My 1999 Taco TuRD Build - I sold it

Guess I got lucky. The shop called me this afternoon around 3, letting me know they were able to get both axles done. So I ran down, picked them up and got them installed. Wrapped up about 6pm. Still need to bleed the brakes, top off the gear oil, reinstall the wheels and then find some help to put the bed back on.

Leaky left side before.


And after.


Passenger side.




I also made some extensions for the parking brake to get the cables off the leaf springs.







Hopefully the Trail Gear Trail Safe seals hold up to their name and last a good while. The kit I got did come with 2 sets of axle seals, the Trail Gear ones and stock replacements, so I do have a backup set at least. Should have it wrapped up tomorrow, except for the bed. Need to find some extra muscle for that.

 

I need to build extension brackets for mine as well.

 

Brakes are bled, parking brake adjusted, gear oil topped off, wheels back on and test drive around the block completed. Everything seems good so far.

Now I just need help getting the bed reinstalled.

 

Found a crack in the back (cab side) panel of the bed. Noticed that that panel is actually bolted to the bed and the crack is right above the upper bolt, in the corner on the passenger side. It's actually been like that for a while from what I can tell and isn't from the bed bars or having the tent on the truck. Well, here is my quick fix, without welding. This won't be for everyone obviously, since there are not 3 bolt heads sticking up from the rear bed rail. I'm fine with it though and will make another for the driver side at some point. It isn't broken yet so I'm not worried about it. And I painter the repair in place, along with part of the hidden side of the bed. Hate away!

I used 3/4" wide by 3/16" thick flat stock that I had gotten from Home Depot a while back. Bent the bar into an L shape. Drilled 3 holes to match the bolts already in the bed and then 3 more thru the bed rail. Bolted it up and that corner is strong as shit now.





This is the driver side to show what it looks like without the fix in there.





Paint! I used some leftover spray can Herculiner.





Painted the bolt heads on the rail so they blend in some.

 

Hey bud, repairs look great. I’ll be back in Tucson on Tuesday if you need a hand with the bed still let me know. I’ll grab the boys and head over.

 

I do need help with the bed and Tuesday would be great! I'm in training at work all week and won't be getting home until around 5:30 each day.

 

Lookin good! I like the idea of the bed box stiffeners. I recently noticed that there is a lot of play between those two panels so that's something I might have to do myself in the future when I relocate the rear shocks.

Where did you get your leaf spring relocation plate? I'd like to get my rear axle more centered in the rear wheel well.

 

All Pro Off road - For the bed stiffener thing, you could probably use carriage bolts or some bolt with a rounded head so that they are lower profile than regular bolts. If you were worried about that.

 

Sweet thanks. Gonna snag one. Do you have it set to the 3/4" or 1" hole?

Yea I was thinking the same thing with doing carriage bolts instead.

 

Shit, I don't recall which way I set it. Whichever way moved the axle back furthest I guess. Checked my pics and I didn't take any of where I set it either, sorry.

 

No worries!

 

Not bolted down yet but at least the bed is back in place! Might have to make some spacers to clear the upper shock mounts, I'll be looking into it more this weekend.

Thanks to @Ace115 and his son for the assist!

 

Bed is bolted down again and everything remounted. Drives really nice now too. Except for the battery dying because the alternator is failing. Picked up a reman from Autozone and will use that until I get around to doing the 140amp caddy mod. I'll keep the reman for a trail spare.



Ended up just cranking the bed down and not worrying about spacers for it. I let the shocks and mounts dimple the bed up. It's barely noticeable.

This was the space before bolting it down. Maybe 1/2"?





Fits just fine!



Hardly even notice it.





Tons of travel for the shocks still with most of the weight back on the truck.



Also popped on my ebay TRD shift knob.

 

I'd still clearance the bed if I were you. The shocks will move around / rotate and the rubbing on the bottom of the bed will wear both surfaces.

 

Meh, they will make their own room. Too much work to dent the bed in now. I'm burned out.

 

Reman alternator is in, core returned. That was the OEM Toyota alternator as far as I can tell, had 323,258 miles on it. Guess I can't complain too much for it crapping out.







Funny thing, I had Autozone test the charging system again and it still failed. The old alt failed for the diodes, the new one passed for that but failed overall because the battery is still low. But has enough charge to start the truck. Should be good in a day or 2 with some driving.

 

Pulled the front bumper off this afternoon and finished welding up the kickers for the hoop. Also welded on a couple of additional plates for the recovery points to thicken them up. No progress pics, just some from when I was waiting for the paint to dry before reinstalling.

 

Decided it was time I replaced the valve cover gaskets. The passenger side is starting to leak more and more. I'm also taking the opportunity to send the injectors off to WitchHunter Performance for full servicing and cleaning. While I have access to them, I'll also re-wrap the wire looms and clean the shit out of what I can since there is so much baked on dirt and mud in there.

Lots of pics, mainly for me to reference if I need to when reassembling shit.

 

Did a bunch of cleaning on the intake and the injector ports. Looks much better even if not completely clean. Pulled the passenger side cover, everything is looking great so far.

 

Driver side cover off and mating surface cleaned up. Happy too see both side valve trains look in good shape with 323,733 miles on the clock. Gotta clean up the valve covers now and I'm also going to paint them. Injectors will go out either Monday or Tuesday and I'll get the valve covers reinstalled and everything ready while I wait for the injectors to come back.









Also need to clean all this shit up.