Search results

I saw a bone stock 1989 Toyota 4x4 go through the Rubicon once, so yes it can be done, but a built rig would have been a lot more comfortable. Hell, I even saw a VW bus go through the Rubicon. Did you guys ever hear of that one? Interesting idea to install a Saginaw box on an IFS Tacoma. That...

Engine swap is so much more intensive than an axle swap. With an engine, there are so many fine points that add up to make the whole package. Yes, swapping an axle takes a lot of planning too. Thinking outside the box helps. You just have to imagine what you want and then picture that...

Any news on this? I hope they are ok.

I just heard that Marlin passed away. He will be sorely missed.

So the new battery starts the truck? Or you need a jump even with a new battery?

All true. Yet the basic axle design we use today has been in production since the late 1960s. A redesign wouldn't be out of line after 50 plus years. With larger components, we could have our cake and eat it too. Another aspect of death wobble that I'm just gonna say it, most people don't...

Pardon me for skipping ahead without reading all of the replies, but I feel very strongly on the subject of death wobble, and other related front steering and suspension issues in ALL solid axle trucks. I feel, and have felt this way for a long time, that the problem is a matter of scale. And I...

Neat truck. Maybe I missed it, but were you able to get it registered in CA?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes, stock FJC 17" wheels, on FJ80 axles. The owner has had it for two years now and he brought it to me for some updates and sliders. It's nice to be able to see them after the initial build. What's your IG?

I do appreciate that, but is a trained monkey talented? Really all you need to do is think. A lot of thinking goes into figuring out the process. Where and how to bend, and in what sequence. Same goes for assembly and welding. How, where and how much. That's all. I'm just a big trained monkey.

Finished product. Notice all the old pieces on the shop floor. All of that, minus the lower quarters, had to be hand formed.

Here's a passenger side floor patch. Three pieces in all, but only one piece is pitured. And a bear to get to with the body still on the frame... While I was in there, I stripped, primed and sprayed some undercaoting on the inner fender wells, and taped off and painted both rear flares.

The same procedure on the passenger side of the body went a little more smoothly. Mostly because it was fresh in my brain. I now had to recreate the pieces, but opposites.

Before the quarer patch was welded in place, I welded on the flare section. This was done to make sure I could dress both sides of the weld on the flare, which would have been impossible with the quarter section in place. Unfortunately, I failed to snap pics of the inner flare section during...

Thank you. All it takes is a few simple tools and some vision.

Replacing the lower quarter took half the time of the flare, but the patch had to be shortened. Again, using the old part as a template helped a ton.

Removing the old sections carefully leaves you with usable templates for the new parts, which I bent, shrunk, hammered and shaped into the pieces needed for a quality repair.

It's been a busy winter here in the Gold Country. Our winter storms brought so much rain and wind that I have been chasing my tail trying to play catch up. We actually had a tree fall on or house on New Year's Eve, which partially tore the chimney off the roof. Big oak, almost 3 feet in...