McFly’s Build: Budget is a funny word

Got a new battery today and figured why not get the X2 Northstar 24F battery. Local batteries plus had them and I already have a 24F in the truck. A 27F would be at least 3 weeks out. Added a diode to boost the charging voltage and will do the add a fuse mod so I can put a fuse back in that circuit.

old battery has been giving me grief every so often. Truck would crank hella slow and I’d need to use my jump pack to start it. Now it cranks fast and no issues. I have a new battery hold down bracket to paint up and install later today as well.

 

aluminum extrusion from 8020 arrived. Its magnificent. I may reorder the exterior gussets since the crap, literally, from TNutz is not worthy. If you're thinking of buying the external gussets from TNutz, dont. Spend the extra and get them from 8020. The stuff from Tnutz looks like factory 2nds and 3rds. The black anodizing also apparently turns gold

 

whipped up a quick set of shelf brackets to hold the extrusion out of the way while I wait to order $400 worth of hardware from McMaster to get the assembly underway

 

Put in my order for the remaining McMaster stuff. Only stuff left is the tent portion


I didn’t Cnc cut the center rib holes and front because I wasn’t confident in my welding but it’s pretty darn close. I marked out the space frame so I can drill them out in the ACM floor panel.

I’m hoping to paint the space frame this week and hopefully dry fit the tall extrusion this weekend. I do need to figure out how to seal the floor to space frame and floor to extrusion.

 

I recommend any of the 3m marine adhesives ...many years in boats, and this stuff is flex and seals well. Choose your bonding strength dependent on how much you wanna be able to dissemble..

 

108,7xx

sideswiped by a distracted driver. Waiting for insurance to do it’s thing. I’m really sad that my truck is damaged. I don’t want to pay for someone else’s mistake.

 

Well looks like I’ll have to find doors at least the rear door locally and get it painted since no one will ship one to me.

front door is fine except for scrapes and dings. Rear door took most of the impact.

 

Still looking for white doors locally but I might have to drive 4 hours to Georgia for a door or two.

Did the oil and lubed the drive shaft today, very satisfying to do regular maintenance. I think I want to get a fumoto valve to make oil changes easier/less messy. Next weekend I plan on doing a coolant change, not a full on flush, coolant looks clean but it’s due.

camper is alright, figured out the fabric to get for the tent so I’ll order that this week. I’ve been combating leaks, I’m in FL and it’s the wet season currently so a good time to test and fix since it rains hard daily. Also need to finish doing the side panels so they can open with the lift struts.

I will get sumo springs/bump stops soon as well since when we load up the truck for craft fairs she has a noticeable squat. She’s doing work but I really need beefier leafs / lift to support it all.

 

Installed a Fumoto valve today. Will make oil changes a lot easier since every time I do it the oil splashes everywhere no matter what I do.

oil filter, air filter, and drive shaft greased

 

Got rid of a project car and decided to just focus on the Tacoma and house projects for now. With that being said

iron man 4x4 foam cell stage 2 kit on its way and a joying head unit! Plus regular maintenance work next week, doing brake pads and rotors

 

New Hawk LTS pads and centric rotors.

 

Before the Lift



Ironman 4x4 Foam Cell Pro Stage 2 installed

alignment specs

 

Finished my Ironman install and put the sway bar relocation brackets in and the drive shaft carrier bearing spacer in. Super easy to do.

ordering my joying radio next

 

looks awesome love the Ripcord camper how were his plans easy to follow?

 

Not too bad. I personally had some issues visualizing the compound angles but I made some wood to the same dimensions as the steel stock and practiced until i got it right. It also helped having an Evolution Miter saw that cuts steel, aluminum, and wood. So once I had the angles locked in I just cut it on the same saw I did the compound angles.

still have yet to sew the tent portion, I mainly wanted a topper because at the time fiberglass shells were like an 8 month lead time. Im happy with it, but not the MPG hit. I also still need to improve the sealing of the side doors since they leak from the hinges. If you can swing the $300, get hurricane hinges.

 

Haven't done much lately since I did the lift kit. Winch is still going strong, I pull stuck motorists from muddy medians in my area about three times a month with it. Haven't been able to get to the trails in my area due to personal schedule, sucks because FL doesnt have much.

New planned mod is an infant carrier base. I also want to swap out the side panel hinges on the ripcord camper to better sealed versions. I've been contemplating selling the ripcord camper since I never actually used it for camping and getting a fiberglass shell with opening side panels or see if there is a RSI Smartcap for the 2nd gen 5' bed.

 

Still Haven't done much of anything lately other than finally get a matching spare. Original spare tire was, original. It had a date of 1712 and was looking very ratty.

Haven't been able to go out and ride any sort of trail or camp because its Florida. Its too hot to camp and the public land here sucks.

 

Weather is finally cooling off here in FL. I plan on doing an oil change soon and will do the front and rear diffs and transfer case as well. I enjoy doing regular maintenance on this truck, its so easy. Only other truly easy vehicle I had for maintenance was my '96 F150 and my '64 VW Beetle

 

I got stuck again while attempting to assist in a recovery and someone else pulled me out since I got high centered between two ruts. I think I want to go up to the 255/80/16 tires and possibly go with a M/T since thats all I come across other than sand here in FL.

I couldnt winch myself out of the situation because there were no trees nearby, just pine scrub. I did learn about the Pull Pal land anchor and if i somehow come across $600 for one maybe ill pick one up, or just make sure to travel in pairs again.

but totally want to go up to the bigger pizza cutter tires, not sure if I want to go wide with the 33" tires or go HAM and get 35s

 

had the high side hose pipe replaced yesterday at a local shop that my company sends all of our vehicles to. I don't have the time or equipment to do AC work so I had them do it. Dropped it off before work and got it back a little after lunch. They did a great job, AC is ice cold again and system has no other leaks.

I believe the high side hose pipe is somewhat of a common failure. I had found it leaking from the hard to soft connection point, which after 10 years and 125k miles it had enough and started leaking.