Trowbocop's SR5 Build

Got the tires balanced today, a lug nut stud broke. Went to the dealership, got a new lugnut and stud. Now having oil change and brake inspection, another one broke. I'm on bicycle 3 miles away, have to ride to the dealership again to get another. After all of that, herculining the bed. Tomorrow I'm going to try to wire my CB. Pics of bedliner to come.

 

Prepping:


After 1st coat:



Next coat coming as soon as this one dries.

 

I'm using

$101 HERCULINER HCL1B8 Roll-on Bed Liner Kit,Black, 1 Gal.

Herculiner

It's pretty cool. Took the most time prepping the bed, sanded and cleaned, then did a final clean with acetone. I'm doing one last layer tonight in the bed, then might do my fenders & front chrome bumper lip tomorrow. There is a ton in the can, I'm tempted to lay it on super thick everywhere.

 

The Herculiner was easy to use, and the masking tape did a good job holding the lines and not bleeding. I used the 6ft bed kit, and it was the perfect amount.

My badges on the tailgate were getting dilapidated and looked like sh*t, so I wrapped over the tailgate to give them the embossed look. The bedliner feels solid, and I'm stoked.

I left the top rails on the cab side & sides of the truck painted for a better h2O seal with my topper that i'm installing on Thursday.





I'm stoked on how it looks, can't wait to get that camping shell on!

 

Also, I installed a Pop & Lock tailgate lock. Took 10 minutes for peace of mind. It's not that heavy duty, feels like you could just rip it open while it's locked while breaking it. But I guess it doesn't hurt to look secure, haha.

 

Tire balance didn't take care of the driveline vibes at all. They occur from 30-55mph, only in gear, while pressing the gas. They don't happen in neutral, even if I rev it. I think the carrier bearing still looks pretty good. There is just a bit of play in it, not too much though.


I'm thinking of putting on little spacers on my carrier bearing to drop it 1/4", hoping that takes care of it. If it doesn't, I'll take them out and try something else.

I'll get a picture tomorrow of the drive shaft. I think it's just a few degrees "out of phase" Might try to remove it and align it if the cb drop spacer doesn't do the trick.

Carrier Bearing:


If I drop the bracket a bit, I think it'll center the drive shaft in the bearing? It might also just stay at the bottom.. There are so many different things on the forums to do. The shop said they didn't notice any vibes...they're full of shit. They said they would only replace the whole driveshaft and all the components for near $1800. Talked with Toyota dealership, carrier bearing will be $221 if I go that route to replace that myself.

Any input, anyone?

 

Yeah, I am going to head to home depot tomorrow to grab some. I think I need to hit the dealership to get the carrier bearing mounting bolts and nuts though, my current ones are pretty rusty. Not sure if the will come out without a fight.

 

Dropping it helps and yea you can just use washers. But making something that rotates the bearing a touch is a better way to go to make it more inline.

Check your U joints as well. What my vibe turned out to be. Started making noise later

 

Monte, is the best way to check the u joints to grab the drive shaft near them and try to push it around to see if there's any side-to-side play? If so, how much is too much?

 

Yea just grab them. Should hardly be any at all. The rear one tends to go especially on lifted trucks. The one right off the rear diff

 

Just threw the truck in neutral and tried to move the u joints. No play at all, good news. Earlier I had the truck in gear when I tested the carrier bearing for play, it had just a bit. Just now, not in gear, it had quite a bit of play. I think that's my culprit! Going to call around dealerships tomorrow to get the best price I can. Or, I might try this route: link

It's what this OP used

 

New developments this morning. It chirped as the drive shaft rotated quite a bit leaving the parking garage uphill today. Also it's been having a loud clunk when initiating 1st gear. Hoping this is all due to the carrier bearing needing to be replaced! Funds are at an all time low trying to get this damn truck road worthy for the upcoming trip.

 

Hmm..sounding like the u joint to me. If it starts squealing, I say u joint. But can't hurt to to the carrier bearing first. It's easier anyways.

 

Dang, that's what I feared. I'll look up a how to on the u joint install. Calling dealerships for pricing now.

 

$55/ u joint is what the dealer told me. Also, a mechanic is going to hang around until I get there today after work to verify what's going on. Hopefully it's what we think, then I'll order parts tomorrow, install next week after work on Monday. This trip to see my Grandpa & family in NM is poorly planned, wish I had this weekend to work on the truck!

I took pics of the u joints today. Any thoughts?

Rear:



Center:



Front:



Driveshaft:

 

That bedliner looks awesome! Coming down the tailgate like that is gonna look awesome with the topper.
Did you roll it on or spray it? I'd like to do mine someday, a buddy of mine has a compressor and spray gun, but I've heard that rolling it on makes it thicker.

 

Thanks! I'm stoked with the way everything looks, I made a sleeping platform today as well. It's Herculiner from smile.Amazon.com, super cheap (compared to other bedliners), and it rolls on. Nice chunky rubber in there too for a thick texture.

Went and picked up my shell today, got a ProTop 100 with sliding windows. Love it so far!

Before:


On the way:


After:


Platform:

 

Just got back into town, and was trying to get my drive shaft to move. Trying to wiggle the u joints around, but there is absolutely no play in them. Just my carrier bearing is the only point of movement. Feels like it has almost a half-inch to wiggle around in there. I'm going to try and convince a dude at the dealership to lift my truck up and check it out for a minute with me this week. Trip is coming up soon!

 

After further inspection at the dealership, it's my rear u joint that needs to be replaced. Best case scenario! The u joint ran me $75, and I get it in on Wednesday. Going to home depot to get supplies to make curtains for the shell tonight

 

You put it in neutral (e brake on) and crawl under and grab the drive shaft on each side of each u joint. Push back and forth sideways and up and down. If there is any play at all, it's bad. Mine weren't budging when I did this, but when my buddy at the dealership did, he twisted it a bit, and it had twisty play at the back u joint before the axle. He said visually too, it looked like one of the seals had gone bad.