Betterbuckleup's 2000 taco build & BS

Subbed for sure! beautiful truck! I'm definitely excited to see where this build goes.

 

Bummer!

Well, hopefully I at least saved you the grief of trying to figure out why it wouldn't fit!!

 

Yea you definitely did!
I was able to get it on there a good bit with a rubber mallet, but then just took it back off before I dug myself into a hole. Yotashop.com (where I got it from) said they are going to test fit it on some 3rz cranks and contact the manufacturer if they find the same thing I did.

 

Had a great time messing around with friends and got some great pictures this last weekend.

Wheeled a few different spots around Reno. Next time i'm up there, i'll checkout Moonrocks.

Found a nice roller jump to hit too. ALthough I had to be going like 45 mph to barely get the wheels off the ground. Mid-travel on these trucks works a lot better than I expected.

Also put some pinstripes on the new paint job














Trying to get it sideways on a dirt road. She really likes to roll with no swaybar. Sketch factor was high.

 

Got my winch installed yesterday.

Rather than putting the control box in the engine compartment, I was able to stuff it into the corner of the bumper so that it's pretty hidden but so that I can still get to the socket for plugging in the remote.

I didn't have to extent any of the wiring leads which was nice.



I used the included bracket that mounts the control box off-centered on the winch to make my own for bolting it to the core support. I welded on a piece of flat bar and a nut. I should have taken pics when I was making it. I was too excited to get it installed.


the bends in the wire are pretty tight. I might try and find some cable wrap or something to bundle the whole thing in to keep it protected.


That single bolt head to the right of the resi is the bolt that holds the bracket on.


another view of how the controller box sits. I plan on also putting some rubber between where the cables come out the box and touch the front of the bumper to prevent rubbing.


the gen3 BARELY fits in this bumper. if that front tie bar were just 2mm further out, the bottom mounting holes wouldn't line up. I expect the tie bar to rub through some of the powdercoat on the bumper, but I don't really mind.




all spooled up

 

Man that baby barely fits in there! Glad to see it will though.
Also, nice to see another 98-00 with an All-Pro Baja bumper, not too many of us out there.

Awesome build btw, keep up the good work

 

Yea any bigger and it def wouldn't fit. glad it worked out though and I didn't have to get a different winch.
There really aren't at all. Thanks for the kind words!

 

Welded up my sliders last night.
Gonna pick up some paint today and start working on that.

Then all I have to do is grind the frame, weld them on, and then pain the welded spots.

 

Some pics of finishing the sliders and exploring in Big Sur last weekend.

 

Went and messed around at Hollister hills this last weekend.

Didn't get many pictures, but my buddy took some video on his iPhone that I threw together in a video.

I think I've decided that when I regear, I'll be going to 4.88's for the gained low speed control when crawling. I was riding the clutch a lot on some obstacles in 4low and it was tricky to control in some situations. I'll definitely be back to test the lockers and gears when that happens.

https://youtu.be/IMV64ota9jU

Got tons of pinstripes on both side of the truck from this one trail with lots of dry brush. This was after a wash and the worse one I got.
Even though it's a wheeler and it'll happen again, I wanna do what I can to try and keep my new paint job nice.

I'm hoping to polish it out this weekend and shine up the truck some. It'll be my first time trying to do any paint detailing like that so I'm excited to try it out and see what I do.
After I'm done getting out what I can, I'll seal it up with some wax since single stage paint doesn't do too well unprotected in the direct sun over time.




I also added some reinforcement to my trans skid plate to hopefully prevent it from bending like it did before.



When I got back from Hollister, I noticed a squeaking from the rear end whenever I initially accelerated of braked to a stop.
After further investigation I determined that the "keeper brackets" (or whatever they're called) on my Dakar leaf pack had worn through their plastic sides causing the metal to rub.



I cut up a scrap piece of rubber I had and placed a piece in between the leafs and the bracket. so far it seems to be working. but if i have problems with it in the future, i'll try and reach out to ARB/OME to see if those plastic pieces are something I can have ordered to replace.

 

Got around to installing the new caddy horns I got from @BartMaster1234. He makes a killer product. I was impressed with the wiring harness.

Had to get creative with the mounting to fit them all. They are bigger than I was expecting.

Hopefully they don't block too much airflow from my radiator. I think it turned out good though. Stoked with the sound.




Also got some weatherproof fabric to protect the rope on my winch from UV damage.

 

Update on what i've been up to recently on the truck.

I buffed and waxed the whole outside. Wasn't aggressive enough on the DA to completely get some of the deep scratches out, but it's good enough for me at the moment and looks a lot better and has a layer of protection on there which is good.



I also finally cleaned up the wiring in my engine bay. I don't have a before picture, but it was really bad.
I had like 10 or something leads just crammed right onto my battery terminals. Everything was fused and protected at least, but it was quite unsightly to look at and sketchy.

I got a bus bar and mounted it to my fuse box and installed the mil spec terminals on the battery with the covers.

These are the parts I used in case anyone wants to do the same. The kit of terminal lugs is super good quality. I used a crimper we had at work, but I was most impressed with the included heat shrink tubing that's adhesive lined so that when you shrink it, it glues onto the wiring.

$25 Fastronix Top Post Military Spec Battery Terminal and Cover Kit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LLWKXV6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$26 ROCKDIG 100PCS Copper Wire Lugs Gauge 8 6 4 2 Electrical Cable Battery Terminal Connectors with 3:1 Heat Shrink Tubings Assortment Kit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XD8616Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$34 (Red & Black) 5/16" 4 Stud Bus BAR Power Distribution Block - Made in The USA - for Marine Battery Terminals, 12v Power and Ground Distribution Blocks - Terminal Block for Battery Terminals - BusBar

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C6483RC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

since all my aux wiring has in-line fuses, I opted to go this route rather than a bussman box to save some money and effectively accomplish the same thing. This bus bar can also accommodate a larger range of terminal sizes which I was drawn to as well.





Lastly, I got some used fender flares from a fellow member on the forum @jonesbt. They needed a little work since they had some residual bedliner sprayed on them, but I used a paint chisel and it came off relatively easy on the front side that you see.

The underside I hit with a flap sanding drum on a die grinder and my dremel to try and get it off, but wasn't able to get it all without taking away a decent amount of plastic with it.
I sprayed all of them after wiping them down and scuffing them some with 400 grit paper.
I used this stuff which has adhesion promoter inside of it already. I went with the satin finish.

$19 SEM Trim Black Ultra Automotive Spray Paint - 14.5 Ounce Can

https://www.amazon.com/SEM-Black-Ultra-Automotive-Spray/dp/B07FSYT6SK

The guys at my local auto paint place said that it would have absolutely no problem adhering and that I wouldn't have to do really any prep to the flares.
I used about one full can on all four which ended up being about a couple coats on each flare.

After letting them dry for a day I'm pretty impressed with how they came out.

three out of four of them needed new rubber trim on the top side so I threw some of this stuff on.

$29 Trim-Lok Fender Flare Edge Trim – EPDM Rubber Trim for Car and Truck Wheel Wells – Bonds with 3M Automotive-Grade Tape – 0.227” Height, 25’ Length

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CJRGX3O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It looks identical to the factory ones.
When I called my local dealership, they quoted me at around $60 for just two of them precut so i'm glad I found this stuff. Stoked with how it all came out.





Pumped on the turnout! Hopefully I don't have any rubbing issues with them.

I think they really help to fill out the body more with the armor I have and really completely the look!

Not to mention it helps to cover the extra poke from the wheels sticking out so I won't have as much road grime thrown all over the sides at the first sign of rain or dirt.

 

Dude I love this build, if you need any tips on detailing or paint correction PM me, I'm also just on the other side of the bay.

 

Thanks man!
I'm still pretty new to it and am learning as I go but I don't think i'll get too crazy with it on this truck. It's been fun learning and it's definitely a great skill to have!
I'll reach out if I've got any questions.

 

Found some pics that I forgot I took on a weekend trip to Frank Reigns OHV last month.

This was the second time going there. The first time was not too long after first getting the truck and it was pretty much stock (other than the block lift and bald tires the PO had on it).

This time around, there wasn't a trail there that the truck wasn't able to do.

Conditions were great and had a fun time with some friends.

 

Rotated the tires and chopped the exhaust just before the leaf spring.

Hopefully it doesn't affect the spare with the exhaust being that close. I'll keep an eye on it.

A proper bumper swing out is definitely in my future. I would like to get the spare out from under the bed eventually.

 

Got my blackstone oil results back.

Everything looks to be fine other than the silicone.

I believe that's from when I recently resealed up my oil pan and used way too much silicone.
When I get my new gears in and have to pull the front diff, I might as well seal it back up with less silicone and wait for proper curing times before torquing to to spec.
I presume a bunch of it squished out into the inside edge which is mixing with the oil.

Not the end of the world, but i'd feel better doing it over again the correct way.

I wonder why Magnesium is high too. They said everything is normal so I'm not gonna worry about it.

 

went and messed around at knoxville this last weekend. Camped on Sat and it was cold as shit. Pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Pretty sloppy out there, but the truck still did great. Did some fun hill climbs. A few took a bunch of tries, but I was able to get up with some left foot braking to combat the open diffs.

Also can't wait for my gears and lockers to show up! 4.88's w/ dual ARB's and the dual compressor from ECGS!



I got some video too that i'll edit up and post later at some point.

 

Pulled off my bumper and winch to track down a clicking coming my front driver side core support body mount. Pulled it all apart to find the core support is cracked to shit there.

It's about a 6 month old core support too lol. Didn't last too long.

Gonna have to get creative to reinforce that area. As much as i'd like to make my own core support from scratch, I don't wanna get that crazy for now.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctBT0rLCdng

 

Looks like something that can be welded back together!