2000 SAC'ed Tundra

2011-10-20T11:30:00.001-07:00

It's been over a year since I posted an update. In anycase, lot's of stuff has happened, broke, fixed, etc. I have the manual transfer case working with no more issues. Recently replaced my rear wheel bearings, replaced a broken ring and pinion, got some new wheels/tires. They are H1 8-bolt recentered military wheels and Goodyear military tires. Wheels/tires were purchased from TrailWorthyFab.com. Tires are 37x12.50x16.50. Here's an updated pic:

2010-08-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

Another update.....

Still waiting for the connector to be shipped from Marlin. I may end up canceling the order. Needed to drive my truck to work this week. So, made the tundra VSS work and matched the depth of the taco VSS.

A friend of mine reminded me that the VSS gear is pressed on. So, I pressed it out just a tad, enough for it measure the same depth as the taco VSS. Reinstalled and so far, the MPH on the scan gauge has not "jumped" around. There's still a lot of the gear pressed on and I'm not worried if it slips off. I may stick with this fix, move on and get my $70 back for the part LOL!

2010-08-01T23:07:00.000-07:00

Swap of the xfer case is pretty much complete. I still need a shifter knob a console to hide the cut up carpet and replace connectors to match for the 4HI and 4LO senosrs. Here are some pics of the swap.

Starting on the left: tundra stock xfer case, taco xfer case i recently acquired, rebuilt xfer case with bad shifter.

From 2000 SAC'ed Tundra

Beer break, Great White from Lost Coast Brewery.

From 2000 SAC'ed Tundra

Bearing puller tool I used to separate the coupler from the input shaft.

From 2000 SAC'ed Tundra

Tundra auto coupler left, taco auto coupler right.

From 2000 SAC'ed Tundra

Drilled a hole to locate the start of the shifter opening. Used a sabre saw and a sawzall to cut the opening.

From 2000 SAC'ed Tundra

Speed sensor. Tundra auto on the left.

From 2000 SAC'ed Tundra

Shifter access complete.

From 2000 SAC'ed Tundra

Manual xfer case mounted

From 2000 SAC'ed Tundra

Everything bolted up from underneath. 4LO, 4HI and ADD connectors hanging. Need to replace the connectors to allow the connection to the taco sensors. ADD setup will later be removed.

From 2000 SAC'ed Tundra

Shifter installed. Need to find a shifter boot and knob to complete the swap.

From 2000 SAC'ed Tundra

Otherwise, everything works. Need to get use to shifting gears in park and/or nuetral. Edit - I tested 4HI on the fly and it works as long as my front hubs are turning to allow the same rotational speed of the front/rear driveshaft. It's nice to have 4LO again!!!

Now I need to test everything all long with the winch. :devil:

2010-07-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

Recently received a gift from the Better Half, her 2 brothers, Zoie and Evan. I was surprised with a box filled with a new PS3 and a Smittybilt XRC10 10K lb winch. For the winch, I scheduled an appointment with the guys from http://www.anysevenoffroad.com/ located in San Leandro, CA. Orlando and Adam fabricated the mount and enhanced my current bumper to fit the winch. They also modified the engagement lever to clear the cross support bar of the bumper. They did an awesome job and would recommend their skills to anyone needing fabrication work. I recently rattle canned the exposed metal and finally wired it up to the yellow top battery. So far, garage test is successful. Need to take it out for an actual loaded line pull. Hopefully soon.

2010-07-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a short video demo.

2010-05-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

Here are the pics from the trip:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dyogim/BarneyRileyTrailJune2010#

June 11-13 Barney Riley Trail ride. For more info on the trail and trail map click on the following link: http://californiajeeper.com/barney/review.htm

I have plans on heading up Friday afternoon with a couple of folks. We will either meet at or near the FR190B trail head. There's a spot off of Loope Canyon we can set up camp friday. Others that arrive saturday should see us as they head in. Else, we will meet around 10:30am at the FR190B trailhead marked in red in the attached pic. Depending on the snow drifts on the trails, there are a few different options we can take to the "hot spot". We will be on Channel 7 on both the 2way radios and CB. Here is the plan and the contingency plans:

Plan A: Take FR190B (next to FR056) to FR310. If we cannot pass there, we'll try FR306 to FR310. Take FR310 through Little Cottonwood Canyon and take a right at the first "Y" near the destination. Then a left at the next "Y" towards E. Carson River.

Plan B: If FR190B, FR306 or FR310 is not passible, we will head north on Leviathen Mine Road (FR052). This will lead us to E. Carson River where the road will split into the West and East directions. We will head West upstream towards our destination.

Plan C: Plan B requires us to travel through Private Property, if the gate is locked we will head back to the rivers edge and set-up camp.

Plan D: If all else, we can head out to Moonrocks up near Reno, NV, http://www.riderplanet-usa.com/atv/trails/info/nevada_04449/ride_7daf.htm

2010-04-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

Been looking for a good set of fog lights to run with the Hella 700 driving lights. Ended up getting a pair of Hella Micro DE fogs for around $50. Had the 700's hooked up to the prerunner bumper and used the DDMTuning.com HID raptor kit. Light output was nice but, wanted the foreground lit-up more than down the road. Mounted the Micro DE's into the grill, rerouted the exisitng wires for the HID kit to the fogs and I couldn't be more happier with the results. I'll let the pics do the talking. The 700's will be mounted to the roof rack and I'll use the halogen bulbs again. Rather not route the HID lines up there. On with the pics:

Installed pics:

Stock headlights:
Hella Micro DE's with DDMTuning HID raptor kit:
Both:

2010-01-12T13:17:00.000-08:00

Update as of 1/29/10: Got the input shaft and after some further inspection, I realized the input shaft on the donor tcase was already a 23 spline. The coupler on the input shaft assembly has 2 wide grooves that slide over 2 splines. Looking further into the couple it's fitted onto the assembly via splines as well and I counted 23. ARGH!!!

Anyways, I hope to have the manual tcase installed by this weekend...

Ever since my SAS, I've been fighting my 4WD system. Mainly the ADD electronic stuff. With the solid axle swap, I've had to reuse the front actuator and mount it to the frame rails with the fork cut off. This was needed in order for the system to engage the xfer case. Not only that, the front ADD had to be engaged in order to get in to 4Lo. There have been mods to trick the system but, that's just more wires and electronics. So, what better to swap out the push button ADD stuff and swap in a manual tcase.

The expensive route is to go with a lefty tcase from either Inchwormgear.com or MarlinCrawler.com.

Marlin's

or...

Inchworms:

Both range at about $2k. Yikes!!! :eek: Way out of my budget. Especially, with our second child on the way. WOOHOO!!!!!

The other option is to try and use a tcase from a V6 tundra/taco/runner. I believe the manual case for these models are all the same for 00-04 and have a j-shifter. I was able to hunt down one of these tcases.

Got the case from member TRDfun (thanks again) and started the tear down. Now I just need to either purchase a new/used input shaft or tear mine down. Here's some pics of the tear down. No step by steps pics as the manual already has all that.

The start of the tear down. Flanges removed and bolts loosened

Case separated.

Gutted case where input shaft is located.

All the parts laid out on the table

21 spline input shaft. I'll be replacing this with a 23 spline input shaft.

2009-07-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

Decided to add two 9" electric fans to help cool things down a bit during those hot days and on the trail. For now, I've installed only one fan. Second is awaiting for the dual cooler set-up to be installed. I hooked everything up to a relay, switch and 12V power source. The fan currently installed is to help keep the tranny cooler temps down. For now I've zipped tied the fan to the tranny cooler, ran the lines to the Blue Sea Fuse block and then to the relay and so on. I was able to use the dome light as the 12V source for the switch and install the swtich into the sunglass holder. I'm hoping this helps a bunch in the longevity of the tranny. Fan only cost about $20. Here's the pics of the fan.

2009-07-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

I've been kicking around the idea to modify the sunglass holder to house my accessorie switches for my Hella 700's, undercarriage lights (aka "rock lights") and the electric fans. I have another thread with some pics of the e-fan install and how the lines are run for that. everything is pretty much the same on routing of the wires. Future additions will be bed lights and back-up/side lights.
I've migrated my aux. light switches to the sunglass holder. Connected the 12V source to dome lighting. Which is constant. So, I can turn on the fan and aux. lights without the key having to be in the acc on on position. The 12V source and the ground line is run, I believe the correct term is, in parallel. This makes it look a bit cleaner without a bunch of wires going through the opening. The switch lines were run independently to their respective relays. Starting on the left: driving lights, "rock" lights, electric fan. Here's the pics.

2009-06-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

Been reading a bunch on other forums about these $40 Raptor kit here: Raptor Brand 35W HID Kit: DDM Tuning - HID Kits, HID Bulbs, DEPO Lighting, BMW and Porsche Performance AccessoriesI figured it was worth a shot to see if they would enhance my aux. lighting. Specifically, my hella 700's.Here's some pics of what I did to fit them and some differences between the two set-ups.

Complete kit:

Pic of the Hella 700's on:

The kit has the red and black wires through the grommet to attach within the housing. I decided to pull it through and attach it outside the housing. I had to pull slowly and carefully in order to not damage the grommet.

With the lens removed from the housing, I removed the metal clip that holds the original H3 bulb. Can't use as the HID H3 bulb has too wide of a base and the clip won't fit.

I placed the HID H3 bulb into the lens. There are two tabs that I bent to hold the bulb in place. Surprisingly, they held pretty well. At least hopefully until, I can figure out another way to keep it in place.

Drilled a hole (not a perfect hole) to feed the new wires through and fit the new grommet.

Now to mount the ballast using zip ties and connect the wires. Connected the red and black wires to the Hella ground and + wire. All the other connections are literally self explanatory and there's no need to explain that. Pass and Driver. side, bundled with additional wiring for other aux. lighting and the Hella wiring.

Here are some pics of the differences. Hella 700 55W vs the Raptor brand 35W HID kit:Hella left, Raptor right:

Both Hella housings retrofitted:

Overall, I think this kit is worth it if you are retrofitting some aux. lighting but, I don't think these should be installed into a factory headlight housing. For that, you'll probably want to spend a little extra for some thing better. I'm pleased with results and would do it again on a different set of aux. lights.

2009-06-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

Recent trip out to Hollister Hills SVRA with some Scouts and 1 jeep. The same day there was a Power wagon gathering. Which, made for some good entertainment in the mud pit. I also ended up catching some poison oak on my arm. What a pain in the ass. The sunday after this trip I also caught the flu and was bed ridden the whole week. I'm still recovering. Here's a few pics. The rest are located here: http://picasaweb.google.com/dyogim/HollistHillsSVRA#

2009-05-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

Updated pics:

2009-05-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

I've had my roof rack set-up from my previous vehicle sitting in a box on my parts shelf for some time. I've been wanting to incorporate it to the tundra but the fit kit is not compatible with the gutters. So, instead, I hard mounted the feet to the roof using the factory tracks.

All I needed to purchase was:
- a pair of 58" thule load bars ($30)
- 8 grade 5 - 2" long 3/8" bolts, 3/8" washers and nuts. 2 bolts would be holding down each foot (~$5).
- 1" x 1" x 3' angled steel (~$5)
- 1/8" x 2" x 3' flat steel (~$5).

With the angled steel, I cut 8 pieces 3" long. These would be used under the roof. These act as the washer and help spread the clamping force. Same with the flat steel. I cut 8 pieces about 1 3/4" long. These would be mounted on top of the feet to also help spread the clamping force along with the washers. Once I drilled all the holes for the metal pieces, I marked and drilled the holes through the factory tracks after removing the rubber lining. This was probably the best option to drill as it was the thickest part of the roof (~1/4" thick). It consist of 4 layers of sheet metal all spot welded together. Once all that was done, I bolted everything together and installed the interior back in.

Before putting in the head liner, I added an extra layer of insulation. I used foiled bubble wrap that is commonly used for water heaters. I had a bunch of it laying around and figured it wouldn't hurt to add it. I also left pieces out of the headliner. Along the driver side and pass. side are pieces of black plastic supports in the shape of a square grid. I left these out in order to access the nuts for the feet if I ever need to in the future. All I would need to do is take the headliner trim on both sides out to gain access. Otherwise, I'd have to remove the headliner, sun shades, overhead console and light, etc.

Next is to build the box frame for the platform. The platform will be about 4' x 4'. For now here are some pics of the feet and load bars.

2009-04-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

I would've liked to purchase some led's for rock lights but for what I was looking for, it wasn't in the budget. Took a trip to walmart and bought two pairs (4 lights) for $30 total. Didn't have to do too much wiring other than running the power to the lights and then grounding each one. I used the relay/switch and pratcially all the wiring for my Hella 500's I recently took off. Here's a pic of one of the lights (front right wheel well). I think I might move the ones in the rear somewhere else to get more light out the sides. Or just leave them and get another pair on a separate switch.

And here's how they look when they are on at night.

2009-04-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

Finally hardmounted my on board air. This is one of those MV50 compressors that cost about $40. Modified the intake and connected the lines to my fuse box (right behind the OBA). I used one of the mounts for the PS res. mount and drilled through the wheel well to keep the OBA in place.

Also, took the time, to relocated the fuse box to where it's at in the pic and remove some slack from the aux light wires. The fusebox was actually loosely mounted next to the airbox. Needed to replace the main power lines to the battery with 8 ga stranded wire. Unfortunately, the local shop ran out of black 8 ga., so, I figured, white will do.

2009-03-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

Another "low budget" project. Here's a drawing of the canvas topper frame. I'll provide more details once the framing get's started. This framing will be a complete bolt-on process. The canvas part will definitely require me to work on some tailoring skills.

2009-01-14T14:04:00.000-08:00

Here's the new truck bed tent III from Napierz. Can't wait to go wheelin'/camping!!!

2009-01-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

Upcoming work to be done: Timing belt, swap stock toy pitman arm for OTT pitman arm, under carriage lights, bed platform(rolling/foldable) mounted near level to rails. The main objective of the platform is to allow the storage containers and what not to stay in the bed while the truck bed tent is set-up. The platform will be used to sleep on.

The truck bed tent is by Napierz and is the Camo Truck tent III. Storage containers being used was purchased from Home Depot. They are called Tough Box, has a 27 gallon capacity and is said to hold up to 700lbs, cost was only $18.

2009-01-13T08:17:00.000-08:00

3rd member with Detroit locker is installed and my truck is back on the road. I was able to get the backlash to average out to 0.008". On the road, everything seems to be good. There's no "clicking" around turns like the Lock Right locker. I just need to take it wheelin' to test out.

2009-01-12T07:31:00.000-08:00

First pass on checking gear pattern and backlash. I was able to get the backlash .006" ( I believe .007" - .010" is what the range should be at). However, the gear pattern is not optimal. In the below pics, the CS (coast side) of the gear the contact is closer to the heel and the DS (drive side) conact is closer to the toe. This means the pinion needs to be adjust. Which also means, I'll need a new crush sleeve or switch to a solid sleeve and additional pinion shims.

2009-01-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

New Detroit locker just arrived. Part #187SL199A for the toy 8.4" axle housing. Should have it installed within the next day or two. Thanks to Scotty at AddictedOffroad.com for the great deal on the Detroit Locker. $495 shipped to my door.

2008-10-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

Tires siped. First pic shows the cuts from a #5 blade on one of the lugs. Second pic is of how each lug is siped. However, the outer lugs were not grooved. I'll eventually groom them but, for now they'll suffice. The sipes will show-up after some miles. I'll post additional pics once the sipes open up and are more distinguishable.

2008-08-28T08:43:00.001-07:00

Michelin XL's 1100R16 are on. Put them on yesterday and drove around for serveral miles. Tires have a higher pitch noise than my 35's. Steering is a bit easier. So far there's only two clearence issues, front of the rear fenders. Fixed that by cutting some sheet metal and fender flares. On issue is at full lock to the right. Tires rub my pitman arm at the bottom of the steering box. I'm going to try and move the axle back about an inch and see if that fixes it. I'm going to put my 35's back on as I still need to work on adjusting the camber. Here's some pics.

2008-07-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Test fitting my new shoes. I'll definitely need to trim some sheet metal.

Michelin XL 11.00R16

2008-07-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

Newly delivered. A brand new set of Michelin 11.00R16 XL's. Overall diameter is 38.7" tall and 11" wide. They weigh about 100 lbs each. Here's a couple of pics.

2008-05-19T13:46:00.001-07:00

Axle is under the truck and is driveable. Still need the shock tabs welded and steerging stuff to complete. Here's a couple of pics installed.

Update...

2008-05-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

Got the 4.88 R&P, toy to D44 d-shaft adapter and lockright locker installed. Next is to overhaul the wheel hubs, spindles and lockouts with fresh grease and maybe new bearings. Afterwards, have the new tie rod and drag link cut down to size, weld the bungs and bolt them up. Here's a pic of the beefy cover and the housing primered.

2008-03-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

I had to scrap my HP44 housing from a 78 F250. Pass. side tubing was off centered about 1/4"-1/2" compared to the other end. So, instead of trying to bend it back and then truss it. I opted to look for another HP44. Found a complete axle for $799 with Detroit, 5.13's, hi-steer, blah blah. Since I only need the housing, cover and inner axle shafts. All the parts were parted out and. Really, I will only have spent about $135 for the housing, cover, stock shafts (inners and outers), TR and DL. Housing is from a 77 F150. Should be cleaning the housing and setting up the gears within the week.

2007-12-12T09:27:00.000-08:00

Axle ready for the ring and pinion to be installed. Once completed, it'll be prepped and painted with rustoleum rattle can paint.

2007-12-11T15:54:00.000-08:00

Got my Yukon 4.88's reverse rotation and Yukon Master install kit delivered. Purchased from www.Completeoffroad.com for $199.95 shipped to my address. Awaiting a pinion yoke and time to have the gears installed. Once complete, I can finally swap out my LP for the HP. Then, have the hydro assist mounted and new 1.5" DOM cut down for my tie rod. PICS of parts to be posted shortly... Happy Holidays!

2000 Tundra V8 4x4 - SAC'ed #5

2007-10-24T15:42:00.000-07:00

Here's my how my tundra looked before the SAC (solid axle conversion). Other than wheels and tires and offroad lights, it was pretty much stock.

A few more mods: Bentup.com wrap around bumper, 2.5" Teawest Coilover lift and 1.5" AAL. Truck box, Line -X, exhaust, 285-75-16 Good year wrangler MTR's.

In April of 2004 on a rainy day, a vehicle came around a corner too fast, locked their brakes, jumped the center divide and took out my front driver side suspension and body. It sucked but, this was the first step to my SAC.

Since, the truck would never drive the same if I had repaired it back to stock, I decided to convert my front IFS to a solid front axle using a D44 from an 81 Widetrack Cherokee. Using 4.88 gears and Lockright lockers front and rear, 35x1250x15 tires, hi-steer knuckles and arms from PartsMike, tierod/drag link from PartsMike, Warn manual locking hubs, brakes made for a 78 blazer, 4" chevy front lift springs, D44/Toy pinion flange, .....and other stuff.

Brought the truck and all the parts to the bentup.com garage had them complete the SAC.

Here's some pictures on the trails.