Kyitty's Humble Build Thread

I think we need to meet up soon lots of ideas and you have done some of the stuff already. Did they cut into your console so it sits lower or is that just a shallower cb unit? I need to figure out how to tune my setup as well and i don't have a SWR gauge how do you plan on doing yours?

 

I had the console cut. My CB is fairly large actually. They come much smaller though. Mine has SWR Meter built in but I've yet to get it tuned right. Still figuring that one out.

Picking up my truck tomorrow from Dark Horse Customs. They've had it all day today doing lockers and gears.

 

Dropped off the Taco for ARB Lockers and Regear this morning. Get to pick it up tomorrow! Stoked!

 

After 12 hours of labor...seems like a lot... it's finally done.



ARB Compressor, lockers front and rear, and am ECGS Diff setup with 4.56 gears. Now I need to do the 500 mile break in process on the gears. Part of which means driving like grandpa for a while.

That said, having not stomped on the pedal, I don't feel a huge difference. There is a difference though. Just not as much as I expected from all I've read online. It does seem to accelerate smoother at low speeds. The engine feels smoother since it isn't working as hard. Honestly? It feels...normal.

 

Slowly working on my differential break in. Driving the truck like grandpa (though I normally do that anyhow). Got to drive in to work today with the new gears. There's a short incline on my commute that felt pretty good. I haven't had the truck over 2,500rpm yet. However, I can say the motor runs smoother in that 1,200-1,500 range than it did before. I don't feel it bogging down under the weight of the tires. The biggest thing I can say so far, with less than 50 miles on the new gears, is that it honestly just feels 'normal'. After putting on the 33's the truck noticeably worked harder to accelerate. It doesn't feel like it has to work for it now.

However - My Ultra Gauge being recalibrated for distance (therefore accurate MPH, and likely close for MPGs) I'm noticing a significant difference in "Instant MPGs" during acceleration. Where it used to show 8MPGs during acceleration from a stop now it shows 4MPGs during the same. This is all purely anecdote at this point since I've got less than 50 miles on these gears. So far I'm showing about 15.5mpg on this new tank (last tank was close to 16.5) with the original gears. I've yet to exceed 60MPH and all my drives have been short (8-10 miles for instance). So there's been time for the gears to cool down (if not time for them to even got very hot yet).

I think I need to go for a drive just to put miles on the gears so the break in process is shorter.

ECGS Differential / Gear Break In Procedure:
http://eastcoastgearsupply.com/ft-1479-new-gear-break-in-procedure.html

 

Rotopax are here!! Woohoo!

I ordered two 2gal Gas cans, two 2gal Water cans, two Toyota bed rail mounts, two Rotopax mounts, and two extensions. I ordered direct from Rotopax as I found it actually was $40.00 less than ordering all the same stuff through Amazon.

I decided to order two Blem gas cans since they were a bit cheaper. Rotopax are about function not aesthetics anyhow, right?

Gas Rotopax and Toyota Bedrail Mount Plates

White Water Rotopax cans.

First Gas can has minor "blems" that look like scuff marks on the upper corner.

Second gas can's "blem" appears to be a seam in the rotationally molded can that isn't pretty. I don't see any functional issue with it though.

Both gas "blem" cans smelled like they'd been in an auto shop. There was a distinct automotive smell - much like a mechanic's greasy hands. They were also dusty/dirty compared to the brand new white water cans. The folks at Rotopax made very efficient use of space within their shipping boxes. Everything was tucked into nooks and crannies and the Rotopax Mount and Extensions were pre-assembled and sitting in their designated spaces within the packs themselves.

Since I had these shipped to me at work I didn't spend much time getting to know the packs. One of the gas cans sounded like it had something inside it so I'll have to rinse them out before I actually fill them with gas and potentially pour that into my truck!

There was a small baggie with some small bolts in it which I'm imagining go to the Rotopax mounts themselves. I didn't see whether there was proper mounting hardware to mount the mounting plates to the Toyota bed rail though. I'll have to dig in to find those later.

 

Installed my Rotopax this evening. Even with the Long Bed it's not straight forward where to put them in my case. I got the 60" Hi-Lift which takes up the entire passenger side bed rail. Due to the wheel hump on each side you can't put two Rotopax side by side either. At least not if you're using the Rotopax Toyota/Nissan Bed Rail Mounts. I had my spare tire and storage box up against the cab of the truck earlier. This prevented me from mounting the Rotopax up against the cab. And, since I was using the tie down anchors in the front of the bed I couldn't mount the Rotopax on the side rails near the cab.

So I spent an hour shuffling things around in the bed of my truck before I finally landed on just doing it like this. Unfortunately it means moving the tire and storage box to get to the Rotopax. Anti-theft? lol


I positioned them with the mouths up for obvious reasons. And I set them so the mouths point to their corresponding side of the vehicle for easy access to crack them open and remove pressure (as recommended by Rotopax on their website after changing elevations).

I mentioned in a previous post that my "blem" Rotopax gas cans sounded like they had something inside them. This is what fell out after a bit of shaking.


As you can see these are bits of the rotational molded plastic! I'm wondering if anyone who's purchased "NEW" ones has ever had this issue as well? The little shavings and these chunks could end up in someone's gas tank if they didn't take the time to clean out the gas cans first. Kind of disappointing.

Anyhow, here's a shot at the Toyota Bed Rail Bracket plates. Each comes with one allen keyed screw and wedge to secure it to the bed rail. The back side of each mounting plate has two notches on it that line up inside the bed rail itself. When the screw is tightened down they sink into the bed rail and prevent the plate from rotating.

These plates are pretty stout and appear to be powder coated well. The plates also allow you to mount the Rotopax vertical or horizontal.


Here's how it looks installed - minus the Rotopax of course. This is a bed rail plate, plus mount, plus extension. The plate is the perfect length so that you can still open the storage cubby underneath it. I tried!


With two Rotopax installed. This sit so they show just over the top of the bed sides. So anyone paying attention can in fact see them.


I'm kind of wishing I'd spent the extra for the locking mounts. However, I was concerned about them not being keyed alike and some concerns I've read online about the reality that the locks are apparently being defeated pretty easily.

 

Glad to finally meet you! Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. Defiantly made some decisions after seeing your build.

 

Awesome! Yeah it was great meeting another TW member. Glad I can inspire others to spend money as others have done so for me. Haha

 

So I'm about 140 miles on my re-gear so far. The truck continues to run very smoothly. It's been really tempting to just stomp on it and see what happens. But - I was told NOT to do so during break in. So alas, I have not done so. So far I haven't been over 70mph as I've been avoiding the interstate during my break in. Haven't had much time to put 'extra' miles on it just for fun. Going to be flying out of town for 3 days later this week so the truck will sit idle for a few days. It's tempting to take a drive just to put miles on so I can refill the diffs and get on with life.

Bugging me that I don't have my skid plates on. Not planning any off-road right now but still it's bugging me. Feels... naked.

I also put on new "Extended Thread" lug nuts to replace the splined nuts I bought with my Method NV rims. The folks at Method suggested this to help reduce steering wheel shimmy at speeds. Strangely, once they were put on, I realized that the lug nuts I had on previously looked... exactly the same. Yet the steering wheel seems to have less shimmy than it did before. So not sure what happened there.

Also took a tape measure to my rear mud flaps. Montana law says that the magic measurements is 20". I figured I could cut about 4" of my mud flaps off and still remain legal. Though I'm planning to remove them entirely for my Moab trip - and just put them back on when I get home I suppose.

 

@Kyitty how do you like the ride of those 886 front coils?

 

With the weight of the bumper, skids, and winch they ride nice and smooth!

 

Great build so far! Subbed!

 

I was going to chose those coils for my truck but I don't have any mods like that. All stock in the front. I like a firm ride. I have the Sport and like the stiffer Bilsteins. I just want to ensure the 886s aren't too firm.

 

I've only run the 886 with the extra weight. I had 887 prior to the bumpers. I can say that even with the weight on the 886s I can occasionally get the "over speed bump goes clank" issue folks talk about.

 

Looking really good!!

 

Had my diff fluid changed after hitting 500 miles on my new gears/lockers from ECGS. The guys at Dark Horse discovered that my rear ARB locker isn't sealed. Soo.... called ECGS. Gonna have to warranty the locker and I haven't even used it yet.

Hopefully we can get it resolved before Rock Therapy!

 

Wow that's a total bummer!!

 

You know if you wanted a tank, why did you buy a truck?

 

Haha. Tacomaworld.com kind of does that to you. Didn't intend to do most of what I've done when I bought the truck.