Flatbed,35’s and Mainly Parked For Repairs

Bump for future reading

 

Haven’t don’t much lately due to needing more time for the bigger projects but I have gotten a few things checked off.

Built a tire holder to keep pressure off the back wall of the cap and mounted my shovel.

I also started to plumb the air system. I still need to wire the air compressor which I need some time for. I will be going back and cleaning up all the lines. First time working with the push style fittings so it was a bit of a learning curve. Need to go back and make it neat.


Other that I tested out the water system a few times. I have figured out the hoses. I am able to bring the hose to the driver side of the vehicle for showers and cleaning dishes. This will keep the camp from becoming a mud pit as we set up on the passenger side.

https://youtu.be/xYVi6W52_Cc

 

I am never overlanding without your rig. Its like a damn Gipsy caravan

 

Haha. It’s not needed but when your on the road for a long period of time it’s nice to have.

 

Finally mounted my fire extinguisher. It’s been a really crazy process to mount little things like my shovel and fire extinguisher without the bedside. Everything is a little more involved.

Little 1/4 aluminum bracket, with 4 holes and a couple rivnuts to secure the extinguisher on the door. Not the nicest location for loading stuff but it is right there on the driver side so if there was something wrong I could quickly get out, open door and grab the extinguisher.

 

Well the truck has been progressing, getting little things installed such as new headlights and grill. Today I took care of the brakes.

Anyone looking to do a big brake upgrade this was the cheapest way. This thread was awesome—> https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...t-oem-parts-part-s-provided-installed.443656/

Gives all the info you need. I opted to get all oem stuff from toyota parts direct. The rotors I got from tdot performance and are ebc which were cheaper.

Some comparisons. All the old stuff is obviously Tacoma and the new stuff is 5th gen 4 runner


On the truck

I didn’t take any pictures of the dust shields but they are larger.

Also you will need to run a 17” wheel to do this.

Thursday I’m getting the drum brakes done and properly adjusted and getting the brake fluid drained at Toyota. See how much labour is since I have all the parts already....

 

Nice work. I thought your SCS F5's were 16's? Maybe the 35s just threw me off, haha.

 

I'll let you be my guinea pig. Tell me how they are after a year and I'll probably do it myself haha. One thing at a time eh

 

17’s just because of this mod lol.

Will let you know.

 

The shakedown run

Today I hit the trail since last year in September when I broke everything. It was the maiden voyage. All in all the trip went very well, especially using the rear and front locker. Also everything done worked very well.

Some issues:
-The rear tires are rubbing the bed at full stuff. May have to adjust the bumps slightly.
-Brakes.
I recently did the brakes in the front and had toyota do the rear drums and bleed the entire system since this truck is notorious to bleed the brake system apparently (from what I have read). Well I lost the rear brakes on my way to the trail. It progressively got worst throughout the day, to the point where I had to pump the brakes to stop and was on the floor. there is either air in the system or something messed up in the drums. I didn't touch anything as Ill let the dealer mess with it.

Some pictures.

This picture I couldn't turn as my wheels kind of pinned me in this ditch. I thought I busted a tie rod, but with a bit of spotting I was able to get out of it.


Minor things, but I am pretty much re learning how to drive the truck with the extra width, travel, tires, traction.....It has completely changed.

 

Seen alot of companies put the gas fillet in the headache rack. Clean look and protected. Just lifts it higher up than normal.

 

My truck is heavy with the cap, rtt, and the gear I carry. Plus I had the Dakar’s plus overload for the old bed setup.

So right now the gas filler is literally zip tied into place (may be able to see it here, on my phone and can’t really tell). It is tucked up out of the way. It has worked and I’m not in a hurry to fix it as it’s managble for the time being.
I’ll be following @1 Bored Clerk method for fixing the filler neck issue. His build thread helped me significantly with lots of things. His work is awesome. You may need to search his build to find what your looking for.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1-bored-clerks-garage-built-camper.457359/

He extended everything and mounted it on the head rack as mentioned. He made some very nice mounts to do so and I’ll be trying to mimack it the best I can.

 

I mounted mine forward and between the cab and the bed to protect it offroad and to try and keep the tires from it.

Thanks. The tire was fine strapped to the back of the flatbed however since I got the cap the back wall wasn’t strong enough so I had to make a mount. Simple “L” looking bracket that allows me to have a back.



Just for reference that is a 315/70/17 tire.

Let me know if you need anything else. It’s a bit daunting when you have it all apart and your trying to figure it out.

 

I was considering that and really wanted the tires off the back. Just didn’t want to go too custom in case something failed (or I broke it....damn trees). Wanted parts that were readily available. I really like the 60 and wanted something similiar. Also @ChandlerDOOM makes a unreal setup and I was going to buy his old bed but timing didn’t work out.

 

Yup. Thank god. I was stressing to find a new bed for a decent price.

 

Awesome build.

 

Thank you!

 

So today I finally sorted out some of my storage options for longer trips. Considering I have a big trip coming up in 2 weeks, I had put this off.

For this particular trip, Ill be bringing 80 litres of fuel, 40 litres of water, plus my regular camping stuff (kitchen in a large plano box, recovery gear and spare parts/fluid in 2 smaller planos, some chairs, propane tank, a plastic ammo box for water and air stuff, plus some misc items)

Still lots of room and the best thing is I don't have to pull three things out to get to one. Some items are used less like the spare parts, but everything is very east to get to and accessible. Even the fuel can be siphoned out from its location based on a test I did last week.

I also made up this little aluminum plate to hold my 4 maxsa recovery boards.

Next week is another shake down run where Ill have all the gear to make sure it stays secured. Then the big trip the next week. Close to 1000km's offroad. Should be good.

 

Trip #2 with the new setup. This trip was pretty important as it is a shakedown run for a upcoming trip to the Swisha loop . That being said, I packed as if I was on the that trip, bringing the 80 litres of fuel, and 40+ litres of water, and just about everything I would consider bringing for a 5 day trip in the middle of no where.


pretty crazy to see the hydro guys working with the helicopter

 

The Swisha loop.

Well the trip that I had been planning for came and went. All in all, the trip isn't difficult, its the remoteness of the route that is the tough part. If you have an issue, you are literally on your own since cell reception and "traffic" are non existent. We went days with no cell reception or seeing people. Lots of dirt roads and atv trails. I have a few adjustments to do, but I was very happy that nothing rattled apart.

Some pictures from the thread.






The washout


Although we did a shit ton of work to build this up, I was about as wide as the path. With a soft shoulder that wasn't stable (to me) I wasn't risking it.









Really awesome camp with a waterfall








we encountered a few fallen trees which was to be expected.




some washed out bridges as well





Came across this on one of the late nights to find camp. This is how remote you are. Leave your car, people have the time to completely destroy it. Or it could have been stolen and dumped. Who knows



Was a great time camping with this bunch for 4-5 days.