Baka's 1998 Build

Haha jk. You were yelling who took the fucking Captain Morgan pretty loud and was a little pissed about not having anymore beer left lmao

 

Oh gawd, at least I didn't try to crawl into someone else's tent when I went to bed.

Edit: For the record though, I was just playing about being pissed about the beer, haha, since it wasn't even my beer. I was legitimately disappointed though.

 

Might as well add these here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5OH59ikVyE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16MiyFyQ9k

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPrK7xNt9Fw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I55TsHwy2Ko

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlXc1FM5XHY

 

Something else, ridiculously heavy, showed up on my doorstep today...



Nothing like 70lbs of 3/8" steel to let your Taco know you care...and let your back know you don't, lol.

 

Well, since it's kinda wet out today and I couldn't sleep last night I decided to go ahead and assemble my gear oil dispenser. Haven't tested it yet, but I'm hoping I learned enough from the prototype I gave @allenfab that there won't be too many bugs to work out of this one. It should hold about 5 qts, which is about enough to do my front diff, transmission, and transfer case, since they all take the same grade of oil.



The regulator also plugs into my pressure brake bleeding setup. I'll probably build a smaller pot to hold about a qt of brake fluid so I don't have to keep taking it off to refill the reservoir, but that's down the road a bit.

 

You never can tell what might happen. If I can get the truck to hold together and not get savaged every time I go to Hardrock, then I might manage to make one of the out of state trips from time to time. With my limits, I'm not too far off from taking the truck as far as I can and then, instead of saving up for the next mod, I can save up for an out of state trip.

And yes, I believe that what I have planned will have benefits for Florida wheeling. The engine will be a little farther up out of the water, the flatter belly will help a little with the break-over angle, the BL will let me get the rear bumper up a little higher to help with the 1st Gen Tacoma's biggest draw back, IMHO, the craptastic departure angle. Of course, if I was willing to bob the bed that wouldn't be as big an issue, but there again, that's not something I can do myself, it's not something I feel it necessary to spend a pile of money on, and I do on occasion have to use the truck to haul crap, so bobbing the bed isn't on the table for me. As for the tires being on 10" wheels, I feel that this will help the truck stay on top of the mud for places like Richloam, where there is no bottom.

Almost all of my wheeling will be in Florida at places like Citrus, Richloam, and Hardrock, so I'm trying to build the best truck I can within my budget constraints with those places, and an ambition to one day make it out of state, in mind. I think I've done pretty good so far. I'm probably one of the smallest trucks in our group of hard core people, but, not to pat myself on the back or anything, the OGT is one of the best performing trucks, in spite of the fact that I do break it a lot, mostly due to the Lincoln spool in the front end. Once that's history then I might get some reliability back.

 

Trail 19. Lol. I’ll pat myself on the back. Tire clearance will do wonders. Wide tires are your problem now and the locked front end. You kill yourself because you love wide swampers. It’s just part of the trade off. I bet if you went to a different tire and not so wide you would be just as capable and not break every few hundreds miles.

 

I'll grant you that; you owned that corner. Impressed the hell out of me doing that with 2WD and an open diff. On the other hand, when I put it in 4WD I just walked through like it was nothing, while Frank, on 35s had to make multiple attempts and ended up crossed up and had to get pulled up. I do think if I had an open front diff, I still would have just walked right on through, but maybe not. Then there was the time Frank got stuck in Billy's Sloppy Hole and Wes, who had about a 1000 lbs on me and more power, failed to budge him, while I ended up pulling him out just seeing where the strap was going to tighten up at. I attribute those feats totally to my tires.

My current tires aren't that wide. They are only 13.50s. Most of the other Swampers of the 33 height are 15.00 or more. I'm not looking to run anything super wide. I wish they had a 35 in a 13.50 for a 15" wheel, but they don't so I'll run the 12.50s, but either way, I'm not giving up track width. If I ran them on my current wheels, I'd have to get wheel spacers, which means I'd be messaging the firewall anyway and it's not like I'm getting rid of my 8" wheels. If I start popping beads every time I air down, I'll go back to the 8s and run spacers. I like how stable I am right now. The truck has only scared me a couple of times where I thought it might flop and I want to keep it that way.

I honestly don't think how aggressive my tires are have much to do with how often I break the frontend. Colson (TacoHell) is a good example of that. He's running a Spartan Locker in his front diff and he's on 35x12.50 KM2s. He's afraid to lock his front end because he's broken it so many times. I'm just less afraid of breaking something. Fact is, I think just about all the problems I've had snapping axles and wearing out ball joints are related to the Lincoln Spool...or the age of the truck, as with my current leaking pinion seal. I've had to replace the passenger side front wheel bearing twice, but both times can be traced back to an instance where the CV axle backed out and allowed mud into the back side of the hub (the first time the snap ring came off because I had to reuse it and the second time was when I shattered the stub axle). The driver's side wheel bearing has been fine for the last 5 years running 13.50s and 3.5" BS and that was probably starting with 178k miles on it.

It's true, I do prefer wide tires over skinny ones on a purely aesthetic basis as well. I just think the look meaner.

All that said, if they made a 15x9 steel mod-style wheel with 3.75" or 4" BS, I would run those over a 15x10. But I will definitely be running Swampers. If they had that new SXII in a 35x12.50-15, that would probably be my choice over the LTB. I really like the sipping and I think it would help on slipery rocks. It would definitely be my choice if they had it in a 13.50-15. In fact, I would probably pick the original SX over the LTB if they had it in a 35x12.50-15. The LTB is a great tire for traction, but even I'll admit it's the crappiest riding Swamper I've owned.

Finally, probably the most important reason I'm sticking with Swampers: first, they are cheaper than most of the other popular radials, and they last a long ass time before they rot. Mine are 5 years old now and are showing no signs of rotting. Any other tire I've owned, be it a car or truck tire, has only lasted 3-4 years before they rotted and had to be replaced. This is a perfect fit for my situation where I am limited financially and don't put that many miles on the truck.

 

You gunned it compared to wes tugging on him. He said he wasnt going to snatch on his truck like you did. I’ve had swampers also and like todd said. I’ll never have a truck with them again.

 

To each their own I guess.

 

Haha, holy cow, Batman, I fired off a suggestion to Interco that they should make a set of 35s in a 13.50 width, preferably the SXIIs and they answered me back that if the testing goes as planned, they will be introducing a 35x13.50-15 SXII in late February! I'm saved! I don't have to buy new wheels, and a 2" BL should allow me to clear everything just fine without sacrificing any track width. Of course, I'm not gaining any track width either even though I'm raising my CG, but if it's an issue there's always wheel spacers and a BFH for the floorboards.

I'm so freaking happy right now.

 

Just say body lift lee...it’s ok buddy,F the haters

 

Haha, I told you I wasn't necessarily opposed to a BL if I felt it was necessary. But I also want to lift my powertrain 2" to flatten the belly so the BL is kind of necessary. I may at some point make taller body mounts and get rid of the blocks under the cab, but if I don't get a lot of movement out of the 2" blocks, it seems like a lot of work and expense for just a lateral move so I'll probably just run with it.

BTW, I'm already catching shit for it, but I really don't give a crap. If it helps me achieve my goals, then it's all good to me.

 

I literally laugh out loud at this. Also keep up the good work Baka

 

Pulled the trigger today on a Performance Accessories 2" BL. This is the first acquisition of parts being collected in preparation for 35s.

Next I need to start building a jig to extend my motor mounts 2":

 

The accursed Body Lift arrived today. Should be getting my crossmember back from the powder coaters tomorrow. Got some angle from @Key-Rei Saturday for my motor mount jig. That much closer to 35s. All I'm lacking is the regear and the True Trac LSD up front, the raised powertrain. and the body lift install, plus whatever messaging I might need to do for clearance.

I also borrowed @allenfab 's Transmission jack and I've had the new throw-out bearing sitting on my bedroom floor for a week or two now, so I should be getting that squared away shortly. Also thanks to Todd, I have a spare front and rear diff. all I'm lacking is the really big things like a good engine block and a transmission and t-case and I'd have a how spare driveline. Well, the driveshafts too of course, but I actually intend to do somthing about that and carry a spare rear section.

All the truck will lack after this phase of upgrades is a HC rear bumper, and a Warn Zeon 10k winch. Then I can kick back and rest on my laurals and just fix shit I break having fun with it...which is probably when some idiot with a brodozer will t-bone me or something and total the truck. I can say if that happens, I'm starting over with a 3rd gen T4R.

Edit: at least I'll have a good head start, because if they aren't paying for it and it's salvageable, I'm keeping it. Including bumpers, winch, skids, cross memeber, sliders, tool box, tires wheels, shocks (I'll swap the OME 881s and Nitrochargers with the factory ones on the T4R, haha.), and of course the lights, switches, switch panel, radio, CB, CB antenna and coax, relays, relay mounting plate, fuse panel mount (even though I have a better fuse block I'm too lazy to install). If it wasn't part of the OE on the truck and I can take it off, I will.

 

@allenfab @Timbo's Customs @Key-Rei

I'm also thinking crazy shit. I'm looking at line lock valves, trying to decide if I want to go with electric or mechanical so I can line lock my left or right front brake to make the True Trac LSD act like a locker.

 

Much thanks to @Rattletrap66 and @rnagle ...

 

Nice!