Howdies!

Yes, I insulated all of the low pressure lines, wrapped the main one from the compressor to the evaporator, and installed a heat shield between the exhaust manifold and the wrapped low pressure line. From that mod alone, I saw about an additional 20°F drop in vent temps. The misting system is installed in front of the condenser right behind the grill. The approach is to have more thermal energy removed from the condenser with the cooler air mist. There shouldn't be a mold problem as the water vapor shouldn't be entering the cabin/evaporator.

 

You should make a writeup!!! We all want colder ac

 

It's still an experiment but I'll have to look into doing a write up here on this forum at some point after I collect more data.

Mod can be done for about $30 which includes the foam pipe insulation, DEI Titanium exhaust wrap (15'x2"), and some zip ties.

I guess if someone from the forum is local to Bryan/College Station, I'd be happy to do a quick build.

 

It's back in black...

 

Blacked out some more...

 

Installed a front cover in front of the air bag spring so it won't get too beat up from any road debris. Stuck some reflective stickers on there so it would be visible when the wheel is turned around.

 

Belly pan in white...

 

Neat project. I would have just gone out and bought a $1000 beater corolla. If you are saving $600/year on gas by going from 17mpg to 34mpg, you could pay for another vehicle pretty easily.

I worked with a guy that had a bro-dozer, and after his commute went up to about 70 miles one way he was able to save money by going out and buying a brand new TDI golf. Those savings were after paying the new car payment, insurance, tags and any maintenance on the new vehicle. Going from 13mpg to 50+mpg is a big jump.

Autoclaves (and autoclave time) are ridiculously expensive. I'd be very surprised if any of the major canopy manufacturers use one. You are correct though that making a mold for one project isn't the cheapest way to do things.

Fiberglass work isn't overly hard or expensive. Obviously more money than making things out of political signs.

 

The rear canopy has been rebuilt with the top portion tapering back. Looking through the canopy is a little bit clearer now.





After I took the last shot, I went ahead and installed the remaining side pieces to the rear.

 

There's something to be said about getting another vehicle just for a specific purpose. I get that. But there's nothing like taking what you have to work with and taking it in a direction that most owners/people won't go towards. You can't buy experience, skills, or the satisfaction of doing something yourself, right?

Kinda like paying someone to fish for you, clean the fish for you, cook up the fish for you, and then having them serve it to you. That's not a fishing trip!

 

Rear view...

 

Current rear quarter view...

 

Another trailer on the way...and I'm losing the tub and decking so the shipping costs can be kept low!

 

This is awesome! In not red through the entire thread but I have a Q for the OP:

Did you do any streamlining to the undercarriage, and if so, what are your mods? I feel like there's a lot of room for aero improvement on the bottom of these trucks. I am very interested in a belly pan mod made from light plastic that I could possibly rivet to my undercarriage to aid in air flow. I'm heavily considering something in multiple, overlapping pieces, bumper to bumper

 

Here's my belly pan thread that I started back in 2009.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/60-t-100-forum/325836-under-belly-pan.html

I would not recommend riveting your belly pan directly to your frame as it will be very difficult to remove when you have to do maintenance. I would try to go with a frame setup or even a skid plate setup depending if you do any off-roading.

 

Trying out a placement for the rear camera...




For this backup camera, it had a very poor low light performance along with a terrible glare issue when used a wide-field camera.

I ended up putting it under the hatch so it would perform best in the environment that it was designed for.

Hatch closed...

Hatch opened...

I will have to look into a bigger camera that will have better performance fer a wide-field rear camera. For now, this camera will be just fine to see directly behind the tailgate.

 

My new single wheel trailer frame is here! It only has about 200 miles on it when it was parked about 20 years ago! This baby is practically brand new!

It was shipped disassembled so I had to reassemble it so I could roll it out of the street and into the driveway...which was a better choice than trying to drag it.

 

Rear auxillary lights are now mounted on manually adjustable mounts.


I'm going to install 3-way switches so I can turn the lights on either in the cab or when I'm in the back end of the truck.

 

Finally took some time this morning to replace the luan side panels which were breaking down and probably wouldn't last very long this winter. The new panels were cut from FRP.

 

Hooked up the rear auxiliary lights with 3-way switches so now I will be able to see more behind me at a flip of the switch from either the cab or from the bed.