Burt, The Old Man With friends Daryl and Donna

We also completed out Seat Delete getting rid of the useless backseats in the super cab and gaining a ton of space.
Made of 3/4" Ply and outdoor carpet.

We left height for a stack of 4 maxtrax, the plan if they are muddy and dirty is to just toss them in a trash bag for now, eventually considering a snowboard bag since they are often waterproof and about the same size.

There are also 1/4-20 T-nuts throughout in a 2'' spacing to allow for future mods to be bolted in depending on what is needed for the trip or event.

We also took the time to sound deaden the rear wall of the truck which made a huge difference. Combined with the carpeted boards the cab is noticeably quieter than before.

 

Sliders for Daryl were Primed, painted and installed this weekend.

Picked up some Gloss black tractor paint. It seems like once its cured it will have a nice hard coating that fingers crossed lasts a few years.


While I had everything set up, I made sure to paint up the LCA for Burt. They got sand blasted when I did the sliders and some King rod ends for a custom.


We let it cure overnight, which was not long enough as the paint stuff got some glove prints while moving them in place for welding. But nothing a quick sand and light coat can't fix in a couple weeks.
Then they got welded on. They seem super strong and I was able to lift the truck on one side with about 1/2" deflection. On a 10K pound truck I will take it as a win.

I am very happy with the results even if its been my least favorite fabrication project I have ever done.

They are 110" Long and 8" Wide, sticking out 1.5" past the tires. But will fit equal if a +18 offset wheel and 12.50 tire in the future.


I am happy its all wrapped up. Ready for the Trip to Expo West.

 

Maintenance was also completed this weekend.
We had some Turbo surging in 5th under heavy loads so I swapped out the VGT solenoid and so far it has fixed the issues. The Passes on I70 will prove if its fully fixed or not.
Oil Change
Fuel Filters x2
Air Filter
External Transmission Filter were also all changed out.
Steering box was also tightened which reduced the play to almost nothing.




I wrapped up maintenance this morning with and oil change on Burt, 295,144, Next change at 300K.
I also tested out the Eggo Holder Mod

 

Seat Delete Part 2
A small update on the build of Daryl till I have time to do the trip write up of the last two weeks in Utah.
I wanted a small platform for that made the space above my tools useful, so I got some extrusions and build a small boxthat stores the frontrunner box, straps, and air compressor.

I got fancy with this one and even routed the 3/4 ply to sit flush in the aluminium frame. It takes a ton of time but looks really good when finished. I decided to paint the side panels and my wife carpeted the top panel as a place for the dog to hang out.


It fits everything perfectly, The Ironman Air Compressor has been good but it showing some issues only about 15-20 air ups in. So I have a ARB twin that will take its place and mount under the seat delete.

On the last trip it was so awesome to have storage and keep everything organized. With the sound deadening behind the rear wall it made the truck a good amount quieter.

 

Looks good
I need to get off my can and figure out how to work that stuff for my build

 

3/4" plywood? Uh, how heavy is your dog?

 

If he is like me, I end up overbuilding things because that is all I had.

 

I just wanted an excuse to see a pic of the dog really lol

 

Shes small, its just what we had laying around from the rest of the seat delete and what we had for the 4runners 3rd row delete. Its overkill, but easy to work with and this truck could care less about the extra few pounds.

 

@Speedytech7
Its my Wife's dog, 10 year old Havanese. She loves camping and traveling with us.

 

My Wife did a quick mod to her 4runner while I as at work.
She absolutely hates the chrome badging on her SR5 so we picked up some badge covers for them to black them out.


I think a 3rd Row Delete is coming up next, then probably a toss up between suspension and dual battery next. Now that Daryl is all wrapped up for a while.