The BRWNTRD (Hasn't flopped yet)

Probably because you’d make them ride in the back while the beer gets the front seat

 

Well.......... Yeah

 

Today was a good day, met with @AY_ARONTRD and he extended my backup camera harness for me, the stock harness is a few inches too short to reach where it needs to be on the swingout arm.

While I was headed back south I got a message from @Bison Offroad that I was one of the people picked to get a free set of their Stop Cams and provide some DIY install pictures and feedback. I stopped by his shop in San Marcos and picked them up but was most impressed by the twin turboed, tube chassis, carbon fiber bodied toy chilling in the garage. I think it beats @Silverspool for coolest Miata I’ve seen.
I need to call Firestone to get a fresh alignment and then I’ll get these slapped on next week.
http://www.bisonoffroad.com/toyota-tacoma-05-15-camkit/




After that made the BRWNTRD do some actual work and picked up a new dryer for my grandmother. Big kid ratchet straps were probably an overkill but it didn’t move on the short ride down the freeway.

 

Plans for an out of town trip fizzled out so @desertjunkie760 and I got into some late night shenanigans last night at Otay. It was still hot but there was some wind movement that kept it manageable.

I managed to find a rock on one of the offshoots that put a small hole in the sidewall. We had stopped to look at the lights of Tijuana when I heard the hissing so I pulled down to a flat spot to change the worn and punctured tire with my worn spare. This is a recurring theme with us so got the tire changed pretty quickly with no complications after a few squirts of WD-40 on my hi-lift.


After that we waved at some Border Patrol types and headed down a steep and dusty hill. It’s a lot more intimidating going down than up, I was able to get halfway up open before I got too much wheel spin and decided to lock the rear.

 

never a boring moment out of the trail.

 

For the first time in many replacements @Discount Tire had a MTR in the correct size in stock so I will be back to 5 wheels tomorrow and ready for shenanigans.

 

Big day today, finally getting a chance to install the @ARCHIVE Rear Shock Relocate and 2.5x14 Fox Shocks installed. Also taking advantage of the bed being off to relocate the battery to the passenger side frame using a RuffStuff Specialties battery box, install the Trail Toys UHMW Gas Tank Skid, some @Wheeler's Off-Road Inc extended brake lines and replace the fuel tank evap tube that kinda melted when we did the frame boxing.

 

Forgot to post the pictures of the night run @Prayn4surf and I did to Valley of the Moon last weekend that resulted in another destroyed tire.

Went in the back way, went up the waterfall, got lost a bit since trails look way different in the pitch black and finally ended up at the mine at the top of the hill. The road up there is probably treacherous during the day, at night it’s downright scary.



You can kinda see the massive hole a piece of rebar put in the sidewall of the tire.


And apparently the 10th certificate is when Discount Tire takes notice. Had to explain to the Manager that I actually use the off road tires the sell me to do more than just ruin my gas mileage.

 

First thing after pulling the bed I changed the evaporator tube that has been riding in my truck for months, hopefully no more Check Engine light and fuel ups with no interruptions

 

@desertjunkie760 Got the upper and lower shock mounts cut off with a big assist from @BrownMike

 

It was reassuring that the trail at night made you nervous too lol. Good times! Im gonna try and make it out tomorrow if I can, gotta surf then take the wife golf, but thats not till 4. You guys doing the mounts tomorrow?

 

It looks like @desertjunkie760 is just learning to use tools


Got all the mounts cut off and ground flat.

Then Shane welded the battery box on and now my muffler doesn’t fit so it will be open pipes for a few days until I can get into the exhaust shop for a skinnier muffler.



Got the Trail Toys skid installed. Much harder to do the second time with the straps already cut to length.

Installed the @Wheeler's Off-Road Inc extended rear brake lines which was quite the fight getting the hard lines to line up properly.

After we bleed the brakes we threw the tires back on and remounted the bed.



Before bolting the bed back down I put the Sprinter D-Rings on the forward bolts to give me more tie down spots.

 

Tomorrow we will weld in the @ARCHIVE Shock Towers and then cycle the suspension to get as much of the 14” of travel available.

It’s taken awhile but this shock is big enough to go third.

 

This build is turning out great!

Are you only running one battery? What's it look like up front once it's relocated under the bed?

 

The plan is only one battery. The hole up front will get the winch control box and a bus bar for accessories that need direct power. I need to measure the distance and get some battery cables installed.

 

Yeah, starting 9-10ish, hopefully we’ll be done before tee time

 

Need pics and such when you do. I like the idea.

 

14” may be more than she can handle

 

These shocks are beefy, we decided not to use the full 14” stroke due to the leaf shackle locking out if they got too low, the new brake lines being fully extended and the lower shock mount eating up ground clearance. 13” seemed to be the sweet spot. With the 5.25” Durobumps compressed to about 4” there was still 3-4” of shaft showing, may need to drop down to the 4.25” to get that inch back.

@desertjunkie760 took the shocks back with him to recharge them and install an internal spacer. Final install will go down this week.



A terrible paint job on a pretty chunk of metal from @ARCHIVE


The too short +4 brake lines


The Trail Toys UHMW fuel tank skid



Not pictured, the several pounds of metal we ground off the truck this weekend.

 

What’s your spring?

And why one spring instead of 75lb masses of metal the rest of us are using?