I adjusted my front end alignment tonight. I measured the caster angle using the bottom "ledge" of the bearing caps where it slightly hangs off of the top of the knuckle to take a more accurate measurement. My uncorrected caster angle was about 6* and I actually had 2.5* shims lying around so I was able to use them to get the correct caster angle. Everything said and done, it measured out to a perfect 3.5* of caster. I then adjusted the toe in - took the wheels off and used some steel flat bar to clamp the the rotors so I could take the measurements. I marked off 28.3" (that's what the factory tire is) and centered the flat bar from front to back level with the floor so that I could simulate the factory tires to make the correct adjustments. Technically with a larger tire, the toe "seems" larger but infact it is still the same angle. For instance the 28.3" tire has a 4mm toe in where a 33" tire might have somewhere around 5.5 or 6mm tow in but they would still be toed in at the same angle. I set my tow to 4mm per the FSM.

After I got my alignment handled, I mounted my Steering stabilizer. It's a silver skyjacker 9000 (I actually read that it performs well) mounted on the factory bracket on the axle housing and u-bolted to my Sky HD tie rod. The 8" travel is pretty adequate and smooth. My son was having a tough time sleeping so I called it quits for the night before I could snap some pictures. All I need to do is adjust my inner and outer steering limits and the front end should aligned pretty well.

As far as the front driveshaft situation, I'm going to order a 1.5" spacer from 4crawler in hopes that it will do the trick for the time being - I'm thinking it will. Besides, The springs still have some settling to do and I'll get some more compression once I get my cab on. I did hang the axle at full droop tonight while installing the shims and the driveshaft didn't slip apart so I'm thinking the 1.5" spacer should do the trick. If I were to hardcore wheel this thing (which I will not be doing!) then I would need to go another route. I'm only going to need 4wd when I'm in the snow, hunting or on the beach.

 

I just scored big today on a factory new OEM fuel sending unit! WOOT WOOT!
Scope it out, suckas!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NIB-OEM-TOYOTA-PICKUP-GAUGE-ASSY-FUEL-SENDER-1980-1983-/161083303583?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3AToyota&hash=item258150269f&vxp=mtr&autorefresh=true#vi-ilComp
A little background on my situation. When I bought my pickup the fuel gauge didn't work. Turns out that the fuel sending unit had some rust build up on it and seized up. I was able to use a wire wheel to clean it up and free the arm and it worked again; however, I guess in doing such I altered the resistance so it wouldn't go all the way to "E" making 1/4 tank my new "E." It only took me two times running out of fuel to finally get used to it. Other than the slightly false reading it work just fine, but you all know me by now that "working fine" just isn't my style so I had been looking for a new one.

In case you all haven't tried looking for one of these, they are damn near impossible to come across new or even in good condition. My dealership has it listed for $178 and they have access to Toyota inventory up and down the east coast and they still can't get it. So for about the past year I have been Googling and searching on eBay for part #83320-39306 with no results and then today, like the hot MILF neighbor sun bathing topless by the pool in all her glory, there it was beckoning for my wallet. I couldn't tell it no so 100 bucks later and it's all mine!! Funny thing is that just last night I had actually cleaned up and painted my original sending unit figuring that I'd never find a replacement and would just have to settle with the old one. That's good Karma! So if you need a good fuel sending unit, my old one is available and it's cleaned, painted and ready to rock!

Today is going to be a good day!! I love it when I finally find the part that I'm looking for! Now, if only I could find some really nice chrome headlight doors/bezels...

 

I saw that on eBay the other day and almost bought it myself. I don't need one but if it had been cheaper I would have got it just to have since I have never seen one before.

 

Congrats on the sending unit...Rare as hens teeth.

 

This is an amazing and VERY inspirational build! I envy ur patience

 

Went to the dealership today in hopes of snagging a new OEM in-tank fuel screen for my fuel pickup. I was surprised that they had it in stock! $21 is steep, but it certainly helps keep any future grime out of my fuel lines and prolongs the intervals between changing fuel filters. I also got some new stainless steel hardware for mounting the fuel pickup and sending unit to the tank. The factory hardware utilizes tiny phillips headed bolts which are a real pain in the ass to remove with the bed on so I went with hex heads - it's the little things that keep future headaches away. Just need to grab some stainless hose clamps and my fuel lines will be checked off.





Here's a couple shots of the steering stabilizer that I installed a couple nights ago:





I'm quickly running out of things to do on this chassis... not neccessarily a bad thing!

 

Yesterday was moving day! I hooked up the trailer to my Tundra and loaded up the chassis so that I could move it over to storage while I work on the body. No incidents occurred while hulling it across town, although I was quite paranoid considering the amount of time I have spent on this thing! My cousin moved to Hawaii about a year ago so it is now sitting in his garage so that I can do the body work in mine. Hopefully one night this week I'll be able to slide over to my friend's house to grab my trailer with the cab and other body parts on it.

 

This is an awesome thread! I cant wait to start the body work with u! Lol

 

Finally a good use for lift blocks.....lol

 

gmack, your attention to detail is impecable!! LOL I use old lift blocks that the PO thought were a good idea for wheel chocks all the time!

 

One other thing I noticed (and I know you're not finished) but it would be wise to run your tailpipe outside of the bed.. Exhaust fumes (the crud in it) will cause the bed to rust....

 

That tail pipe isn't welded on to the muffler yet - just a place holder for now. I'm not going to finish the tail pipe section until I get the bed installed so that I can weld up a down turn just under and even with the rear of the bed. I'm also not sure if I want the down turn to go towards the rear or tucked behind the rear tire like it is from the factory.

 

Good thinking.... Nothing worse than installing something, only to have to redo it....
Ask me how I know.........LOL

 

Gmack, I know the feeling! I wasted a couple grand with quick fixes before I went on to a full blown resto!

My latest score arrived today! Brand new old stock fuel sending unit:



This is one of those rare parts that I am completely stoked about finding. I'll have to run over to my cousins house tomorrow to install it really quick.

In other news, I do maintenance on my brother's apartment building as a side job and he just had to evict some tenants that completely trashed one of the units. So I have a bunch of repair work to do over there this week before the new tenants move in. His apartments are a completely renovated old downtown building that are really upscale so I have a lot of work ahead of me getting it back above par. Unfortunately, this means that I have to delay getting the body back to the house to start work on it, but at least it puts some extra money in my pockets to spend on it! My wife and son are also heading out of town to visit my in-laws so at least that means that I'll have the weekend to work on my truck!

 

The lady that was cleaning my cousin's house prior to renting it out locked her keys in the house so I had to go let her in this morning. I killed two birds with one stone and installed my fuel sending unit with some shiny new stainless hardware while I was there.



I think that I have everything installed on the chassis that I can at this point and I can officially say that my chassis is complete... I think...

 

Awesome..

 

Congratulations very good job

 

Question: There is not any kind of clearance issues with the hood and a Weber carb and the spiral adapter is there? I looked at the big K&N filter on LCE and there is a note that says you must have a body lift in order to fit it. I have not heard of any kind of clearance issues with a stock weber filter but I wanted to ask.

 

Hey Kawazx636, I noticed your new wheels have a 108mm center bore. Did you have to use 108mm to 106mm hub centric rings?

 

The weber doesn't require additional hood clearance, but I'm not sure about the K&N setup. I read the same thing from LCE, but the K&N doesn't look like it is that much taller if at all. I'll have to go with their word on it although I would like to have the K&N adapter but not at the cost of a body lift.

I believe that my new wheels were 108, but I don't recall exactly (I did check that they were at least 106. Honestly, this hub centric vs lug centric controversy has no standing as far as I can tell. I had lug centric wheels on it originally and never had a balance problem. I think it is a dead horse that doesn't need to be beat anymore like people do. I know for a FACT that both types of wheels work just fine.