Scott B.'s 2015 AC Build - Expo Style

Read through your whole thread. Awesome work, and inspiring. Your craftsmanship sets a great example. Excited to continue following!

 

Have these held up all this time? I'm a little confused, did you put the rivnuts in to hold the drawers in place? If so, how did you do that?

 

Thank you!

It's nice to know folks are reading.

Stay tuned - more on the way.

 

Yes, the rivnuts are holding fine.

Not the drawers, but the panels the drawers are mounted to. From the drawer supports (vertical panels) I have "L" brackets mounted. The other end of the "L" bracket holds a bolt which goes into the rivnut.

I can add a close-up picture, if that would help.

 

Rear Bumper - Slowly.........

This project seems to be one I never work on. I have a good design plan in my head, and do plan to complete this. I am anxious to get the spare tire out of the bed (obviously, not anxious enough!)

The tire mount is one part I didn't have to think about very much. As on a previous swing-out, I will use a front hub. Easy and simple. Except, the Toyota hub does not fit inside 2x2 tubing. The outside diameter of the hub is approximately 1/2" larger than the inside opening of the square tubing.

The two ways to solve the problem are either cut the tubing to allow the hub to fit, or cut the hub to fit in the tubing. While I think either solution would be strong enough, I decided to modify the hub and leave the tubing intact.

So the question became, how to modify the hub? The steel in the hub is too hard for a hack saw. A cut-off wheel would work, but not be extremely accurate. Probably not an issue, but the OCD in me was not satisfied. Hmmm....

The solution became obvious - the hobby shop at work has a mill! Once set up in the mill, I was able to cut all 4 sides, keeping each square to the other. Cutting a 0.005" a pass, it took a while......................



It came out great!



A few passes with a flap disc, and I have a nice snug fit into the tubing. And, it was fun using the mill.

Now that the mount is complete, it's time figure exactly where the tire will hang.



I also have the latch pieces cut. I will need to pull the bumper off, cut and weld the latch pieces in, then re-paint the bumper. Then, build the swing outs.

It's coming - slowly....

 

Ahhh, L brackets would be the solution, that is plenty of information, thank you

 

One more thing - the horizontal portion of the "L" bracket (along the bed floor) is set slightly above the floor. Doing this allows the bracket to bend (slightly) when tightened to the floor. This keeps tension on the bolt, so it won't back out. Also, it ensures the platform is held tightly to the bed, since you can't mount the "L" bracket too low, allowing play in the platform.

 

Hmm. A picture might be nice, if its not too much to ask. How did you set it slightly above the floor?

 

Front Bumper

I ordered a PelfryBilt front bumper to match my rear bumper and skid plates. I decided I liked the center hoop the best - truth be told, they all look good. I picked it up about 10 weeks after ordering. Glad I have a trailer!



I painted it the same Rustoleum Truck Bed Liner (spray can) that I did my rear bumper and sliders. I like this product, and it is not difficult to touch up.

With the new bumper, I had to get some matching accessories!

First, a winch line fairlead. I opted for the thick version from F55. The more bearing surface, the better - both for the line and the fairlead.



Second, lights are important, and a few good lights is a wonderful thing. These BD wide angle cornering "fog" lights fit in the bumper perfectly. BD also makes a wiring harness adapter, so I can utilize my factory wiring.



The bumper, being steel, and winch combination weighs more than the stock setup, so one more accessory is in order - springs.



These are 14" long, 700 lb springs, designed to fit Bilstien 6112 shocks. I ordered them from @Wheeler's Off-Road Inc - fair price, great service!

One last item. Looking at how the bumper mounts to the front of the truck, one can see how it might not be the strongest mounting system. Several companies make re-enforcing brackets for use with these bumpers, either for/with their bumpers or aftermarket. PelfreyBilt has one, but I didn't like it. To me, it didn't look like it added that much strength. I found one I really liked - from @C4 Fabrication. It wraps around the front of the bumper and ties into the frame, about 10" behind the mount. Simple to install, and should be very solid.



After parts were gathered and painted, it was install day!!!!

Pulling off the factory bumper was not too difficult. A quick wash to remove all the hidden dirt and grime.



Voila!

Here is the truck with bumper and springs installed. In this photo, the bumper is not quite aligned.



Quite a different look. The winch is installed here, but without line. I will write an upcoming post about that.

So far, I am very pleased with the bumper. The bedliner is easy to clean - a scrub brush gets rid of the bugs. And the lights - wow. I can't use them in traffic, but otherwise they are great.

 

Dual Batteries - Part 2

I did a fair amount of research while designing this system. I had originally planned to utilize a ML-ACR to isolate and control the batteries. Simple, solid and reliable. And, that is the setup I had in my previous truck.

However, it turns out we have "smart" alternators. These devices are so "smart", that they won't see the lower voltage battery of a 2-battery system. Not seeing the lower voltage, they won't sent voltage out to charge the batteries. This causes the auxiliary battery to never be fully charged. Sure, you can charge the battery from an external source (house charger, for instance) but that is not a solution I wanted.

Enter a DC-DC charger. What is this? A battery charger, that charges a battery off of a 12-volt input source. It increases the voltage, massages the signal, and keeps the auxiliary battery charged and happy.

One main drawback, in my mind, to this setup, is you do not have the ability to, with the flick of a switch, run the truck off the auxiliary battery (self jump, etc.) This is a feature I used on my previous truck when the starting battery died.

So, we have many PROs and one major CON. Some more thinking and figuring let to a workable solution - a 2 part solution, actually. First, I now carry a lithium jump-pack, to jump start the truck in the event of a dead battery. These little things are really amazing. Just make sure you always have it charged up. Second, by using an auxiliary battery that is the same size as the starting battery, in the event of total battery failure, I can move the aux battery from the bed to under the hood, and run the truck. I realize the probability of needing to do this is quite remote, but it has happened in my case, and I want to be prepared.

During my research, I made another observation (that I should have made long ago) - the Odyssey AGM batteries like to be charged at ~14.5 volts, rather than the ~13.7 that the alternator provides. Thanks to HKB Electronics out of Australia, there is an elegant solution. In essence, it is a Schottky Diode in an easy to install package. It just replaces the existing alternator voltage sensing fuse, ALT-S, bumping the charging voltage to ~14.5.

The legwork done, it's time to gather parts!



CTEK DC-DC charger (which has the ability to charge AGM batteries at a higher voltage), Blue Sea fuses and terminal post, some wire and fittings from Del City.



A couple of sets of military battery terminals, and a pair of Slee Off-Road terminal extenders.

Let the fun begin!

I mounted the auxiliary battery in the front of the bed, under the sleeping platform. I originally wanted it in the right side compartment, but logistically, it worked better in the center compartment.



In the right hand compartment, I mounted the CTEK and the terminal post. This is the compartment where the wiring from the front of the truck comes into the bed. (The white things are Blue Sea Cable Clams.)



You can also see a fuse block. This is for all the bed-mounted accessories. Please excuse the wiring mess - at the time of this photo, I had not straightened and organized the wires.

So far, everything is working fine. I can run the fridge for several days without worrying about starting the truck. I can run the air compressor without running the truck. I can power the teardrop without worrying about killing the main truck battery. I sense a theme here...

 

Better late than never...

 

Indeed, thank you very much sir!

 

Enjoying your thread!

Started this for collecting helpful info on bumper/swing-out fab....
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bumper-swing-out-carrier-fabrication.630822/#post-21628650
Thanks for the tip on the southco handle, again!

 

Glad you like the thread. I have quite a few updates I need to post.

Good idea with the new thread. I will subscribe, and add any info I may have or learn when finally building mine.

 

What a great build thread! I love all the DIY'ing and am taking notes. (turns out we've done a lot of the same stuff to our trucks) Sub'd and will be watching your rear bumper fab with interest - that's my next project too. Cheers!

 

Hopefully this gets to you before you continue. Brian mentioned to me that putting the spare tire on the right side balances out the truck considering that the gas tank weight on the left side when it is full.

 

I realize the gas tank and driver put a lot of weight on the driver's side. I try to distribute weight evenly in the rear - the 2nd battery is on the passenger side, for instance.

However, putting the tire on the passenger side blocks the view to the rear of the truck more so than having it on the driver's side. Also, when using the truck (ie, camping) I use the passenger side of the truck, so I want the tire out of the way.

As a means of compensation, the spacer block under the driver's side leaf spring is 1/4" taller than the block under the passenger side spring.

There are pros and cons to mounting the tire on either side - my reasoning put it on the driver's side, and I have designed things around this idea.

 

Roger that so you are thinking about it.

 

Yes I am.

Really, the only thing I've discovered is there is no perfect solution...

 

Winch

Part of the reason of adding the front bumper was to mount a winch. I decided to go with a Warn VR-10S (second gen). I thought about a Zeon, but determined the added cost, size and weight were not necessary for my intended use.

The winch is wired directly to the battery, power to the motor being controlled by solenoids (or similar devices.) As an added measure of safety, I installed an on/off switch in the power lead. This will help insure the winch is only powered when I want it to be.

I started with a marine battery switch from Blue Sea. I found a convenient mounting place on the side of the battery cage. Close enough to not require lengthening the battery cable, and convenient to get to. To mount it, I fabricated a plate from aluminum (NASA surplus!).



Here, you can see the holes I drilled to hold the plate.



On the right is the fabricated mounting plate. On the left, is a non-conductive plastic sheet, to provide an extra layer of protection against shorting. This piece mounts between the switch and plate, protecting the positive leads.



A top view of the mounted switch



Some more goodies to go with the winch.

I bought the ProLink from a friend of mine at the tire shop. He pulled of his truck (not sure why). It has a very small ding on it, and was quite a bit cheaper than a new one! I did have to get a replacement snap ring. I also picked up two Crosby 3/4" shackles.



Installation of the ProLink turned out to be interesting. Warn splices a thimble on the end of their winch line - which is fine and good until it doesn't fit in the ProLink. It was ever so slightly too thick.



The solution? Learn to splice!

Factor 55 makes an aluminum sheave which fits inside the ProLink. The sheave allows for a larger radius for the line wrapping around the pin. I ordered a sheave and fid for splicing the line.

There are several companies that make fids for splicing. Factor 55 is the only one I found with a line grabber (Chinese finger torture looking thingy in the picture) that attaches to it. As it turns out, this simple little addition makes the process a little easier.



With the help of my new tool and couple of YouTube videos (some know what they are doing, many do not - be careful whom you choose to copy) I unspliced the line, pulled out the thimble, and re-spliced it.

NOTE: Warn did not taper the tail in their splice. While not tappering the tail is a timesaver, it puts excessive load at a single point in the line - which will lead to early failure of the line. Make sure you always taper the tail in your splices.