Had to source some longer banjo bolts as the GM ones are too short for the banjo adapters supplied by Sky's. I believe 30mm are GM stock and some Dorman 35mm bolts did the trick. Went with the heavy duty caliper option and the "tow/haul" recommended brake pads. They werent much more expensive than standard components so why the hell not?

My intake elbow was shot. Modified an LCE intake kit for a 3rd gen 22RE and it works very well with the body lift.

Had to order the $100 Walker cat just to cut it up for its flanges . Wanted to have a removable rear section for the upcoming frame work.

Sticking with cheap and easy. Threw a Thrush in and dumped the pipe over the rear axle.

 

After getting the axleshaft ends converted to discs

Top coat drying

Final reassembly. Installed a 4.88 open diff from the front axle of my daily driver 4Runner.

Gave solid motor mounts a try. They didn't last long. Spoiler alert- went back to rubber.

Same thing with the transfer case mount. That went back to rubber as well. Not before I had my fun however.

Didnt properly document this part. Swapped my rear springs out for some old All Pro packs. Changed the 5" shackles out for 6" H-shaped ones. Corrected the way it all sat. Note, old shackle on the driver side. New on the passenger side.

Couldn't resist a flex test.

So far, so good. Used the opportunity to measure for shock absorbers.

Bling time. Couldn't resist.

Well worth the wait. I have a particular dislike for the very sloppy gear throw of a W56B. The Marlin short shifter kit eliminated that problem entirely.

Scored this old school toyota knob from a Toyota facebook page. Apparently they used to be a JC Whitney-style mail order part made in small batches. It arrived unfinished and had to be drilled for a threaded insert. Unable to find a suitable insert, i cut down a section of steel rod and drilled it. I knurled the outside and tapped the inside. A little wood glue and tapped in the insert with a mallet.

End result.

Painting the tie rod and drag link.

Finishing touches on the fuel and cooling systems. Filling fluids and solving the inevitable leaks before a first turn of the key.

Returning from a successful test drive on back roads for adjustments to the brakes, clutch pedal and steering alignment.

Repainted a Hella lo-tone horn. Gotta troll the Subie crowd.

My steel plate cover for the transmission worked out.

 

Pulled an all nighter getting the truck ready for a 45 minute hop down the highway for the massive car show in Putnam. Temp gauge shot into the red. Took me two hours to limp back to the shop after only making it 10 minutes. Turns out it was a faulty aftermarket temp sender. Put the original back in and its fine.

Well I missed the car show but I got the truck back home in time to drive it to Toyota Fest.

 

Pulled an all nighter getting the truck ready for a 45 minute hop down the highway for the massive car show in Putnam. Temp gauge shot into the red. Took me two hours to limp back to the shop after only making it 10 minutes. Turns out it was a faulty aftermarket temp sender. Put the original back in and its fine.

Well I missed the car show but I got the truck back home in time to drive it to Toyota Fest.

 

So I was prepared to let the truck sit the winter out as cold weather rolled in.

That is, until my idiot buddy ran out and impulsively bought a built crawler that had seen better days. He immediately signed up for a wheeling event and tried rubbing it in my face that he was going.

Well, I'll tell you what, I didn't spend nine months living in a shop building a truck from the lug nuts up to not use it. Besides, I had to be there if Mr. Bought Not Built needed a tow.

As motivation, I paid the entry fee and compiled a punch list to complete in three weeks. No longer in the shop and at the mercy of the weather of driveway wrenching- I set to work.

First things first. When you wheel with a kid who impulsively buys a sloppy seconds crawler, he's gonna need a support rig. No doors, no floors and no cargo space was the motif of his purchase- so I splurged again and bought myself a toolbox to hold tools, parts and fluids. If I didn't need them in my fresh build teething troubles, he certainly would.

Remember that frame rot? Oh yeah. I do. Time to get cutting. Of course as soon as I get started, my buddy discovers a crack in his transfer case #2 cover. Of course its up to me to head to him and practically fix it for him. Clock is ticking. 19 days to go.

Got most of the cancer carved out.

Just about ready to vet the new steel in. Rear crossmember was a total loss.

17 days to go and a week of rain in the forecast.

A respite in the weather allowed for a new rear crossmember to get zipped in. Luckily my buddy's brother is a far better welder than I will ever hope to be and gave me a hand.

14 days to go. Power outage from the storm. Time for that last lick of paint while the welder was no longer useable.

Remember I stole sn open 4.88 diff from my DD's front axle? Had a Spartan kicking around my parts pile for years. Decided to tackle my first differential work on yet another rainy day. 12 days to go.

After measuring the original backlash, got it all apart.

Junked the spider gears. Got the ring gear warming up in the toaster oven.

Got the Spartan popped in.

Set the backlash to .008" on the nose.

So due to the rush I stopped taking photos and worked at a frantic pace. Got the fuel tank reinstalled, bolted the back half of the exhaust system back in and added an ARB breather kit for the diffs. Added front diff armor and a truss. Junked the front 6" shackles and added some Dave'z No Death Wobble shackles. Rebuilt the front axle snd installed the 4.88 Spartan locked rear diff from my DD up front and whipped up a square front driveshaft.

Ah yes, my buddy needs a little more help. Four days to go. Meanwhile I got a Tacoma bed liner cut down and installed. Bolted in the Rigid box with a HiLift jack mounted to it. Finishing touch- an NWTI DIY front bumper. Ready to roll for this wheeling trip.

 

So, the wheeling trip was a success. Sprang a coolant leak from an oversized corbin clip on a coolant line. Fixed it with a zip tie.

My power steering box decided to blow a seal and vomit up the last of its fluid, so I had near-manual steering all day. Besides that it worked flawlessly.


Aired down at the trail head waiting for a Jeeper group to roll out first. Nobody knew the paint on my bumper was still wet that morning hahaha!


Putting her through her paces. Took a little body damage doing so.


Oh no, what do you know? My buddy decided to grenade two diffs and a birfield attempting an obstacle known as Split Rock. Had to drag him free to pull his rear diff. Had to pick a different line than the one I showed him. There's no fixing that goon.

All in all we both had a blast. He had a good sense of humor about it and a few guys stayed to donate tools and a hand. Good thing we trailered! Thanks for checking out my build guys. It's been a hell of a journey.

 

Great build! Makes me feel like a dirtbag with the amount of time I've been able to to work on my project though

 

That is one nice looking truck you have there. Love the headlight n grill swap. Keep up the good work.