I have about 3-4 feet of snow in my yard, as soon as I get my transfer case and driveshaft figured out I plan on tearing it up.

I'm sure the neighbors will love that

 

Your telling me!

I'm broke too, but I was able to sell enough parts off the old truck to "kind of" cover the build. You would think that combining two rigs would cover the cost, but it adds up quick.

I got some switches and relays, so we will see how they work. They seem just as good as Napa and Carquest, at about a third of the price

Yea, it's a hard one to track down. I cleaned the engine spotless (that I could get to) and that's when I noticed it was coming from the oil pump housing. By the time I figured it out the head was covered again, along with everything else.



Thanks! It should be cool to see how the auto works out. As for Cleveland Rock, I think I will be going to just to the city. I flopped the last rig twice on Cleveland Rock, and while I think I figured out the line on the last trip, I really don't want to risk it. I would love to run Holy Cross early Summer if you want to go.

 

Thanks, we really need to go wheeling as soon as I have 4WD.

 

and I have heat

 

That's always a plus

I need to get a few more things finnished / figured out and I should be ready. Maybe a month?

 

Well I've been driving the truck around all week and it it has not died again. I think that the dirty air flow meter might have been the problem. It's hard to say though. The oil leak is gone too.

The new True Flow filter seems to work a lot better than the old K&N. You can really hear the differance, and with the clean air flow meter you can feel a slight differance.

I also got a few other things done this weekend. I really needed to rotate the spring perches and finally got around to doing it. I also cut out the drain plug and installed the new diff. gaurd. I wanted to use the old green truck's rear axle housing for the time being but it was bent so bad that I decided agaist it.

The old trucks housing, if you look at the axle mounting flanges you can see that they are not straight (you know the axle is bad when you can just look at it and tell it's bent).

 

Stock housing with the perches relocated





Removing the drain plug

 

Reinstalling the axle housing, with new rear brake line and diff breather

 

okay, another stupid question, but why did you remove the drain plug? i understand the clearence issues with rocks and whatnot, but wont it be hard to drain your fluid?

 

The Toyota drain plugs are a huge hang up on rocks, not to mention if you hit the drain plug right it will loosen up and drain all your gear oil. I can always suction out the old fluid, but I usually end up pulling the third at least once a year.

I have noticed a big differance with and without the drain plug. Without the drain plug, the axle slides a lot better. With the drain plug the rocks seem to get caught on the sharp edges around the plug. It's just one less thing to worry about.

 

i have heard of guys shavin the drain plug and then removing the 2 bottom studs that mount the 3rd member and replacing them with bolts, then just remove the bolts to drain the diff.. but if you did that and that oil wasnt hot then when you went to drain it, it would take half a day to drain 90w though thoes holes.. but it works i suppose.

 

That would work, it also wouldn't be to hard to pull the bottom two studs.

I think it would be a lot faster to pump the old fluid out through the fill plug, kind of a PITA but you also don't risk screwing up the sealing surface of the third.

 

Looks like you're making some progress bro! I still need to shoot you a call back, sorry about that.

 

I forgot to mention that I also moved the rear axle an inch forward. This should help to keep the body away from the tire (as much as possible).

On another note, I have been thinking about switching around my front and rear third members. I wanted to get ARBs but I just can't afford it, maybe next year . Right now I have a spool in the rear and a Lock Right up front. The spool doesn't bother me in the snow, but once the roads start to dry up it eats the tires alive (and sounds like I'm doing a burnout around every corner). The rear spooled third member is also staring to make a little noise so it would be nice to have it in a lower speed enviroment.

How do people like a Lock Right in the rear of a vehicle? I've been driving around a spooled rig on the street for years so I'm used to be locked. A buddy of mine had one in his rig and I really never noticed it (but I wasn't trying to either).

My Lock Right has seen it's fair share of abuse, is there a way to bench test it to see if it's working right? It has hardly ever disengaged, but I have never driven it on the street (only trails) and I've heard this is normal in a front application.

 

subscribed.. just found your build up, looking great, but you knew that... I'm learning alot and hope to re-use some of this on my builds. I'm interested to hear how you like the auto-tranny mod.

 

I'm making progess, but it never seems fast enough. Also, everytime I get something done I remember another thing to add to the list. That's a project for you though

Don't worry about the call, I'm not in a hurry and I'm very busy myself.

Thanks! I hope I like the auto tranny as well. I think it would have been cheaper and easier to convert over to a 5 speed but it keeps with the theme of the vehicle. If everything works right it will be well worth the effort.

 

I got the rail shifter on Saturday, I just have not had time to take pictures. Overall I'm very pleased with the customer service and the product itself. The unit is smaller than I thought it was going to be, but it should work well with where I want to mount it.

 

Looks like a sweet shifter...Cant wait to see it.

 

Great build thread, I'll look into the t-case shifter controller. My Toy has a top shift transfer case so any info on the t-case electronics would be helpful.
Keep up the good work.

 

I guess that is one way to fix the issue with the Factory Drain plug in the axle. I was TOTALLY SHOCKED this last summer. A couple buddies mine and I ran the Rubicon, with the Marlin Crawler Round Up group. I couldn't believe it when both of my buddies Ripped the drain plugs out of their axles! One the 1st day, the other the 2nd day. Fortunately I had brought 2 spares with me. One Low-Profile and the other my original stock. lol I believe both got used! But the second truck ruined the threads so bad that he was going to weld the plug in when he got home. Given the option, the way you did it was a much better idea!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. You do GREAT Work!!!

Keep up the GREAT Work and the Updates!
Grant