That is a manual "idle up" control.

 

Looks incredible man. I love the soft top.

I also love that you saved it. I hate seeing perfectly good Toyota's parted out because someone needs some extra cash, or worse, taking to the wrecking yard because no one wants to fix them up.

 

Well I am ready to go hit some trails...I will be at the Rubcon Toyota round up in Oct. sittin on 31" anyone want to join?

 

Oh by the way Dusy Trail is now open....anyone want to go it's a 2 day trail min...

 

got the rear bumper and sliders done!

 

got the flat belly done

 

Well, with Dbcfr's help, we got the rear bumper started. We ended up cutting 5 1/2" out of the center straight portion of the stock bumper brackets, then fitting a 5x2x1/4" tube to the rear of it, such that it sits just about 1/4" from the bottom of the tailgate. There is a hitch receiver set up in the center of the tube. We still need to weld up the side pieces and side supports, and eventually get the swingout tire carrier setup started.

My camera broke, so I don't have pics at present.

While we were setting the bumper up, I removed the useless spare tire which had been melted through by the poorly positioned stock exhaust. I also cut the exhaust back a bit and removed the spare tire assembly. There is a lot of room in that area, now, and I am considering an alternative fuel tank solution in that location.

I'll edit this with pics when I get them.

MC

 

Hi Jacob,
when are we going to finish that bumper...and start on your sliders?...
we should check your alt output Adam's new alt only was outputing 70 amps or so...

 

you made an awesome recovery on the vehicle

 

Quick update, then shower.

A couple of weeks ago DBCFR and I hit Bald Mtn. Good run, solidified in my mind what I already knew, that I need a 4.7 and at least a rear locker. We got hailed on for the first time of the season and got to watch a pretty cool electrical show.

The bumper has seriously improved my departure angle. More to come on that, with pics once its done.

Today, I realized the one reason that living near Fresno could be a good thing. I hit Trail Gear and Marlin this morning, picked up Marlin's 4.7 kit (On sale right now for $399!), and TG's twin stick setup.

I also dropped by 4-Wheel Parts and burned a gift card I had on a new 60" Hi-Lift Xtreme.

DBCFR had a transfer case in his shop, waiting for a twin-case conversion, so we stripped it down, did a little bit of clearancing, and got it a little over halfway back together with the new gears before we ran out of time. I can't wait. Hopefully tomorrow night we can get the case finished, and then sometime this week we can swap the case that is in my truck for the fresh rebuild.

MC

 

Oh, btw, in case anyone else is waiting as impatiently as I am, Aussie lockers for 8" Toy diffs should be on a plane tomorrow and ready to be ordered by the end of the week!

 

Sweeeeet. I can't wait to get my case done.

 

Case is going in on Saturday.

Aussie ordered today. They said they'd be shipping out on the 27th or 28th.

 

Ok, Jacob and Adam we need to start on are winter lists of projects...
My list is: twin case, SAS, over head console, stripping Coni's 4runner clean and get rid of the carces, strip the GMC and get rid of that carces, pull the motor on my 4runner and rebuild...now I need to know what you guys are thinking so I can work you all in on rack time

 

Aussie in rear diff,
Rear main seal (probably clutch at the same time)
LSPV cable tensioner mod
A/C to OBA conversion (which will require only minimal rack time, if any)
63" Chevys in the rear
finish rear bumper with swingout
IF we have time, sliders

 

The firerunner has a 4.7:1 heart. Actually, I guess the heart would be the engine. My truck now has a 4.7:1 kidney.

Look, a clean(ish) transfer case under a dirty truck!



The install was straightforward (with the help of Dbcfr, who recently did his case), and the operation is a kick. The truck is currently parked on top of a large rock in the back yard.










Hopefully, I can get it out and make 'er climb stuff sometime this weekend before I go back to work.

I finally took some photos of the first step of the rear bumper.



There will be side portions fabricated out of the same 2"x5" 1/4 wall tubing, with a swingout to carry my new hi-lift, spare tire, jerry can, etc.

We cut the stock mounts and re-welded them. After a body lift, we will be able to remount the bumper such that it goes straight in to the frame.



Dbcfr has just about 100% convinced me to do a 3" body lift and flatbottom the rig.

One of the next target projects will be a 63" Chevy spring conversion.

The more I look at things, the more I realize that I really don't want to spend too much time and energy on my IFS. This may mean that I am running stock front suspension for a while, until I get all the parts together for an SAS.

Also, the Giants are going to the World Series. Go eat a cheesesteak, Phillies!

 

I love this runner! The soft top is killer! How hard was the case to do? Ive been wanting to do mine but have been dreading it cuz Ive never done tranny/tcase stuff before.

 

Thanks! The soft top still has a bit of detail work to do on it.

The case wasn't hard, and was much easier due to having an experienced mechanic doing it with me! The Marlin Crawler instructions online were detailed and valuable. If I had to, I could do it with the instructions alone, but this was quicker. If you are handy with a wrench, you should be fine. Download the instructions and read them over first, then you decide!

MC

 

I think Z's Confederate Toy jinxed me. It is raining pretty well tonight, and on the way home from town, I noted that there was a bit of leakage between the canvas and the cab. It wasn't a lot, just what little seemed to pool there, and was only enough to occasionally drip. Tomorrow, I will be taking a piece of 3" firehose and attaching it such that the front is flush with the top of the cab and it overlaps the canvas. I will be attaching it with some sort of permanent fixture (screws?) as well as copious amounts of silicone. I think that will solve 90% of my problem. After this storm, I will likely be spraying some sort of additional waterproofing onto the canvas.

I also forgot to mention that when I went down to Marlin's shop and picked up my 4.7 gears, I also got a new transmission urethane ball and socket. My shifter had been a bit sloppy for some time, and it seemed like a good time to fix it.

When I pulled the assembly out to put the new parts in, I found about half of the ball portion, and NONE of the socket piece. The whole thing was gone. To say that I am happy with the difference is a ridiculous understatement. My transmission feels tighter and WAY more positive. The strange thing is, I am having to learn how to drive it again. I can't just throw the thing into third in a absentminded angular straight line. I actually have to follow a bit more of a traditional shift pattern!

This is possibly the best $14.00 I have yet spent on the truck. Everyone who hasn't replaced this part in the last five years should do it now. Tell Marlin that I sent you. Maybe he will start giving me parts

Is my Aussie here yet?

 

Leaks suck! Sorry bout that lol. I have the same problem with my windshield.