, just before welding.



A close-up of how it works.



I cut a drag plate out of aluminum, to carry the arm locking spring-pin.



A final shot of the completed, painted carrier assembly.



An additional thing I had to do was weld an additional brace in the bumper. The weight of the tire combined with the leverage of the arm caused the wrap-around part of the bumper to flex - a lot. So much, that I did not carry the tire until I re-enforced the bumper.

Since doing that, I have had no problems with either the carrier or the bumper.

Overall, I am very pleased with how it turned out.

 

Thank you both.

 

Looks great!

 

Wow, missed all your updates somehow. Looks awesome!!