Needed a more economical truck to work out of so, beings that I'm quite familiar with older Toyota trucks, I started looking one. I found a good deal on a lowered 93 2wd with a blown head gasket and snatched it up. Took it home and tore in to it.... PO must of liked yellow.... Me, not so much Yanked the head and found 3 of the cylinders contained coolant..... given the above, the head didn't look too bad.... The head gasket they used was a POS! After a week of wating on parts I ordered, I cleaned it up and slapped it back together. Put the head gasket down.... Set the head on..... Torqued everything down.... ...and buttoned it up. No way was I putting yellow crap back in there so I used an old valve cover I had laying around. Looks much better I think. The next things I'll concentrate on is trying to make it ride better and a stereo. Sucks a$$ with no tunes! More to come....
Finally took some time to check out the front end. The BJ's haven't been flipped and I can't tell if they re-indexed the t-bars. I guess my next mod will be to flip the bj's and play with the t-bars. It'll just have to wait a week until my kids go to their moms.
Not much progress....but a small update. Was missing at least 1 lug nut from each wheel and the passenger rear wheel was missing 2 lugs completely. This drum was by far the hardest one I've ever removed. Kick out holes were stripped and I don't think it's ever been off 'cause it was fused to the axle flange hub. A couple solid hours of cursing it and hitting it with my purse (sledge hammer), and it finally popped off. Since everyone likes pics (me included)..... Stock 14's lolz! Yesterday I picked up a Kenwood head unit and some 6x9's. The plan is to install it this weekend. This will make my 11 yr old super happy. She hates not having a radio! Not sure I can but I'm going to try and mount the 6x9's in the doors. More to come.....
Hahahaha.....I've done that before but not in many years. Due to a little CDO, I must have checked the e-brake at least 5 times, making sure it wasn't on. I often tell people on the net they just aren't hitting it hard enough.....and this one took a beating and didn't budge. A little Mcgyver'd slide hammering finally pulled it off....but only about a mil each blow. This thing was fused to the axle hub.
Didn't do any suspension work this weekend but ended up installing a stereo, dash speakers & gauges. My 11 yr old daughter almost REQUIRES a stereo and it's lacked one since I bought it. I don't mind not having one. Gives me a chance to listen to the voices in my head as I drive. I did the gauges because I don't have an SR5 cluster and already had the dash torn out, plus all the already cheap Sunpro gauges at the parts store were half off. The install was a major PITA! The panel that comes with the gauges isn't really good for a clean looking install anywhere in the cab so I ended up printing a custom gauge panel out of blue ABS. Turned out pretty good. Probably should of used black ABS (I had it) but I kinda like the blue. I will eventually solder in blue LED's for the new gauges but that'll have to wait for a slow evening. No pics of the speakers but I installed some 2-way Kicker DS40's in the dash. They sound decent but lack any lows. I scratched the plans for installing the 6x9's in the doors for now. That will have to wait until I get a new set. The set I got are Pioneer 3-way cheapies and took away from the clarity of the Kicker DS40. I'll just use them as garage speakers. When I do get new ones, I'll design and print door adapter brackets for 'em.
Scored some seriously manly rims that I think will make a nice addition given this rig has been dubbed "Humper" for now. I'm just not very keen on buffing them to a nice shine. I'm joking....I didn't pick them up. The pic was posted in one of the offroad forums I frequent and I couldn't resist sharing with you all. These rims make me laugh. Must be Jeep rims.
bracket Thanks. Had to use 1.5" gauges for them to fit a single din location. I have the print file (.stl) for anyone with a 3d printer that would like to print their own. I made it slightly bigger than a single din opening so it can be massaged to fit perfectly. I also made the holes a little tight so they need some massaging for the gauges to fit perfectly. Even though all the gauges we're 1.5" gauges, the temp. gauge had slightly different OD than the oil and volt gauges. I'm moving next weekend but since we have a shift boot and intake swap going on, if you could use a single din gauge panel, I'd be willing to print one out for you when I'm moved and get the printer set back up & calibrated.
Small update from the weekend...... Hated to do it 'cause it looked good but I yanked the rear springs and 2" blocks. It now sits on some 5978 3" drop Belltech rear springs. I added a 4wd overload leaf but flipped it to not gain any arch in the springs.....just to support the weaker, 3 leaf belltech's, when the bed is loaded. The overload is 3/4" thick so the truck now has a total drop of 3.75" in the rear now. Frame height is now right at 8.25"-8.5". Cranked t-bars to match rear. Doesn't look as cool as it did slammed but it rides MUCH better now that the front tires aren't rubbing and the rear axle isn't slamming up in to the frame on bumps. More to come.....
Been slow the last couple weeks. Last weekend I dropped the trans and swapped the clutch, pilot & t/o bearing. Did the rear main, front trans seal, and installed new moog greasable u-joints too. Sorry, no pics. I got some new Kenwood 6x9's for the doors but have them installed ghetto style for now (sitting in speakers boxes on my passenger floorboard). Picked up 2 RF Punch Subs but I'll need an amp and sealed boxes that will fit behind the bench before I'll install them. Now that it's gone through front to back drive train wise, it's time to add comforts......
Don't really need the clock but I would like to see the SR5 maplight set up. If it's the rear view mirror/light assembly and the mirror is tight, I'm interested? The things I need are... shift boot stock intake stock fan shroud windshield rear view mirror light assembly
Used my Humper truck to haul a load yesterday. Guy said it was the easiest truck he's ever loaded a cart in to. lolZ! It did fine. The belltech 3" lowering springs hauled the weight without issue. With the EB261 cam, I couldn't tell I had a load.
Bartered back and forth and ended up scoring some chrome 100 spoke radial laced Dayton's. They need some elbow grease but there's plenty of time for that. I'll run the stock 14's through the winter and slap some 215/50's on these for fair weather driving. 17x8 4"bs
Time for new tires (one is rather bald in the center) so I was test fitting the Daytons on my Humper truck......Undecided on weather I'll put tires on the stock 14's or these Daytons I picked up for almost nothing. The tires on the rims now are 275/45/17's but I'll get 205/50/17's. I just wanted to get an idea of how it'll look and what issues I might have with the fenders. Seems I may need to roll 'em a bit.......specially in the front. (I'm a dummy and forgot to take a pic from that angle)
