Cynicalriders "J0hnny5 is ALIVE!" 01 build thread.

Collecting my thoughts, now I gotta start collecting parts to catch up.

 

Had some shit arrive while we were away, all new lbj’s and otre’s.

might tackle that tear down for the bumps between Christmas and new years.


For now my wife and I had to take 4 days away from the kid for some r&r.

 

Holy shit the truck is getting love.

Used it to do a tire change on the bike.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Started ripping into it last night. Can see a side project of a CV reboot/boot slide mod cause I was scraping the bottom of the barrel on small side projects.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr
Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Basically got to the point where I am ready to drill out the LCA's more to fit in flange nuts upside down. Hoping to be able to get a good enough weld in there but still grind it flat for the bumps to sit on.

 

Did my best to fix all 4 bump stop mounts on the LCA. Process for 3 was drill the hole bigger to fit a flange nut as flush as possible without falling in, fully welding it, grinding it flush, and then cutting slits onto both sides of the nut and re welding those and grinding that flush. I really wanted to get some material and heat onto each side of the nut since I ground the initial welds flush. Should hold but better than what I assume were factory tacks.

I also had one still holding on so I cut 3 sides of that one close to the internal nut and re welded that all up.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr
Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr
Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr
Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr
Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

 

So see this hair line crack near the tub job on the fire wall?



Yeah i saw it too and decided to poke it...

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

And then poked the other side...

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

On the bright side I hit around everywhere else with a pry bar and a hammer and the rest was solid.

I have a theory it rusted from the inside out. That particular section is separated from the inside of the cab and more part of the rocker than anything and probably was left bare because I didn't think to paint inside that cavity post welding. That stud that usually is at the bottom of that rocker to hold the body panel on snapped off ages ago and I used a self tapper to hold that fender corner on both sides. My best guess is water got in from the bottom and then just stayed in that cavity.

So the current plan to add to my already long list of shit to fix is to cut out the weak spot, assess the internal rust, convert what I can, and weld it back shut. I'll also weld studs back on the body of the truck like it came with to seal that from water too. Finally I'll attempt to seal it all with rust encapsulator from inside the cab even if it takes needing to drill a hole and use a rubber plug to seal it.

 

Sucks to see that part Mike, feel your pain. Definitely cut out that section and repair like some have already stated. But spend some time, make sure that body mount near there is in good shape or that needs to be something repaired as well. Once you get some new clean steel in there, spray some Ospho before coating. It'll help act as a primer and chemical treat the metal properties.

 

Yeah I definitely plan on making sure the whole area is treated properly, after doing some research I am probably going to use eastwoods internal frame coating which I believe is similar to ospho anyway. It's a zinc phosphate and I like that I can use the wand to get all the way down the rocker when I open it up again.

Going to dig into it more after the front end is at least wrapped up tie rod/lbj wise. Will probably leave the coilovers out for now. I learned last night that even though the pipe wrench/adjustable wrench method does work for ITRE's as a trail fix I needed way more force than the wrench could provide and I needed a slim 30mm to get the ITRE off the rack. So I ground some thickness off a 30mm wrench I had and ordered a 42mm that I also might to grind a bit if needed to and will keep both of those wrenches in my spares case where the spare tie rods live. I apparently never have swapped inners before, I always got new inners when I would get new or reman racks.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

I always like to make sure I test the tools I need to do a job for a trail fix and hate that I actually never tested my setup for inners.

 

Well that escalated quickly.

Started out here, then started grinding the floor and saw some light.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Ended around here when I ran out of time.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Need to vacuum a ton, got a ton of eastwood rust stuff on the way. I was going to maybe get thicker metal but I am going to fix it with the abundance of 20ga I already have and if it's fucked again in another 5 years I am sourcing a clean southern cab. I want one anyway to start fresh with.

 

So when I was digging into replacing the inner tie rods I realized I never actually had the right tools on me to replace it. I had a pipe wrench but my adjustable wrench would have never fit on the rack to hold the rack shaft. So I ordered a 42mm and an additional 30mm to put in my spares case that I always had the spare inner in.

The extra leverage made me able to remove the passenger inner by hand.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

I am now in a situation where I am working on two projects at once. I am fixing the firewall tub in bits while refreshing the front end.

Front will have new bump stops, new tie rods, new lower ball joints. Steering will be nice and tight for a little.

 

Trying to reorganize my thoughts now that the truck's in the garage getting overhauled so bringing this back.

Haven't brought this list back in a year which means I used it a whole year without needing to fuck with it! Can't be mad about that.

Get a back door stitched up to attach to current rack.

Get tube cut and bent/welded to the back of the current rack.


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Alright making this it's own post. I took a deep dive into the goals for the truck, and the things I want to improve. This list is always changing/ being improved upon, completed or added to.

As always green was just completed, BOLD is priority/realistic. Anything previously green gets deleted (though I still need to update the build specs lol). Of course this is all for my sanity's sake.

Maintenance:

Inner tie rods
Outer tie rods
Bump stops
Lower ball joints

Fix firewall tub

Replace alternator pulley

Armor up rear diff, fix plug, or weld plug permanently shut and replace two studs with bolts to drain

Paint rear bumper, drill holes out bigger to accept 3/4" shackles

Deal with rust spots on the cab under the doors

Remove rust and touch up paint on rack - specifically in the hinge/latch area

Swap doors so I can start on half doors

• Passenger door needs to be swapped for spare door in better condition
• Drivers door needs rust removed, painted and resealed with seam sealer - reference link
• Donor drivers door needs tar cleaned off of it to start on half door build
• Passenger door needs rust repair before being able to be used for half door build

Paint black stripe on bottom part of body to address rust staining - this will help for the doors that have been repaired from rust

Rebuild the spare alternator (need rebuild kit)

Power steering rack

Replace the power steering , filter and system bleed


Interior Mods:

Recondition seats

Platform in back with taller rear locking storage, a place Mac can be raised up on while the fridge stays at the same height)

Lit up cup holders

Tablet lighting solution using Raspberry Pi

Switch reconfiguration

Put in cubby under the fridge:

Change of clothes, canned foods with long expirations, fire starter kit, emergency blanket, MRE's. Stuff that is worst case scenario survival shit.


Exterior Storage Mods:

Build a dual swing out tire carrier. The one swing out will contain the 35" tire, and a fold down table. The left side will hold the high lift and chain saw and will also have a fold down table. The goal is to make everything more accessible without needing to unload the truck. - Potentially decommissioning this idea.

Get a back door stitched up to attach to current rack.

Get tube cut and bent/welded to the back of the current rack.

Figure out a ramp mount solution when hauling the bike. Maybe prinsu rack on cab?

Potentially add a roof rack above the cab to hold traction pads/a plano case that contains recovery gear. The jury is still out on this concept. I would like to avoid adding anymore weight that high if I can. See ramp mount point. ^


Performance upgrades:

ABS controller delete/LSPV delete/manual valve install and complete fluid flush

Dual battery setup, one battery in current location, the other under the bed. This will be the house battery that the fridge, and all lighting accessories will run on.

Crawl box: I need lower gears to really take the truck to the next level crawling wise.

Build/get built beefier drive shafts

Custom Alcans or Deavers: Once I get the average weight of the rear figured out as a typical always on rolling weight, I want leaves to be able to hold the weight of my normal everyday load. Airbags will be the interim solution.

Install Manual hub tube, replace the seal. Potentially pull the shaft, get heat/cryo treated.


Lighting Mods:

3 additional floods to rock lights (one facing from the rear bumper to the diff, and two near the front facing down near the bumpers, goal is to eliminate the current dead spots)

Hood lights on pin switch

Get lights for spindle mounts

Mount and wire spindle lights

Misc Exterior/ Camp Mods:

Redline Hood struts

Heat exchanger in engine bay for warm showers

Fiberglass fenders and bedsides (this will eliminate some of the body glamage I have gathered over the years)

Half doors

New bedside decals

Print up decals of trails from Moab, put on cab

Window tint - need new windshield

Far future plans:

LT


I wish I had cool mods going on but it's more just attempting to unshit box the shit box. Bronco has some stuff coming soon though.

 

For the rear diff I swapped to some allen head drain bolt that I haven’t had loosen up on me yet unlike the hex. Also welded some sheet on the bottom to scrape on rocks.

Also if you find somewhere to cryo the manual hub shafts let me know. I just got a new batch so I have a few I would be interested to try it out on. I tried performance cryogenics but cound never get ahold of anyone. I’m tempted to try and buy liquid nitrogen and throw them in for a night to see what happens.

 

Yeah I am going to just weld the fucker shut because it's already super fucked and I just want to armor the bottom completely. I'm sick of the constant leaking.

As for the cryo, I found two companies that are actually semi local to me. One specifically mentioned doing work for automotive applications so when I actually contact them I'll let you know. I have the shaft removed and ready to go. I know someone contacted RCV about machining one too. I imagine it would be a steep cost up front but once and done does sound appealing. Where are you sourcing the shafts/tubes from? It was hard for me to find a manual hub diff locally.

 

Man I struggled at first trying to scrounge up old OEM parts. Lucked into one full manual hub tube on here right before I broke the first add stub then bought a spare tube from a guy parting out a Tacoma... both are broke now and I get replacement new oem shafts from amayama. Shipping is high but it is around 115$ per shaft all in if I order three at a time. I just swap the shaft and a new seal into the old tube with the old clips and bearing so like 130 total to refurbish.

Having two tubes I can carry a full spare assembly to swap without too much trouble on the trail.

I am thinking about pulling my rear again and trying to shave the housing and plate with 3/8 instead of what I have boogered on there now. Might be able to gain like 1/2-3/4" from where I am now with extra plate boogered on there. If I were you starting fresh (ish) I would seriously look into it, doesn't seem like too much more work than what plugging and replacing studs would be. This pirate thread has some good info.

 

Basically a shaved toyota housing. Haven't seen that before. Interesting....

 

Yeah that's another reason why I liked the manual tube idea, much easier and accessible to swap on the trail. I can't believe you have been snapping them so easily though, I was hoping they would be stronger than the ADD. I saw your post on the other site about potentially welding a solution. I still like the idea of hitting up RCV if cryo doesn't work. But cryo should be much cheaper. I think I'll actually reach out to someone about it soon, the shafts just been sitting on the work bench for a year.

And as appealing as a shaved bottom sounds I don't plan on keeping this rear when I jump to 37's so just trying to stop the damn leak more than anything else at this point. Pulling the 3rd is much easier than fully pulling the rear off the truck. It's legit going to be pull third, put plug in from the top, weld, and call it good. Maybe weld some 3/16" plate to the bottom if I'm feeling froggy but like I said I don't plan on keeping this for more than another 2-3 years (if I am being realistic).

 

Stop reminding me I need a 9" lmao. But im hoping the fresh 8" can hold up to some abuse in the mean time... also dont like the idea of the lower pinion and worse DS clearance on a 9"

Also for more details on a stronger passenger side part see this post. If you or anyone else want to keep exploring I'll send you my cad files and Im 90% confident in the tolerances but I would also start with an aluminum part likely to make sure before I spend the money on 4340. Just not worth the price to me right now compared to trying a different diff or continuing as is.

 

What other diffs are you considering right now? I did my shake down run with 37s and broke a CV quickly. Chromoly CVs are something I would like, but I would rather replace those vs the stub shaft/front diff.
I swapped a FF landcruiser rear axle in, so strength isn't an issue out back.

 

I def think think this shaft is the weakest link if you get rcv’s or go LT on 37’s.

If I’m understanding correctly trying to fabricate this part and weld it to the female end?

 

Correct. Was planning to butt weld two female ends together and sleeve them with a chromo tube plug welded, one side geos to CV one side goes to male splines on the new piece. Even with the strength loss from welding messing with heat treat I think it would live since that area is a much larger diameter.

Thinking about after your comment I might revisit this with a shaft that just swells out at the cv side that could just be fastened straight to a single cut down female side going to the CV. Would eliminate machining one set of spline so maybe a cheaper part and would eliminate failure of the outer splines.

8" clamshell (4th or 5th gen 4runner for the 30 spline instead of 29 spline in the tacomas) is what I would do if anything. Good upgrade in strength and would be the easiest to make work in my opinion.
9" clamshell from second gen tundra is possible but more work than I am really confident in, lots of clearance issues and would for sure need to shorten the passenger side.
Ford 9" (IRS housing from Dutchman) is also worth mentioning but would be a good bit more expensive and more work than either of the last two options. Killer strength and parts options though and you could get great 4wd travel with the diff center mount.

 

Alright I totally didn't get it at first but I get it now. So basically a female female side, and a male male side that's 4340 and if you make 2 you could theoretically easily replace the shaft on the trail. Like you said if that part that will be butt welded is also sleeved and plug welded I can't see that part breaking loose even with the heat that comes from welding.

But if that shaft needs to be cut anyway it might be just a little more expensive to make the whole damn thing?

Well I am def going to pursue cryo first since it's the cheapest. Then go from there. I might order a couple shafts from that site too, even the tube is reasonable on it.