HomerTaco's big old bucket o’ bolts build

So yesterday royally kicked my ass...

We got a pretty late start considering it’s an hour drive to Ants house and no one wanted to get up early on Sat.
The kids kept busy playing with the cats & a new Super NES system I bought for them - they were very well behaved for once.

Our first move was to pull the Flippac- easier said than done due to the awkward weight. We just walked it off the truck and put it into Ants F350 bed temporarily.

Looks smaller this way...

Decided to back in to the lift and began disconnecting all the stuff for the bed. Unfortunately undoing my recently completed OBA wiring was also required.


We strapped the bed to the lift with ratchet straps and carefully lifted it straight up.
Pretty simple operation.


Removal of the stock tank was interesting... a few of the pressure connectors refused to come loose. One line to the canister was particularly difficult - since it got replaced with a different line with the new tank Ant handed me a dremmel & I ended up cutting it off.

Next we setup the lines for the new tank.
Ant carefully installed the pump & float in the new tank.

All set up ready to go.

Things got interesting after this...

Removal of the stock tank was pretty straightforward but getting this monstrosity back in the same spot was easier said than done. The LRA tank does not use the mounting straps the stock tank does, it bolts directly to the frame using a variety of brackets and off sized bolts...
Two stock 14mm bolts for the drivers side, two 5/8” bolts with 11/16” nuts for the front cross member, one 5/8”bolt with a backing plate for the passenger side cross member, and some completely asinine plate & hook mount for under the canister.
I think the Aussie design team was hitting the Fosters a bit too hard the day they developed it...

We figured out that it needed to be lifted on an angle for the frame mounts to clear the leaf pack. Once we did that it was not hard to get it in the correct position.

One of the 14mm frame bolts was nearly impossible to get started - once we did get it started it would not go more than a 1/4 of the way in. The tank design left zero room for access so after each of us fucking with it for 20 minutes we decided to leave it off.

I believe I was missing a backing plate for the front crossmember bolts. There was nothing for the two bolts to grab onto but the mount holes lined up with larger holes in the cross member so they had to fasten in that spot.

We took a scrap leftover from the F350 gas tank skid and made a backing plate with the drill press and angle grinder.

I swear, no matter what Anthony and I try to work on we end up having to use an angle grinder every time...

After that side quest the final move was to drill a 1/2” hole for the passenger side cross member mount. At this point I was running out of steam & my elbow was screaming at me. I got the hole done an tightened up the last mount.

We filled up the new tank with my 5gal can and the remaining fuel from the stock tank. (About 8-9gal)

Moment of truth... turn the key, crank the engine... will not start.

We think there is air in the fuel line.

Crank again 5 times...

No bueno



Somethings not right.

We think the fuel lines may have gotten crossed. -_-


I loosened the mounting bolts and swapped the fuel lines at the cross member connection up by the front of the tank.

Jump back in the truck and vroom... fires up!

Bolt it all back together. Drop the bed back on the truck reconnect the OBA & taillights.

Next move: pull out and get the Flippac back on.

I go to do just that, jump in, turn the key... trucky no starty...

WTF?!?!

It just fired up after we swapped the lines?

In a nutshell, I ended up dropping the front of the tank again, messing with the lines again, got gassed worse than a Holocaust victim and about 45min later we got it to fire up.

Likely we linked a line or some kind of fuckery, I don’t know and at that point didn’t care. It was running and we were one Flippac install from being done.

Tank installed pics:

Sits about 1/2” or so below the frame rail:

Filled up on the way home:

Mission accomplished.

Eternal thanks to @6 gearT444E Ant - he’s going to be getting a wonderful set of new drill bits from Santa this year.

 

Happy days! Larger fuel cell is still on my want to do list.

A side note, we use the grinder on project here allot more than I’d have ever expected.

 

Better installed pics:


Only an inch to spare on either side.

 

Yep, I had the same troubles with that front drive side mount. I honestly think it took about 1/4 of the install time overall pulling the tank in and out f-ing with it. I finally got it in but I was about 15 minutes from just grinding the paint and breaking out the welder.

 

You have conquered 10 lbs. of shit in a 5 lbs. bag

 

Damn nice job guys. I’m playing with the idea of picking up one of these tanks before I drive out to Montana next summer. Stopping every 200 miles would suck.

 

The instructions they supply you with should go straight into the shredder...

I didn’t pulll my bed to install as my Drifter is a bit too much for me and one other to move it. Plus, all the crap in the bed.

I hope I don’t have to mess with this again. However, I now know where to place the jack, when to tilt, where to tilt and how this stupid brackets are oriented.

 

Kinda want to build one of these...

https://roofnest.com/diy-portable-camping-battery/

 

I like the concept of separating the power from the truck battery for the flippac.
Moar thought required...

 

Didn't @sander1036 build one back in the day?

 

Think so. Unfortunately he’s been AWOL for quite some time...

 

Next Mod:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...t-oem-parts-part-s-provided-installed.443656/

I like the idea of a brake upgrade that’s $500 instead of $1500

 

Just finished mine a couple months ago. I can tell you were to source parts if you need assistance.

 

Which calipers did you go with?

 

The newer 4runner not the gx ones. Takes a little bit bigger/thicker rotor, slightly larger pistons and the bonus is now mine and the wife's 4runner take the same brakes.

 

14WA?

 

Yep, I do believe so.

 

Excellent.
I’ve got some good parts sources but I appreciate the offer!

 

Good deal. I went with upgraded rotors and pads as well to get the most bang for the buck as well.

You will notice the pedal takes more movement to start braking, but when it starts it's a definite change for the better. Guessing bc of the higher fluid need to move the larger pistons.

Side note... I GOT MY FIRST EVER LIKE FROM ANT!!! I'M SO EXCITED!