Problems? No.Just a reason to upgrade

Nicely done!

Definitely interested in how your your shock relocation ends up. I'm strongly considering something along those lines as my next (major) project for the truck.

 

Time to test drive
Well after the bed makeover the lower shock mounts finally came that Sunday. I asked a buddy to help me put the bed back on the truck since taking it down by myself and moving it was too much of a chore. Once i got it in place i bolted that bad boy back down with new hardware and started grinding away at the shocks and mounting them up. I decided that i never wanted the shocks to become limit straps so i bolted the lower shock mounts to the shocks themselves while they were bolted to the upper mounts and used my floor jack to push everything up about 1/4 of an inch. So as the rear axle was at full droop i welded them in place as straight as i could and shot them with a few coats of paint. The axle itself needs some tlc in the rust department and it will get its time under the microscope soon enough. After the shocks were mounted i had to mount the reservoirs and those hoses are not as flexible as they seem. After some battles and welding the little reservoir mounts to the upper bar i used some big tube worm driven clamps and they were officially another solid piece to the truck. After everything was installed i just had to reinstall lighting and the license plate so i could test drive it.

 

Well they are installed,im updating my thread since i have some spare time

 

One thing fixed two more broken
After all the rear end work i had some lingering gremlins to fix and they became much more noticeable due the the very tight rear end. The first of the things was the stupid exhaust. I hated that the exhaust literally just blew right onto my beautiful new king shocks so i welded up a 90 degree elbow and shot that straight to the ground. Also my shock relocation wasn't perfect. After all my measurement no matter what i do i cant get the shocks in a position where they never become a limiting factor. My bump stops had 5 1/16th inches of travel while my shocks have 4 13/16th of travel...... I then realized this was due to the fact that i didn't want the shocks to be limit straps so i mounted them 1/4 inch high. To resolve the issue i ordered bump stop spacers that were 1/2 inch tall to ensure i never bottomed out the new kings. After all the rear end work was done i coated everything in a heavy layer of fluid film to help protect my handwork. I almost forgot after all the joy of being done that i had some miscellaneous fixes still.

 

Clunks Galore
Well guys i had been putting off fixing a pestering clunk since i bought the truck. My Ucas were done for but i was waiting for some special parts to arrive to fix the problem. I decided after all my research that the spc upper control arms were the right product for me. So i got those installed this weekend. While i was in th emod of fixing front end gear my steering rack had been on its way out for about two months and i had a new reman from low range offload waiting to be installed. So i got to the steering rack install and unfortunately low range offroad said that the rack was centered and you weren't supposed to mess with it but after installing and getting everything back together the rack was not even close to being centered so i had to uninstall and recenter the rack to reinstall it. While i was they're i threw in all energy suspension bushings to eliminate any play the rack might have. Got it to Firestone and with my lifetime alignment package they got it done the next day. Can i just say WOW!!!! What a difference a new rack,poly bushings and spc control arms make! The front end is tight and so much better wish i would have done it sooner.

 

Mounting Custom fuse box/remaking compressor mount
After lots of contemplation and shifting things around i decided to make a bracket out of some left over metal chunks i had. I decided to move some hoses around the factory fuse box closer the master cylinder and mount the fuse box on its side. My already made box had to be kinda chew up and cut up to make it work in the new spot. I had to sadly cut all my nice ends off and will have to solder on new wires to extend them to be ran along the fender wall and closer to a accessible spot for future plug and play ability more or less. While i was there i decided to cut the old compressor mount up a little and add another support leg as well as flip it upside down to put the air chuck closer to the passenger side for easier access later on. I then cleaned it up and got new hardware to finish it off.

 

Electrical Madness,nothing but power!!!!
Well its been some time now and i have spend a majority of it working on loose ends and little side projects for the truck. Some might just say i have an addiction to projects.
Anyways i left off on the mounts for the arb compressor and the custom fuse box. After they were mounted i started getting all the wires ran and realized that 6 toggle switches take up a fair amount of room.
Being that i want to keep the oem radio (i like the look) i couldn't figure out where to mount this huge switch panel.......Needless to say i got creative.
Before all that though i ran my main power to the battery with a inline 60 amp fuse for now being that my power needs are not very much. I only have front led 9 inch lights and the arb compressor currently. The next part of course was running the ground wires. I decided to run straight to the battery as well as to the chassis of the car to make sure any future add ons had a solid ground point anywhere on the vehicle. I wrapped every wire in some awesome split loom fire rated sleeving to insure that there would be no abrasions and risks of shorts.

 

Fun mini project within a project
After the fuse box was all wired and had power i then ran into the next part of this project witch turned into a project within itself. I had yet to determine where six toggle switches could fit and where i could comfortably reach while driving. So i already didn't have a rear view mirror due to having a canopy that had no windows, then my mind began to picture having a overhead switch panel in its place. That spark turned into me pulling out my 16 inch jet planer and milling up some cherry lumber i have been storing. I chose cherry over mdf or plywood just because its a hardwood and would accept a screw being loosened and tightened multiple times without splitting or wearing out super fast. Also im a decent woodworker. At any rate i build a small box with internal holes that the factory bolts could mount to the rear view mirror mount securely and not rattle. The only problem is that i had to make the bottom of this box removable in order to reach those the bolts and run the wiring loom i made through it.
That being said it turned out to be pretty east and after running the wire loom through a grommet in the firewall and up the a pillar over to the hole it was all plug and play just how i had planned for once.
The final product turned out better than i could have hoped for. Looks like it was meant to be there and not some big awkward thing with 6 switches randomly placed.

 

More play time with the welder and rear swing out build
I have been rolling around without my 5th full size matching tire for a few weeks after the big build because the pare tire mount was cut off for a reinforcement bar to go there. Being that i had to move that i decided to order a 4xinnovations swing out carrier hinge and latch kit to add a swing out to my bumper. First of all the 4xinnovations hinge is literally bombproof, im talking a nuclear bomb and same goes with the latch system they have come up with. Anyways i got some 2x2 3/16ths wall square tubing and went crazy for a day and had a working swingout. I decided to keep my tire fairly low compared to most because my truck inst a rock crawler and never will be and plus i can take my tire off and still put a 8x4ft piece of plywood on the back without being too awkward. Also i plan to have a second one on the other side for future plans but for now having the spare tire on the passenger side helped with the taco lean a bit and smoothed out my once super stiff rear end from the ome 2.5 inch spring with aal in them.

 

I feel like it could be built better, Bed-slide Renovation
Well as the title states i cant leave anything alone. I have to take it apart ans see how it works. The problem with that is i think of new ways it could be built and ways to improve it. The bed slide is a tool for me that im never going to be without. The thought of having to climb in the back of the truck ever again brings immediate pain to my back and my head from all the times i hit my head on the roof of the canopy. My bed slide was bought used and therefor had seen better days and i definitely put it through its paces as well. The main problem was it never fit perfectly in the truck bed and was about 6 inches to short. Also the way i mounted it was on uni strut so it raised the whole platform about 1.5 inches which took away from cargo space but it was a quick and dirty temporary mount. The first thing i did was take it apart and cut a new platform and wrapped it with some 1/8 inch aluminum trim to encapsulate the raw soft edges of the pine plywood i chose. After cutting the actual top i had to mount this thing again to the bed. This time i used m10 nutserts so that it could be as low as possible and easy to remove and install down the road. After i got it all mounted i put some foam bumpers n the front and back because i wanted it to be so tight that when i closed my tailgate it would keep constant pressure on the slide so it never rattled. Previous to this it would rattle so much and drive me crazy as i drove. I then waited for a decent day and bed lined it so finish the project off.

 

@Pj40 Dam, nice build dude, wish I had deep pockets. There are many things I'd like to do on my 03 DC, and some of them will come true. Mostly I'm looking to do some rust prevention similar to what you've done. Want to take of my Bed, and do as much of the frame as possible. I also am leaning towards Eastwood internal frame coating, and POR 15. don't forget that anything exposed to sunlight will need a top coat of paint. I keep hoping that I'll get lucky and hit the lottery or maybe I'll be struck by lightning and won't have to worry about these mods.

 

Well hey thanks man I appreciate the compliment. I did use por 15 topcoat on all the frame as well just to be sure. The por 15 products are awesome I think they should last a long while. I hope that you dont have to do any of these mods either because the frame repair sucks and all the prep is even worse haha. I wish my pockets were deeper but it definitely saved me being able to do this on my own and putting in the time.

 

I love the build thread P! Can't wait to see where this goes!

 

More mounts/hi-lift install
Well guys its been a hot minute. I have been busy and of course adding onto the build. the first of the additions was a hi-lift jack since recovery and changing tires are more important than the more fun mods. I went with a 48inch hi lift jack and decided to make a mount that would sit inside of the bed rails on top of the wheel well. Simple bracket and easy to reach through canopy window when installed.

 

Canopy tear down/rebuild
The white contractor canopy i had purchased was starting to kill me internally. There was multiple big gouges and it just was not what i had envisioned for my truck.Yeah i could go buy a gfc camper but the price was out of my comfort zone and i knew i could build something that worked well for me anyways so i did.
I started by stripping the canopy down and removing all the hardware and all the aluminum skin. Took the doors completely apart to reveal some poor building techniques that im surprised leer let go by the waist side.
I still need to spray the canopy black and reinstall the hardware but thats on hold while i test fit yet another creation. All in all after replacing and remaking the aluminum skin its already shaping up to be a way better canopy than ever before.

 

BIG CHANGES CVT TENT
Well probably easy to guess what this is about haha. I finally bit the bullet after finding an awesome deal on a cvt mt.st helens hard shell tent. I really wanted a hard shell mainly for the low profile look and the fact that its a actual hard roof over your head.Its everything and more than i expected it to be. Only one problem and that was the fact that my aluminum canopy couldn't support that weight without some new support, Therefore the solution was to build a internal cage to support the tent.

 

Internal support for the Rtt
After the purchase of the roof top tent ii started brainstorming how i would support it in my adventures. So i came up with a internal cage that wouldn't interfere with the canopies ability to be removed or any function of the doors in any way. The main hoops are made of 1/4 by 1.5x1.5 inch steel tube and is probably overkill. The base is 3/16 angle iron that wraps the entire bed of the truck to distribute the load and to ensure i have a good seal when the canopy is on the vehicle. It was a fun build and im not yet done as i still have the rooftop bars to make in a way that is removable and yet super strong and
waterproof.

 

Quick test fit
Had to do a test fit of the tent to make sure it was everything i ever wanted plus i needed some motivation to keep me going as the light kept getting further away in the tunnel.

 

Small upgrades make a huge difference
Well i decided that the custom front bumper was awesome but i wanted to mount a front winch and i found someone willing to trade their all pro bumper and ifs skid as well as tranny and transfer case skid with a little persuasion from the green paper things. While i was down there doing the install i noticed a lower radiator bolt had decided to exit its hole and was causing some slight knocking sounds. fixed that and all clunks were almost gone from the front end.

 

Steering column tack weld mod
If you haven't done this to your 1st gen tacoma you need to asap!!!!!!! There are no words that can explain the difference this simple mod has had on the truck. There is no slop at all in the steering and now at this point in my build there isn't a single clunk or weird noise form the front end whatsoever. Took me all of about 45 min and i regret not doing it sooner.