Lambo's Daily Driver --> Trail Hunter Build (dbc trd) - Now I need a new daily...

Yeah it's that time of year... I just need to get the suspension sorted and then I'll be comfortable going anywhere with this thing.

 

Yesterday I was on my way back from Steamboat Springs and decided to try and bypass as much of the highway as I could.

DSC05630 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr

DSC05641 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr

Now I'm really itching to get the truck out and do some wheeling this season. And now that I'm done with all these dumb weddings until fall, I finally have time to do the work I need to do to the truck to make it ready for this wheeling season.

 

Any plans for a rear bumper?

Truck looks great. Love how the 285s and the stock wheels look. Wish I still had mine...

 

Eventually... it would be really nice to have a tire carrier on the rear. But, I have way more important things to do first.

The 285’s really helped the stock wheels. I hated hem when it was on the 265/70’s. But now they’re tolerable lol. I’d still like to do different wheels so I could get rid of the spacers. But, like the rear bumper they’re kinda far down on my list of priorities. I just need to get out wheeling hahaha

 

Got a few things done over the past couple days. Completely tore apart the front suspension last night so I could take the spindles to have gussets welded in, and to have the bearings serviced.





And today I had a local guy (@TMFF) swap my 883's out for 882's, since I don't have the tools to mess with these truck springs.

 

Where are you having the bearings swapped out? That's a job I don't want to buy the 10000000000000 ton press for since I'll probably never use it again.

 

Not 100% sure yet but Toy Doctor near my house said they'd be willing to take a look. Over the phone they sounded pretty receptive to doing them with me bringing the spindles in, especially since I'm providing all OEM parts as well.

If they won't do it, my next option is to give G & S Auto Parts and Machine Shop a call.

 

I'm mostly just wondering about the wheel bearings since I don't plan on reinforcing my spindles. If I get that far, I'll go full-long travel. If they are MIG welding the spindles on, then almost anyone could do that - even me. If they are TIG welding, then any old welder with experience could do it with no problems. Good luck and let me (us) know what you end up doing.

 

Yeah I was talking about the bearings. I'm bringing the spindles in already taken off the truck to have the bearings serviced.

 

Well today kinda sucked. I went to Toy Doctor in Littleton to take a look at the wheel bearings... they wanted $470 to do the press work with the spindles off the truck

I then checked with a couple more places and no one was interested in doing them. Until I finally stumbled upon Havana Auto Parts and Machine Shop. They did them no questions asked for $55/side. Unfortunately, one of the bearings Toyota of Dallas sent me was porked...



So I have to wait until tomorrow to get one of the spindles finished. At least I was able to put the passenger side stuff all back together.



A few notes about the Total Chaos spindle gussets... With the gussets I can't fix a socket on the upper ball joint nut, so I'm going to have to get a 22mm wrench and torque by feel. Which is ok since it only calls for 45 ftlb. The gussets also make it so you can't use the stock ABS sensor wire holder. I replaced it with a ziptie for now. Maybe I'll come up with something better at a later date, like weld a little bracket to the spindle or something...



Finally, I got a CB antenna mount from BAMF since they were on sale. I can finally replace my shitty mount lol...

 

Also thanks to @3378jakesr5 for welding up the gussets

 

Got it all back together tonight. Initial impressions are that the 882's feel a lot better than the 883's with the amount of weight I have. But, we'll see over the next few days while I shake it down to make sure I didn't mess anything up lol...

I also still have to do the tie rod ends, but I'm waiting until I set up an alignment appointment so I'm not driving around with a boof alignment for too long.

It's got a little bit of cali lean right now but the springs should settle really nice.

 

This morning I went through and double checked all then nuts and bolts after driving for ~150 miles. Everything seemed good and I'm super happy with how the thing rides now. We'll see if much changes when I finally add a winch but I think it should be fine.

I also finished up mounting the new cb antenna bracket. I may add a ground strap to it. It seemed to be grounding to the bed fine but I wasn't finding any continuity to the frame... which maybe be fine, idk. I also need to tune the thing again.









And I finally got rid of the shitty walmart floor mats that came with the truck when I bought it. At the time, Weathertech didn't make mats for the 1st gen double cab, or they didn't have them listed on the website. But they have them now so I snagged a grey set.

 

Damn! Those WeatherTech mats looks nice. The Husky Lines I have fit pretty well, but the drivers one keeps moving around and doesn't fit snugly against the transmission tunnel and pushes my heel left of the gas pedal.

How much did the set end up costing?

 

They ended up being around $190 shipped

 

The WeatherTech rears go back along the door sill unlike the Husky Liners.

Also, the front mat actually works with the mat clip that keeps it in place unlike the Husky's.

Now I'm super disappointed with the ones I have, which were the only ones available when I bought them back in 2014. I paid $187 for them.

 

Yeah I'm missing that front clip. I'll have to figure something out for that. I remember seeing an ad on instagram, or something, for some kind of floor mat clip that looked nice.

 

Just a small update...

I took the truck up Argentine Pass with a group from TW a couple weeks ago. Here's a bunch of pictures from that:


DSC05668 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr


DSC05669 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr


DSC05674 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr


DSC05687 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr


DSC05701 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr


DSC05716 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr


DSC05705 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr


DSC05758 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr


DSC05761 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr


DSC05778 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr


DSC05790 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr


DSC05808 by Phillip Keefe, on Flickr

 

I also fixed my driver's side floor mat. I was missing the clip that "holds" it in place. It's not a very good clip, but it's better than nothing. Luckily the dealer gives you these for free... except I was missing the part in the carpet that the clip clips into, so I had to order that.

Part numbers for anyone with the same issue:

Clip: 00206-00802
Retainer: 58297-50020

I think I want to try out some of those Eagle Klaw things to secure the rest of the floor mats if they end up moving around too much...

https://eagleklaw.com/

Ignore the dog hair...

 

Oh you have a sunroof as well! Can you post up a photo looking up from inside the cabin at the front clips and rear handle? I want to see how it differs from mine. I think I have a "dealer installed" one and not a "Toyota" one or something. The Toyota (or premium) one came with or had the option for a cover that matched the headliner - a SUPER rare option that I have only seen a few people have here on TW.