I still want a D44 D-cab

great work and have been following this thread

 

Thanks for the compliments, welder is a millermatic 175, speed and heat setting depends on what I'm welding. Wire, I'll have to look at the spool, not sure, do know that I'm on my third roll.
As far as bobing the bed, not yet I'll keep it on for now, already short as it is. Just going to have to drag a$$ in some places.

Yeah realative to bigfoot maybe, I'm trying to keep frame height down. It's at 29-30" now.
Oh yeah, the jeep has 22"s, bling!

 

beautiful!!! dean is my neighbor, i saw that rig in various stages of the build first hand...a lot of work!

 

My jealousy is running at an all time high after reading that

 

Ok, after much searching(Erik B over at pirate is awsome) and reading I think I've found out why my brakes have that mushy feeling! D44 calipers require much more fluid to work than the smaller toy counterparts so much more fluid must be moved out of the toy mc to activate these brakes. Toy master cylinder is just not up to the task without pushing the pedal to the floor. Answer, 1 1/8" bore 76 chevy blazer mc wich moves more fluid, ie activates the brakes with less pedal movement due to larger piston size in the mc. Going to napa tomorrow to pick up various adaptors and mc then make the plate to adapt it to the toy booster. Man I hope this works. This truck is going to be a daily driver, stopping is good. Check out Erik B's wright up if you want more info, its full of good stuff.
Update on the truck, I put the bed back on today and put the overloads back in because of bad axle wrap, lost a little flex, but makes the coilovers work more! Now the rear sits a little low, so might have to do a 1" block and longer shackles, we'll see.

 

can't wait to see it with the bed, bumper, grill....

 

have you thought of adapting tundra deavers packs like Deathrunner did with his 1st gen so you get the flex and the height? it would be odd to see a serious off-road rig like yours with its overload plate on.

 

Interesting thought, I'll look a little futher into that. Tested this afternoon on my testing wall and the truck made it to the exact same spot with the bed and overloads on as it did with no bed and no overloads. The Johnny joint shackles are working awsome, the spring moves laterally as far as the jj will let it go mechanically when flexing. I might cut the rear half of the overloads off as well. All just one big experiment, that goes on and on and on.... Front & rear bumpers and sliders are coming, 1.75" .120 wall dom tubing sitting in the shop begging to be bent!

 

Can't wait for more pics. Awesome build up.

 

thats a stupid way to carry your acetylene tanks unless you stand it upright for a long time after its been horizontal....BOOM

 

I'm fully aware that if a acetylene tank is stored on its side it must be turned upright for at least a half an hour before use. I know welding grade acetylene is dissolved in acetone, which if left in the valve assembly from being horizontal could cause an explosion if ignited. Thats why I turned it upright for almost an hour while prepping the truck I was disassembling. Done this many times. Take your negativity somewhere else.

 

when are you going to start putting on the supercharger and the URD injector kit?

 

Ryan,
It will be one of the last things I do, still have bumpers, interior, and alot of little details to take care of. It's going to kind of be like the iceing on the cake, cant wait to do it, but it will be last thing.

Steve

 

First off all I can say is WOW, awesome job from your component selection to the actual fabrication. It is very obvious that you put a lot of thought into the whole project before you even started and you were able to adjust and overcome as necessary to make it all work. I have been envisioning a very similar built to this for a while now and it’s nice to see it al put together.

If you don’t mind I had a couple of questions for you, I’m sure this is a surprise… Anyways if you have a chance I’d appreciate it.

-Couldn’t find it but what actual tire size are you running? (my guess would be a 40”ish based off of the 30” frame height)

-Is there any chance of making this setup a little lower? My state requires a maximum frame height of 26” (yeah I know). Ideally I was thinking a daily driving height and an alternate off-road height via adjustable coil-over upper mounting points???

-I noticed on your front spring hangers that you have a very tight fit to the actual spring. Wouldn’t you want to add a little width so the spring eye could flex the bushing? I know it would be minimal but every little bit helps right?

-Did you have to do any bed modifications to allow that rear shock hoop to fit? I saw that you had a body lift but couldn’t tell the size, would that hoop fit with a 2” BL?

-Have you thought about using a traction bar (say similar to the one BubBuilt has)? I know that if they are well thought out you don’t loose any articulation.

Again nice rig and thanks for showing it all go together.

 

Some answers,
Tires are 37 mtrs for regular use, (dry mild trails, camping etc), 36 iroks on bead locks for more serious duty. As far as making it lower, it would just take some creative engineering, err guess its called engineering.... Mine was down at 27" until I cranked the coilovers up to 30". Thats where my frame can be legally so thats what I designed my suspension ride height around. As far as a adjustable coilover mount, thats a good idea, just keep in mind how you design the steering & panhard setup so that your street height has the proper geometry so it drives well on road. Also keep in mind that rear leafs aren't usually adjustable easily.
I did the 3" body lift (crappy I know) to allow stuffing of the tires without cutting the fenders and to help keep the frame height low. My rear shock hoop in the back could fit with a 2 inch bl, just lower it a bit.
Clearance on the rear spring hanger, never really thought of it, this is my 3rd sas and used the same mounts every time, you might have a point, I never really noticed any problems. I'll watch it and see now you mention it. I wouldn't worry about it tho.
Lastly, traction bar, yeah I thought about it, it might still happen, but I still plan on putting a 4 wheeler in the back, and my mx bike camping stuff, so load handling is needed for right now, overload is on and I know my flex suffers, but this is a compramise I am willing to live with.
PM me if you need, I'm sometimes kind of slow on responses, but I'll do my best

 

not on here alot but i am on pirate. bout your brakes...look into a new master cylinder or a way to support the larger calipers. maybe that is the problem. another problem is if it is not portioned right. all front and no rear....ect. hope this helps. on a diff. note....sick build man. can't wait to see it done

 

Yeah, I made up a plate to adapt a full size blazer mc. 4runner rick has a great page on brakes. Haven't had a chance to work on mine for a while, sasing a buddys Taco. Start it back up here shortly...... Thanks for the advice and props
Steve

 

OK so I'll drop my Runner off at your place in a few days, you can just call me when its done? Sweet!

Amazing work man, definitely the biggest Taco I have ever seen...sweet setup too! I love that its your daily driver too, awesome!

Fink

 

That's a sick mall crawler you're building ROCK TOY!

I am so jealous right now.

 

Finally able to work on my truck again, did this to my buddys 02 Taco Tied up a little of my time..... details are identicle to mine but a little taller.,


Now, finished sway bar on mine, final panhard bar done, plumbed arb compressor and set up switches, pics tommorrow. On to bumpers and sliders.... man I can't wait to trash this thing Oh yeah, I did do the stereo while the truck was on hold, lots of cool stuff.