775Toy

Looks great dude. I read your build thread on pirate awhile ago. Glad to see your still at it. I gotta get motivated to hustle up some money for a dual set up in mine.

sheepdawg58

FINALLY THE DUAL CASE SWAP IN BEGINS!!!!!!!!!!!!...



yup i finally got other stuff outta my way so i could work on my own stuff (ghostrider). i figurd since my bay in the shop was bare i might as well pull the yoter in there and snatch it apart. hopefully the yota wont be down too long. and as soon as i get it back together im going to wanna find something to crawl on. i cant wait.

first of all. ive been driving this truck alot and several things have started wearing out. this "carrier bearing" was about to fall slap out from under the truck. im glad ill no longer have this bearing under the truck.


starting out i snatched the center console out of the truck and got the shifters ready to go down through the floor. best idea is to remove the Tcase shifter NOW instead of when the trans is balancing on a jack and hanging by ratchet straps. trust me on this.


i got the driveshafts pulled out of the way and started unbolting things off the trans so i could pull both the tcase and trans at the same time. gotta pull the slave cylinder off and move it outta the way. man i cant wait to get some of the oil leaks stopped and clean the trans up alot so it looks presentable.


i didnt get any pics of me lowering the trans and tcase to the ground cause my phone died and i was in a hurry trying to get it done. basically i unbolted the bellhousing and then put my jack under the tcase xmember. then took a ratchet strap and wrapped it around both frame rails and then ratcheted it up till it was snug on the tcase (so id have plenty of strap wrapped on the ratchet to lower the trans down). then i pulled the tcase back and did a balancing act of lowering the jack and lowering the ratchet strap. its not the safest idea. not the most graceful but it works for me lol.

the main reason im pulling the trans and replacing the clutch and stuff. the throwout bearing got noisy after a trip through the "sippy hole" out at monkeytown. sure enough... when you spin it its kinda crunchy sounding.


i take pride in the fact that although this truck regularly sees mud out on the trails that the underside of the truck is pretty clean. im really glad its clean, just makes working on the truck that much easier.


man i didnt really realize how big the trans is on this truck untill i got it on the ground and drug it out from under the truck. cant wait to polish it up and put it back under the truck.


after i pulled the clutch apart i looked it over and it dont really look like its in that bad of shape, even after smoking it pretty good one day out at PLO. it only has about 10k miles on it though, im really superstitious about stuff like this so im gonna go ahead and prolly replace the clutch since i got it out.


while im this far in im goin to replace the rear main seal. and gonna put a working dipstick in the motor so i can actually read how much oil is in it. DOH... lol. i think some how the pilot bearing was making noise too... i only heard a slight roaring noise when the clutch was pressed in. the pilot and throw out bearing feel kinda rough when you spin them so they both are definatly getting replaced.


the motor has a couple oil leaks but nothing really that bad. i mean the 3.4 has 270k miles on it without a rebuild so its gonna leak some oil. im not goin to get to deep into stoping leaks till i pull the motor and rebuild it in the future. thats gonna be very fun and interesting to learn how to build one of these jap motors.


so basically that is as far as ive gotten. i got the clutch in my car right now to see about getting it replaced and new pilot/throwout bearing. and then ill clean the trans and start putting stuff back together. im still debating on a few things and will keep yall filled in on what im doing along the way. my main concern right now is a rear driveshaft. i am thinking im just goin to get my factory one lenghthened and remove the 2nd shaft and run it. or i got a complete shaft from an older toyota that i may clean up and make it fit. i just havent gotten that far yet. ill know once i get everything bolted in.

stay tuned

oneIwilly

Really nice truck man.You say those are 36s and it steers like crap? I have 37s,and have been worried about that.

sheepdawg58

aight gonna update some of what ive done to the yota since the other day.

while i had the clutch apart and stuff i replaced the rear main seal. you can see oil sitting in the old seal after i pulled it out. hopefully this will slow the small oil leak this motor has..


make sure you get the clutch disk lined up with the pilot bearing. the clutch line up tool is kinda flimsy but it works, just make sure you wiggle it around till it is centered up then tighten the bolts in a cross pattern.


once i got the clutch together it was time to clean up the trans and re-install it. i have never taken a v6 tcase apart from a yota trans so it was kinda cool seeing the difference in the two types of cases.


this is how i normally install a trans in a lifted truck. if i feel like i can bench press it in place ill start out by jacking it up as high as possible using the ratchet straps as a safety net. then once i get it as high as my jack will go i readjust the ratchet straps and then start tightening them up till i get the trans in place or nearly in place. on this truck i was about 6 inches from being high enough to stab the trans so i bench pressed it into place and was pretty glad it slid right into place with very little trouble.


this is a picture of the trans after i stabbed it and bolted it together. i readjusted the ratchet straps so they would hold the weight of the trans and dual cases as i stacked them on there.


once i got the trans taken care of it was time to start stacking boxes. i had to add this adapter plate to get the 4cyl cases to fit my v6 case. it took me a minute to figure out wich side bolted on first but it wasnt hard to figure it out. it bolts to the crawl box first then to the trans.


front box bolted in place. time for the tcase.


the tcase is pretty strait forward. it just slides in place on the studs and you tighten it up. i used good silicone between all cases so it wont leak. i left the shifters off because i havent cut up the floorboard yet.



i gotta cut the floor more than i thought. the v6 adapter plate seems to sit the front case back too far to fit with the factory hole. no big deal. just gotta cut and modify stuff and get some good shift boots.


i was gonna measure the driveshafts tonight but i couldnt find my tape measure and it was gettin late. ill get most of it buttoned up this weekend and hopefully get the driveshafts made next week. i cant wait to take this thing for a crawl. its always fun building things and this truck has been alot of fun for me so far...

stay tuned.

sheepdawg58

i got some more work done to the yota last night and today. i hope to get it ready to run by this week, gonna drop the driveshafts off monday to get built. im ready to get it on the trails soon.

first of all i got started putting the skidplate/crossmember under the truck. i bought one from trail gear and this bad boy is really nice. just look how beefy it is.


i also got trailgears "bombproof" tcase mount. this thing is also pretty beefy.


i really gotta give it to the guys that designed this skidplate/crossmember... the whole time i was installing this crossmember i was waiting on something to not line up and id have to fight with it. but everything fit perfectly and bolted up like it was supposed to. heck i even tested out the front driveshaft for clearance and it has plenty of clearence. i was really amazed.




once i got the trans bolted in place it was time for me to figure out the shifters. this is gonna be really interesting for me cause i dont normally have to cut on the body to fit shifters and stuff and make them look clean. so im gonna try to take my time and do this right.

started by taking apart my center console and making room. gonna cut the carpet back and see where the rear hole needs to be.


so i thought i had the hole figured out so i took my plasma cutter and cut a small hole to get a good visual. and ofcourse i missed. so i got my marks to cut the right hole. turns out i didnt do too bad of a job cause the shifter rocks back into the original hole anyways.


here is a picture of all the shifters mounted up. i made sure they all had plenty of clearence and wouldnt interfear with each other or my legs. im ready to to get the fluid in the cases finish mounting the shifters and figure out the shift boots.

stay tuned.

sheepdawg58

holy cow i havent posted up in a lil while. been really busy with life lately and also busy with trying to get this truck back on the road. ive also been having internet issues so i havent been able to keep yall updated bout what ive been doin out in the woods lately.

aight so im just gonna get down to business. i got the shift boots figured out, apparently i didnt remember to get a picture of the finished product before i covered them up cause i got stung by a stupid wasp and had to be layed up for a couple days. basically this is what i did. just got two small generic shift boots from the parts store, cut out some sheet metal with the plasma cutter to fill in the big holes and then mounted the boots up.


i got to keep my center console and everything, but the rear shifter would hit the console when i pulled it back into 4wd and when i had to swing it over to get 4WL i had to raise the center console lid. i didnt like that so i decided to fix it by cutting and bending the shifter.


got the shifter cut most of the way through then i started bending it forward, checking several times by putting the center console on to check for clearence. when i got the space i wanted i simply welded the shifter back up.


finished product with the shifter slid all the way back in 4wd. it works perfect. i added insulation under the console and around the shifters and im gonna cut some old blue jeans up to cover the insulation to clean the area up some. thats my next nit picky project once i get the rest of the crap done.


my driveshafts before i hacked them up. i had danny at jackson powertrain hook me up with lengthening the shafts. we had to do some sideways work to the front shaft because apparently Davez offroad used an oddball size tube that danny cant get readily but all we had to do was turn down the bushings to make the new tube fit. the rear i decided to use the CV joint even though my rear shaft has very little angle on it. danny did a great job as usual and really hooked me up on the price, only problem now is i have a horrible vibration in the rear of the truck. i donno if the CV shaft is bad or what. i tried to adjust the pinion angle and it only slightly made it better. im goin to take the truck up to JP to see if we can see something wrong with the truck if i cant figure it out myself soon. i really aint worried about it at the moment cause i got a couple trail rides to prepare for and a vibrating shaft wont affect me out on the trail.


well as soon as i got the driveshafts mounted in the truck and ready to ride i headed to where my buddy works to mess with him about not having his truck fixed yet and climb on his tire in the parkinglot. we got alot of folks stopping by to take pics and ask questions and it was a pretty funny ordeal.


i went home after horsing around at my buddys work to goof off and see just how good this thing will crawl. i tried to climb this wall but the bald military tires wouldnt do it once the tcase sat down.



man im so excited about the crawl ratio this truck has now. 217:1 crawl ratio is pretty low. heck ive been having fun just seeing what it would crawl over with no one driving. before i did the doubler the truck wouldnt idle over any kind of obstacle, the computer wont really idle the motor up to pull it over anything, but now it dont really have a choice lol

i took a video of it crawling after making several trip over these ruts and others on this hill. it was pretty cool seeing the truck steering in the ruts and flexing out, even dragged the front axle on the ground and kept on moving.


i got more work to do before the next ride july 21st, i may do some work to my leaf springs. gonna see if i can limit the wheel hop as much as possible and maybe find a lil more flex. ill prolly wait to fool with the driveshaft till after the next ride. ill keep yall updated more often as its about to get interesting again.

sheepdawg58

its amazing how there is always something to be done to a project truck. i seem to always be tearing something apart to tinker with it and try something different. its fun and also infuriating at the same time. gonna update what ive done the past few days getting this truck ready for the next ride.

well i started out by cutting off and moving the left rear shackle hanger. some how when i redid the rear of the frame i didnt get it welded back in the right spot. i had to move it backward an inch so i could get my truck to sit level.


since i had the rear tires off the truck and was foolin with the leafs i decided to try out putting a half=leaf adda leaf on the rear to try to limit wheelhop cause this truck has seemed to have a wheel hop issue since i built it. i started out by taking a junk set of leaf springs apart i had and then measured them and cut the rear part of the leaf so it wouldnt affect the spring rate much.


i always try to have teflon pads on my leafs. gotta try to limit the friction as much as possible. the factory one was worn out but i bough a sack full of them from the local spring shop so i would have one if i needed it. i left the spring clamp on so it would help locate the leaf and keep it from sliding around.


when your pullin the center pin out of leaf springs always use a C-clamp or something to hold the springs together. i pulled the center pin so i could add the leaf on the bottom side. went in easy as pie.


Here is the extra leaf mounted up.


Once I got the rear end back together I moved up to the front to get it ready for the boggers. I repacked the wheel bearings and made sure all the bolts was tight up front and then threw the boggers on to test it out

I tried several times to make it wheel hop but couldn't. Only time will tell how good the extra leaf did. After I got done goofing off I decided to wash the yota cause it was lookin pretty bad. It looks clean next to dads stang


After I washed it up I decided to snatch the doors off to see if I liked it without them on. This was complicated by the truck having power doors so I tore into the dash to get to the door plugs



I'm gonna look into buying or building a set of tube doors. I like the open feel of no doors but I need something to lean on. I am also making plans to put a partial cage in the cab and mount my 5pt harnesses. I hate the factory belts off road cause they just get in the way but there is no way I'm not gonna have a belt on with no doors.

I really can't wait to hit some real obstacles in this truck. It's so fun to just ride around and goof off... Next up is another winch repair and I'll be trail ready.

sheepdawg58

well i decided to get a start on my tube doors this weekend. i didnt wanna spend a bunch of money on something that was gonna be used only part of the time and only purpose is to keep me from falling out of the truck, so i decided that building them would be a fun weekend adventure.

i started out by measuring and cutting the tabs out that will bolt on the hinges and on the door latches. i am using some latches off of an old junk set of doors i had from a 80 model yota.


then i measured and cut the upper tube section. and fit it between the latch plate and the hinge plate. once i got the right fitment i tacked it in place.


this is what my doors will look like when finished. i got all the tubes tacked together and ready to work on my latch rod so i can open the door.


apparently i didnt get a couple pictures to upload of my tube door build but i like this one. i have plenty of vision out the passenger side of the truck now. and you can see how i made the door latch rod work. i used the long rod that goes to the inner door handle and just ran it along the top tube and held it in place with 2 washers spaced out. then i just bent the end of it so i can grab it.


and here is another view of my truck with the tube doors installed. im gonna go by tomorrow and pick up the bolts to bolt the doors to the hinges and then im gonna finish up welding the doors together and paint them up nicely. i say it was pretty painless and simple to build them. they may not look as good as the other doors you can buy but i like them.


getting very close to being ready for the next ride. i sure cant wait.

sheepdawg58

I got some more work done to the yota today and got the doors almost done. Can't wait to get them done and back on the truck do I can ride around some more to get used to them.

So here is the update.
These are 2 pictures of the door latch setup. This is the first thing I've ever really cut with my new plasma cutter so it was pretty jagged. I cleaned the edges up good with a grinder.
I tack welded the latch plate since I didn't get bolts yet. I picked those up today.


I pulled them off and finish welding them up then I re-test fit the doors to make sure they didn't warp.



Then I sanded them down really good primed and painted them so they would be ready to install tomorrow.


I'm gonna get them mounted up tomorrow and then find some rollbar padding to put on them. Now all I got to do to get ready for the next ride is organize the toolbox and refill the fluids.

sheepdawg58

Got some time off work today so I decided to try to finish up a few things on the yota so I can focus on other things till time to ride.

Got my shift boots covered up, I had put insulation over them earlier but it just looked unfinished so I cut up an old pair of blue jeans to lay around the shifters.


I reorganized my whole tool box, I had got lazy and let it get messy, but now it's back up and ready to wheel.



After I got the truck cleaned up I went out on the property.


Not 5 minutes after takin that picture I was goofing off trying to climb up a tree and slipped off and the side marker light got in the way... Now I'm looking for a replacement ha

sheepdawg58

I searched around my shop this afternoon for a set of racing belts I had stored away for a while and finally found them.



I'm thinking my next mod is gonna be to put harnesses and a partial cage in the truck. I wanna wait to put the cage in the truck till I do the exo cage but I've got to get harnesses in the truck soon. I have been looking at possibilities for a cage or a way to mount the harnesses. I know I could weld on a tab to the back of the cab to hold the upper belts but I know that's not the best option so I'm still lookin. I know the factory belts suck.

The back part of this cab still looks new, I'll hate to hack it up


Can't wait to get these mounted up... I'll feel alot better.