The Adventures of Ash and Baby Taco

Could always reach out to Mike if you are friends with him on Facebook. He works for them now haha

 

Gotcha, I just don’t see a reason to spend an extra thousand for it. I’m sure someone will make some accessories for it that will make it more appealing in the future. It would probably handle a tree falling on it better than a topper . That’s my only fear camping in Idaho.

And Mike works for them now? Awesome, good for him. That’s probably a fun job and a welcomed change.

 

Yeah he worked for pelfrey built then they went tits up and then moved to allpro for a while then they died and he got the gig there I think.

And yeah the t slots on the top have lots of cool mounting stuff for awnings antennas lights and stuff.

 

BabyT got a little love today. Ordered some rear 2.5 fox shocks. Going to keep my current leafs on and see how it rides. Decided to also keep the ORIs up front and instead will be ordering a rebuild kit for those. Still working great so might as well keep them. Maybe I’ll finally install the UCAs I bought from Marc years ago .

 

What shock kit did you get?

 

Decided not to relocate at this time. The more I thought about it the more difficult/expensive that would have been. Finding someone I trusted to install/weld it correctly would have been hard around here.

 

Step one....







Buy a welder

 

Step 1: Fix the truck so I can go to Moab in the spring and because my wife gave me the green light to spend $1000’s on the truck. I have learned not wait around for something to change our minds.

Step 2: Buy a welder/learn to weld.

Step 3: buy new shocks/relocate and sell the other shocks.

 

Actually do you have a suggestion for a cheap welder. I’m talking $300 and below. Small, compact and good enough for basic around the house fixes and occasional truck stuff.

 

If you're willing to gamble on Amazon, I've heard good things about this box. Disposables are always available as well:

SUNGOLDPOWER MIG Welder 140A Gas and Gasless Welding 110/220V Dual Voltage IGBT DC Inverter Welding Machine Including Flux Cored Wire

https://www.amazon.com/SUNGOLDPOWER-Inverter-Aluminum-Soldering-Equipment/dp/B07QQ4WGRB?th=1&psc=1

 

good hopefully see you there

I've heard good things from @Reh5108 about this one from Harbor Freight: however it is flux only..so keep that in mind. I'd recommend something that runs on 220v and is gas shielded. I've had great luck with Eastwood welders. Really like them.

I learned on this guy: https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-mig-welder-175-amp-with-spool-gun.html

And pretty much did all my fab work in Powell on that thing. Was great.

 

I wouldn't recommend the allpro expos. I had a set on my truck and they were clapped out after about 2 years. Honestly the best way to go is to get a custom leaf pack made. Alcan leafs that I had built are awsome and there was a huge difference in ride quality when I got them on the truck. I would also make sure you cycle the leaf pack you choose before buying shocks and choosing you shock relocation kit. I made the poor choice not to do that and I just went with the recommend 12" shock and ended up cycling the truck and found I needed 14" shocks. So I just recommend doing as much leg work as possible before making certain choices. But all kits that have been mentioned are great choices. I really like my archive lower shock mounts.

 

Certainly not against Amazon but I have been trying to get my tools locally so I can return them a little easier if needed. I’ll check it out! Thanks.

Are you for sure coming to Moab or still a maybe? Assuming I don’t have anything crazy come up at work I should be good to go! I have over 200 hours of leave now and need to start using it.

Hmmm, that has some good reviews and is certainly cheap. I’ll keep an eye out locally for a nicer one that’s used for a bit. I can go higher on the price but I am just not sure how much I will really use it. There are always small projects around the property that would benefit from a quick weld but it’s never been necessary.

I’m sure I will “find” projects once I have one available.

Thanks for the feedback! Last time I looked at suspension was probably 3-4 years ago so it’s good to hear an update on the AP expos. People seemed to like them back then.

I quickly realized how much work needed to be done to do it right. I always thought these kits were pretty straight forward. I honestly just don’t have the time to mess with all of that right now. But that’s something I can work on over a year and plan for the next stage of the build!

 

Yeah I'll be there I think. We had done a trip every year in the spring until this year. So will be reving to go again.

And for sure, once you have it. You'll use it a lot I bet. The Eastwood is nice and they are a good company to deal with in terms of warranty and other stuff. So yeah. I just find that 220v welds sooooo much nicer so I think it's well worth it.

 

Awesome! It’ll be good to see you again. I need to get with Jason and see where we are at with planning. It’ll be good to get out on some trails again and remind myself why I built this truck. Should be a fun group too!

I’ve been trying to make Moab work for years and something always came up. Glad I will finally be able to check it off the bucket list.

 

yeah I told him to pick some stuff and then I could help connect the dots. I've spent a lot of time down there in the last 4ish + years. So know some good stuff to see and do. Should be fun!

 

If you end up with a flux I'd get some anti spatter spray if you are concerned about looks. Some of my projects I wasn't able to get a grinder in to clean them up and there are bbs everywhere. Doesn't bother me too much. For $170 I'm keeping my shitbox on the road. Welded 1/4" surprisingly well, the breaker in my garage couldn't handle it for longer than a 2" bead. I've completely disregarded the duty cycle and it keeps on going. All things equal, flux supposedly has better penetration. It's nice not having to worry about gas. The Titanium 125 is small, little larger than two six packs.


Not sure when I've last been in this thread, I'll have to to do some catching up.

 

Happy to help. Just want to make sure people don't make the same mistakes I did. Yes and no the kits are straight forward but when it comes to messing with more travel you really want to check everything possible. My mistake in not breaking down the leaf pack and cycling it cost me $600, but was able to make most of it back by selling the 12" shocks.

 

Shout out to Wheeler’s!

The rear fox shocks I ordered have the wrong lower bushing (it fits a tundra). It’s a common problem and a simple fix. Most companies supply a second bushing that fits the tacoma but I didn’t receive one.

This wasn’t a big deal to me so I tried to find a replacement online. I couldn’t find the part I needed so I contacted Wheelers to see if they could point me in the right direction. I contacted them through email and briefly described the situation. I didn’t include an order number and I didn't suggest this was their fault. I was planning to order the replacement part myself.

The rep asked if I had received any extra bushing sleeve with the order. I confirmed I didn’t receive it and the next email told me that they would be sending one out immediately.

Thanks for the awesome customer service @Wheeler's Off-Road Inc . I’ll be back in the future.

 

Got the rear shocks on last night. I have a few photos from the install but there wasn’t much to see. Just a lot of cursing and knuckle busting trying to get the old top nut off. I’ll grab a few shots sometime soon and upload them.

Time to order a rebuild kit for the ORIs up front .