Tundy, house and beetle build thread...and exploring.

So... Some pictures of what happens when you use your truck like a truck and put a topper on it.

I installed the topper the day after i got the truck. It's never really had weight on it until recently other than the topper.

Bottom of tailgate passenger side


Top of tailgate passenger side


Bottom of tailgate driver side


Top of tailgate driver side

 

Nope. I was totally caught off guard that there weren't any. I have the parts all ready to go too. *stuck

 

Bay Area Metal Fab bed stabilizers!!!

 

I'll be picking some bed stiffeners up from Toytec when I get a chance.

 

I'm may have to call @TruckFridge on this one.

 

Strange. Three must be some way. I think the latch up front you can get to it from under. But the hinge was the one that at least mine had those pin holes.

 

Well... A change in the direction of the future of the truck has been decided.
. And I'm

 

Selling it finally?

 

The suspense...

Updates to come if I get time tonight.

 

Made it just in time for "tonight". Well when I started typing...

Truck is feeling a bit tighter in the steering department with the changes that were made. ECGS diff bushing will hopefully tighten up the front a lot more since there is a lot of CV play. Feeling some vibes out back now that the front is calming down but happy with the progress so far.

Went to Chevy the other day, two out of three Colorado ZR2's that they are getting are pre-sold... leaving one available.






But after pondering the idea of dropping 50k on a new truck; I do not want to be tied down with that kind of BS right now. Buying something cheaper and reliable seems hard to do and there really aren't any great platforms out there (not that this truck has been overly great in the reliability and problem free department....vibrations, rear main seal, coolant leak). Older Tacomas with at least double the mileage cost more than what I still owe on this. I always was interested in the GX470 but the full time all wheel drive kills it for me and doesn't seem to be the simplest/cheapest swap. I still like the idea of another Tahoe, power and gas mileage are great but it is a bit big. The shit gas mileage of the Taco still irks me and if it wasn't for that I would be much happier. So... after picking the least worse candidate, Taco it is.


Going to work overtime on prepping/modding the truck for full camp mode. Up until now its been a compromise between work and play mode which made things difficult.

Distant plans that are being brought to the front of the line:

• Water heat exchanger and secondary pump for pulling water from water source.
• Better camp kitchen setup, possibly a slide or something that will attach to the window panel as well as 5lb propane tank mounted.
• Get the HID driving lights in
• High clearance rear bumper is a possibility since the stock one is so torn up and bashed. Removable swingout would be great for making space under the truck for something (spare tire area) and carrying gas cans.
• Organize the hell out of a tool kit. I've been getting them organized but need to get a single full tool kit established and in one place.
• Possibly a second roof box with a flexible solar panel on the top of it to replace my existing panel.
• May jump on the wet Okole GB (if I didnt miss it) to replace the shitty front CoverKing covers that are falling apart again.
• Hopefully the second front camera harness will work correctly... get that installed.
• Swing by Toytec for bed stiffeners
• Put a mounted CB back in the truck. Likely the Cobra 75.
• Maybe mounted HAM unit
• Figure out a roof vent for the topper
• Full rear seat delete with a cargo/storage system in its place?
• Extended rear brake lines. Stock work with this leaf pack, but a little extra room would be nice for any time its at full droop since they are tight.

Naturally I am currently plenty busy at work, and working on crap around the house so its going to be a little hard getting the extra time to work on stuff... but its time to do it! Then it'll be time to rack up the miles.

 

So they are easy to find...

Inner cv on driver's side.



Drivers has a bit more play, seems like a lot.

Inner cv on passenger side.



ECGS Bushing for the drivers side is on its way and will hopefully tighten it up and take away some vibration. I never had any noise or was able to make it stop in 4wd... but maybe its just too worn?


Steering shaft play




The zip tie mod.. cramming it in the extra dead space to make it tight (its been this loose since brand new off the lot).


Much better, steering wheel feels much better as well.

 

I forget who exactly mentioned it (CO BS Thread) but just driving truck off-road with any weight on bed sides will contribute to this "movement". Might want to also box in your rear frame, Jake just did that and posted pics.

Probably why we should all be buying pre-1970's Oil Embargo built 4x4's where they actually built them tough enough for all this shit...

 

Bed stiffeners were picked up from Toytec the other day. I've got my air chuck mounted through the bed panel where the driver side goes, and the passenger has a switch bracket using the same bolt at the top. So I'll have to take a little extra time to mount them since I'll need to mod that stuff as well.

Front diff bushing will be installed Saturday as well as changing the fluid.

 

Copied from the bs thread so i have info...

Now that the front vibration comes and goes instead of being constant, i can feel a rear vibe.

When I did the Dakar pack, i put the cb drop that was with it and didn't feel any additional vibes. No shims.

I now have the AAL. There's a decent amount of weight with topper and crap, probably wore out the springs already.

But, my angle readings are as follows.

Flange off xfer case: 2deg
1st driveshaft: 6deg
2nd driveshaft: 6deg
Flange on rear diff: 4.5deg

Read individually with a magnetic analog gauge ... Didn't zero anything out, those are what each reading was. Not as exact as a digital but i already had it.

Do those numbers seem fine or do i need to get shims? I meant to put the camera under there the other day to see if it's acting a fool, but i need to find another mount since the other ones are now stuck up front.

According to this thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/drive-shaft-vibrations-solved-step-by-step.244535/

The difference between the last driveshaft and diff is under 3 where it should be (1.5) and the angles of the first and second driveshaft are the same. So i guess it'll take a little camera time.

*****
I took a video, only was able to see the rear part of the front driveshaft and no sign of vibration.

I removed the cb drop to see what it does tomorrow.

 

You prolly won't be able to catch a driveshaft vibe. But take video's anyway because they are cool to watch and i could be wrong.
What you would need to see is all three joints and if they are spinning at the same rate. They need to be in phase with each other.

 

@Gramps

Vibration seems to have improved with the removal of the cb drop.

Going to use washers and adjust it one at a time to see if there's a sweet spot.

And road force balance the tires and make sure they are good even though they were balanced not long ago.

Front diff bushing goes in Saturday and hopefully that'll tighten up the front end the rest of the way.

 

Great to hear man. Hope you get it all figured out!

 

Put a single washer for the CB drop. We'll see how it works.

In my quest to figure out an easy use kitchen setup, I may be onto something. Thinking about using one of the bed stiffeners (when they get installed) as a mounting/welding point for a swingout tray with the stove on it. A double hinge with a way to hold it where i want it. So it'll swing into the bottom area of the bed for storage and then swing out behind the taillight for use, leaving the tailgate free for use.

 

Interesting. Glad you picked up some bed braces.

 

Yeah I've been meaning to as i watched the gap grow. And after helping install a pair, I went ahead and bought them.

But I have to move some stuff to install them, maybe this weekend.