"Lola" - WreckDiver1321's 2005 Frontier CC/SB Nismo Build and Adventure Thread

[richard310]

Don't come here.
It's dangerous.
You'll die.


It's such a beautiful area, people are (generally) very nice and welcoming, and we can do pretty much anything compared to you Kalifornians.
Plus we don't have emissions testing.
Oh, and we all love guns out here.

Keep talking, I'm packing the truck.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Keep talking, I'm packing the truck.

Did I mention the lack of any sales tax of any kind?
The fact that our largest city holds 120,000 people and is an hour from the Beartooth Mountains (the pics I last posted)?
How about being home to one of the largest untouched wilderness areas in the country (the Bob Marshall Wilderness)?
Cheaper gas (currently $3.53/gal for regular)?
Ethanol free gas all over the place?
85% or so of the population are gun owners?
The fact that I live within 25 miles of five shooting ranges?
The fact that no matter where you are in Montana, you're no more than 8-9 hours from Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, and Glacier NP (whose scenery kicks the ******* out of Yellowstone)?
Did I mention that I currently live within 2 hours of Expedition Overland HQ and 4 hours from AEV?
Or the fact that on my last camping trip I saw a total of 2 people that weren't in my group?
The utter lack of any kind of vehicle testing whatsoever (pretty much anything with a title is legal. To give you an idea, there is a law in Montana that requires you to have at least one working windshield wiper. However, nowhere does it say you need a windshield)?



Persuading you enough yet?

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Well, Nancy is officially gone. Feel a bit bittersweet really.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Yakima RTT bed rack install - Part 1

Update time!

Did the install of my Yakima rack over the bed yesterday. Pretty straightforward. I used my own hardware since the stuff that came with it was a little light duty and some of the bolts weren't long enough.



I used some of the existing bolt holes from the Front Runner rack.







I also siliconed the end caps for the crossbars to keep moisture out.





There's not much to it really. Easy install, and it's a clean look.



And when I take the rack off, all that's left are these.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Diff breather extension mod

Today, I gathered up all the parts to do the diff breather mod. This gets the breather from the rear diff up higher than the factory breather, mitigating the possibility of water/mud entry, as well as reducing the pressure build up in the diff from the shoddy factory designed vent. This pressure has been known to cause seals to go out early, which is no bueno.



I got 6' of 1/4" fuel line, a lawn mower inline fuel filter, some hos clamps, zip ties, teflon tape, some steel mesh, and a special Toyota union that threads right into the axle.

Here's the god awful factory vent.







I cleaned around the old vent, then pulled it out. I then wrapped the threads of the new union in teflon tape and installed it.





Then I covered the end of the fuel line with an old glove and routed the hose the way I liked. I followed the brake line up to the frame, then went straight back to the tail light. I held the new vent line to the brake line via zip ties.







I then cut about four inches of hose off the end and added in the fuel filter. On the open end of the hose after the newly installed filter, I added some steel mesh to keep large bits of mud, dirt, and bugs out of the line.



Then I pushed it into place behind the tail light.



Easy!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Yakima RTT bed rack install - Part 2

I also got the tent installed today.











A couple thoughts: I love how it sits now. Just high enough off the bed to be useful, but low enough to stay out of the wind. I think it looks fantastic at this height too, not to mention the height makes it so easy to set up and take down. I also love how easy it is to remove. However, after getting it set up how I wanted, I'm a little concerned. I know I'm eating my words now, but I am not totally sure about the rigidity of this particular application of this setup. I have a pretty good explanation for this though. A lot of RTT setups are mounted using Yakima or Thule load bars. Most people mount the tent on an SUV or atop a truck bed cap. Being mounted on the roof like that actually makes the distance between the vertical arms fairly small, around 40-50" or so. This means that when the tent is placed on the racks, the vertical arms are, at most, 6-8" away from the t-tracks the tents use for mounting. I'll illustrate:



Notice how close the arm is to the mounting hardware. Maybe three or four inches. This is actually a very strong way to do it. Now look at mine:



The distance between the tent mounting hardware and the upright arms of the rack is just shy of a foot at 11 7/8". That means that there is roughly 3 times the leverage on the arms in my case than in the above picture. You can actually see the crossbars bowing ever so slightly in my picture. This isn't very good, obviously. As such, the tent when closed is a tiny bit bouncy on the rack. It's pretty solid, but it is ever so slightly wiggly. When the tent gets opened and the ladder supports some of the weight, all of that is gone, but then when the tent is occupied much more weight gets added. So, I'm kind of at a loss about what to do at this point. I would really love to retain the usability of this system, but I am a little nervous about the load bearing capacity. My first thought is to add a third crossbar to help spread the load. This should help firm it up, but I am a little unsure if it would be enough.

Thoughts?

 

[Longrange308]

May I ask what the part number is for this little gem?

And for the record, we are not all bad in California, but besides the weather, California is all bad. Im planning on making my exodus to Idaho in the next year or so myself..

 

[wreckdiver1321]

May I ask what the part number is for this little gem?

And for the record, we are not all bad in California, but besides the weather, California is all bad. Im planning on making my exodus to Idaho in the next year or so myself..

Haha I know there are some good people out there. I've talked to you guys! Can't say I blame you.

Part number is 9040451026. Costs about six bucks.

 

[mortonm]

I did the exact same diff breather mod, I went driver side (vent is there on first gens). Sample, effective and easy.

 

[marty1977]

Farewell Nancy I'm sure she went to a good home. The truck is coming along amazingly . Looking at your simple useful mods like the breather my list of things keep growing. Montana looks like an amazing place to live. I did move from South Ontario to Northern Ontario and there are good differences to, people are more relaxed almost everyone is a hunter, no emission tests, just a better place I guess all the wilderness that is around is making the difference on how people live and their priorities.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

I did the exact same diff breather mod, I went driver side (vent is there on first gens). Sample, effective and easy.

Agreed. Great protection for minimal cost/work.

Farewell Nancy I'm sure she went to a good home. The truck is coming along amazingly . Looking at your simple useful mods like the breather my list of things keep growing. Montana looks like an amazing place to live. I did move from South Ontario to Northern Ontario and there are good differences to, people are more relaxed almost everyone is a hunter, no emission tests, just a better place I guess all the wilderness that is around is making the difference on how people live and their priorities.

The guy drove about five feet before he said he wanted to buy it. That breather mod was dead simple, and the peace of mind it offers is nice. Sometimes it's the little cheap ones that are the most fun.

Montana is beautiful. There's a bumper sticker I see all the time around here that says, "when God made Montana, He was just showing off." After living here for 21 years, I definitely agree. We have some truly great wilderness here. I think that the people in the mountain towns here have a much more positive outlook and demeanor. I think people that are surrounded by it all the time and enjoy it all the time are more relaxed and more thoughtful.

 

[bushnut]

those Yakima cross bars are just steel pipe with a plastic coating. they will bend before they brake. If you are concerned about bending, I'd measure the inside diameter and find another steel pipe that fits inside. Maybe tac weld them together at the ends and slide the end covers back on. that should take care of the bouncing bed with minimal fuss.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

those Yakima cross bars are just steel pipe with a plastic coating. they will bend before they brake. If you are concerned about bending, I'd measure the inside diameter and find another steel pipe that fits inside. Maybe tac weld them together at the ends and slide the end covers back on. that should take care of the bouncing bed with minimal fuss.

That's exactly what the flexing is. That might be a good way to get rid of it. I'm going to add a third crossbar first and see what it does. If that takes care of it, then I'll be happy.

 

[SpongeX]

I make do with two. A lot of people do three and never have a problem.

Sent from my VS950 4G using Tapatalk

 

[wreckdiver1321]

I make do with two. A lot of people do three and never have a problem.

Sent from my VS950 4G using Tapatalk

Good to know. I think three is a good idea for me, considering we bring the dogs in the tent.

I've been doing the math. Going off Yakima's 165lb weight limit, which I am assuming is per crossbar, then a set of two bars can hold (roughly) 330lbs. This is probably being conservative, as Yakima has rated them for a dynamic (loaded up and moving down the road) load. Thus, 330lbs is my weight limit. Now, assuming that roughly 2/3 the weight of the occupants will be supported by the bars (because the other 33% is being supported by the ladder), I figure it like this:

Between myself and the fiancee, there will be a total of 390lbs of person inside the tent. Since about 66% of our weight is on the top half of our bodies, that means that the crossbars will be holding up around 258lbs. Add 15lbs for the little dog and we come to 273lbs. Throw in 20lbs for a safety margin (extra bedding, books, clothes, etc.), and it's now 293lbs. Don't need to worry about the 55lb dog, he sleeps near the door and is thus supported by the ladder.

Assume that around 60% (Half of the base, aluminum supports, bedding, and canvas, plus all of the aluminum support and canvas for the overhanging bit) of the 130lbs of the tent is supported by the ladder. The other 40% of tent supported by the bars is about 52lbs.

Adding that all up, that's 258+20+15+52=345. That's fifteen pounds over the theoretical weight limit for two Yakima crossbars. If I toss in another crossbar for an additional 165lbs of load bearing capacity, then that would up the limit to a grand total of 495. That'd give me a 150lb safety margin. I think throwing in a third bar will do the trick.