2013 Doublecab Worktruck

[hornytoad]

aubie9903 - Totally slamed, just finished up three projects in a month. I have a bunch of writing to do next week.

Truck is handling OK, rear springs are shot (8k miles), Timberns are AWSOME!!! I think as set of Wheeler's heavy duty rear springs are on my shopping list.

I have oil in the radiator again (twice with the 2013 and once with the 2012). Not sure what the problem is. Probably a gasket weeping during break in as the head bolt stretch. Off to the dealership!!

Gas mileage has been 18mpg + with AT tires, topper, two roof racks, stick shift and 500lbs of misc crap floating around in the back end. Not to shabby, I HIGHLY recommend Redline oil products. Mobile 1 5W30 burns off really quick (2kmiles to get dark brown /black oil)

I have mixed feelings about Bedslide and Sungtop at the moment. The Snugtop is awesome on the outside but the quality control and manufacturing process is crap. NO toolboxes (just side doors) and a 7 + week wait for a topper is unacceptable, The local dealer it trying to make me happy but he has been having problems with wrong parts from snug top too. I'm thinking a manager left or has been moved around and doesn't check what is leaving the factory.

Bedslides are pricey and if it's a %70 slide out not 100% slide out (think about kitchen draws that only slide out %70 and you can start seeing stuff in the back of your truck that's awkward to get out). However the 100% slide outs that I found were totally custom and after the gas tank expense last year I don't have 3 or 4k to throw at off the shelf problems.

Pics and more details when I catch my breath....

 

[aubie9903]

I love how detailed you are with all the pros and cons of all this stuff. Thanks for the quick reply and don't get too swamped with work.

 

[hornytoad]

Summer update....


Junk in the truck waiting for a topper

Field

Original roof rack placement

new rack and topper

bedslide

toolboxes

racks I can stand on

 

[hornytoad]

OK, pics are up most of it makes sense.

Roof rack - Just call up Rhino - Rackor FrontRunner and give them your CC # I was playing with Thule stuff because I had the front rack lying around and wanted to "make" a rack. Don't go there you end up spending just as much money in the end. This set up is made up out of the following

(1) 480 foot pack
(1) 480 half pack
(2) 5112 fit kits
(6) 430 feet (NLA so I had to ebay them)
(6) TK1 (also NLA and www.etrailer.com sells parts)
(6) lb50 load bars
(2) 6 lock lock packs

100 bucks in Misc Thule hard ware left over from my plywood roof idea (etailer)

(2) medium sized Rhino Rack steel mesh platforms

The welded wire of the Rhino platforms is strong but they needed the extra support of the third bar to keep from flexing under body weight. (200lbs in street clothes)

 

[hornytoad]

Ok so 9k miles on the truck in 3 months....

Rear springs gave out, couple of inches of neg arch, with NO super tanker gas tank, no water, no lead bricks... Broke down and called Wheelers for their Alcan built 5 leaf pack and I guess I'll be playing with suspension for a while.

Topper with side boxes is a great idea BUT the interior space comes at a premium. I had to ditch the idea of a "heavy duty" cooler/fridge because of clearance issuers. Hell I had to buy the cheapest colman cooler made because i was looking for a 15" height to work with. Ice last minuets instead of hours....

Why did Toyota make a LCD radio screen? To dark in the sunlight to bright at night.

Asides from dragging the tail a little bit the ride is super comfy! 80 mph all day long at 16-18mpg loaded. 50psi front 55psi rear

 

[OldSkoolArcher]

You mention medium sized rhino mesh platforms. What are the actual dimensions? I am interested in adding one on top of my Leer topper on my Taco. Thanks!

 

[hornytoad]

http://www.rhinorack.com/AccSubCategory_Steel-Mesh-Platform-Racks_71.aspx

51" x 42" according to their website.

I scored two on an Amazon deal and got free shipping to boot.

 

[OldSkoolArcher]

Awesome. Thanks. I am currently working on making some type of feet/mounts to secure Thule load bars low to tracks on my Leer Cap. Once I figure that out I am probably going to pull the trigger on one of the platforms.

 

[hornytoad]

Awesome. Thanks. I am currently working on making some type of feet/mounts to secure Thule load bars low to tracks on my Leer Cap. Once I figure that out I am probably going to pull the trigger on one of the platforms.

I used the 430 Tracker II Thule feet on my Leer topper (2012 truck) and on my Snug top Topper, they are discontinued but my impression is that Thule stuff mounts pretty level on the cab and on the topper.

On the cab you have some "play" with for and aft measurements and the exact width that you place the feet on the roof line. There will be some offset which is why I have two separate racks. My stuff is silly overkill but for gear two bars will be great! Order the small Rhino Euro bar mounts to mount the rack to the bars.

Good luck!

 

[OldSkoolArcher]

Thanks. I will look into those mounts. I appreciate the info!

 

[hornytoad]

They past coulpe of weeks i have noticed a "clunk" coming from the rear end while driving over rough pavement. When I crawled under the truck I discovered that the Timbern bump stops were holding the rear end of the truck up. The normally flat springs were reverse arced a couple of inches and the Timberns were compressed an inch or so. Damm!

Called Wheelers and they sent me a set of their Alcan built 5 leaf HD springs, I was nervous because I don't want a lot of lift on the truck. and was worried about having the rear 2" higher than the front.

Pulled the stock springs out and the second spring is visibly bent. The "military wrap" is sitting 1" lower than it should. I guess there is a little bit of spring wrap going on.

The new springs go in and the only gripe is that the parking brake mount is not drilled and tapped on the spring ( I zip[ tied it for the time being but will drill it out next time I have the rear wheels off.)

Spring wrap is GONE! It accelerated and handle completely different now. The rear sits aprox 3/4 of an inch higher than the stock front end with Bilstien 5100's.

Pics will come this afternoon

 

[Plannerman]

Happy to hear about your experience with the Alcans. After 60k miles of daily driving and intermittent heavy duty use, my rear springs are looking tired. And I swear the axle wrap is getting worse. Like you mentioned, I worry about how much lift new springs would bring; I don't want the rear any higher than necessary.

 

[hornytoad]

Bent second spring in the pack. Spring pack was a "W" shape on the truck.


New spring pack and the Timbern bump stops. With the toyota springs the bump stop was compressed 1 1/2" or so and was holding the rear of the truck off the ground.


Now it's a truck with a normal amount of rake, aprox 3/4 of an inch between the front of front door to the rear of rear door.

The poly bushings are squeaking a bit but I expect that to get better with brake-in. The handling is fantastic! I had thought that the rear was a lot "crisper" than the front and then I remember that I had aired up the rear to compensate for the heavy load on the last job. A little work with a pressure gauge and now it's riding well. The fronts have zero lift and the wheeler HD spring matches the front well.

Truth in advertising: I also have a commercial fiberglass topper, bed slide, rack and about 100lbs of "stuff" in the back call it 300+ lbs. With out the weight the rear would be 1"+ in the air.

Side by side (sorry no photo) the spring packs almost look identical. The arch is similar but the Wheeler's construction is beefier. The toyota springs are more elegant, with smooth tapers and a more refined edge/ production. But that soft ride on pavement comes at a cost, I guess those springs are "good enough" for most buyers.

 

[hornytoad]

Coolent mishap with Redline Water Wetter!

So for all you Expo people that are like me and swear up and down that Redline oil is great, prepare to be disappointed by Redline Water Wetter.

I added some to my taco hoping that it "won't do any harm" and might actually help the cooling system deal with 100deg heat with the engine idling and the AC on.

As I reported on the 2012 work truck and on this one "oil" shows up in the overflow tank. Apparently this is a reaction to the Pink LLC that Toyota uses and the water wetter. After much arguing with the dealer I am eating a fair bit of crow and realizing that I made the mistake. I tested the block, did lots of interweb researcher (bobistheoilguy and "redline water wetter brown") and generally realize that water wetter is for distilled water and some green coolants, and that is all.

So now I am doing a complete drain and flush with Distilled water (edited, don't use vinegar!) to remove the congealed blobs of Redline goop out of my radiator, heat exchanger, hoses and generally everywhere. Hopefully this will help others avoid this problem.....

 

[SWITAWI]

Ouch, yeah. Fortunately I got to learn that particular trait of Water Wetter from someone else's misfortune long ago when I was running track events in my GTI. That unlucky guy had a brand-new 911 no less.
Distilled water and Wetter plus a 15deg cooler thermostat did produce a 30deg (F) drop in my oil temps (12V VR6s had an oil/water heat exchanger and ran hot anyway) later on during extended hard thrashing.
That was back when 270F oil temps were normal for me during Jul/Aug/Sept track events. That temp reading always scared the crap out of the air-cooled 911 guys, lol.
But in the end (for me at least) the maintenance/monitoring aspect just wasn't worth it for street driving where OE coolant's set-it-and-forget-it aspect works better for longer service intervals.