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So I have been on this forum for awhile as a spectator for awhile, then as a poster with questions for a bit. I have decided to make a post dedicated to my continual build of my truck into a DD / Trail Rig / Overland Rig. For right now I will simple post what I have and what my plans are and will continually post as I build.
What I started with was a 1985 Toyota Pickup 4x4 that was completely stock that came with a 22r with blown head gasket. I can't remember what exactly I bought it for but i think it was 450 bucks. I replaced the engine and drove it for a few years while in college after rebuilding the engine but I kept it stock for the longest time except for a header and a exhaust. After I finally got settled in my job I was able to save up and do what I've always wanted. Build it! This make and model is by far my favorite truck out there. Fell in love with it during Back to the Future. I wish it was a 22re SR5 but I'll take what I can get. This isn't a mall crawler but i definitely baby her and don't like rock rash. This is a camping, backpacking, hiking, mudding, and wannabe over landing rig. Not a rock crawler.
What I have done
I lifted the truck with a 4" ProComp lift. It was the cheapeast that I could afford before I drove it down from Washington to Arizona. I put 35" Tires on her that i had on another Toyota pickup of mine. I had Toy Only Swaps perform a 3.4 5VZ-FE into the truck . This changed my transmission to a R150 V6 Tranny and Transfercase. After about a year or so driving with that I decided I wanted some more power. I put on a Magnuson supercharger from URD. That definetly gave it some extra go. But since I go up to Northern Arizona to camp and backpack I had bad pinging going up in elevation. To eliminate that I installed the 7th Injector from URD as well as there 2.2" supercharger pulley for even more power. I also installed a ARB winch bumper and a Warn M8000 winch onto that. To monitor everything that is going on with my truck I currently have Boost, Wideband, and Oil Pressure on my A-Pillar. My oil pressure guage in my cluster burnt out and haven't wanted to waste money on a new cluster when I have it on my cluster. I also have a ScanGaugeII wedged into the slot under the radio displaying Intake Air Temp, Coolant Temp, Real RPM (My tach is 1.5x off), and Gallon Per Hour.
What I plan on doing:
Future and soon to be changes include not in any particular oder
1. New Seats. Mine are junk and are slowing donating its foam all over my floor
2. Re-Gear the truck to 4.88's with front and rear lockers.
3. Wider Rear Axle (Already have the housing, waiting for gears)
4. On Board Air
5. Rock Sliders
6. Better lift with more flex, possibly trail gear
7. Rock over the truck cap to hold a tent, and gear.
8. Hoodscoop from Toyota Fiberglass to cover hole in hood caused by supercharger clearances.
Current Issues:
Currently what I am dealing with is overheating while on the highway. It has been an ongoing issue since I moved to Arizona. Around town driving the engine will stay at 195-200 via my ScanGauge. But on the highway it creeps up to 210-215 on longer road trips. And 215-225 while going up long grades. I am currently runing the stock mechanical fan and have done everything I can think of to get it to cool better. I have replaced my thermostat, switched out the hoses twice (Didn't bother me, now I have spares), replaced the radiator, and bled the piss out of the system for air. Still haven't corrected the issue. My next step is to replace my mechanical fan with a big electric fan and variable fan controller.
Let me know what you guys think so far.
Last edited by yellowtoytruck; 04-02-2017 at 03:34 PM.
Don't bother with the electric fan, it cannot move as much air through the limited space our 85 rigs have to offer a radiator.
I still have a 22R in my rig but, I have the V6 three core brass radiator because the air conditioning system I installed overloaded the POS two core plastic radiator my truck came to me with.
I tried a Hayden 16" 1500cfm fan with a nice aluminum shroud and a no core free flowing thermostat and had my truck so close to an over heat that I bought a new extreme duty fan clutch and went back to the belt driven fan so I could keep the temperature in the safe zone.
You may hear others say I'm crazy but, unless it is a Toyota electric fan, it'll fail and I don't have any Toyota electric fans laying around or it'd be on already.
Every Yota I've seen out on the trails here in So Cal with electric fans have been sitting in the way over heated because their fans couldn't keep up and melted.it isn't Arizona heat but, it is close enough to cause cooling problems with modified trucks.
Stick with the belt driven fan and find a good shroud to get more flow over a 3 or 4 core radiator.
Last edited by fasterspider; 03-26-2017 at 05:50 PM.
Have you tried adding more silicone oil to your fan clutch? It brought my temps down significantly before I swapped out my radiator.. Now I'm running a bit on the cool side even in the heat of PHX summers.. with that said, I don't have a supercharger
Some 22re rigs have an overheating issue that can be corrected with a dual-valve 190° thermostat. It's an oem part and can be ordered from LCE and probably other vendors as well. I don't know if it'd fit your application, but it's worth looking into.
Oil your fan as mentioned above. Also wouldn't hurt to have the cooling system flushed and put a Toyota dual temp thermostat in it. Seems to solve a lot of over heating issues.
Ending up buying a new custom radiator for my truck. I went through Ron Davis radiators out in Glendale, Arizona. They were close to my house and very helpful. The radiator is amazing. After installing I did drive down the highway at 75MPH and it was 105 degrees outside, my temperature stayed around 200-202 which is far better than the 215+ I was seeing in similar weather. The radiator is a cross-flow design per my request. I also added a 2nd temperature sending unit to the return inlet of the radiator where I have an Auto-meter sender attached but currently not hooked up. My plan was to run 2 Toyota sending units and be able to swap between the two to see temperature difference. I had to modify the original fan shroud a little to get it to fit correctly. Including cutting two of the edges off to accommodate the return inlet being swapped to the drivers side and the additional temperature sending unit. I had nothing to lose with the hack job because if it didn't work I was going to make a custom fiberglass one. I still might do that down the road. But I was able to get a pretty good seal using weather-stripping from the hardware store.
Finally got a hood scoop for my hood to cover up the large whole I cut for supercharger clearance. Got it from Toyota Fiberglass. I am very happy with the product itself. It is a bolt on hood scoop. I'll eventually get it fiberglassed onto the hood but for now I'm happy with the results. I need to finish cutting some of the under supports and reinforcing it to make it look better.
Last edited by yellowtoytruck; 06-21-2017 at 03:02 PM.
Was able to take her up to Flagstaff, AZ and do a field test. No issues with overheating. Lots of mud, trails, and rock fields. I'm glad I had no issues.
Was able to take her up to Flagstaff, AZ and do a field test. No issues with overheating. Lots of mud, trails, and rock fields. I'm glad I had no issues.
That looks like fun, it'll be a few more months that before I'm able to find any muddy trails here in So Cal.
Few small things since the last time that I posted. I decided to mount my Harbor Frieght hi-lift jack to my front bumper. I bought a set of Four-Treks 1 7/8" Modular Hi-Lift mounts. They seem to work very well. I am still undecided if I want to keep them. Not because of the quality or anything like that. They are very well made. I just don't know if I am happy with my bumper up front or not. It might be moved in the future when I get a custom luggage rack made to go around my truck cap. My buddy also started making stickers so he made me a few with my Instagram handle. Maybe it will get me a few followers ha ha.
I also figured out a way to mount my ScanGauge II. I really try to avoid cutting into or drilling into the dash as much as possible. I really do like these trucks design as is so I try not to modify it it permanently. (I am weird I know, most people bash their trucks, I try to keep it straight and stock-ish). So what I finally figured out after a couple failed home made mounts, was to use one of these new cell phone mounts that came out that use magnets, There is a swivel base that is 3M taped to the dash. Then I put a little metal disk on the back of my scan gauge. Seems to hold it quite well. I routed the wiring up the side of the dash and under my dash pad. Its easy to remove if I want to transfer it to another vehicle.
Few small things since the last time that I posted. I decided to mount my Harbor Frieght hi-lift jack to my front bumper. I bought a set of Four-Treks 1 7/8" Modular Hi-Lift mounts. They seem to work very well. I am still undecided if I want to keep them. Not because of the quality or anything like that. They are very well made. I just don't know if I am happy with my bumper up front or not. It might be moved in the future when I get a custom luggage rack made to go around my truck cap. My buddy also started making stickers so he made me a few with my Instagram handle. Maybe it will get me a few followers ha ha.
i have always like the ARB bumper on a 2nd gen Xtra Cab
I had thought about the four treks moutn on my old truck but the price was a bit much. I was search for a fire extinguisher mount when i discovered I hthese things, 4 for $40 delivered-ballast clamps for racing
For about $30 I had a set of high lift mounts:
Originally Posted by muddpigg
All I can say is dual cases
Nice rig!!
I agree with Muddpigg! great truck and duals would be a nice addition.
That is a beautiful truck. What radiator is in the truck?
Hey Coryc85, sorry I didn't see your question. When you originally asked it was the 3.4 V6 Radiator but it wasn't keeping up here in AZ. I had a custom built one-off radiator made by Ron Davis Radiators. It is a beast and is keeping my truck around 195-205 degrees on the highway in the Arizona heat.
i have always like the ARB bumper on a 2nd gen Xtra Cab
I had thought about the four treks moutn on my old truck but the price was a bit much..
I agree that they are a little pricey. But I heard nothing but good things about them. Decided to treat myself. Only thing I had to do was add a lock washer to it so it didnt rattle off during bumpy rides. Your's look nice too!
Nice rig yellotoytruck! By the way what did they charge for your radiator?
It wasn’t exactly cheap. But it’s exactly what I wanted. It was around 750 dollars. But again. It’s directly bolt on and built to my specifications. I couldn’t be happier. And I never wanted overheating to be an issue.
03-24-2017, 04:17 PM
