Project 4FunR
- Thread starter stevo-mt
- Start date
stevo-mt
Member
After I had all of the electrical wiring done I needed to finish one of the main aspects of the build. The rear cargo platform that would function as a bed to sleep in.
I fabbed up a set of metal rails that were made out of 3/4" square tubing x .063" wall. I was originally planning on using aluminum but after getting the 500 lbs drawer slides I had to reconsider the plan. The drawer slides themselves weight what seems like a ton! The vertical peices were all cut and drilled using a jig with the saw and drill press. Then I welded them together with my mig welder. I used two straps of steel to tie the rails together. My design utilized the strength of the plywood to reinforce it on top.
I cut a sacrificial piece of OSB to make myself a pattern. This was needed to make sure that I could get the correct angles with the part of the bunk that would fold up.
The rear drawer system and platform are essentially their own unit. We wanted to keep the setup adaptable so if Travis had a few friends come up to AK for a road trip or something. But most of time the rear seat will be removed and the storage room will be desired.
I built an aluminum piece that would tie into the rear seats front bolts andsome brackets that would tie into the rear seats rear bolts. I used a 3/4" piece of AC plywood to build the rear seats replacement storage area.
In a pinch the storage area can be turned into a place where you can sit down and buckle up.
I fabbed up a set of metal rails that were made out of 3/4" square tubing x .063" wall. I was originally planning on using aluminum but after getting the 500 lbs drawer slides I had to reconsider the plan. The drawer slides themselves weight what seems like a ton! The vertical peices were all cut and drilled using a jig with the saw and drill press. Then I welded them together with my mig welder. I used two straps of steel to tie the rails together. My design utilized the strength of the plywood to reinforce it on top.
I cut a sacrificial piece of OSB to make myself a pattern. This was needed to make sure that I could get the correct angles with the part of the bunk that would fold up.
The rear drawer system and platform are essentially their own unit. We wanted to keep the setup adaptable so if Travis had a few friends come up to AK for a road trip or something. But most of time the rear seat will be removed and the storage room will be desired.
I built an aluminum piece that would tie into the rear seats front bolts andsome brackets that would tie into the rear seats rear bolts. I used a 3/4" piece of AC plywood to build the rear seats replacement storage area.
In a pinch the storage area can be turned into a place where you can sit down and buckle up.
stevo-mt
Member
I realized I had never posted any of the finished final pics. We ended up driving the rig to Alaska from Montana. It ran great minus one hiccup. So the engine had ran conventional oil for most of it's life. We had made the change to synthetic oil. My dad who is old school advised against it and told us about horror stories that had happened to others. I'd even had an engine on a car years ago start burning oil when I switched to synthetic as well. I figured that with 135k miles on the rig and it being a 2002 it would not be an issue. We made it up to Smithers BC on our way up the Stewart Cassiar highway when all of a sudden a cloud of grey smoke had rolled out the exhaust. We shut the rig off. Got the sat phone out and called a tow truck two hours from Smithers. The dealer didn't know what was going on and said it could be a head gasket. They didn't even look at it for more than ten minutes. The engine ran great other than it started smoking. There is a super smart mechanic we met at Smithers who helped us out and at least could verify it wasn't the head gasket. It ran great but we weren't sure why it was smoking. We decided to change plugs and that is when we discovered part of the problem. When we took off the intake tubing from the air cleaner a ton of oil fell out. There was blow by going on at a decent rate. We cleaned everything up and put the new plugs in and it ran fantastic. I was following Travis with my M1010 truck so we figured we would just chance it and head up the road. The blow by kept trying to fill the intake with oil so we just stuffed the PCV valve into a jug. It filled with a bit of oil but then the engine would get to a happy place and that's where it would set. It just had to get to Anchorage. Luckily we made it all the way with no further issues after that. The engine ended up having one cylinder that did not hold pressure as well as the other 5. The mechanic at anchorage told Travis it was most likely a valve seal. So I'm guessing that the switch to synthetic oil caused this. But nevertheless it changed my outlook on Toyotas. The dealers were not helpful in any of the towns we went through, not a fun experience at all. No one would take 10 minutes to do a compression test to figure out problems.
Travis was able to do some oil clean treatments and change it a few times and that seemed to fix the problem. We found out on a few forums that this is a common issue with toyota. So I've pretty much come to the opinion that toyotas are really no different than other vehicles.
But anyways this is how the rig turned out. Aside from the smoking thing it turned out pretty skookum.
Travis was able to do some oil clean treatments and change it a few times and that seemed to fix the problem. We found out on a few forums that this is a common issue with toyota. So I've pretty much come to the opinion that toyotas are really no different than other vehicles.
But anyways this is how the rig turned out. Aside from the smoking thing it turned out pretty skookum.
Last edited:
