Brett's '06 Tundra/camper/bumper build

Started this thing back in 2017. There have been a few repairs/mods done but not on this sight.
So here is the link to Tundra's.com where it began, it's just one page, so not too much to catch up on.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/bretts-average-build-thread.13391/

Truck is 2006 Tundra SR5 extra cab in the ever popular Phantom Grey Pearl with Old Man Tan interior.
Tires are currently 285/75-R16 , some generic snow rated things.
Camper is 1994 Lite Craft, built in Denver, Colorado.








Starting this due to a DIY bumper that was purchased from Coastal Off road in British Columbia.
https://www.coastaloffroad.com/


33 pieces to hot glue together.


Parts numbered per the instructions.


$70.00 in metric hardware, and one fresh flappy disc.


Truck leveled and prepping for the stock bumper and stealth winch removal.


Time for lunch and see how far I get before it gets dark and cold. I have the next 5 weeks off, so not in a big hurry.

 

Stealth winch exposed. This was the point where i realized I may have done something 5 years ago that was gonna screw me...


this piece of 1/4" angle that was used to beef up the winch mount.




modified Harbor Freight plate, bolted on.
there was a total of eight grade 8 bolts holding the whole assembly in place. It was more stout than I remembered.


some dickhead welded this angle between the frame horns, and he welded it on every surface possible




so after dicking around with a cut off wheel for an hour, I broke out the Sawzall and just cut the bitch off.


and ground it flush. It'll be fine.




then a 2nd trip to Ace to pick up a couple of taps and some Claeys hard candy.
Done for the night. these short days suck.
Tomorrow, I get to burn metal together.

 

Being bored and waiting for daylight, I weighed the removed pieces to see how much actual weight I would be adding to the front.

The 1/4" angle that was cut off-21lbs, that surprised me.
The H.F winch plate-20.8lbs
The bumper crush piece-7.8lbs
The plastic bumper-15.2lbs
Thin stamped cross brace that held the plastic bumper -1lbs
total weight removed from stealth winch/stock bumper setup-65.8lbs

did not bother to weigh the removed nuts and bolts as they will be replaced with the metric stuff for mounting.

Winch was there before and will be put back in, so no change.

The new bumper according to the website-110lbs
so added weight with the new bumper-44.2lbs. plus whatever the welds add, maybe a couple pounds.
I don't think it will be enough to worry about the front end dropping.

 

working alone suxs.

pretty tight.




the two holes on the back of the plate are for mounting this cooler line.
No way in hell can I see myself fighting to mount that thing with a winch and 110lbs of bumper in the way. This is where i mounted it 5 years ago, so it's gonna stay here.


not to bad. I have a half inch of up and down, but it's prolly ok centered.




the kit is compatible with the stock skid plate mount, but again not gonna fight with that thing, so I welded it in place. Fuck it.


Just enough daylight left to finish the base welds, grind down some of the ugly and call it a day.

 

Magnets are awesome for holding shit together.



got the ends within a 1/16 of an inch.









a little more welding, grinding and then paint.

 

All welded up and ground.




Belt sanded to knock out the bigger grinder marks, then palm sanded with 120 grit to get this far.
It's ready for primer.

 

Looks awesome, Brett! I'm impressed with how smooth those corners came out with the belt sander. Should've done that to my bumper!

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

gotta love a 1gen tundy build

 

Nice job. I’m in for the finish.

 

Today was install day.
Did a test fit, then removed for winch install.
Ghetto solenoid placement.
It's water proof.

Winch handle is accessible with the hood open, which is what it was before.
More pics of this mess tomorrow, have some wire to clean up






Bar lot shot.

 

Took it back off today to rewire the control for the winch.
replaced the original 22ga wire that I had used a few years ago with the correct 18ga wire and installed a flat 4 conductor plug so the bumper can be removed easier. Just need to disconnect the plug and the battery cables.
The engage handle is easily accessible. It could prolly be clocked up one position, but at this point, I'm over it and need a break from the project. Might install lights tomorrow depending on weather and my attitude. These short days suck.


the winch controller plug mounted in the center core support, the bracket was there and the hole was already the correct size. One screw lined up, the other needs to be drilled out but I may never get that far with it as it's pretty solid as is.

 

Never did post the pics of the lights. A member here was nice enough, @chenbro, to 3D print some mounts for the fogs to get them out of the ditch.
Fogs are wired to the stock switch on the light stalk. The floods are wired to a another switch that fit into a stock empty switch location on the dash.
They are just some Bezo offerings but they work well enough for what I do. Not interested in blinding the oncoming traffic anyway.

Full frontal.

and tinted the front and back windows last week to 20%.

 

Got a decent deal on a limited slip rear end from @ShiftyShank .
Same year and gears. Roughly the same mileage as well.

Pulled the drums and was pleasantly surprised to see the shoes look new.



Discovered the wheel sensors actually unplug, so for the most part, should be a plug and play replacement. Just need 4 new U bolts and that should be it.

 

Replaced/installed the rear end last weekend, not too many pics of this.
new LSD in place, bolted right in.

Truck and camper supported by Harbor Freight sketchy stands. Didn't die.

Turns out that the double cab Tundra rear is 2 3/8"" wider than the access and regular cab rear end.
The only real difference was that the E-brake cable wasn't quite long enough. So these 1 3/16" extenders were fabbed up and primed. They work great, rear brakes hold tight when in gear and gas is stepped on.

And that's about it. Shifts in and out of 4x4 easy, gears were exactly the same. Can't really tell any difference at all. Maybe later this summer I'll get a chance to play in the dirt with it. Tires are still under the fender flares, don't really see any need for wheel spacers in the front to make up/match the added width. So for the most part, this "mod" is complete.

 

ECGS bushing install. Just pics to prove it happened.
Made it to this point in a couple hours, as always, tools are exactly where I left them but still had to find them.

For as much noise and play, I was expecting powder. Looks pretty good.

 

Sweet little tool, worth every penny. Slid right out, had to space the flat bar with the needle nose pliers to get the last tiny bit that prolly would have pulled out if I had known it was that close.

New seal and bushing. Take a little time to line up and keep them straight and they both went in with no cussing. I was surprised.

 

Still screwing around with noises. Turns out the rear wheel bearings were on the way out as well as the bs in the front end. Prolly that camper.
Anyway, I thought I would save a few bucks and pull the shafts and have a local mechanic who "does it all the time" press off the old and press on the new.
To make a long dramatic story shorter, they pressed the tone ring and inner collar too far.
Before, notice the space between tone ring and bearing.

After, so far down the tone ring does not hit the sensor, ABS light is on, and the inner collar is about an inch away from the seal.



I have a press, why didn't I do it? because my ram is leaky and I wasn't motivated enough to fix it.
But now I am.
There is more to the saga, but I'm just gonna focus on fixing my shit. If I fail, I do have an appointment with Pederson Toyota on May 10th to do what I'm gonna do anyway.
The mechanic that did the job is prolly gonna reimburse me, we'll see.
The tone ring and collar will have to be cut off as there is no way to get under it now.
I can do that.
Then it should be easy enough to press on a new tone ring and collar and try to get to where it needs to be with out the SST.
Step one, remove old ram.

Newish ram. I've had it for over 27 years, no shit. It's time.

Pretty sure that cage at the base is a Grandpa thing and not stock for the press.
But it's pretty damn handy so I'll try to keep it.

True geniuses will always have a cluttered work space.

It was threaded in, and the threads are questionable at best.

New one threaded right in. Did not expect that.
I bought the ram with a porta-power long before I inherited the press, it was just happenstance that it was close.
However, I'm reduced to just a couple inches of stroke.

 

Next step, fill and bleed the pump. Bone dry.
Door closer oil was the closest thing I had for hydraulic oil, it's pretty much the same thing.

Next, try to increase my stroke.
Removed the red cap from the ram, and it's a sloppy fit inside the original coupler and will definitely damage the end. No bueno.

But it did get me 3 inches of stroke.

Removing the coupler revealed it had another insert threaded inside. Grandpa was creative.

Half hour later, had the thing remounted and focused on the coupler thing.
Turns out the ram is a very slight press fit into the bottom thing. I did not want it to be pressed all the way in, so I made a collar out of 1/4" wall tubing that cover the compression ring and lets the bottom section slide/press on about 7/8".

Fuckin mint.

Full 5" stroke.

sacrificial 3/16" x 1 1/2" square.
Test passed.

Sketchiest part of the press is the fact that the ram is held in place with 4 lengths of 1/2" all-thread. Didn't get Grandpa, so I'll let it ride.