AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

It is much stronger than the shovel and axe edges, never cut through it on my last truck and I had a my axe and shovel bouncing around cause I didn't have a rack on that truck. Really is one of the best things I had done. Plus they give touch ups for the life of the truck if you do manage to somehow chip it, I never did though. Gotta get an appt to have mine done soon, but I'm gonna body work this bed a little bit first.

 

Also all the bed bolts are on the underside of the bed fyi

 

Yeah, that's why I say I didn't notice them, since I wasn't taking off the bed

 

One more vote for Line-X. I bought my truck with it already in, it takes the abuse.

 

This was the same issue I had as well. I ended up cutting the sides off my liner:




Realistically this is a temp solution. I want to buy a bed mat, or get those horse stall mats from the local TSC and cut it to fit. I already had to fix three holes in the bed from the liner rubbing and causing rust.

 

Replacing the Stabilizer Link Bushings
March 1, 2018.

I've never been a car guy. I can tell you all about the details of construction and woodworking - how the various bits of a house work, how to precision tune a saw or plane. But when I looked down and saw two flaking, worn bushings that were connected to "some bar" and my lower control arms, I wondered, "What the heck is that, and how screwed am I?"

As it turns out, that was my stabilizer bar, and I wasn't really all that screwed at all.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

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See, the first thing I did was consult my parts list and find out that those bushings are part number 90948-01002 (oem, aftermarket); that there are two per side on 6-lug Tacoma's (and surprisingly to me, four per side on 5-lug); and that they are relatively cheap at a couple bucks each. So I ordered them, they arrived, and I promptly set them aside.

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See, even though I'm not a car guy, I'm learning (I hope), and at some point between looking at the parts list and reading a billion posts on TacomaWorld, I realized that what I was looking at was probably my sway bar.

And when I realized that, I was in no big rush to replace the bushings. I'd seen many (literally dozens of) folks who'd removed their sway bar entirely, so I figured that even if the bushings complete disintegrated, I'd probably be OK.

But after a few months, I figured I might as well install the bushings - afterall, I'd paid for them - so when I already had the SCS Stealth6 wheels off to do some more pinch weld bashing to accommodate the 3.5" backspacing, there was no better time. I got started by removing the top nut.

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That went smoothly and it was onto the bottom nut that holds the stabilizer link to the lower control arm. This nut had a setup I'd never seen before - the bolt actually has a hex socket in it, to keep the bolt from spinning as the nut is removed. Very cool. With that nut removed, I was able to pivot the link out and access the bushings.

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The old bushings were definitely worn compared to the new ones. Understandable I guess - they are original and 18+ years old at this point.

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From this point it was obviously just a reverse procedure of removal. Slide on the new bushings, re-insert the link between the LCA and sway bar, and tighten everything to spec (22 ft-lbs for the top nut, and 51 ft-lbs for the bottom).

Easy peasy.

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Of course, it's highly likely that sometime in the near future, I'll be removing the sway bar and links completely - about the time I realize that I don't have the same travel as guys with a similar setup - but that's not the point. The point is that I learned something, and some day I might even be able to fix something important.

 

Now undo all those bolts and the other four holding the bar on and toss the entire assembly off the i90 floating bridge.

 

Hahahaha, while I was under there I considered removing sway bar entirely, but decided I paid good money for these bushings so I better install them!

I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

 

It's funny, you'll remove it for flex reasons, but you'll gain a bunch of comfort too from not having a thick bar trying to torque the other side of your suspension over every uneven bump.

 

Its been so long since I've had an anti-sway bar, I've literally forgotten the 'feel' of it. But I'm sure it would be noticeable if I were to put it back on.

Did the new bushings change the steering feel on the street?

 

Skids Saved My Truck - Refreshing the Skid Plates
March 1, 2018.

With summer fast approaching, I decided that it'd be a good time to take a look at the skids - so I could clean up any rust, and repaint them for the season. I'm not sure how necessary that is - I mean, at 3/16" thick, these @RelentlessFab plates would take quite a while for rust to destroy - but it's an easy process, so why not.

Removal was straight forward though a bit unwieldy, and I was happy to find that my re-welded anchors were holding up well.

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I was also happy to see that my skids had saved my truck - apparently on more than one occasion. Not surprising, given that I was running 31" tires and essentially no lift until recently. Both skids had several scratches and surface rust on them, but the front skid had clearly taken the brunt of the hits.

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None of the rust was all that bad (and the rest of the paint was holding up well), so a wire wheel to remove the bulk of the rust, some rust-inhibiting primer, and a few coats of Rustoleum spray paint were all that was required to service the skids. I left the dent-removal for another time (if ever).

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You'll soon get in the habit of giving all your armor a yearly repaint. I hat repainting my shit, but once a year I suck it up and break out the palm sander, flap discs and some Rust-Oleum flat black and duplicolor bed liner haha.

 

BAMF skids won't bend so bad

 

Do the relentless skids have any reinforcement there? That's quite the deformation, but you were riding pretty low for a while

 

These did pretty well when I was below stock height...and so hitting everything. So I'll stick with @RelentlessFab . The BAMF ones do look great though (but they'll be heavy @ 1/4"!) - they'd be the others I'd consider - I like all the gusseting that Eric and JLee do.

They do have a bunch of gusseting right at the bend. Just not on the very corner where I happened to hit something (obviously). I was surfing on my skids in some of the ruts we were on though, so I was super low. Hopefully, that's no longer an issue!

 

Well hell, if it isn't in contact with the frame I'd bust out that welder and make a gusset for the new dent haha, more clearance. I can't find a skid that hugs everything closely like I want so I've been editing a schematic I got from another member until it fits like I want with gusset room on bends and flat spots.

 

I stumbled on this thread a couple days ago and, wow...Productivity at work has been at an all-time low for me. These write-ups, trip reports, photos...So well-documented and informative! Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together. I just got my tent so wife and I are anxious to get out to some of these places!

 

Installing a Dual Swingout CBI Outback Rear Bumper
March 14-15, 2018.

There is perhaps nothing that changes the look of a truck more than adding a swing-out rear bumper. Sure, you can argue for bigger tires or lift or a front bumper, but in my mind, none of those things compare to the entirely new footprint that a rear-swing-out brings, what with the spare tire and jerry can mounts that add two additional feet to the length of your truck.

But as usual, I'm jumping into the middle of the story. Let's back up a bit.

Since starting to really build out the truck for adventuring, I've known that there were somethings that were required - sliders, skids, better suspension - just to make the truck capable of taking us to the places we wanted to go. Then, there were things that I knew were valuable - the Relentless front bumper (with Warn M8000 winch), bigger tires, and ARB air compressor - to make trips easier and safer. And then of course, there are creature comforts - things like the CVT tent, and the ARB 50qt Fridge that is a life-changer.

Naturally, a lot of these things also fall into the "cool factor" category as well. You can get a lot of mall-crawler-expo-points for this stuff, even if you never hit the trail.

But you'll be missing the best part - the adventure!

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As our adventures have gotten longer and more remote, I wasn't really sure where a rear bumper fit in. Expo points and creature comfort for sure - it'd look bad-ass, and be nice to have some fold down tables in camp; but it wasn't really necessary - I mean, we've gotten along fine without it until now... And then, last November, I finally convinced myself that while it'd never really be necessary, it was something that would be valuable. Two reasons: first, it allows easier access to the spare tire (imagine trying to get the one under the bed when you're in the middle of an obstacle, on a shelf road), and even the option to carry two spares when on the trail. Second, it will give us a good place to carry more spare fuel, something that will allow us to run trips that we've not done to this point.

So, with Black Friday 2017 approaching, I made a list of requirements and researched my options (explained in a future post) and ultimately decided that a CBI Outback 1.0 with dual-swingout was the direction I was going to go. And then I patiently waited for what I hoped would be the awesomest deal ever from @CBI Offroad Fab. The deal turned out to be more meh than mind-blowing (it was ~7% off; still nothing to complain about) and I placed the order for my bumper.

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And then I waited. Naturally there was some waiting because CBI had to build the bumper, but I also figured that if I picked up the bumper from CBI in Idaho Falls, I could also get a cool trip out of the situation as well. And that meant waiting for some better weather than middle-of-winter, which is when CBI let me know that the bumper was ready for pickup.

And then, opportunity knocked. Actually, Ben @m3bassman posted that he was heading to Utah for a long weekend, and asked if we could make it. Turned out we could, and the timing was perfect to head down to CBI the day before (only a few hours out of the way) to grab the bumper.

With a couple weeks to get ready, the first order of business was to remove the stock bumper and tow hitch, since I'd have nowhere to put them once I installed the new bumper (the bed would be full of our adventure gear for the trip, and I didn't want them bouncing around back there anyway, getting all scratched up).

So, I got my last look at the stock bumper and then pulled it off - a relatively easy process that involves (normally) removing the license plate lighting (which twists out, no need to unclip), unbolting 4 bolts (two on each side of the frame), and pulling off the bumper and tow receiver.

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The lights and bolts came out easily enough (I've been lucky with a complete lack of seizing of any bolts so far), and the bumper slid right off. But as I'd removed the bolts, I'd noticed that when the dealer installed the tow receiver, they'd kindly welded the receiver to the frame. Not what I'd have expected, but the welds looked good, and they actually made everything easier, since I didn't need to worry about juggling removal of both the bumper and receiver at the same time.

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A bit of grinding and the receiver came right off. Then, clean-up with a file and some spray paint, and the truck was looking ... different. Meaner, perhaps; definitely ready for a new rear end.

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So, on the morning of March 14, we got @mini.turbodb off to school and @mrs.turbodb and I headed out across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho - intent on camping about 30 minutes from CBI, so we could show up when they opened the next morning to pick up and install the Outback 1.0 rear bumper.

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As we made our way east, there were of course sights to see and conversations to be had. In Oregon, we saw a Toyota from Mexico, an unusual sighting (first ever) for us, even though we see Canadian plates all the time.

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We also discussed fast food chains. See, @mrs.turbodb has always resisted Jack-in-the-Box, that is at least, officially. However, I've caught her going there on more than one occasion, and so finally got her to admit that it is - in fact - her favorite fast food. Well, she certainly wasn't happy to admit that!

We passed through Boise around 5pm and (perhaps expectedly) the Ham radio (which we'd been using to beacon on APRS) lit up with "Hey Dan - you got your ears on?" It was Ben, heading home from work - and apparently we'd just driven right under the overpass he was on. I radioed back, but Ben was unable to hear us. Turns out it helps to have the mic actually plugged in - a problem I remedied a few minutes later at a fuel station, allowing us a quick conversation - basically just a "looking forward to meeting up tomorrow!"

With that, we headed east again, taking the scenic route up and through the snow-covered mountains as the sun set behind us. We drove into the darkness as snow stared to fall - past Craters of the Moon National Monument (which we unfortunately saw none of) and the town of Arco, Idaho - apparently the first town powered by atomic energy.

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Finally, around 9:30pm we arrived in Idaho Falls. It was snowing, hard. I could tell @mrs.turbodb wasn't too happy about that - what with the plan to camp before heading to CBI, but we pushed on - it was another half an hour through the snow to our proposed camp location just east of town.

When we arrived at the Kelly Island camp site just after 10:00pm, the gate was closed (apparently it was closed each evening at 10pm) and the snow was still coming down hard. @mrs.turbodb had found another location to camp "closer to CBI" so we headed back towards town. Then, into town. And then, to the intersection of two highways - apparently, Pinecrest Golf Course - where the internet promised a free night of camping, but signs in the parking lot clearly stated "Absolutely No Camping."

Hmm.

It was also at this time that I realized I was fighting a losing battle. See, since it'd started snowing, @mrs.turbodb had been dropping hints about, maybe, perhaps, not camping. She'd been telling me prices of the various motels in the area, and a smarter man probably would have just skipped the campground search in the first place. Defeated, we headed over to a Motel 6 and got a room.

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On the plus side, it was warm, we wouldn't have to put the tent away wet in the morning, and @mrs.turbodb was happier. On the other hand, I absolutely hate parking a fully loaded truck in a Motel 6 parking lot overnight while I'm sleeping. During the night, I probably got up between 4 and 7 times during the night to look out the window and check on the truck (whenever I was awoken by a sound), but everything ended up OK and we got a nice shower out of the deal the next morning.

The next morning (March 15) we were up around 7:00am to eat a quick bowl of cereal and head over to CBI when they opened at 8:00am. It was still cold (about 30°F) but the snow had stopped and I'd we were both excited.

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We headed in and took a look around as the good folks at CBI pulled the bumper out of the warehouse. I always love looking at fab shops, and CBI was a great example. Clean and well-organized, they had lots of the more commonly ordered bumpers, sliders, and other goodies ready-to-go.

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When I'd arrived and mentioned that I was here to pick up my bumper, they'd asked, "Do you have a truck or trailer to carry it?" Of course, the assumption being that we'd load it in there with the forklift and take off. "Yep, I've got my truck. We came from Seattle and are headed to Utah right after this," I said, "Do you want me to install the bumper out front or along the side of the building?"

Caught a bit off-guard (I think CBI generally prefers you not install stuff in their parking lot), I got a hesitant, "Why don't you pull around the side." answer, to which I smiled and said, "Sounds great!" and within a couple minutes they brought the bumper out on a pallet, along with the swing-arms, jerry can holder, and a whole mess of hardware.

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Now, I'd assumed that the bumper would have been at least partially assembled and that I'd be bolting it on to the same four bolt locations as the stock bumper, and we'd quickly be out of the CBI guys hair. But that wasn't the case, at all. The base of the Outback bumper bolted right on with a bit of help from (forgot his name, sorry dude!) who was awesome, helping to hold it in position while I slid in the bolts and then got them tightened up. Turns out there are 6 bolts that hold on the CBI bumper - the four stock locations, and two additional for which they also provide reinforcing plates - a nice touch!

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[TODO: kids name] seemed like he'd have stuck around and helped with the full install; unfortunately he was quickly called back inside (again, because I think parking lot installs are generally frowned upon), but not before he had a chance to point out his own first gen, and we chatted a bit about some of the mods he wanted to do to it. Gotta say, working at CBI has to be pretty sweet that way - I sure hope he gets a good discount!

Faced with a dozen parts and maybe 100 pieces of hardware on a pallet, I figured my next step should be to get some instructions. I'd tried to print some out before heading east, but as an older product (I'd guess there aren't a lot of first gen bumpers sold these days), the link on the web site was no longer working. So I headed inside.

Unfortunately, Mike couldn't find any instructions either (a bit surprising to me) but he did introduce me to Kenny. And Kenny was great. He not only came out and gave me an overview of what I needed to do to put the bumper together, but as I progressed through the install, he was happy to answer questions along the way (and in one case, even provide me with a hammer, which I'd neglected to bring with me).

I was also glad to have Kenny there as a resource for the three times that I found parts missing from my pallet! Made me extra glad I was installing the bumper at CBI, so I had easy access to those missing parts.

The first order of business was to press three bearings into each swing-arms - two in the bottom and one in the top, install the arms on the spindles, fit a grease seal over the top bearing, and finally install the top cap and keeper pins. The secrets here are to use a socket and mallet to fully seat the bearings, then a mallet and scrap of wood to seat the arms onto the spindles, and an SAE hex key to tighten the top caps.

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The next step was to install the latch, which secures the swing-arms, and which is itself secured with four hex head screws. The latch mechanism is pretty ingenious - it secures the two arms together, under tension - which keeps them closed without actually securing them directly to the base of the bumper. And at this point, the bumper is starting to look pretty bad-ass.

Like it should.

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Now, it's time for the accessories - in my case, the spare tire carrier and the jerry can holder - and then finally the license plate. I started by dumping out the several pounds of hardware so I could determine where it all went, and then I got started on the tire carrier, which is secured by no fewer than 10, 7/16" grade 8 bolts. I installed this as low as I could and still have access to the latch, keeping the tire out of the wind as much as possible. The jerry can was next - four hex head screws, and finally the license plate - which hinges up to reveal the hidden hitch receiver, a very nice touch!

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All that was left was to install the spare tire on the carrier, clean up after myself, head in to thank the guys at CBI for the help and understanding. While they may not have loved my local install, in the end it saved everyone time and frustration, a good thing in my book.

And yeah, the bumper looks bad-ass.

Oh, and I'm sure it'll be valuable for all those reasons I convinced myself earlier. ;-)

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With that, we immediately headed south to meet up with Ben and Zane (@Speedytech7) for a great adventure into The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, but that's another story.

 

Ill say it again, Looks good man!

Did the bearings just slide over the spindles? I had to sand my spindles down, grease the fuck out of em, then bring out the hammer to get em on

 

kinda surprised the tire carrier is bolt on..

Looks good though! Not as good as mine though