Tate's Tundra Tinkerings

[Nuclear Redneck]

Sliders are Installed!!

Driver's Side:

Passenger Side:

Size check:

Frame Welded:

Duane at Techtafab did an excellent job of welding these sliders from scratch. I had him install the sliders level so they would be better steps and the boss approves.

I have two issues:

1) Got to decide how I want to coat the sliders. Bedliner type stuff or rattlecan with some skateboard tape on the top for grip?

2) When the truck crosses anything that makes the frame twist, the pinch weld hits the top of the slider tube welded to the frame. I think I should use my dremel and do some trimming to provide clearance and touch up the pinch weld with some paint to prevent rust. Any ideas would be welcome.

Also, got my Scangage and Prodigy installed:

Not entirely happy about the scangage placement. It may be moved soon.

 

[bigwapitijohnny]

Looking good...

These do look nice! Let me know if you decide to go with the bed coating...Any thoughts about plating the top?

Regards,

BWJ

 

[Nuclear Redneck]

These do look nice! Let me know if you decide to go with the bed coating...Any thoughts about plating the top?

Regards,

BWJ

Katherine seems pretty happy with just the tubes. Some sort of non-skid material will go on the top of the tubes. I don't think I'll install a plate.

Thanks for pointing me in Techtafab's direction.

 

[Nuclear Redneck]

Latest Addition

WARNING!!!

Scott Brady and fellow chromepobes should not read further!ROFSheriffHL:











I got a box today:

All of the pieces:

Low Profile:

Shiny!!

The cover is from Diamondback. Its rated to carry 1600 lbs. It's lockable and fairly watertight.

I like it!

 

[jim65wagon]

Oooh! Shiny! See, coming from a musclecar oriented world, I like chrome! There, I said it. I have no plans for the future of dechroming anything. Oh and the sliders, scangage and prodigy are cool too!

How easy does the prodigy install?

 

[RoundOut]

NICE cover!

That is a very stout looking cover! Me likes (if it comes in black, :hehe: , ah, heck, we could always spray some Rhino on it).


.

 

[devinsixtyseven]

Great to see another Tundra buildup!

Well guys, whether ya like chrome or not, if he lets me put my cooler under that shiny cover I ain't saying no :elkgrin:. Seriously, I bet you'll have the coolest bed temps of anyone, with that cover!

I have a suggestion on the slider attachment...put a scab plate on the frame to support each leg of the sliders, then box the leg to the scab plate. Unsupported legs have a nasty habit of twisting the frame like Tedd's did back in the day LOL!

Check out "Colorado4Wheeler", at Tundrasolutions.com, he wheels his D-Cab as well .

Your weight calcs look correct to me, or else I'm making the same error.

-Sean

 

[Nuclear Redneck]

The prodigy is very easy to install...once you scour the internet looking for a picture of the pigtail plug Toyota installed under the driver's side kick panel.

My pigtail had a dummy plug in it and appeared to be fully installed and not a free pigtail.

Devinsixtyseven, I'm thinking about the gussets you mentioned, not sure yet if I'll do it though. This rig will not get any hard core wheeling, I just wanted something stronger than the typical tube step stuff.

Roundout, you can get the cover Line-X'd. They have some sort of deal with Line-X. I have thought about getting it covered, but in a light grey or something. I don't want a extra large oven, although that would be one way to do the camp cooking while you are on the trail.

Cheers,

 

[Nuclear Redneck]

Overhaul Time

I still own this truck; just haven't had the time to do much with it. In fact this is the longest I've kept a vehicle in my life. Between getting my master's degree, taking a shore duty job that added 6 months to my sea duty counter and flying enough to make it into United's 100K club, I haven't actually taken the truck off road much.

I added an ARE topper with windoors, Yakima track system and load bars, bedrug and another rug rat to the mix. The truck has 103,000 miles or so and runs fine.

I am currently deployed and am engaging in the time honored tradition of figuring out how to spend all of the money I'm saving on deployment once I get back.

I traded my Chaser trailer for part of my complete house rewiring, so I need a new camping system. I’m also thinking that I might as well overhaul the suspension, which will lead to a mild lift, then tires, then regearing, and since I’d be in there anyway might as well install ARB lockers, then I’ll need onboard air and it just snowballs from there.


So, please help me spend my money in the best way possible. Assume a budget of $10,000. And here are my desires:

1) Safely carry two kids (3 year old girl and 5 year old boy), my wife, me and one 60 lbs boxer-fencejumper mix mutt on trips in the Southwest up to 5 days in length.
2) I don’t expect any hardcore rock crawling, but do want to be able to do any trail in Death Valley that the Tundra will physically fit.
3) I want this truck to last another 100K, so reliability is very important to me.

I’ve got several months before I return, so no real rush. But I do want to identify any long lead items so they can be ordered before I return. Do to my time crunch at my day job, I will most likely be having a shop do just about all the work. Recommendations for a shop somewhere in SOCAL are welcome as well.

Thank you.