Zizzle

We were living in New Mexico last year, vacationing in southern Colorado, siting on the side of a 14er just having beat up her 2009 Subaru to get to the trail head. She says "You need to get a truck and we need to move up here, I don't want to do that to my newish car again".



Being an expat Aussie, Toyota's are what I knew more than Ford/Chevy/Jeep. So I picked up a v6 '93 pickup in Albuquerque as a beater and to haul around some dirt bikes and hit some trails.

Being a desert truck, no rust what so ever.





Broke down a couple of times already, during only highway driving:
1) fan bracket failed and dropped the bearing cage onto the timing belt on i-40 about 65 miles from home in a blizzard. Luckily the belt stayed in one piece, but ended up getting a ride home in a tilt-tray.
2) radiator hose failed and dropped coolant. Thought blown head gasket for sure but turned out to just be and old perished set of hoses. Again luckily, caught it quickly.
3) O2 / check engine light caused some concern
4) alternator failed, another check light

As a result She Who Must Be Obeyed has declared the truck unreliable lemon and to be gotten rid of for a newer model.

I have managed to convince her that the truck just needs a few new parts and all will be good. It's a toyota. That's and I can't find a newer Toyota for decent money.

So we have a new aluminum radiator, all new hoses, new timing belt and fan bracket, second hand replacement alternator and new accessory belts.



Since moving to Colorado and having access to some awesome trails, we have actually been getting off road and hitting trails, we have hit some limitations, so the truck is gaining some features.

My goals for this year are to be able to make it up the wall on the Poughkeepsie Gulch trail, and to be able to make it up to Lake Como on Mt Blanca (it's the only Navajo sacred mountain we haven't climbed).

So far:
1) 33x12.5x15 tyres
2) AAL rear
3) BJ spacers front

Yes I need to rip the crappy window tint out. Before lift - bit of rubbing.





I have a E-locker to retro-fit the rear and EZ locker for the front. Both yet to be fitted.

Recently put on a topper but it seems to be too much for the AAL rear and it is draggin again. So maybe a Zuk mod soon.

My elocker was sold as a 4.56, which is the stock ratio in the truck, but turns out to be a 4.30, so I have acquired a few more tools and will have to swap the ring and pinion out of my current third and setup the elocker.

Also acquired a Engo winch. I like the look of the Toy front end, and don't like the tube winch bumpers, so will be mounting a 2" receiver for the winch cradle so it can be pulled out.

There are too many jeeps out here, so I offer an standing invite - any Yota drivers out in the Ouray, Silverton, Telluride area need a trail guide or someone to wheel with, give me a yell.

Jaino240

truck looks good man, especially with those 33's.
Sub'd

bone collector

Nice truck! Welcome to YT!! i will be curious to see how this turns out. I have the same truck so I will be watching closely. Good Luck!!

nedhills

I just had to replace my timing belt and pulleys and water pump and stuff. looks shiny.

Zizzle

Pulled the rear axle and have been working on the elocker retrofit.

Cut the selector slot and welding some more surface for the extra studs.





The new stud holes can be tricky to get right. So here is my solution:

1) put the third in, and with a drill exactly the same size at the holes in the third member, drill a small dent in the housing
2) use a drill v-tap/drill guide clamped to the housing to finish the hole



3) Use the same tap guide to ensure the tap goes in straight




So the housing now done, I just need to setup the elocker.

Did a quick pattern check.

Deacon71

Nice rig! So jealous man, been wanting to move to Colorado forever. Love that black bear pass photo. Hoping to run that trail next summer in memorial to a friend that passed before we had the chance to drive it together.

Zizzle

I've had a busy week in my spare time.

I re-installed the rear axle with e-locker and wiring.

Not before removing the add-a-leafs and putting a jeep helper spring in.



Got my craigslist tow bar and hacked it up to make a front receiver for the winch.



After a few beers and couple of hours with the saw and TIG:



Bolts up nicely and is relatively unobtrusive.

bone collector

Looks great! I really like the front tow bar idea. How do you like the e-locker?

Zizzle

The e-locker is great, I should have done it sooner. The lunchbox locker in the front, I'm not so sure about.

For the e-locker, I bought a neat DPDT switch with integrated LED off ebay.

Cut a whole in the blank panel:



Unfortunately, being Chinese it didn't even last until the truck left the driveway. And my blank panel is ruined.

So plan B, not as pretty but has already lasted longer:



Winch and cradle fit nicely enough:



And the Zuk mod springs seem to have leveled it all out even with the topper on.

bone collector

looking good man!!

Zizzle

Trip to Moab last weekend.

Drove over La Sal pass to see some fall colours.

Camped on the river in the truck, much better than stuffing around with a tent.

Did some hikes as well as Poision Spider Mesa.

A few issues:
1) front tires were scuffing a lot on the slickrock. I think mainly due to front/rear binding. Would love a selectable locker for the front. Considering SAS and elocker.

2) winch was on the front and hit the rock a couple of times on the steep approaches. Should have been less lazy and pulled it off and put it in the back.

3) Cheap replacement idler arm only lasted 2 wheeling trips. Got a FA5040 on already.

4) Front locker means front diff and drive shaft are always turning. Crappy fueld economy and some vibration above 65mph. Need manual hubs.

5) Had to throttle up to avoid stalling on some of the climbs. Not as controlled as desired. Similarly coming down under brakes since 1st low not slow enough. Considering a crawl box.


But overall I think the GF and I were surprised and impressed by the trail ability of the truck. Well the GF was more scared and surprised.


Anyway, it's amazing how much easier the trail looks in the photos than real life.

bone collector

great photos! looks like a great trip

93Xtra-Cab

How wide are those rims and what backspacing?

Zizzle

15x8 -12B

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...r=3&wd=15&rw=8

But those wheels of yours look good.


In other news, put on some manual hubs the other day. Also have acquired a dual T-case setup. Probably going to put it in this weekend if my 23-spline input shaft shows up. Haven't decided yet on fabricating a triple stick setup or just getting rid of the bench seat and cutting another hole in the floor.

Zizzle

Picked up a used dual case setup -- an early Marlin adapter w 4.7 gearset. Seller also claimed a chromolly output.

Inchworm V6 adapter. Swapped to 23 spline in the front box, left the 21 spline marlin 4.7 in the rear. Hopefully it will be up the job -- seems like it's only the stock 21-spline stuff that likes to break.

Got a front drive shaft off ebay for $50. Perfect fit. Out of a newer 4runner auto apparently, so it's longer. Kept the rear 2-piece for now, got the front section shortened.

Decided to fab up my own triple stick setup rather than get new seats or drop $250 on a pre-made one.





It's not super tight (a bit of slop) but does the job.

For the speedo conversion, instead of spending $50 on one of the adapter blocks, I just got a M22 nut (< $2 at fastenal) and tacked a couple of M4 nuts on the side. Sealed up with silicone.

The innards of the electronic module fit into the cable drive unit, nut holds the end cap on:





Seems to work well.

Also got manual locking hubs and new headlights.

Should be up for another Moab trip this weekend to test it all out.

hiGis

moving along nicely!
how do you likel the 33's with the 4.56 gears on the highway? you sayed that it didn't had enough control on the trail so the duals should take care of that but how about the ride on the streets?

Can't go wrong with factory cherry red and black wheels!
your's looks like mine's twin sister when I first got it

Zizzle

4.56 on 33"s isn't too bad on the highway. Speedo is a couple of miles out at 65 and you maybe need to change down a little earlier but hey with the 3.slow you can't expect too much.

Metal Masher and Hell's revenge on the weekend.

The GF had a little cry at the start of Hell's Revenge - nothing bad happened, she just didn't like the steepness. Luckily there was a rather stock looking Land Rover Discovery in front of us, so I could say look that guys is doing it with his kids in a stock Disco.

Caught up to some guys with a buggy for Hell's gate. They talked themselves out of trying it. Pussies. I was ready to go but the GF banned my from trying. So then I was a pussie too. Next time.















Full flex and a rear of the ground:





First run with the dual cases.

A bit of bearing noise - I should have replaced the front input bearing before I put it in. So I'm going to run the rebuild kit through it.

I might also see if I can get the larger bearing in the marlin adapter from the newer mc-07.

Very happy with what the duals give. So much better control, especially on the descents - both trails would have been far scarier without it.

Zizzle

Broke an idler arm in Canyonlands NP and decided it was time for a SAS.

But the 3.slow had other ideas. Started overheating, blown head gasket.

Found a parting out 1998 Tacoma going pretty cheap locally.

So on with the 3.4 swap.