Let me guess, upper corners? Still have the plastic/metal toyota "bling" trim around it? Trash that junk!

 

The corners and upper trim piece are gone. But I think Its the original windshield and the seal is completely gone from sun rot.

 

Sun rot is way better than rust! That location is pretty rust-prone. My trim has been replaced with rubber, but the corners didn't seat correctly. I just reglued them today.

The firehose went on easily. Urethane and pop rivets hold it on. I couldn't hear any difference at 70 mph. I ran a bead of urethane under the hose and one over it at the junction with the cab, then painted it with flat tan to make it blend with the rest of the truck.

We also made a makeshift grill to protect the radiator.


Dbcfr and I hit the trail for a bit to test out my 4.70. We went up Cheepo, then through Texas Flat Mine Road up to Cold Springs Summit. The truck did well. I love the crawlability. The Aussie and 4.88s will make a big difference, too.




Dbcfr


Dbcfr again


Bass Lake

 

subscribed

 

hey goodluck getting this working i but if you need a windshield pm me i have a spare one im and if u make the right offer it could be sitting in your garage instead of mine

 

hey goodluck getting this working i but if you need a windshield pm me i have a spare one im and if u make the right offer it could be sitting in your garage instead of mine

 

Thanks for the offer 666, but I think you might have missed a few pages of the thread! I don't need a windshield, but perhaps someone else will read this and have a need.

MC

 

Aussie shipped today. Should be here on the 3rd. Woohoo!

 

I am excited, I could only imagine how excited you are.

 

Wow - haven't checked this thread in a LONG time - looking awesome! I really dig the desert cam color...seeing it on more and more Toys these days and it looks great.

Did you ever figure out how to mount your diamondplate inner sides? How did you cut them? Just use an angle grinder and trace the OEM sides beforehand?

 

They are cut. Plasma makes life fun! I did trace the original cardboard and plastic sides. I still need to grind them down a little bit to fit.

I'm going to use nutserts in the existing mounting holes, then countersink the sides to let the mounting screws sit flush. I'll probably spring for the Allen-head screws to keep them from getting too buggered-up.

There are two challenges that I need to address before the bedsides are done. The first is rust. The diamondplate that I had around needs to be sandblasted, and I need to find a way to get that done before I spend more time on these pieces of metal.

I have decided against hinging the storage doors in the sides. Instead, I will be making them completely removable, so that I can take them off while camping and I won't be fighting with mattresses or other gear to get them open. I have a couple of ideas about how to make that happen. I use the storage in the sides way too much to attach the sides without maintaining that space and access.

I will probably use weatherstripping between the bedsides and the body to prevent noise.

If the canvas solution holds up all winter, I will consider it a success enough that I can start thinking about possibly removing the glass from the tailgate and start building that into some sort of storage as well.

 

Neat idea on the rivets. Are you going with a rivet whose seat expands as you tighten the screw? I hadn't heard of nut-serts until your post and just looked them up - seem like wall anchor for drywall - same idea?

Curious how you'll handle the side storage doors as well. Silicone is a good idea for noise - that's what I was thinking too.

Good luck - looking forward to pics of the install

Phil

 

Yeah, nutserts are like drywall inserts, but made of brass or steel, and much stronger. They require a special tool to press into place. I might silicone it in as well.

The side storage plan is this: I cut the doors where I want them, then weld vertical tabs to the back of the door portion. I match the spaces between the tabs with tabs welded to the back of the wall panel. This is similar to the stock design, and allows the panels to lock in at the bottom, but still be removed. I will also weld a small plate to the back of the hole in the wall panel, to prevent the "door" from going into the storage area. This will allow me to place locks in the door panels, but still remove them when I want to.

That may not make much sense, but I'll take pics when I finally get around to doing it.

MC

 

I used rivnuts to secure my custom door panels but they also require a special tool.

You might try these they only require a pop rivet gun to install and work quite well...

http://www.aircraftspruce.ca/menus/ha/nut_anchor.html

they are also adaptable with corner and flat versions available and they are affordable too..

 

In an attempt to distract myself from impatiently waiting for my Aussie to show up, I finally bothered to replace the ugly Fordesque mirrors that I had attached to my fenders.

As a refresher for those just tuning in, I moved the mirrors off the doors so that I can remove my doors without loosing my mirrors. The Ford style ones were never intended to be a long-term solution. They just made it easy for me to play with different locations and figure out what I needed. I tried using stock Toyota mirrors mounted forward on the fenders, but the base was too big, and the mirrors lacked the range of adjustability that was required. Yesterday, I found a pair that will work.





Here you can see the view from the driver's seat




So far, I'm happy with them. They certainly look a bit better, and won't be quite the "branch magnets" that the other ones were. Visibility is at least as good.

 

wow! that thing looks killer! Nice work!

 

Yeah seriously... Awsome turn around..Keep it up man..Love the tan too..

 

check out rockauto.com

 

looking real good

 

You can use the old Ford style morror mounts as fold away light mounts if you take the mirrors off.