wi_taco 2015 TRD OffRoad build "The Gray Ghost"

Nice 15'

 

Thanks!

 

Been a while since I have done anything. Life has been kicking my ass lately and most of my planned times to work on mods/maintenace have fallen through for one dumb reason or another. Meh, sometimes it's like that. Still buying and stockpiling parts like a goddamn hoarder and at some point or another they will all get installed. For now, surprisingly, I'm actually taking some things out...temporarily. Look at that empty bed, been a few years since I last saw that. [Suspension data point: Deaver U402 Stage 2 leafs, empty bed, Leer 100XR camper shell = 25" hub to fender.]



I have some small leaks in the front corners from the cap seal but it was raining pretty hard and water intrusion was fairly minimal so not worried a whole bunch. Maybe I'll splurge and put on a new seal next spring or something as preventative maintenance, and then I'll lay down some silicone or butyl in the gaps at that same time just to get everything nice and water-tight.



With my drawer/platform removed I can do certified Truck Stuff like a manly girly man that I am. Booyah. The testosterone deep in my tubules is quaking with joy. OK anyways, Memorial Day weekend I finally got my ass in gear and decided to pick up some gravel and sand in order to make a level base for a small shed. Before anyone rips on me for buying overpriced bags versus going to a material yard - this was on a holiday weekend last minute so I didn't plan that far ahead, and they were on sale so it pretty much evened out. 20 bags paver base gravel, 4 bags of leveling sand. At 50 lbs per bag approximately (even though these were fully water-logged from recent rains), that's 1200+ lbs of payload. Not bad.



Now it's hard to tell from the photos but all that weight barely made the rear suspension budge. Deaver U402 stage 2 springs are beefy. 1,200 lbs basically turns the small bit of rake I had going on into a level ride. I could definitely feel all that weight in the back but not in a bad sense - more like it rides like a cadillac and bumps are barely perceptible type vibe.



OK on to the fun stuff. I have this gravel area on the side of my house that is mostly empty except all the old Taco OEM parts I've been throwing there for now until I finally decide to get rid of them. Just enough room for a small shed in that otherwise vacant area. Gravel and sand laid down very quickly and compacted into place by hand with a landscape tamper because I didn't want to go rent a plate compactor (and it's just a tiny shed, nothing structural here).



Shed is a Suncast "glide-top" that measures like 5'x7' and is about 4' high. Top slides back (aka the glide top) so you can walk halfway in. It was on sale for a kick-ass price and I couldn't pass it up any longer. Couple of padlocks just for security theatre to keep the honest thieves away because for F's sake it's just plastic. Surprisingly though it is pretty strong. After redistributing some of the decorative stone and some fresh rain it looks like it has always been there.



Now why on Earth is any of this relevant for my Tacoma build? Because now I have somewhere to put my snowblower, lawnmower, and all the miscellaneous yard & garden junk OUTSIDE of my garage rather than playing Tetris with all this crap every time I want to do automotive work. Can't believe I've lived here 14 years and didn't do this sooner. Like a weight being lifted off my back finally. Ahhhhhhhh.



Back to the garage, I'm still working on getting things re-arranged and organized. But I also picked up a Husky 36" W x 72" H metal storage cabinet from the Homeless Despot and so far I am also very happy with that decision. This photo was just after getting it installed & level on the floor but it is much more full now. One nice thing: I can put large blow-mold cases with big toolsets like balljoint service kits in there now rather than having to move them around on the floor all the time. Sounds dumb but will save me so many headaches. Organizing the shop will be a continuing theme until I can regain my sanity - which will probably happen just as the weather gets hot as balls and I don't want to be outside.



One other big piece of the garage puzzle was getting my 14 ft kayak moved from being mounted on the wall where it took up a ton of space. I picked up an inexpensive pulley/hoist system from MyNards and now it's up in the rafters out of my way. Going to through a couple joist hangers and some 2x4's underneath just as added security in case it ever falls so it doesn't give me a headache. Huge improvement in space though in the shop.



And finally here is the most recent photo of my poor old Jeep. Under all that junk I supposed you could call it a Jeep in a Heep. Or a Heep of a Jeep. Really though all that loose crap is going to be easy to clean up and maybe possibly finally I will have enough floor space to actually turn some wrenches on it and get it moving again. Honestly that is my main goal right now - get Jeep running and legal because I need to move it out of the garage so I have more workspace to do Tacoma stuff. Stay tuned while I procrastinate another couple years on that idea LOL.

 

We missed you this weekend, Adam. At least there wasn't a wedding to miss...

Good on ya getting things organized. I finally cleared some of the shit out of my garage...I'll never get my truck in though...1 car garage with 2 motorcycles, riding tractor, 60 gal compressor, welder (35 year old Lincoln full-sized unit), 42" tool cabinet, oxy torches and a cluttered workbench take up a lot of the space.

 

...oh, if you need help with mods, when you get to them, reach out...

 

LOL thanks, looks like y'all had fun! Wish I could have been there but just too much going on. Trust me I know the feeling of a cluttered shop - I'm trying my hardest to reform!

And of course always appreciate the offer. I should be good, it's mostly finding the time and actually getting off my ass to start a project. Right now I'm kind of needing a 2nd vehicle again because most mods require taking the Taco offline for longer than a day. Another reason I really need to get the Jeep road-worthy and passing emissions again. Might even get it running and sell it, then buy something else. Not sure yet. I haven't done anything dumb in a while, might be time.

 

How's the VHB tape holding up? Im browsing McMaster right now for the cheapest 3/8" thick plastic I can find. I need to get this mod done this summer so I can ditch the 2x6 brace everytime I jack the front of the truck up

 

Surprisingly the tape has held up perfectly. I figured with the road salt we get up here in the great white north it would've let go by now, but no worries at all. Quite impressed how well it worked actually. 10/10 would do this mod again.

I'm sure most plastics will work but specifically you may want to search for UHMW (ultra-high molecular weight) polyethylene. It has certain properties that make it more ideal for point loading a few tons of weight on it at the jack point. Got my cutoff sheet from eBay for like $10 (well, $20 after shipping) but even the small piece I got made like 8 smaller pads after I cut it up. Gave a few away, one is on my skid, and two are currently under the wheels of my 72" toolbox to level it out on my jank-ass garage floor.

 

I probably better measure before I order, just make sure my skid needs 3/8". But this looks like the ticket

 

Ahh there ya go. I think I cut mine to 4" x 4" squares but they are plenty big. You can probably cut that 6" x 6" sheet into quarters and make 4 total pads.

I briefly measured mine by taking a small scrap piece of 1/2" plywood and trying to slide it in while the skid was on. It didn't go but was really close so I knew 3/8" would be the ticket. Smaller is probably better but 1/4" either way probably won't matter much at all.

 

Some more boring/maintenance updates while I clean & re-arrange the garage to get back into a place where I can do fun work. First off is an oil change - the only maintenance I've done all year other than giving the UCAs a little grease at times. Not exciting, but I did go over 6 months and about 6k miles this time so of course the universe is going to collapse on itself. Sent in a sample to Blackstone just for laughs but I'm pretty sure the oil was still in very good condition.



Sometime during winter I picked up an el-cheapo eBay Chinesium oil filter cutter tool to be able to inspect the filter media because why not.



I'm pleased to say the cheap tool did it's job quite well, and I can also confirm the internal contruction of the YZZD3 filter is pretty damn good as everyone already knows. No glitter in the filter, everything looks perfect. Now I can sleep soundly at night lol.



Fumoto released a new MH-10 brass barb/nipple for the drain valve adapter. Coincidentally, my stock plastic barb was wearing out and needed to be replaced anyways. Brass one is much more skookum and has an o-ring inside so I have no doubt it will hold up better in the long run.



Scored a set of Warfab tie rod sleeves from the classifieds via member @TWTaco - cheers for the parts, will get installed sometime in future when I have time to play with the front end.



Based on some other chatter in the Wisconsin thread, I decided to pick up some additional lug spline adapters from SCS Wheels. One will live in the toolbox at home, and one will go in the truck as a backup to the one already in the glove box. This way if I lose/break the first one and I'm on the road, I still have a fighting chance that the second one can get me fixed up.



New sticker for the license plate. Can't even believe it's already been 4 years, time does fly when you are having fun.



And here's something that might make people roll their eyes. Now I don't remember if I had this idea on my own or if I saw it somewhere else, but I decided to scan & print out copies of my registration and licenses as backups to keep in the truck. Relatively easy task since I work on the computer all day.



Printouts were sized to fit in the sleeve on the driver side visor. That way if I do get pulled over, I hopefully don't have to worry about cops with itchy fingers thinking I'm reaching somewhere funny and I can just reach up to the visor.



Hopefully more to come soon as the weather looks good for the Independence Day weekend and I have a couple days off.

 

Latest Blackstone engine oil test came back. I don't usually send them in for engine oil but this one was a bit longer interval (by a month and couple hundred miles) so I just wanted to see what the change is. As expected though it passed with flying colors and clean bill of health. Well on track for this truck to outlast me but let's be real climate change or consequences from climate change will probably kill everyone long before the 4.0 gives up the ghost. Happy times!

 

Almost ready to start doing Taco mods again and boy do I have some good ones on tap. But for now, I'm continuing getting the garage re-organized and improved. Added a wall-mounted 20" fan and I might add one more on the other side. Need to re-do my air hose reel and re-plumb everything back to the compressor but that's going to be a while.



Added a Chamberlain MyQ garage door opener that works over the Internet. I've had far too much f-ing around with remotes and other BS that I'm sick of it. Time to join the 21st century. Nah but seriously I want it for when I'm traveling in case I forget to close the door or if I need to let family in temporarily. Works pretty well so far.



This is a small stupid thing but I finally sat down and learned how to tidily roll up my ratchet straps rather than storing in a big messy pile. A weight is lifted off my chest lol.



Bought some plastic bins and organized all the tiny bits & bobs that I have taken off and want to keep, and other misc small bits from the mods I have added and had extra pieces or still need to be installed later.



Continuing to add more new tools. I feel super fancy, never had this much cool stuff. This is a simple thing but added a Thread Checker bolt thread/pitch testing thingy. I have too many small metric bolts that I'm constantly fooling with and it's time to stop wasting time on that. Worth every penny for the time it's going to save.



Now for the real pr0n. Milwaukee tool truck showed up. Found a killer deal on the small M18 vacuum and now I don't have to lug the big shop vac back & forth from the basement. M12 1/2" right angle impact is a neat little tool to reach some interesting places. And the one I have been dreaming about for a while - the M18 14" top handle chainsaw. Two years in a row I've been stopped by downed trees and had to take long detours around. That will happen no more! Anxious to test it out at camp (whenever I actually get to camp this year, it's been sparse so far).



And lastly I found out that Viair makes a carrying bag for the 88P compressor that I never knew about before. It cost $12 and I've been fumbling with mine for years. Never hit the CHECKOUT NOW button faster in my life. Hoping I can get on-board air figured out before fall but for now this is still working fine. Using the Flexzilla inflator/deflator and sometime soon I also need to finish assembling my DIY air hose kit.

 

Couple more small updates before I forget again. Got a flat tire thanks to this screw. Funny thing is that it has a smooth tip and not a pointy tip, but somehow the tread blocks caught it perfectly and it drilled in nonetheless. I picked it up about two blocks away from home and luckily had all my windows down because it was a nice day, and after hearing a small hissing sound I pulled over to check and sure enough it was there. Turned around and drove home and didn't even lose but a couple PSI in that whole time. The bad part? I was heading to school for the last day of summer college classes and to take final exams, and by the time I got the spare on (which didn't take long since I had my home shop tools) I was late. My instructor is pretty cool though and I got it done but if you ever want evidence that things go bad at the worst possible time well here's another case study. Isn't it ironic...dont ya think?



Weeks later and I'm still dealing with that flat tire experience. Took it to the local Discount Tire for patching and re-balancing and explicitly told them "Hey, these big ol' AT tire jammies probably need road force balancing because they weeble wobble." Surprised to hear there was no charge to patch the hole (guess it's a part of their policy, pretty nice!). HOWEVER, big letters, the young fella who did the work and appeared to be maybe 13 years old and 80 pounds dripping wet said "no road force needed, it balances fine." That was all I needed to know, and yes I am still dealing with a wobble now that wasn't there before the flat or even when I had the spare on. Need to find time to fix this, it's only from 55-60mph but it's enough to make you go nuts.

On top of that I was going to rotate my tires and reprogram the TPMS, but it seems my Autel TS508 scanner/programmer tool doesn't like scanning my sensors. I know it isn't the batteries because these were brand new sensors two years ago when I installed them and they are good quality Denso sensors. Nope, it's the freaking tool that basically only reads the sensor when it feels damn good and ready to do so (if it reads at all). What a piece of crap. I no longer recommend this tool. I'll probably end up buying another one later but it seems most scanners in the sub-$200 range are trash. No bueno. I spent like 2 hours messing with this and finally all of them scanned but it shouldn't be this hard.



On the plus side, I saw a thread where a TW user was facilitating the resale of CV axles from LKQ vendors (or something like that). Picked one up as a trail spare for future expeditions because even though I could probably find one cheaper, the small price I paid extra saved me all the time and trouble removing one which in this case is definitely worth it. Supposedly this came off a wrecked 2021 with 45k miles in Oregon, and judging by the looks of it I'd say that's reasonable. Other than one of the housings being a bit rusty on the surface it's pretty mint. Even the seal is still good, and a few taps with a hammer would massage those dust covers back to normal. Not bad. Into the pile of parts it goes!



Somewhere in between I also found time to hang with the WI TW crew at our local Tigerton OHV park for a bit of fun on the trails. I was delayed as usual but still got out Saturday afternoon and a bit more on Sunday before heading home. Not many photos of my truck, was busy helping spot for others and just enjoying the fantastic weather (seriously we lucked out, it was mid-70's with a couple happy clouds in August which is paradise).



I definitely have lots more to share hopefully soon and a monster pile of parts that need to get installed, but also the universe found a new way to screw me already and put other people's junk in my garage just at the precise time it became cleaned up for work. So now I'm working on cleaning out the garage yet again just so I can get some wrenches turned.

 

Couple of small upgrades but important for a future trip coming in November where I will be towing a trailer for a considerable distance. For the entire time I have owned my Tacoma I never decided on a phone mount. I have played around with a couple options but nothing ever really clicked with what I wanted. So, most of the time I either leave my phone in my pocket, or put it into the slot of the center console meant to hold pens/pencils or whatever. Not a big deal because I have wireless CarPlay but now I have a new need to have the phone visible. Enter the Quad Lock adhesive mount. I added the magnetic case and wireless charging mount to see how I like it.



It fits nearly perfect in the lower part of the bezel surrounding the after-market stereo and doesn't get in the way of the screen. I placed it down lower like this to stay out of the way and not draw my eye's focus unnecessarily, but also not to be too far away to lose vision of the road. So far it's working out well.



For my future towing needs I want to be able to monitor the transmission fluid temperatures. Been researching ways to do that for a long time as well and I didn't like how things like ScanGauge/UltraGauge integrate to the dash area. Instead, I decided I can live with monitoring off the OBD2 as others have done because it is also a dual-purpose upgrade of being able to scan/clear codes and do other diagnostics and data logging. Plus it integrates to my phone which I already have which cuts down on dash clutter and that's my style.



Setup was extremely simple - plug in, pair using the button, download app & run firmware update, and it's ready to rock. Some people might ask why splurge on this particular OBD2 reader given that it costs 3x more than most others on the market? My answer is that it seems to have the fastest data refresh rate, has some in-built security beyond basic Bluetooth pairing, and because it is made by the same company that makes the software I don't have to pay for in-app addons and theoretically it should be most compatible. Necessary? No. But it is kind of one of those "buy once cry once" things. Time will tell if it was a wise decision; if not at least alternatives all cost less than this. I do need an OBD2 port splitter (which is on order) so I can continue to use the interface with my stereo which also triggers the reverse cam so I do need both. Will edit that in to the post later.



Setting up custom gauges on a "dashboard" in the OBDLink app is not all that difficult if you were born after 1979 but may require assistance otherwise. There are several threads around TacomaWorld discussing how to do this in apps like Torque and OBDFusion (here's just one that I found and used for ideas; this one as well). In this case by using the OBDLink app which I've read is very close or identical in function to OBDFusion, and after downloading the vehicle-specific PID pack, I was able to read temps without entering any custom PID coding. I still need to play with this more and go through the plethora of sensors and monitors but so far I'd say mission accomplished. This photo also shows best what I actually see while sitting in the driver seat - no blockage of stereo screen, controls, or HVAC.

 

Sorting out the towing side of things for my November trip. Now that I have an At The Helm steel rear bumper with the hitch receiver hidden behind the license plate, I'm sitting at about 30" from the ground to the top of the tube. For a UHaul trailer, I believe they spec 18" as distance from the ground to top of the ball. Ended up finding an 11" drop ball mount and 2" ball (1" shank) locally at Menards. Had to go shopping for tools to properly mount the ball and picked up a Milwaukee 15" adjustable wrench with wide opening past 1-1/2" and it's a heckin' beast. Also grabbed a Tekton 1-1/2" standard and deep impact sockets but only needed the standard/shallow. Luckily I already have a Precision Instruments torque wrench that goes to 250 lb-ft for spec (and as a backup if that didn't comply there's the old impact gun).



My old collection of coupler locks is a mess. I have a big key ring with lots of keys missing a home, and half the locks I do have don't have the key. I'm tired of having things that don't match or work. Picked up these BOLT locks for the coupler and hitch receiver that code themselves to my Toyota ignition key. Yes, they are permanently part of the Tacoma now, but there is no chance of losing the key and less keys to worry about. (Not pictured: the matching BOLT padlock, it's on the way but got delayed in transit.)



Now of course the ball mount has a slightly sloppy fit in the hitch receiver tube and I don't want it banging around back there. Some people can live with it. I can't. Picked up these MISTER HITCHES stainless anti-rattle shims from eBay (from Australia) and now I'm nearly slop-free. It's a very tight fit and you have to remove all the stickers on the ball mount but with enough fiddling it will go in and lock up nicely.



I chose these over other solutions on the market that use a bolt/nut and torque force on the receiver tube because to me they are gimmicky and introduce other failure points that I don't think are worth gambling on. The shim setup is fool-proof and has near zero chance of failure without having bigger problems like the back half of my truck going missing. I do need to get a small foam pad or maybe some more stick-on magnets to hold my flip-up license plate from banging around while on the road but that shouldn't be too hard with a little fiddling in the shop.



Here's my new kit laid out (again minus the padlock which is in the mail). I already had the 7-pin to 4-pin adapter which was used a grand total of one trip when I hauled my 72" toolbox home. This next voyage it will get a much more prolonged workout. Only other missing piece is a small tube of white grease for the ball/coupler interface to prevent wear and binding but I'll grab that on my next store run. Now that those chores are done, I can once again hopefully get back to more productive and fun mods.

 

Some more miscellaneous things. Toyota had a sale on OEM parts online so I put in an order for general maintenance items. I have enough oil filters and drain plug gaskets for a couple years now.



Ironman 4x4 also had a sale. I had been looking at collapsible camping tables and didn't like the design of most others, but Ironman's is a bit unique and seems to be less failure prone in my opinion. Going to give this a try.



I'm running short on time for an upcoming expedition so I took a gamble and ordered this under-seat amp bracket from a company that shall not be named because lots of TW people had bad experiences with them. My experience is that they definitely were not fast to process things but I did get the parts in a couple weeks. This is the only part I would order from them anyways, and now that I have one and measured up the dimensions I can make my own if I need more later. Plan is to mount my mobile GMRS there and possibly a stereo amp later on down the road.



And most importantly, some parts for my grinder from Zoro. Go figure I finally had time to work on some Taco mods and what do I find but the disc flange on the grinder grew legs and went missing, meaning I couldn't use a cutoff wheel or grinder disc. I tried to borrow the flanges from someone else who has a similar M18 grinder but they are ever-so-slightly different between each model making them more or less proprietary which is a pain. These only took a couple days to ship which burned more of my time but still worked out in the end. Time for a little chop chop!

 

I eat at Panda Express a fair bit because I love Chinese food, it's decent for being fast food in a sense, and because their fortune cookies are strangely accurate sometimes. Don't make fun of me for listening to cookies, doesn't everyone do that? Pfft liars. Anyways, today I obey the cookie. WARNING: This post contains way more gratuitous pictures than are required but that's because pictures are cool and that's why we come here to the forums, right? RIP your dial-up modem.



The cookie also told me to go buy a new hammer because new tools are awesome and why not I deserve it. It'll make the job easier, right? Only the finest Chinesium from Hazard Fraught, but this time it's their premium line of Icon rubbish. There's a method to my madness - well, sometimes at least. I'll let you judge how much method is involved here.



Here's one final look at the stock cab mount and pinch weld before we do some light massaging. Bonus shout-out to Milwaukee tools for that M12 Rover pivot light 2367-20 that is also new and works fantastic for jobs like this in tight spaces.



First up is the pinch weld. The 24oz ICON hammer did okay on the thin stuff, but I needed some extra muscle on the thicker doubled-up sections. I have an old 4lb sledge from Menards in the drawer and it usually works well for a little persuasion. Covered the face in some toolbox drawer liner and duct taped it all together which actually worked extremely well.



From here it was pretty simple. Don't think much, just do what you do best: put yourself in awkward positions on the garage floor and give it a good whackin'. I decided to beat it off from inside out and not make relief cuts because they aren't necessary if you can sack up and not hit it with your purse. Notice the tab where the little square plastic retainer thingy goes into? If you fold yours over like this, it still aligns with the hole in the splash guard almost like Toyota engineers wanted you to do it. Repeat the same thing on passenger side and Bob is your auntie. Trim the splash shield with a sharp razor knife and it looks factory with no more rubbing (or at least that's what you will imagine until you stuff the tire at full compression, you silly noob).



Big shout-out to Woolwax for being the most miraculous sheep juice frame coating on the planet. I ditched the front mud flaps a few years back, this is what the cab mount looks like under about 3 coats of the black dyed product plus all the mud and dirt that gets impregnated into it over time. Took a good amount of brake cleaner to even get it off. Wisconsin road salt has met it's match and thy name be Woolwax. Don't think, put this stuff on your frame like NOW and thank me later.



I could have made my own blockoff plates but the ones from BAMF are very nice and very affordable. I used them to draw a basic outline of where to start cutting. Was having all sorts of trouble with my various paint markers and pens, ultimately I just used the soapstone pencil that I use for welding and it shows well enough against the black chassis paint.



Time to get to work with the grinder and cut-off wheel. I used a Diablo 4 1/2" wheel and it made short work of things. Definitely tricky to get in the tight angles, might have to make some relief cuts. I had to remove the guard/shield as well to get in tight and if OSHA saw they would cry just like Jesus does when I touch myself at night. Anyhoo you can kind of see where I went with the cut - didn't get too aggressive because my goal for this entire build is to stay at 33" tires (or maybe in that range but definitely never doing 35"s). Basically was aiming for flush with the inner fender/firewall or maybe a little bit inside of that. Figure if I need more room down the road I'll just do the full relocation mount.



Not sure if it was smart or worth doing, but I hit the BAMF filler plates with a couple coats of Steel-It paint for the inside surface. Since it's a weldable paint, I figure this gives me the best chance to fully coat the interior side before I weld it up which maybe will help prevent rust down the road.



Yet another new piece of gear from Hobo Fright to help with this job and some more of the finest crapola money can buy: a 4x6 fiberglass welding blanket. OK for real can they screw up a fiberglass blanket? Probably not...right?



After a little work on the grinder I got a pretty okay-ish fit up on the filler plate. I'm showing you the driver side first but in reality I did the passenger first and driver second. Some lessons were learned but overall it ain't rocket surgery and this isn't a super structural piece we're talking about here. I'm using a 120V Eastwood 140 welder and just stitching my way around with tacks so I don't set the rubber bushing on fire. Negative battery cables removed to prevent cooking expensive circuits (which I actually screwed up on the passenger side and it didn't hurt anything so there's that). Ground clamp connected right on the filler plate inside the bushing hole, easy peasy.



I ain't too proud to show my poor work so here is the low-light of my welding career. Behold my sloppy boogers. OK actually this looks like shit but ain't bad considering I can't even lay a bead here for fear of burning up the rubber mount. Only had one flame-up, but not shown in the photo is my

$124 Milwaukee M18 Cordless Lithium-Ion 6-1/2" Circular Saw - 2630-20 - ( MILWAUKEE ) - BARE TOOL

Milwaukee M18 fan pointed directly upwards at the mount to keep things cool. Have to flip it down each time you weld so it doesn't blow away the shielding gas but if you can remember to do that it works well. I'm new with this welder too and was experimenting with settings and this is the first real project I've done with it. Much more confident now in knowing how it operates, and I wasn't concerned how this looks because it's getting a grinder retouching anyways. Best settings for my machine was like 18.5V and around 250-260IPM feed. Probably could turn it down some but I wanted to really push in the penetration quick and hot so I didn't end up with a bunch of Instagram tacks that would crack and fall off later.



Grinder and some paint make me the welder I ain't?



Here's the best photo I could get to show the profile from the side. Like I said earlier, goal was to match or improve on where the fender/firewall is and I accomplished that. Driver side is cleaner but both have about equal clearance, I'd say based on the metal that came off it's an extra 1.5" or so which is quite a lot.



Finished product on the driver side which also shows the trimming I made to the inner fender liner and the outer fender flare. I think I went back and trimmed a bit more but this is pretty close.



Passenger side is rinse & repeat. Including this photo to show my setup, notice the fan being used to cool down the area. The key is keeping as much heat out of it as possible because fires are bad in this case. Welding blanket covering up as much of the area as possible also to prevent fires and spatter (which I didn't really have much spatter doing very short tacks/welds but just in case). I used a bungee cord on the inner fender liner lowest hole and tied it back around my sliders to keep it out of the way and this method worked well.



Here's the passenger side completed. I like the fit-up of the driver side more but this still turned out fine for what it is. Frankly nobody is every really going to look at it anyways but I still try to take pride in my work. Harder to get the grinder in on this side but I'm happy with the results. You can see here how I trimmed the inner liner and outer flare which I still need to trim a touch more because I get a little rubbing here still on the inner liner only at full lock and full compression but that's it. Razor knife will take care of that and then I'm set for 33's.



Now where did I put those tires......

 

Discount Tire appointment the next day after I finished the chop job. Look ma, no wheels! Once again OSHA would be furiously wagging a finger at these shenanigans. Keep an eye on those lug nuts laying on the floor...



Removed the General Grabber ATX load C in size 265/70/17. They have been great tires and I would buy them again in a heartbeat, some of the best tires in snow and rain I have ever had. These ones are going on my Jeep XJ for now. Replacing them with Kenda Klever R/T load E in size 33/10.5/17. Picked these up in March 2023 second-hand from @Supr4Lo when he upgraded to the 35" version and though I'm sad it has taken this long to get installed the deed is finally done. Feels good man. Also dayum I need to preload those front springs some more, it looks good jacked up and drooped out but I have too much rake now after installing bumpers and skids and what not. Spare tire fits just fine in stock location without any modifications needed that I could tell.



It was already raining the day I had them mounted and it continued to rain that night. This is the best picture I could get at the time before dark & rain set in. Rake is more apparent here, needs to be adjustificated.



The next day after I removed the front wheels again to finish up tasks for the cab mount chop, I noticed Discount Tire misplaced one of my lug nuts on the front passenger wheel. Not a big deal except I couldn't find the extras that I stashed away. Quickly hopped on the internet and Vin from SCS hooked me up selling a set of (6) individual lugs so I have some spares again. Couple days later after tearing apart my garage I found the previous spares so now I have a few more. Crisis averted.



Back to the Kenda tires...even though these were used (and might I say they were used quite aggressively from how I saw Jason drives), they still have 16/32" tread depth. Not sure how many miles are on them but spec for brand new is 19/32" so they still have lots of life left. Discount Tire set them at 40psi and being load range E, I knew right away that was not ideal. Dropped down to 36 and drove to work one day but still a little much. Dropped down again to 34 and then to 32 and both feel quite good. Going to chalk test later when I have time but this is good for now. Ride quality on the Kendas is night and day better than previous BFG KO2s that I had when I bought the truck. So far I like them a lot.



There is only one negative so far but I had anticipated this so not a big deal. Behold my new clearance between the sharkfin antenna and my garage door's lowest point when raised. The solution that I will have someday is building a bigger garage, but for now this is a large reason I can't and won't go bigger than 33s. Still has to fit inside to turn wrenches so for now any further growth will be stunted.

 

Some more miscellaneous stuff (and post #300 of the build thread!). On our recent trip to Tigerton OHV park I used the OBDLink reader/app and took a baseline reading of ATF temperatures while cruising on the interstate. It was a near perfect 72°F day, sunny and dry with very little wind. Running 70mph on cruise control it was pegged right around the 160°F mark. A few times going up small hills I saw it climb sometimes to around the 170°F-ish range but it quickly dropped back after flattening out. This was taken with the new 33" tires.



Not pictured but did a routine oil change and all looks good. While waiting for things to drain I changed the engine air filter. Last service was 1 year + 1 week ago. It looks like it's time and I'm leaving on a longer trip soon so in goes the new one.



Cabin air filter also changed. Also 1 year +1 week old with ~14k miles on it. Not terrible but could be better so in goes the new one.



Picked up a mini grease gun to take with on longer expeditions. I'm not overly concerned with this but it's cheap insurance. Also my UCA joints seem to need more frequent greasing to stay happy so this will take care of that.



I'm not super excited that all I can get in 3oz cartridges is Lucas Red 'N' Tacky but it's not the end of the world and in a pinch it's not bad stuff. I'm just an AMSOIL snob and wish I could get those in the smaller tubes but they don't sell them any more. Oh well. Loaded up and put into a big Ziploc bag to contain any seepage/separation and now it lives in the bedside cubby with my ratchet straps and other misc doodads that I don't touch often.



And last but not least I finally installed some windows stickers that are required for upcoming travel. I'll probably collect a couple more of these while on the road. PSA to anyone who sees this post: do yourself a favor and buy this stuff called Sticker Shield, it's awesome and will save you from ever having to scrape off old decals like this later.