2004 Tacoma SAS

[8sixFabrication]

It's been a while since I have posted any updates, so I figured it was time, considering I have been working on the truck to prepare for the Rubicon later in August.

Back in May, I drove down to Vegas to meet a buddy for his 40th. While we were down there, we decided to run an easier trail called Tie Rod Canyon. Since we were alone, we wanted to do something less risky, even though there was another one I had my eye on. The truck did fantastic, and didn't skip a beat.

At some point, I got on the pre-order list for an upgraded carrier bearing from JXB, and got it in mid June. So I promptly installed it. Due to the mount being damaged back in January on the trail, the bearing is a little off. So the dust shield has been self clearancing into the bushing haha. I need to cut the mounts off, and make replacements, and re-align the bearing. But for now, It's stronger and better than the O'Rileys special haha.

About a month later, I worked on the winch line. I need to re-tie the end to work with the Yankum fairlead. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out

 

[8sixFabrication]

The next thing I did, was make a little "platform" for the rear area in the cab, and change around some stereo components to save some space. This allows us to utilize the space better on longer trips, and provide some better storage. I have another piece I am going to make, to add on, that will make a great spot for extra drinks and snacks on road trips.

Next, I moved onto repairing the tie-rod that got bent back in Jan. I had to resort to a mildly sketchy means of pulling it straight, but it got the job done.

 

[8sixFabrication]

One of the last things I "need" to do, in preparation for the Rubicon was get the fuel tank skid plate repaired. I opted to just buy an Amazon special one. I also had been eyeballing the Eimkeith fuel tank relocation kit for a while, so I ordered it a while back. It's meant to raise the tank 2".

Unfortunately, it took forever to get the kit from Eimkeith, and the communication was really bad. He was extremely difficult to get responses from, and when I finally got the kit, there was no instructions with it and I couldn't find anything online. And, as expected, the emails and messages I sent asking for support, went unanswered. The mount for the tank was pretty easy to figure out, but the optional evap canister kit that I added had a few pieces that I have no clue what they do.

Between the horrible customer service, and deciding that while I have the bed off, I wanted to box in the frame, I decided to bail on the kit and just make my own stuff. I was pretty disappointed, because the quality is great. I used his lower link relocation brackets on our 80 series and it was a good buy, but unfortunately I have lost trust in him and will be returning or selling this kit.

So after receiving the kit last week, I got to work pulling the bed off on Friday.

The following morning, I got a better look at things. After staring at it for a while, I decided that I wanted to just push forward with boxing in the frame. Getting the cross member out for the fuel tank was a pain, but I eventually got it out. The rear I had to cut out. Before I did that, I tacked in some supports to maintain the width of the frame.

I also cleaned up the rust the best I could, and painted all the parts that would be covered by the boxing plates

I used a straight edge across the bed mounts on the frame, to mark a vertical line, and reference off some of the mounting holes, so I knew where to locate everything once the crossmember was out

The following day I got some Cad-Board out and made some boxing plates out of 1/8" plate. The frame is made of about .090" thick material, so I figured this was a good balance. The back sides got painted to help reduce rust on the inside of the frame. Then they got tacked into place.

I decided to take Monday off to take care of some things at home and make more progress on this. I got the plates all welded in, the fuel tank cross member modified and welded in, and made a rear crossmember that got welded in.

Last evening I added a couple little fill plates to wrap up, boxing in the frame, then painted everything.

And lastly, tonight I cut out the flange that the fuel tank bolts into, and made a real simple replacement that sits 2" higher. That got painted after.

I am hoping to have this wrapped up this weekend, with the bed put back on and back on the road.

More to come

 

[8sixFabrication]

A little bit of a late update, but life has been chaos like usual.

Last weekend, I was able to get the pig back on the road. I started out with shortening the bracket that bolts the strap to the frame. Here's what I came up with.

With that resolved, I Re-bent the brake lines to clear the re-located cross member, installed the tank, and proceeded to put the bed on to mark for clearance on the bed support. I had to put it on and take it off a million times it seems, but I finally got it.

Initially, I cut out what I needed, and welded in supports, but that still didn't fit. So I had to hack and butcher away at my "beautiful" work and this is what I came up with. I added a little adhesive backed rubber into one of the ribs, to give some protection.

With the bed fitting properly (albeit tight), I was able to move onto the evap canister. I ended up going super simple with a long piece of 3/8" thick flat bar with a slight bend at one end to land on the frame nice, and some 1/4" flat bar horizontally. I used some adhesive back rubber strips to isolate the box from the steel, and some large hose clamps to secure it. This allowed me to not modify any wires or hoses. The Eimkeith kit would have required at least some wires to be extended. Possibly some hoses being replaced with longer ones also.

After that was sorted, I installed the shocks, welded in hangers for the exhaust, and got ready for the final install of the bed.

With the bed in, I had to fish in the filler neck and hoses. It's extremely tight, but I feel like it should do okay. It's not really how I would have liked for it to turn out, but it should be fine.

The last thing I did was install the Amazon special fuel tank skid. It required a little modification, but should do the trick. Now It sits pretty flush with the bottom of the frame.

That's about as ready as she'll be for the Rubicon, with my busy schedule. I may get a couple small things done, but likely not enough to post about. So any future updates will likely be after the trip!