3 Tons of Fun! Littles' Build, Travel, and B.S. Thread

Your measurements sound pretty good to me, though I am in no way even an amateur stitcher. I think what you've got will be measured out should be good.

If you like I can talk to the guy that did mine, I'm sure he'd be willing to do another. I'll send you his info here in a minute as well. If you get ahold of him before I do just mention the black Tacoma with too many shifters and I'm sure it'll click lol. He was a good dude, not the best texter but good over the phone and in person. If he needs a template or something to reference, I'll be happy to pull mine out or leave my truck over there for him to work off of so you get a good boot as well.

 

Quick update on my most recent activities...

Visited my best bud from elementary school a few weeks ago down in Destin/Fort Walton Beach, FL. Fished on the ocean for the first time in my life and pulled in the biggest fish in our group. We scored a couple king Mackerel, Spanish mackerel, and a mangrove snapper. We cooked up the Spanish and snapper for dinner.







Spent a few days out by Telluride for coop's bachelor party. No strippers and cocaine on this one. Just blown wheel cylinders and early bed times. We ran Black Bear and Ophir, and part of the Alpine loop. My wheel cylinder blew out the o-ring just before the switchbacks on Black Bear. If not for the crawl box it would have been quite the cluster fuck to get down. A couple of oh-shit moments trying to work the clutch and e brake coming down, but I didn't drive off the edge and am alive.

Quick stop to see @In4aride and check out the progress on his 4-link setup in Montrose while we scarfed down some sammies.



Headed up Black Bear








It was right around this time, just before the switchbacks that my brake pedal started feeling squishy. My driver rear brake cylinder decided to blow an o-ring at the most important time to go slow. Fortunately I had the crawl box and ebrake to get me down safely otherwise i would have been strapping myself to the most willing participant and relying on them to stop me from rolling off the cliff. Oh and I also got to be a hero and drove a jeep down the first switchbacks because the driver was afraid.



Not my photos as my mind was elsewhere, but damn...




We left my truck in Telluride at the bottom of Black Bear. It was late and we scrambled to find camping and off Last Dollar road. Fortunately @Red Baron had a spare hammock for me to sleep in. I was snug as a bug in a rug until Alec, @bot102, aka my savior woke me up at 5:40am to make the almost 4 hour round trip journey to Montrose to get a replacement wheel cylinder. We met the rest of the gang back and my truck, swapped the cylinder and headed towards engineer pass by about 10:30am.




Dont have any photos after this, but we ran engineer after about a 2 hour delay due to rolled jeep where the trail washed out back in June. I fucked up and couldn't remember how the trails connected, so unfortunately we missed Animas Forks, which is an absolutely awesome stop on the loop. Next time. Sorry guys.

Aside from my brake debacle, it was an awesome friggin trip. I missed hanging out with everyone this year so it was good to sit around a campfire (albeit propane fueled) and catch up with my favorite people.



Prior to that, @johntoyota and I have done a bunch of camping on Rampart Range, the Gulches, and other various places along the front range. Despite the current world order, I have more nights camping this year than ever in my life and it's been a welcome source of balance and comfort getting away from all the bullshit of 2020.


Red Cone:



I guess my final update is that I sold my sport touring honda VFR and bought a hooligan bike. The triumph street triple I have wanted since my early 20s.

I fucking love this thing and being back in the saddle has been a source of internal peace I've been missing.




That's all for now. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying life despite the turmoil in the world these days.

 

Great to see you as well and check out the shop and the truck in person. That's a setup I have never seen and am quite impressed. Wish we could have stayed longer but glad we made the stop.

Man youre right about that triumph, it is a blast to ride and I have completely reinvorgated my passion for riding. Comfortable riding position, completely naked feeling with no fairings or windscreen....i just love it. Havent ridden a bike without a wind screen in a long time. When I was shopping around for an 800cc sport tourer a few years ago I stopped at a triumph dealer back in Philly to test a tiger but all they had was the street triple available for test ride. I ripped it up the Delaware river and immediately fell in love, but it wasnt the bike for me at the time. I was doing a lot of long weekends on my katana with with my dad on a Kawasaki concourse and his buddy on an FJR, so the BMW f800, triumph tiger and honda VFR were my bikes of choice. I eventually took a rented tiger over Ophir pass and that thing was awesome, but just a lot of bike for me. I actually dropped the damn thing on that hard left after the scree field towards the top. That's when I decided I like the idea of 4 wheels and a metal body around me when I got off road.

 

I was down there just a few days after you guys, the crawl box was awesome coming down BB, though that wouldn’t have helped with the the multi point turns. You have some big balls sir.

Did you run Poughkeepsie or just up Mineral to Engineer?

 

Yeah it was definitely scary getting my brain to coordinate the first stops. I smashed it into gear a few times trying to change directions. We went up mineral. Considered poughkeepsie due to a jeep rollover at the mines but didnt have the time to run that route.

 

Saving this for reasons...

$14 LM48548/LM48510 Wheel Bearing and Race Set-Race Set Front Inner TIMKEN SET5

https://www.amazon.com/LM48548-LM48...eywords=lm48548-lm48510&qid=1623948036&sr=8-1

Brute Force Fab swingout replacement roller bearings Timken lm48548-lm48510

 

They just lasted 5+ years without lube or proper care. Had I popped the cap off a time or two and taken care of them theyd still be doing fine. Operator neglect for sure. I am not looking forward to lifting that tailgate off the replace them.

 

I used to like updating my thread but it seems like a chore lately. I am going to throw out some half assed lame updates.

Early Sept 2020 at the gulches...I think. I managed to not flood my engine this time.



Later Sept in Steamboat 2020:


Wildfires up in steamboat when my parents came to visit. I mean there were wildfires everywhere in Colorado, but this one started while we were there within a few miles of town.




I'm also pretty sure this is the most awesomist camper van I have ever seen. Look closely. It is what you think it is. Two camper shells on top of a van. Bravo.

 

Late sept 2020:

Paid the Idiot tax.

Despite having straps through the handles and around the propane tanks themselves, I sent a propane tank through the tempered glass on the flippac. Cut some plexiglass to fit the the frame for $100 bucks or so. Not my preference but there are limited options to get replacement glass.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/transmission-temp-sensor-drain-plug.80034/#post-24283882

After all these wondeful years of ignorance and bliss, I decided I needed more numbers to worry about. So, I installed temp sensors on my crawl box and trans and got my wish.

I know all you naysayers think I'm a smacked ass for caring about the temp on a manual trans, but if I am to believe the readings, I've run my trans at 250+ degrees just climbing hills in CO and the fact is that oil is breaking down at that temp. So I am considering an oil cooler for the trans. Lots more research to do, but if theres any accuracy in my gauges that's too hot for me.

 

Top of the World

2020:



2018:

 

May 1, 2021 Old Chinaman Gulch

 

Thanks for throwing in some awesome pics. That was an awesome weekend and an awesome trail that was a blast with the crawl box.

 

come a long way since you drove it off the lot in Upper Darby...

 

A little more Moab in November. Ran Lockhart Basin and Hell's

 

Since installing my temp gauges on my manual transmission, I've seen temps over 240 degrees 3 times...yikes. Twice climbing a series of long hills in CO, and once on the trail after hammering it playing in the sand up near Walden.

So it's no longer a maybe on the trans cooler. Called up drift motion and spoke to Odom who was extremely helpful. They do coolers for other R-series manual toyota transmissions in race vehicles outputting high horsepower. They use the existing drain and fill plugs which are the same thread pitch and everything so they've got most everything I need on hand to DIY. Tentative plans are as follows...hopefully this post will eventually become its own how-to thread since I haven't seen anyone with a trans cooler on a manual taco

Parts List:

1) Drift Motion Manual Transmission Oil Cooler Kit
https://www.driftmotion.com/Driftmotion-Manual-Transmission-Oil-Cooler-Kit-p/dm3561.htm
Options:

• Filter:INCLUDE 240 Micron AN-6 Oil Filter

• Oil Pump:INCLUDE Mocal 17-311 Metal Gear Pump

• Thermostat Switch:INCLUDE Setrab 180 Deg. 10A Thermostat Switch

• Transmission Cooler:INCLUDE Setrab FP119M22i Cooler With Fan

• Transmission Fittings:ADD (2) 18mm to AN-6 Fittings With (2) Crush Washers

2) 1 x AN-6 female to male 90 degree for transmission drain plug
https://www.driftmotion.com/90-Degree-AN-Male-to-Female-Adapter-Plated-Steel-p/dm3478.htm

3) 5 x AN-6 Push Lock 90 Degree Fittings for trans fill plug, filter output, pump input, cooler input, and cooler output
https://www.driftmotion.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DM2378

4) 3 x AN-6 Push Lock straight Fittings filter input, pump output, transmission drain (attached to the dual inline fitting, after the sensors. See #7)
https://www.driftmotion.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DM2378

5) 17ft x 3/8" push lock hose
https://www.driftmotion.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DM31
-75" from trans to filter mounted vertical near with input near bottom of radiator mount driver side
-12" from top of filter to oil cooler near center of radiator
-24" from oil cooler output near top of radiator on passenger side to oil filter on driver side of radiator next to filter
-75" from pump to trans fill plug
Total 186" or 15.5 ft of hose + 1.5 ft of extra = 17ft

6) VDO 0-300 degree temperature sender 1/8 npt
https://www.vdo-gauges.com/300-f-150-c-1-8-27nptf-801-9-1.html

7) AN-6 inline fitting with dual 1/8" NPT port for both the thermostat (included in drift motion kit) and temp sensor (see above):
https://www.anhosefittings.com/an-male-flare-to-an-female-dual-1-8-npt-female-sensor-ports.html


7) 10ft plastic conduit

8) 1 x set of battery tie downs from AdvanceAuto (for cooler mount)

9) 6 x 10.5" 18 gauge sheet steel

10) 16" of 1 3/8" pre-drilled flat steel

Mounting



Cooler:
After realizing that the threaded side of the factory battery tie down was perfect for this, I bought a matching set of battery tie downs from AdvanceAuto. Hooked right onto the bottom of the lower core support. I do have some concern that they could cause the core support to crack sooner. I will keep an eye on it.


Pump and filter:



According to the install instructions, you can mount the pump any direction except the direction I was originally planning. I used a piece of 16 gauge steel from Lowes that I cut down to approx 6 x 10.25" and for the vertical support a piece of 1 3/8" drilled flat steel cut to approx 15.5" which I heated with torch and bent the bottom 90 degreees after fitting up the top to an existing bolt hole where my horns were.



I marked my drill holes for the pump and attached with four M5-.80x40mm screws. I'd recommend x25mm or x30mm length as mine are excessively long. I also wound up drilling holes large enough to bring the pump wires through to the back plate with a spade connector on the end so that I can remove the pump later without cutting wires.

For the filter mount, I had a rubber QuickFist laying around that used to hold my shovel on the truck. Works well enough for now.




Wiring:

The pump, fan, and relay are intended to be easily disconnected with spade connectors. The relay and wiring are on the back of the mounting plate. The clearance between the mounting plate and radiator is tight, but there close to 1/4" of space so I think it will be fine.

From my fuse panel, I ran about 12-14" of 14 gauge wire, which I then split off into a set of 18 gauge pos/neg wires to run down to the trans for the thermostat and sensor, as well as a set of 14 gauge pos/neg wires to run to my relay and power the fan and pump. Everything in plastic conduit.

The red 18 gauge positive runs to the thermostat, which activates the relay once it hits 180 degrees through a white "trigger" wire that I ran from the trans up to the pump/fan assembly. The black 18 gauge negative wire will serve as a ground for the temperature sensor since the fittings will not conduct a ground for the sensor through the trans like my old did.

The SPDT (single pole double throw) relay harness is confgured as follows:
Red: HOT while relay is OFF (Not used)
Yellow: Hot while relay is ON
Blue: 12v positive source
White: relay "trigger"
Black: ground

The YELLOW wire on the relay harness provides power to the pump and fan and is wired with 18 gauge wire and spade connectors so everything can be easily disconnected.

The BLUE 12v positive input on the relay harness connects to the red 14 gauge wire I ran to the battery.

The WHITE wire on the relay harness is connected to the white "trigger" wire that runs to the thermostat that gets installed at the transmission drain. This white wire will carry the positive 12v signal coming from the red 18 gauge positive wire on the other side of the thermostat once the temp reaches 180 degreees.

The BLACK wire on the relay harness gets connected to the 18 gauge wires for the fan and the pump, and the black 14 gauge negative wire that I ran to the battery all with spade connectors.




The final version of this has rubber grommets installed around the pump wires so they don't get cut open against the edge.



Its tight but theres just enough space between the radiator. Wrapper all the wires in plastic conduit before install.



Sensors:
Pics with the 1/8 npt vdo sensor:






Information:
RA60F Manual Transmission drain and fill plug thread pitch is 18mm x 1.5mm

Larger cooler Option ($269)
Setrab FP119M22I
http://www.setrabusa.com/products/fanpacks/fp119m22i/index.html

Cooler Dimensions:
Width: 8.27"
Height: 6.1"
Depth: 4.38"

Smaller Cooler Option ($69)
Long Engine/Transmission Oil Cooler- 5.5x11
https://www.driftmotion.com/Long-5-5x11x1-5-p/dm1893.htm
Cooler dimensions
Width: 11"
Height: 5.5"
Depth: 1.5"

Approximate dimensions of space for oil cooler
Left radiator mount to center (width): 10.5"
Core support to top of radiator (height): 13.5"
Front of core support to bumper (depth): 5" with trimming inside of grill surround

 

July 18, 2021

Finally got up Mt. Antero with @bot102 and mr and mrs @YamaDirtrider. Pictures don't do it justice. As much as I love seeing the remnants of old mining in the mountains, one thing that was pretty special about this area is that I didnt see any evidnece of heavy mining or piles of tailings. Just a beautiful untouched alpine tundra.



We were able to drive up to about 13,800 and hike the last 450 or so feet to the top of Antero from there. That was no small task. The incline is steep and completely exposed. There were at least a half a dozen folks with an excavator mining a claim just of the back side of the parking area. That's the only evidence of mining we saw up there.



Saw some goats on the way back. If you spot the excavator in the background, look to the right and hes peaking out of the rock.



We got back to the parking lot and had lunch and it was damn good timing. Within 30 minutes we were driving down and a wicked lighting storm came in. We had one strike just a few hundred yards in front of us down in the valley, then another up on the hill as we came around a turn. Photos and GIFs compliments of @bot102 dash cam.

 

Awesome pics!

 

Got a box of goodies in for my trans cooler. I plan to work on the mounting, layout, wiring, and figuring out the last few fittings I need this weekend. The inline dual 1/8" npt fitting looks like it should be perfect for my temp gauge sensor and thermostat switch. With a 90 degree off the bottom of the trans there will be plenty of clearance to the skid plate.