4x4 DBL Cab Tacoma Build

[jonsangel]

Interior is all sheet metaled back in! soo much welding

Passenger side fender is tubbed

And I got the cab to cage gussets in. Moar dimple dies

its coming together
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I decided to run the tranny cooler in the back because there really wasn't a lot of room up front. That let me put in the front tubes. I had to bend them a little to clear the AC

I also got all the penetrations into the fuel cell. I'm trying to keep it as stock as possible
(a 1.75" hole saw worked perfect for this guy)

Here is what I used for all the other penetrations

Soo many!

bottom two are pick-up and return, top left is where the vapor sensor goes, and top right is vent to the fill neck. The empty hole on the left is where the sending unit goes and the right port is for a vaccum line
Backside

I'm just waiting on the lines to come in so I can finish plumbing everything

oh and I just got a shipping notification that my valve body is coming back from
IPT with the shift kit!!!

 

[jonsangel]

I got a ton done this weekend. The interior is 90% "done"
rear harness mounts

I got 3 seats mounted

the dash is almost done too. I'll snap some pics when thats 100%. I dont want to ruin the surprise
Fuel cell is mounted. fits like a glove

I got all the holes in the rear wall patched

And I boxed in the rear shock mount

I think I'm still on track to finish before the baja 1000
Main things left:
Rear Brakes
Fuel Plumbing
Weld washers in D-side UCA mount
Install locker
Battery wiring
Mount front fenders
Mount headlights and grill

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Interior is done! for now at least

Brakes are ordered. The fuel lines are a lot more confusing than i thought. I didn't document where they went well enough before i disconnected them...

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The final parts!!!

Just need to finish my MC to booster linkage

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Update time!
I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get the truck
ready for baja to go watch the 1000 so I havent had much time to update my
build. I got the hood and front fenders mounted. I need to take detailed pics of
what I did but I found it to be much easier if I mounted the blinker to the
fender and then positioned the fender. It was almost impossible for me to get
the blinker to line up with the fender otherwise.
I made a ghetto mount for
the battery because im going to run a different type of battery when I setup two
but here is that and the tranny cooler

The
rear axle came together nicely. Mark at progear installed the locker. I got kind
of scared because I went to throw the axles in and one was 3/8" too long. I
ended up cutting it so it would sit about 1/16" in from the driveplate. Full
Floater for the WIN!!!!! The brakes worked awesome as well. Definitely enough
stopping power. I was worried they would be too small but it locks up the rear
pretty easily. I got the hats and rotors from Coleman and had the caliper mounts
water jet at a local shop. I had to put a small spacer inbetween the bracket and
caliper so it was in the right position relative to the rotor but that worked
out fine.

 

[jonsangel]

I got driveable for the 1st time since I took it down in January at 330 am on the
12th and took it for the first test run the 13th. Overall the truck did awesome.
I was happy about the locker (detroit) and the gearing (5.29). The truck is def
quicker than stock and the rpms arent too bad on the freeway. The front ended up
being way too soft so I switched the springs to 6"x500# over 16"x700#. Here are
a few pics from the trip. no action shots...

After
that trip i realized I really needed somewhere to put tools besides in the cab
so I mounted some ammo cans. I ended up just welding them because the last ones
I bolted ended up leaking and the tools got all rusty

The
cab floor also got really hot where I sank it down for the passenger foot room
so I wrapped the exhaust in that area and it was a ton better for the mexico
trip.
I put on a temporary light bar behind my cab for mexico too since they
are pretty much 100% necessary down there. They actually worked really well back
there but when i make my safari rack they will go above the windshield

For
only having my truck running 5 days before mexico it did really well. I
trailered it down to our house we rent the 17th and we ended up going driectly
out to the dunes and found some mud which was a horrible idea and my power
steering started to go out immediately. I ended up putting on about 150 offroad
miles on the truck with the only real problem being the power steering. its
leaking out from the dside boot at the rack. The front is still really soft so
I'm going to change the bypass valving from a #100 stack to a #115 for
compression. There is some go pro footage I'll put up later. I almost had some
carnage when I let a buddy drive. We were going down a dirt road pretty fast and
came up to a downhill and you couldn't really see what was coming up and he
didnt brake. It ended up being a big left turn and he oversteered (partly the
rear brakes not being turned down enough) and we went completely over a giant
rut on the left side and banged up the pside LCA pretty bad. I thought we were
going over for sure. Lesson learned is dont let people drive my truck fast
unless they are experienced and dont be shy to tell them to slow down. The
radiator got bent back, broke the shroud, and bent the alignment tab (I was
planning on ditching it anyway). Could of been a lot worse. Anyway, here are a
few random pics from the trip

Yesterday
was the first time I worked on my truck since then and I have a giant list of
stuff I need to do before I take it out again. Probably wont be until mid to
late january but at least i had that trip to tie me over.
I'm looking into
ditching my rack for a gnarly howe setup or maybe doing a box and swingers from
the rear. Im not really to excited about putting a stock one back in

Ill do some more detailed posts about mounting my fenders, what i did with my
master cylinder, and bumping up to 35's later on too

https://dezertrangers.com/forum_/index.php?threads/4x4-dbl-cab-tacoma-build.124138/page-11

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Lately I've been doing a whole bunch of maintence stuff/non fab stuff like rebuilding CV's, revalving shocks (bypasses to 115/70), adding my tranny gauge back in, etc. So nothing really note worthy until saturday where i started my bumper. Just did the main hoop and a few supports. I need to remake the crossmember that protects the diff mount before i can do the lower half of the bumper. I'm going to make the skid plate as two pieces since my truck likes to plow so ill have to change out the lower skid more than the upper. Anyway here's what i did. I'm not running any lights on it

Tucked it tight for a cleaner look

My next trip will be king of the hammers 2/10.
I also took my truck to qualcomm for race legal. They hold 1/8" mile drags which was kind of fun. I threw 32"s on the truck and it ended up being semi-decent ~mid 11's. made me want to supercharge

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awwww yeah

 

[jonsangel]

I got my bedsides mounted this weekend! It looks like a truck again
Bedside structure

Front attachment

Rear attachment

Mounted

Also got the lady to help out. She painted the whole underside and I taught her a little welding

not too shaby for her first time
I even got my dog to help haha

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thinking about switching to horizontal....

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just made a quick little temporary center console for the intercom, radio, gauges, and some switches. I've only TIG'd aluminum once before so my welds are pretty sloppy but it'll do.

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decided to do some cosmetic stuff. Washed the truck for the first time and added my rings.

I took it out to johnson valley and got a little too crazy

wouldn't have been too bad but I hit my brakes which made the front bottom out harder. It broke my dside fender and somehow something tweaked and the fitting for the resi on my coilover got hit by the upper arm and exploded the shock at least that what i think caused it. My motor mount is starting to break which was happening before the jump, my brakes are going out, and something wierd is going on with my third member. needless to say my truck is going to need a lot of work before i take it out again. I was still able to drive it 3hrs home. toyota FTW

https://dezertrangers.com/forum_/index.php?threads/4x4-dbl-cab-tacoma-build.124138/page-12

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Finally some updates!!
First, let's start with the brakes. So during king of the hammers I hucked my truck and landed with the brakes on (DO NOT DO THIS). This caused my truck to bottom out even harder. The only apparent damage was my radiator was moved in a bit and my coilover to resi fitting broke. I was still able to drive it home but as I'm driving it starts to feel like my brakes are getting worse and worse. By the time I get home I barely have any brakes at all. I take a look at the brakes and this is what I find

My UCA had put a dent in the brake booster. I've heard this isn't a problem but I didn't see any other reason why my brakes would be bad. I try replacing the master cylinder first because replacing my booster involves me cutting out my bypass mount but that didn't fix the problem. I sacked up and cut out the bypass mount and it barely squeezed out

I get everything back together and test it out and FML they still don't work. I'm stumped. There are no leaks anywhere and all the calipers are getting fluid when I bleed. I adjust my proportioning valve to make it full open so my rear has max brakes and I can lock those up so I eliminate the rear being a problem. My next guess is that by landing with the brakes on I messed up the front calipers somehow. I decided to switch calipers with a buddy to check that. As I jack up the truck I notice that the passenger wheel seems kind of loose. I rock it back and forth and notice it is loose at the wheel bearing. BINGO. If the wheel bearing is loose than the wheel will wobble as it drives so when I try and brake the disc pushes the caliper pads in and out giving the feeling of no brakes. I pull the hub cover off and the nut is partially backed out up until the cotter pin caught it. If there was no cotter pin it most likely would have back all the way out and been really bad. I retightened the wheel bearing and took it for a drive and my brakes go back to normal! It only took 3 days of work and 300+ in parts. hopefully some one will read this and not make the same mistake. Once I saw the dent in the booster I got tunnel vision and had my mind set on that being the problem
Now for the fun stuff. After the brake fiasco I had to remake the bypass mount. This time I wanted to keep the brake reservoir on the MC instead of relocating it which didnt make me feel very comfortable. Im not sure If i showed it before but this is how I moved it

The new mount had more material but didn't have the top plate but I'm sure it will be fine

 

[jonsangel]

To keep from bottoming out so much I raised the ride height a ton in the front and revalved my coilovers from what I thought was 70/50 (it had 60/70 engraved on the cap so who knows what it was) to 105/50 which is a huge jump. Hopefully its not too much. I also added a little spacer to my front bump to raise my bump height

I had to fix my motor mount. not sure why but the welds completely failed causing the mount to split

I was able to C-clamp it to close the gap a little then I welded back up

forgot to take after pics
Since I don't have a bed I want to make a roof rack for gear. The plan is to have really low profile rails and then make a dettachable rack. I only got the rails done this weekend

The rails land on the roll cage at the A&C pillar junctions
Lastly, I bought 4 new red ring 55 watt HIDs (2 spot, 2 flood) so I can put them in a light rack that goes just above the windshield. Heres what I drew up and was aiming for

I wasn't so lucky and the die I wanted had the wrong radius (3.5" instead of 4.5") so I had to put a 2" gap between the 90 degree bends but it still came out good. I still need to add the verticals

making sure it wasn't warped

It matches the windshield perfect

I orginally planned to have it attached to the roof rack but it's too far away so I'm not sure how to attach it anymore
The truck is basically ready to go again. I just need to do a prep and enclose the fuse box.

 

[jonsangel]

I got your radio mounted finally. I still have no clue how to use it haha

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These showed up at my door yesterday. I wonder what I can do with them...

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I got my light rack mounted. It makes the truck look competely different.
This is how I mounted rack to the cage

I added the vertical bars to the rack and blended the weld between the sections before I mounted it. I need to redo the the piece that goes from the rack to the cage attachement and redo the center adjusting link. I had to bend it to clear the antenna mount. When I redo it I will mount it a little lower

Here are a couple night shots. The lights worked great. it was def enough. I might mount a couple on my bumper if I make a stinger

I went out to ocotillo wells saturday night. The truck did awesome. The front valving is perfect. I just need to adjust the bypasses a little. The rear is still funky. I think my shackles are hitting the frame. I have some good video of the suspension I'll throw up later

I have a few small updates but hopefully these pics will hold you off from my
trip to mex this last weekend

In-Cab Shot

Checking the Suspension

Came damn close to rolling it. I was drifting around a corner and hit a rut. It popped me up on two wheels but i was able to countersteer and save it

And a few of my favorite randoms

 

[jonsangel]

I started installing some TRD headers I got awhile back. Didn't finish cause I'm waiting on some gaskets and I have to pick up the flange that welds up to cat.
I did a ceramic spray on coating, wrapped them in fiberglass, then did a silcone spray over that.

Took out the old ones lol

I had to unbolt the motor mount and lift up the motor to get the passenger side in

where i left off

In other unexciting news I had to take apart my full floater axles to adjust the width of the thrust washers because there was too much slop. I used the drive plates to hold on the snout nut tool

Hand soap? Aint nobody got time for that

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I finished installing my headers awhile ago but was too lazy to post up pics. Here they are
Close clearance to bypass, worse case at full droop

I wasn't aware when I had originally bought the headers and there was almost no instructions to be found but I had to modify the cat becuase the y pipe is longer than stock

 

[jonsangel]

I used red rtv on everything and didn't have a single leak. pretty stoked
I bought this gasket kit

TR26-35952
http://trdparts4u.toyotaofdallas.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=276495[/URL]
I also installed a light box that's been sitting around for awhile. I'm going to put weather stripping around the edges but the lights are epoxy sealed so they'll be fine if they get wet. Just need to wire it now.

https://dezertrangers.com/forum_/index.php?threads/4x4-dbl-cab-tacoma-build.124138/page-13
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thanks dude. I have this planned for the weekend

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Built the stinger last weekend

About a month ago I towed my truck to Mexico. I'm not sure exactly what happened or why but the pinion bearing went out and all the spider gears broke. I was just crusing along the beach in soft sand. The front diff kept locking up so I put my truck back on the trailer for the weekend. When we went to leave the guy who towed me accidentally put gas in his deisel truck. We ended up putting his truck on the trailer and another deisel with us towed his back. This is what I had to do to drive us back.

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I wired up the LED light box and added weather stripping around the edges. It gives it a nice finished look.

They're super bright. I have the ambers on a switch and the reds tied to the brake lights

I added a valence to my bumper too. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I need to change the washer on most of the fasteners to the finishing ones.

and the bad news... I figured out what was wrong with the front diff. Apparently the pinion bearing wasn't getting enough oil or it went bad somehow and failed. It broke and then went into the spider gears so basically all the internals had to be replaced. Hopefully after almost $700 ill have 4wd again.

 

[jonsangel]

Decided to ditch these POS shocks for kings bro!... Took them all out and revalved them.

Seems like have a shit ton of valving. I ended up with
5"x500#/16"x700# w/ 4" of preload
Front Coilover
3,3 Compression/50 Rebound
Front Bypass
4,3,2 Compression/70 Rebound
Rear Bypass
3,2 Compression/30 Rebound

Wanted to add a pic of my old CV for reference if I have to modify the shield of my new ones

Sweet cycling pics

And some big news. Got a 24' enclosed carson racer. The truck fits perfect. The back bumper is against the door so I have maximum space in front. I also can get out of the truck through the door

The truck rides night and day different with the new valving. It feels pretty damn good. The front is pretty solid but the rear needs some adjustment in the bypass tubes. My front bypass tubes are still fully closed so I talked to fox about my valving. He said to plug the bleed holes in the pistons and see what that does. He said if i need to I can move to a 4,4,3 stack or I can move to a .020 shim which will allow me to open up the tubes. He said that I need to take valving out of the coilover and move the dampening to the bypass/bumpstop. With the amount of valving I have in the coilover the dampening is not going to be very progressive.

Short vid of a little jump in mexico

I'm planning on watching Battle at Primm at the end of Feb and offroading back from Primm to Barstow. Should be an awesome trip.

Here is the short term to do list. Damn it's long

 

[jonsangel]

I finally took the plunge and ditched my misalignment cams. Took me all day to grind off all the old crap I put on at the very beginning. The bolts are 3/4-16 x 4.25" long Grade 8. I put stover nuts on the back side. I double stacked the washers and my plan is to weld the washers in place once it's aligned then plate around the washers with 1/8" plate

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finished the alignment cam replacements. they were a bitch to do but im pretty happy with how it came out

I started by welding all the washers in place

then got these plates cut out

finished product

next up is finishing the bumper and skidplate

 

[jonsangel]

I ordered a solid tranny mount from 4xinnovations not really paying attention to what it fit and it didnt end up being bolt in but I was able to modify it and it was nice having something to start with. It was really good quality (until i cut it up...)

New

Modified

Stock, the thing was toast

Finished the bumper. Just need to make the skid now

I got my shocks back from fox. They look awesome. Their customer service is awesome.

New low-flow pistons

The front coilover is now 90/30
The front bypass is 3,3,2 (.020s)/30 (short 4, long 2, rebound 6)
The rear bypass is 4,3,2/30 (short 4, long 2, rebound 6)

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I did an offroad trip from Primm to Bartsow all offroad after Battle at Primm. The truck did great. The new shock mods were a big improvement. They are still a little soft for my liking but I'm just going to try and increase the PSI in the bumps. I thought I got back unscathed but I saw this when I was looking over my truck the weekend after

not sure if the last pic is just me being a shitty welder or the design of my cage, probably a combo of both

Needless to say it's going to be a long weekend. my plan is to bevel the crack, weld it up, and sandwich it between to halves of 2" DOM. I'm going to make a crossmember and then try and tie my shock mounts to the frame with a piece of 1.25 or 1.5 tube if i can fit it.

 

[jonsangel]

Fixed the engine cage and added more tubes so hopefully I dont have this problem again.

Fixing cracked weld
beveled out old weld

Welded up with extra gusset

Fixing Cracked Tube
drill out crack tips

Bevel cracks

Weld the piss out of the cracks

Shock Tower Tubes

Corner Gussets and crossmember

I still need to add plating between the two tubes

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oh shit! added them just in time

Put in a skid plate. I still need to put a mesh behind the holes to protect the radiator

 

[jonsangel]

I made this bottom bash plate out of steel. glad i did, it's going to see some abuse

So here is a scare I had at glamis. It was towards the end of a long run and my rear shocks were starting to fade. The end bucked hard out of no where and tossed my truck back and forth but I was able to keep it on all fours. My truck had been doing great the entire weekend. My suspension is getting pretty dialed

For the lazy, here are a few screenshots

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decided to bedline my fenders. I used the DIY roll on herculiner. i think it came out pretty good

masking/prep (makes me want blue stripes)

Finished product

https://dezertrangers.com/forum_/index.php?threads/4x4-dbl-cab-tacoma-build.124138/page-15
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I did the built-rite poker run this weekend so got a chance to test. I put the bumps to 75 or 100... I was hammered when i was working on it haha. I also closed the main tube and rebound tube on the rear bypass a half a turn. the rear is probably within a quarter turn to be perfect. front is damn close too but i dont have anymore adjustment in the bypass tubes.


Quick vid
[video=youtube;oKk1voBs77Y]

It was cool cruising with such a big group. I've only ever been out with 1-2 other trucks

I got nerfed in the back during the run when i had to stop for the truck in front of me to reverse to make a turn. i heard fiberglass crunch and i was really bummed. i didnt get out til later but i saw this damage from my rearview and was thinking my truck was going to be jacked.

I got out at our next meeting and see this

motherfucker scuffed my tire haha. I had zero damage. I felt pretty bad for the dude. his bumper was fucked and he cracked his front clip really bad. it was a good time though

 

[jonsangel]

I mounted some LED bars in my stinger. I still need to wire them up and get some night shots

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I built a roof rack over the weekend. I'm hoping i can still fit in the trailer without taking it off. I took a few measurements and kind of winged it

And the best part (the other 2 seats are on order)

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I got my roof rack back from powdercoat. I'm pretty happy with it. I'm pretty nervous to see if i can still fit in my trailer without taking it off. I kind of half-assed measured and made it so it should fit but it's going to be close

I wired up my LEDs finally. it took me awhile because I decided to rewire my center console and replace all my ghetto radio shack switches. dont worry though i kept the missile launcher covers lol
Headlights high beams only

LEDs and Headlights

HIDs, LEDs, and Headlights

Just HIDs

I'm really happy with the LED light output. I think my light setup is perfect now


And a random pic from SST. It was a blast

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ding ding! it was 5140 without me in it and 1/3 tank of gas. It blows my mind how much heavier it is. I'm going to ditch a spare tire this summer when I redo my bedcage. the weight distribution was really good though. 52/48

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ohhh yeah,

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I haven't updated in awhile. I took a trip down to mexico for the Baja 500 and got to test out the new seats. They were a big hit and no one fell off

I ran about 30 miles of the course too. i couldnt imagine trying to race it. it was super rough

 

[jonsangel]

The plan was to take all this time before huckfest and redo my interior and install the supercharger but I got talked into doing huckest. It was my first time doing anything like this.

I ended up doing 2 runs at 1pm and 2 runs and 5pm. They allowed us to walk the track before they started the race. The whole time I’m thinking in my head that there is no way I can make the jumps. They were easily the largest jumps I have ever tried but I was already committed. They had us all form a long line and they started each truck as the previous one finished. If I wasn’t nervous enough I hear the crowd roar about mid way through the first trucks run and they call in the tractor which drags out a rolled truck off the course. It was not a great boost of confidence. It seemed almost unreal as I was inching up to the starting line with my stomach in my throat. They dropped the flag and the adrenaline took over. My biggest worry was not clearing the first jump which had next to no distance from the starting line and an impossible gap between the take-off and landing. I hit the gas as the flag dropped and my truck seemed to only inch forward and I kept thinking there’s no way I’m going to make this. But sure enough I cleared it and then the rest of the course just seemed to fall in place. After every obstacle I was surprised that not only was I not broken but how well the truck was handling. I made it to the finish with the biggest smile on my face and a huge sigh of relief. My hands were literally shaking as I got out of the truck. My times were getting progressively faster after each lap as I was learning the course and learning the limits of the truck. As I get halfway through my last run I hear a loud pop and my truck limps to a stop. A coordinator comes top my truck and tells me my driveshaft is dragging on the ground. I was unable to move under my own power so they tow me off.

I was able to drop the drive shaft, put it in 4wd, and I drove it home. And that's why I love my truck! Even with the carnage I was happy I did it. my logic was if it happened there it would have eventually happened anyway. I'm happy it was there and not in the middle of the desert. I'll replace the stock case with a nodular one

Here is a video of my second run which i hit the final jump the hardest
[video=youtube;FJdm2QWShYE]
And here was my fastest run
[video=youtube;IOBDPnQkiSA]

I was so impressed with how the truck did. nothing felt harsh.

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https://dezertrangers.com/forum_/index.php?threads/4x4-dbl-cab-tacoma-build.124138/page-16

I haven't updated in awhile. I've fixed the drivetrain now. I ended up with a Yukon nodular case. We'll see how it holds up. I tried going to a solid carrier bearing (Wookiee strength carrier bearing mod - TTORA Forum) but the driveline shop couldn't get it balanced so I switched back to the stock one.
I forgot to update that I got the supercharger installed. It was a pain to piece together the kit from buying it used but it's all done. I made my own tensioner bracket using my buddys as a template

It's def a night and day difference. I'm still working on tuning the 7th injector. It's running on the rich side which makes it bog down under high loads. I can't load it up enough on the street so I've only had limited time to tune offroad.
When I got the supercharger I set up my intake like this

From what I've read you need about a foot between the throttle body and MAF. as the throttle body opens and closes it sends shockwaves backward to the MAF messing with the reading. I was having problems tuning the 7th injector and I was getting some CEL regarding the MAF so I redid the intake to look like this

Hopefully that does the trick.
I redid my exhaust with some ultra high flow cats and changed the tailpipe to just have a quick turndown instead of up and over the axle. It's super loud now, borderline too loud. I may end up getting a new muffler but we'll see

I finished my engine cross member finally as well. Sangel Motorsports lol...

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Forgot to post some wheeling pics @Pancake Rock

I'm heading out to ocotillo wells this weekend. Come say hi if you see me

 

[jonsangel]

I made some pretty substantial changes to my rollcage over the last week. My main goal was to give the rear passengers more leg room
Before

After

I'm 6'3" and I'm pretty comfy back there now.
I also did door bars which should make the cage much more stiff

I insulated most of the cab. The product is from Raamaudio. it was super easy to work with and it seems like a legit product so far. It's a two part system. the first layer is the aluminum/putty layer. cuts vibration and deadens noise. I did the whole cab with that. The second layer is the foam which isolates noise and makes a thermal boundary. I only did part of the cab with that because I didn't want to leave it uncovered. I'll do the whole cab eventually and cover it with carpet.

 

[jonsangel]

This spray is legit. I highly recommend it.

all the foam areas I wanted to cover with some temporary carpet so it didn't get messed up with peoples feet.
rivets to the floor

and to the carpet

and me being an idiot and not checking the backside and drilling through my fuel line doing the rivets

all buttoned up and ready for the Baja 1000 this weekend (spectating obviously)

 

[jonsangel]

It's been a really long time since my last update.
When i orginally cycled the rear the axle cleared the crossmember fine. Later on I added a fill/inspection plug to it and it bashed the crossmember every time i bottomed out. you can hear it in the tuff truck videos. final took care of it.

I upgraded the transcooler to a massive fluidyne one. After I got the supercharger the truck runs hotter and the old cooler couldnt keep up. the new one works awesome. It's kind of temporary where it is now. i plan on redoing the bedcage when i link it. it has to swivel to get the spare tire out

I went to the tacomaworld meet at superstition. I had a great time and met some awesome people. only got a few pics though. you'll notice I got a glassworks hood. Fit was great. it uses the stock hinges

at the meet my truck was running like crap. i wasn't getting any power and i wasn't getting any boost. i immediately thought it was a supercharger problem. i was dicking around with it today and noticed when i twisted the throttle cable and revd the engine the silicon elbow on the intake would collapse. well I felt the air filter and it was collasped. here's what i found

fuck me...I had a prefilter sock over it and had no clue it was that dirty. i only had 3 trips on it since i cleaned it last. i had just relocated it to the wheel well and havent had a chance to make a shroud to keep some of the dirt out. its crazy how much faster it gets clogged in there. I ordered a new filter but im pretty confident that will solve the whole problem

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my trucks starting to sag in the front and i couldnt add any more preload without going into coilbind and I already have the stiffest stock coil they make (800#). I decided to go with a 18" instead of a 16". that will give me more room for preload without going into coilbind. The only bad part is that you have to compress the springs 2" before you can even get them on the shock.


When I pulled the coilover off to swap the coils I found some cracks. The tube is starting to rip off the frame.

time to fix and reinforce


some random pics at bumped. there's pretty much no clearance at bump...damn 4wd

 

[jonsangel]

I guess I never posted the fix for the engine cage ripping off the frame

But sure enough after the next trip it started ripping off the top. Didn't discover it until last night when I was prepping the truck for superstition this weekend

so I stayed up late last night to fix it so I can still make the trip

If I were to do it again (which I will eventually when I put a new front kit on) I would design the engine cage different. For now ill just live with it and reinforce it when it breaks

 

[jonsangel]

Well I finally pulled my card... I'm just happy we all walked away with nothing more than cuts and bruises. The cage definitely held up and did its job

I haven't seen the truck since the accident but from what I've been told the 4 lower bolts holding the balljoint to the spindle snapped so I should be able to replace that and get it rolling. Cab is just damaged on the drivers side top. I'm not sure if ill try replacing the roof or just try and do body work. It's going to be hard to find a cab I can use. I'll reassess the damage when i get a chance to see it again.

Xxxx
better.faster.stronger...

xxxx
So I finally got my truck in the garage and now the rebuild begins. It's a little tight but not too bad

I started to take the old roof off which is much easier than I had anticipated. I didn't realize it was just a skin. I have it almost all the way but I couldn't get the rear window out so I'll have to have a shop take it out for me when they deliver a new windshield.

It feels good to be back in the garage again