Scott B.'s 2015 AC Build - Expo Style

Excellent job! You have good taste!

 

Thank you.

Every time I see your truck, I swear it's mine!

 

You have windoors!

 

I like the Z-Series shell better, but this time around I really wanted the windoors. I must say, they are worth every penny! I also have a tip-in front window - makes cleaning the front of it and the back of the cab window very easy too.

 

Love the the fold in window. I wanted maximum airflow for my dog and the windoors only had a small sliding window which worried me. Trade offs I guess... Part of me still wishes I would have gotten them though.

 

Beautiful truck and trailer man - subbed!

 

Thanks.

More coming soon!

 

How have the 6112's been? Still liking them? I've been considering those shocks since I've had a truck with the 5100's and they felt great but would be nice for a change.
How was the install too? I noticed you didn't get them pre installed with the top shock mount on like wheelers offers, was that a pain to deal with?

 

I still like them. They ride nice and do well off-road. Happy with my choice.

As far as the install, the left side was easy, the right side needed some finessing to get the shock to compress and bolt in. No big deal, just took some extra thought. Having it done would have saved a little time - not worth it in my mind.

 

Awesome, thanks for the feedback.
What you've done to your truck has clearly been an inspiration for me, can't wait to see what your plans are next

 

Skid Plates

I really like the aluminum gas tank skid plate I got from Pelfrybilt, so I ordered a full set of aluminum skid plates for the rest of the truck. It didn't hurt that they were on sale!



Here is the front of the truck without the factory skid pan - so nice and clean. (Probably the last picture of the truck this clean!)



With the front and mid plates installed:




I have to reroute the exhaust for the rearmost plate to fit.

 

I "adjusted" my CV boots.

As some folks have pointed out, on lifted trucks, the vanes of the accordion boots rub each other at higher angles. Looking at mine, I could see there were rubbing.



The fix was to cut the crimp rings off, slide the shaft end of the boots toward each other (along the axle shaft) and clamp them in place. Doing so stretches the accordion, giving the veins room to not rub on each other.

 

I'm only a little behind in posting...

On the way back from Parashant, this happened....

 

Rear Shocks

To match the front Bilstein 6112s, I decided to run 5165 reservoir shocks on the back. After lots of measuring, I found what I think are the longest I can run while retaining adequate compression travel.



The 5160 that fits the Tacoma is not very long - it is designed for stock suspension lift and travel. Since I am running more lift, and will get more travel from my springs, I needed a longer shock. However, none of the longer shocks have a post-style top mount.

I have to change the upper shock mount. I found one option - BAMF. They make an extended mount, allowing for a longer than stock length shock, with the correct upper mount. However, their setup moves the top of the shock outboard (to clear the bed inner fender) almost requiring the use of wheel spacers. I ordered one, but they were backordered. I ended up canceling my order since I needed a solution before my Parashant trip.

I devised a solution, but was unable to complete it in time for my trip. So, as a temporary solution, I picked up a set of adapters. (The only problem with these is the reduction of 2" of compression travel.)



But, they worked for the trip.

I found these really cool and functional reservoir mounting brackets - and they were not that expensive! (http://dodgeoffroad.3dcartstores.com/Remote-Reservoir-Shock-Mounts_p_145.html)



The shocks are on, and work great.

The new custom-made extended upper mounts are in process - pictures when they are complete.

 

Lift Blocks

My expedition-rated rear springs were not carrying the weight as good as I wanted them to. The rear end of the truck sagged a little bit.

I could have lowered the front to even things out, but I really didn't want the truck to sit any lower. Besides, the lower height was eating into my up travel space.

I decided to build a set of lift blocks. While not the perfect solution, these would take care of most of problem. Yes, I won't get any addition up travel.

I used aluminum - 1" on the passenger side, 1 1/4" on the driver side.



After cutting to length, I drilled holes in the center.



Holes bored to proper size. If you look close at the right side one, you can see a stepped hole. The larger diameter allows the spring bolt head to slide in, and the smaller diameter allows the steel pin to be pressed in place.



Pins pressed in.



New 5/8" u-bolts.



Installed.



I also installed a set of Wheeler's bumpstops.

 

I see that the lift blocks aren't very large, just curious as to why you didn't go the add a leaf route? Concerned you weren't going to get the truck levelled?

 

This spring pack was designed to work as is. Adding an add-a-leaf would alter the behavior of the spring pack, making the ride harsher and limiting up travel (to a certain degree.) Besides, with an add-a-leaf, the add-a-leaf carries a majority of the load, not the rest of the spring pack (that is how an add-a-leaf can raise the truck.)

I only used the lift blocks to do a minor height adjustment. An added benefit is an extra inch of shock compression travel.

 

intersting. I would have assumed with the add a leaf and the extra weight it would have tamed the complete leaf pack as a whole. Curious to see how it hold up. The general consensus around here is it will prematurely wear your pack out. Yours is very small and some stock trucks (even heavy duty ones) come with a block So wondering where the line is.

Thanks for the info.

 

Door Sill Protectors

I added a set of DSPs from G-TEK Fab.

I really like the way they look, and they are great to cover scratches other people have put in the door sills....

 

Antennas, Communication

I installed 2 communication antennas, one for CB radio and one for ham radio. For CB, I selected a K40 antenna, and for ham, a Laird NMO mount. Both antennas were mounted through the roof.

I like the roof mount for several reasons. On the roof, the antennas are high off the ground, and not obstructed by any of the metal body. The higher the antenna, the farther the transmitted signal will travel. Also, roof mounted antennas are in the center of the vehicle, yielding the most uniform/even transmission pattern. Using the radio off-road, an omni-directional pattern is preferred. (Over the road trucks, with their dual antennas, prefer a more uni-directional pattern.)

Here's what I installed:

K40



Laird NMO:



On to the installation. First remove the headliner. On these trucks, you start removing the headliner by removing the door sills....


I like to add a backing plate under the thin roof sheet metal. Extra material to carry the load when the antenna hits tree limbs and such.

Backing plates:



I used 1/8" aluminum for the K40 backing plate, and thinner aluminum for the NMO mount. I had to modify the K40 to use the thick plate. Unfortunately, the NMO did not allow for a thicker plate. But, something is better than nothing.

Here's an expanded view of the K40:



I also added Part # 1 - a 1/8" thick rubber washer. Part # 3 needed to be shortened to allow for the plate and washer.

Using a chassis punch, I punched 2 holes in the perfectly good roof:




Assembled:




Now to put the interior back together!