@Ay_arontrd’s you dun messed up 2wd to 4wd work truck build thread

Trying my hardest to make this mid travel setup not suck. Costing me thousands lol. My build thread will have a few small updates before a few big updates.

 

Hey @AY_ARONTRD

The Tacoma is looking RAD! How are you enjoying your ONX6+/Squadron setup? Where do you plan on mounting the S1? Do you have any wheeling trips coming up?

Best,
Bill

Bill Sonevongxay | Forum Sales & Support 
Email: Bill@bajadesigns.com Phone: (760)560-2252

 

New bumper doesn’t have any mounts for lighting in the bumper. Wanted to remove my ditch lights so I ordered some S1’s and made some mounts. So now lighting should be situated.

 

Trip Report.

Last Friday I headed out to Death Valley with @KneeDeepInTacos and one other friend who is not on here. A lot of Death Valley has been closed due to roads being damaged from storms. Friday morning we started out from highway 127 and took it to highway 178. Reason being we had a little reroute due to surprised roads being closed. From there we aired down and hit dirt starting from Greenwater Valley Road.


Started our route seeing a few new areas including new mines. Weather was great and as we were heading in heard from someone driving out that Dante’s view had just opened up which was something we were looking forward to seeing. Overlooking Badwater which had water from recent storms.


Ended up trying to camp our first night in Echo Canyon not realizing sites need to be booked. Ended up having one truck get a flat. So we hungout for a bit, had dinner and headed out to try to find a new camp spot. Ended up near stovepipe wells.


For the second day, we got an early start. Had breakfast. Headed out for fuel and restroom breaks. From there we went to check out the Crater. After visiting the crater we headed to tea kettle junction through lost burro mine and into White mountain where we had some fun in the snow while having lunch


Spent a lot of time trying to get a truck through the snow so After lunch we headed out towards the racetrack in search for a possible camp spot. No luck. Heard from someone camping near by that Lippincott trail was open so we headed down to check out the conditions.

From there is when the trip took a turn. Once we got to the bottom of Lippincott I heard a noise coming from the truck. Turns out I had blown a lower ball joint. That’s when it got serious. The only way out was the way we came. Long story short, trip ended a day early and we drove home from DV at 12am arriving home at 7am. Gripping the steering wheel as hard as I could wondering when the truck was going to give, it didn’t. We made it literally in front of my house when the ball joint sheared and the front end of the truck was resting on the asphalt. Was able to use a jack to pull it in the driveway.

 

After a EMF ball joint sheared I didn’t really want to go with just a replacement. So I dropped parts off to JD Fab for new Uniball replacements. Great customer service they have. Also a plus is there somewhat local to me.


Starting to assemble the front again but waiting on some brake maintenance. Since brakes & rotors are just about due I decided to do a poor man’s BBK.

 

Wow! Glad to hear you made it home safe. What do you suspect the cause of the LBJ failure was?

 

Thanks. Yes it was a interesting drive home.

the LBJ has been a failure point on a few others trucks as well. When the company started noticing they offered to swap the EMF ball joints out for uniballs for free.

 

While the truck has been apart for uniball replacements I went ahead and attacked a few other projects.

first I had noticed both my spindles were showing cracks on welds so I didn’t want to put the truck back together knowing that. Since they were getting welded again I figured I would add the JDfab double shear steering kit


Also noticed the brakes were getting low, had looked into new OEM rotors and pads. But after doing some research I went with a little more. Decided to do the poor man’s BBK. Purchased OEM 2010+ 4Runner calipers, rotors, dust shield and went with EBC Brake pads.

 

The softtopper was a test, to see how I like having the bed covered and also to see how we like the RTT up high. Felt like its going to work, So this last week I ordered a GFC Topper W/ their new Turbo Cubby.

Been searching on both here and GFC forums getting ideas for the bed. Seen lots of cool ideas.

 

Been a while since I’ve updated the thread. Not much going on. Just purchased my first house so I’ve been busy putting in work on that.

GFC topper was installed today in SD. Must say, GFC is a great company to work with. Definitely a satisfied customer.

 

While watching the dodger vs Mets game tonight, installed the turbo cubby in the GFC.

 

Wanted something to be able to add/remove everything to for camping trips but be able to be removed for daily truck use if needed. Made a bed platform out of plywood, installed some carpet and working on the bed setup. Installing 1/4 -20 threaded inserts to add and remove accessories easily. Trying to get more organized in the bed.

 

Best I could come up with. Packouts are mounted to the bed w/ packout mount.

 

Happy New years! Was bored today so threw the RTT on to see what it looks like. No trips planned for January but hoping for our yearly DV trip in February

 

Incredible build man! Definitely following along. DCLB for life

 

Thank you sir! Been checking your build out as well! Looks good! And nice to see you use it!

 

Thank you man, appreciate the kind words! I’m getting some great inspo on your bed setup. When I eventually make the move up from 33s, I’m going to need to reorient my sleep setup. Right now I’m using @BamBeds sleep platform and storing gear underneath it, but when I get a larger spare that doesn’t fit under the bed, I’m going to either need to get some kind of tire carrier or mount it in the bed, which will require a new sleeping arrangement.

 

For the days a RTT is not necessary, made a mount for my gazelle tent to hold it up and off any other gear. This will help with pulling items out.

 

Just spent 4 days out in Death Valley with some friends. Overall was a great trip. Got some rain Thursday during the day, remaining of weekend was pretty clear. Crazy to see the changes in many roads that were closed last year after hurricane Hillary and are now open.

 

Today I received welds_taco diff mount reinforcement. Now to schedule a day to get it installed.


Also on order are JDFAB’s billet tie rods, a Howe TC pump, and coastal offroad diff mount gussets. Hoping to attack all this one of these upcoming weekends when I have some free time.