Simple yet Satisfying DCLB

The AOP trip a few weeks ago was a lot of fun. Thanks again for the invite @Bsheriff11 . Saw some familiar faces and met some great new people. The trip was so last minute that I forgot to pack a few things. My camera was one of those things. Thanks to those of you who posted up some of your pictures.

This rock reminded me why sliders are a great investment @Acerwin 's truck

During the trip, I was talking to @JimboAnz about a cheap camping shell he used to have on his truck. Long story, short, he pointed me to another shell the same guy was selling, and I bought it. It needs work, but I am excited to be in a camping shell again! I even listed the RTT setup for sale.

 

Dude your truck is awesome! Im looking to do some similar stuff with my DCLB in the future! Sub'd for sure. Keep up the good work!

 

Thank you sir.

 

Updated first post.

I watched the RTT leave yesterday on someone else's truck.

I'm excited about finishing up the new camping setup though. More later, as I'm about to hit the road.

 

Made a "pool" out of the #2 truck today. I've got no plans, so I plan to be a redneck for the weekend. The fridge is stocked up with a few day's worth of cheap beer and grilling goodness. Sorry, no Tacoma in the background.

 

Jeep in the background is a going to be something, but not telling yet.

 

Truck is at 45,000 miles. Today I changed oils in both differentials, transfer case, and the engine. Rear diff and transfer case oils both looked pretty good, but the front diff oil was SUPER dark with thick black paste on the magnet and throughout. I'm not too worried, but should I be?

I was also planning to change the spark plugs, since the manual says to do them at 30,000 miles. They still looked good at 30k, and they still look good now. I only checked 2 today, and the gap is still at .044. I'll leave them alone but will change them out at 60k. Thoughts?

 

Also, since I removed the skid plates, I fixed an issue that has been bugging me for 2 years. The hole in the IFS skid for changing the oil is too small, and it's nearly impossible to not spill oil on top of the skid. Anyway, I think I fixed that today. I changed the 2" hole to a 3" hole.

Here is a trick I used to enlarge the hole. As you know, the pilot bit on a hole saw needs to make secure contact with something, or the hole saw will just dance around. I screwed a piece of wood to the back side for the pilot bit. Worked great! All I need to do now is clean it up and file off any sharp edges.

 

Also, stay tuned. I'm changing from bolt on sliders to weld on in the next few weeks. Also, I have moved the winch onto a winch cradle for use front or rear. Just need to do the wiring. @Sandman614 what was that plug we were talking about? I have some research to do on wire size and what not.

 

Anderson plugs, color does matter red only plugs to red, gray to gray, etc.

 

Thanks!

 

Really like these plugs. If they are wired correctly you reall can't screw things up because the design won't let you.

 

I like how you cut that hole in there plate, ingenious! The pool in the back of the truck is awesome! So you're gonna run a shell on the truck now? They sure are nice! One of the best mods you can do, IMO. Nice updates all around!

 

Hey, welcome back Nick! I only have the shell on the truck when I'm going somewhere overnight. I use the truck too much for 'truck-ish' things at work to leave it on full time. I modified my garage hoist from my old RTT setup to now lift and store the shell. SUPER easy.

 

Thanks! Nice reuse of the hoist.

 

I luv it!

 

Small update to the truck. I have been modifying the camper shell with some ghetto custom windows. I am also modifying it to fit my @KB Voodoo bed rails and to be more water resistant where it mounts to the truck. A surprising amount of water has been leaking there.

I added some 1" wheel spacers, and traded some frame rub for some fender flare rub, lol. I easily trimmed them though. I sold the bolt on sliders and decided not to replace them at all for now.

Also, this happened last night. This will be my ultra ghetto camping trailer. I it will actually be kind of cool when done in an odd way.

 

Can't wait to watch this trailer build!

 

I cut the floor out of the jeep today, and now it's time to drink cheep beer and dial in my plan.

The jeep's rocker pinch welds fit perfectly inside the trailer's top rails. The plan is to essentially make the jeep into a slide in "camper" like the cab over ones you see on full sized trucks. I will build a new floor for the jeep that sits down on the trailer deck.

This will be nowhere near the quality workmanship that @1 Bored Clerk is doing on his camper, but it will be a fun cheap camping trailer.

 

I guess I should start the jeep trailer build from the beginning. I bought it for $300 with a blown motor and promptly took it apart. There, you are caught up.

I saved all the usable parts for a 4x4 swap on a twin of this one I used to own years ago. Long story, but I'll be getting it back and plan to make it my trail rig. I'll spare the Tacoma from some of the heavy abuse.