1986 toyota 1 ton 4x4 build

[Beavervalley802]

Sounds like someone is a fan of chevy swaps? ?

If i did a v6, id use the 3.4 t100 engine i have stashed in the shed, but without a wiring harness, it really doesnt seem cost effective. Id much prefer a mercedes diesel.

BUT, As far as a bigger engine, im really not too worried. Im 27 years old, and have rushed through every second of my life - need to get this, next month ill do this, next year i'll do that, etc. in a way, im purposefully choosing a slow vehicle to encourage myself to be patient. None of my trips will be on a schedule, i work for myself, and can live on very little income.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

That's weird. No LS swap suggestion? Did your account get hacked?

Hahahaha.... That was my next suggestion.... "If you like the 4.3, you'll love an LS. " hahaha

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Sounds like someone is a fan of chevy swaps? ?

If i did a v6, id use the 3.4 t100 engine i have stashed in the shed, but without a wiring harness, it really doesnt seem cost effective. Id much prefer a mercedes diesel.

BUT, As far as a bigger engine, im really not too worried. Im 27 years old, and have rushed through every second of my life - need to get this, next month ill do this, next year i'll do that, etc. in a way, im purposefully choosing a slow vehicle to encourage myself to be patient. None of my trips will be on a schedule, i work for myself, and can live on very little income.

Yeppers...I love'em. They offer cheap and reliable power.

 

[Beavervalley802]

I suck at updating project logs - but i've been making progress!

I finished up rear of frame, fish plates, body mounts, driveshaft center bearing mount, made a gas tank hanger, braced up the tail, added a hitch, as well as closed in the bumper for potential air tank use.

Up front i welded the shock mounts back on ? i was going to fab some pretty ones up, but im getting sick of welding. I also welded in an IFS box mount for the high steer setup.

In other exciting news, i got a free rotted 99' TRD tacoma, with an E - locker which im hoping to retrofit into this chassis!

 

[Beavervalley802]

I dont think theres enough weed in the world for me to be a painter. But it is satisfying!

 

[rruff]

It will only become a dog if you add heavier tires like 33s???

The tire weight only makes a difference accelerating and decelerating, and then it's tiny in the grand scheme of things.

 

[billiebob]

The tire weight only makes a difference accelerating and decelerating, and then it's tiny in the grand scheme of things.

wrong, tire weight affects gas mileage and ride too
I went from 33/12.50R16s to 31/7.50R16s, lost 8# per tire and went from 17mpg to 22mpg.
I used to fuel every 350km, now I go 450km between fills.

Stepping down in tire size added 100km to my range.
I'm betting 33s on that Toyota will shorten your range by 100km per tank.
But do the math, run it with stock rubber and see what it will do, then compare that to 33s.

And let us know.

ps, this is a very cool project

 

[rruff]

I'm looking for feedback on my shell idea.-I found PE 5lb structural foam sheets, 4x8 1" thick. I figured i could glue the sheets together to form a shell, with hardwood embedded at mount points/openings, then fiberglass inside and out.

Cool... I'm not the only one doing hand layup FG! Where are you finding PE foam? I'm using 4lb PVC foam from Carbon Core... no complaints. Way cheaper than Divinycell PVC, but many times more expensive than XPS. Lots stronger and easier to use though.

I'm very happy with Ebond epoxy, and the price is excellent ($36/gal now... price increase due to shortages). Thayercraft and FiberglassSupply for cloth. Most of the walls are 17oz 45/45 biax+10oz 0/90+ a light tight weave finish layer. Adds up to ~0.5 lb/sq ft for each side.

I'd highly recommend building the parts you can in flat sheets, then joining them together. It's much easier to do a good fiberglassing job on a flat surface.

Awesome, i dont mind forking out a few bucks for fiberglass matt/cloth. Ive read about poor mans fiberglass, and ive seen some crude campers built with blue board/canvas. However i never read any follow ups regarding durability. Im a huge fan of building things to last.

Smart man! I thought PMF was a viable candidate, so I built a few samples and tested them. FG is several times stronger for equivalent weight, and the PMF creeps like crazy. Not even remotely close.

Great project! Love to see how it turns out.

 

[rruff]

wrong, tire weight affects gas mileage and ride too
I went from 33/12.50R16s to 31/7.50R16s, lost 8# per tire and went from 17mpg to 22mpg.
I used to fuel every 350km, now I go 450km between fills.

Stepping down in tire size added 100km to my range.
I'm betting 33s on that Toyota will shorten your range by 100km per tank.
But do the math, run it with stock rubber and see what it will do, then compare that to 33s.

I get better mpg with 76 lb heavy duty 35x13 ATs vs the 42 lb 32x10 light duty street tires that came on my truck. Granted I probably picked the best mpg AT you could buy, and the stock tires must have sucked... but weight has zero direct effect on cruising mpg. Rolling resistance (hysteresis losses) are what matter the most.

I actually *could* do the math and physics for you... would you understand it?

 

[Beavervalley802]

Cool... I'm not the only one doing hand layup FG! Where are you finding PE foam? I'm using 4lb PVC foam from Carbon Core... no complaints. Way cheaper than Divinycell PVC, but many times more expensive than XPS. Lots stronger and easier to use though.

I'm very happy with Ebond epoxy, and the price is excellent ($36/gal now... price increase due to shortages). Thayercraft and FiberglassSupply for cloth. Most of the walls are 17oz 45/45 biax+10oz 0/90+ a light tight weave finish layer. Adds up to ~0.5 lb/sq ft for each side.

I'd highly recommend building the parts you can in flat sheets, then joining them together. It's much easier to do a good fiberglassing job on a flat surface.



Smart man! I thought PMF was a viable candidate, so I built a few samples and tested them. FG is several times stronger for equivalent weight, and the PMF creeps like crazy. Not even remotely close.

Great project! Love to see how it turns out.

The foam i found is also through carbon core, i have a sample pack at my house and it seems like it will be nice stuff to work with!

Thanks for the input, do you have a build thread for your camper? i'd love to check it out.

oh - and as far as tires, the 22re is gutless at best, and for stability sake, they're staying small. 30-31" max.

 

[rruff]

The foam i found is also through carbon core, i have a sample pack at my house and it seems like it will be nice stuff to work with!

I think the PVC has better specs, but either should be fine. I went with 1.5" but I think 1" is plenty... except for maybe the roof.

Sorry, no build thread... too lazy... so far at least. I have a hard enough time finding time in my perpetual dinking around schedule to do some actual work on it...

Happy to answer questions though.

 

[Smileyshaun]

The foam i found is also through carbon core, i have a sample pack at my house and it seems like it will be nice stuff to work with!

Thanks for the input, do you have a build thread for your camper? i'd love to check it out.

oh - and as far as tires, the 22re is gutless at best, and for stability sake, they're staying small. 30-31" max.

You can really help that 22re with a good mid range cam , doing a afm swap and doing a 2” pipe . 33s won’t hurt one at all with 4.88s on my 4 runner I still managed 22-24 mpgs regularly .

 

[JMacs]

There are a lot of people building tear drop trailers out of foam and fiberglass. Check out www.tnttt.com "Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers". You can learn a lot about fiberglassing from that crew.

 

[rruff]

There are a lot of people building tear drop trailers out of foam and fiberglass.

Unless something changed recently, they use foam and PMF for the most part, not fiberglass... big difference.

 

[Beavervalley802]

Havent made any amazing progress - but i did get a little OCD on the engine... cleaned up the cab a bit, basically ready for paint. ZERO rust under this cab, i couldnt be happier.

I think the PVC has better specs, but either should be fine. I went with 1.5" but I think 1" is plenty... except for maybe the roof.

Sorry, no build thread... too lazy... so far at least. I have a hard enough time finding time in my perpetual dinking around schedule to do some actual work on it...

Happy to answer questions though.

You're right! PVC is better, i must have assumed the 5lb density would be stronger...you know what assuming does! 1.5" PVC it is.

My thoughts are to build a minimalistic floor/cabover skeleton out of hardwood, cut foam to fit openings, then fiberglass. The walls and cieling would be straight foam and fiberglass (maybe some wood around the rear door opening?)

The idea is to give myself something solid to attach to the frame mounts, and cab. I would like to avoid making an external steel subframe, mainly to keep everything as low as possible. Does this sound safe/reasonable? Would i be better off just building those areas up with multiple layers of glass?

Thanks!