Alrighty, more monolog time!
Build of 2014 on the truck done deal. Gear tested on 3-week trip to Baja. Bigger trips in mind in the future. What do I want to do to this truck in 2015?
-5.3L v8 or 6.0L or even a 6.2L! Not going to happen in 2015 unless I make a big pile of money or the 5.7L dies. Someday though...
-Might have to do some fan shroud work if it likes to get hot now in the sand or whatever. I did get it hot once in Baja, guessing after fan ate some shroud, hit 224* running up the beach, soft sand, 8psi, fully loaded to 6750-7000lbs at 40mph. Saint Anthony will do that to it too is my guess, so if it does, shroud work needed.
-I got brand new AA motor mounts. It is the quick fix but nothing else. If the old 5.7L keeps running as good as it does now I may make new motor mounts late in the year. In the meantime I will toss in the new AA mounts.
-Have not had a cover on my bellhousing all along. Will source one soon, might know a buddy who has one sitting on the ground next to his 97 Tahoe, that = free!
-Fix and re-do some of the wring, in particular the terminal block.
-Possibly replace the King 8" damper with something in the 8.5-9" range. I think I am only getting 85-90% full lock one direction because of it. Can use the King (I think) on another project in the works.
-Re-work rear suspension. This may involve new coil springs (thinking HD Slee's at this point) maybe some King 2.5's and put in a panhard adjuster that has been laying around 6 months. Going to do everything I can to stay away from air bags. Might also change out my front springs at the same time as they are 10yrs old.
-Carpet my chest/sleeping platform. I am thinking about dumping the rear seat all together and making the truck a 2-seater. Just hate to do that on the odd chance I want to do a trip with 2 passengers in the next 5-10yrs. However, in my Taco I had what I called "the Buddy box", Buddy is my dogs name. It is an elevated spot for him to ride, which he likes and below that is a fair sized storage area. I sure would not mind having more storage in the truck. It would also help balance out the load as right now when fully loaded it is certainly heavier on the drivers side.
-New rear bumper. Nothing wrong with the one I got I am just after something special here. This I think I will have custom made by CBI Off-road in Idaho. They have done a lot for me in the past and I actually talked to them about doing a custom rear bumper on my Cruiser but at the time cost was to much for me. Again, after very specific stuff here and it will be one off.
-Modify or re-make the ARB awning mounts. As mentioned before, I need to flip it 90* to take advantage of the top support bars. Will do this before my next trip or before summer camping starts.
-re-work and re-do entire exhaust system. Only if I can do it cheap as this engine is not worth $1000+ to me in exhaust. I can get a 5.3L for nearly that much! Really not into the exhaust I have now though, if I can figure something out cheap style I am doing it.
-New better longer cord on my Vision X camp light. Want it to be able to reach the engine bay. I did it fast only hours before the trip so it is kind of temp.
-Shave pan on trans so I can run a DC front shaft. I had to have the front shaft rebuilt right before I left, had lot's of slop in it. The vibes now in 4wd at speed are much less but still there. DC the only real way to fix it. Don't want to spend much money here yet though since wanting to upgrade the v8 in the future. But it is on the list.
-Vinyl floor all the way around. I had it in my 60 and like the vinyl floor. My carpet is old too, 24yrs.
-Get a 2nd ProCar seat for the passenger. No rush though as it is just the passenger!
-Typical stuff that breaks during use and needs repair. Right now I got no low beams and need to fix that.
-New 17" wheels and 37" rubber. Over the years I have found very few 35's actually measure 35" once on the truck. I am sure the same applies for 37's. My current 35's are showing 33.5" which I do not like so much. So going up to 37's is in the plan. I went 15's and 35's due to cost before but all along have wanted 17's and 37's. With this comes a can of worms....
-re-gear and buff up axles as needed once the 37's go on. None of this is priority at all and may not happen this year. But with it will also come a de-flare. I need side protection though as rocks in my tires is a daily thing. If I go to 37's I may get myself a new front housing or even a custom housing like a RS and or do the C&T over again to suit the 37's. Currently have 3* bushing in the radius arms and would not mind going back to OEM bushings. Not sure it can be rotated that much though even with the y-link. Or perhaps I just need to raise the panhard axle side like mentioned pre-trip, that would allow for more rotation, blah blah blah. Oh ya the cans o 'worms!
-side bars with some cheapo garden edging type martial to form a "flare". Both front and rear wheel arches tieing into my step sliders. A bonus is it gives me a place to step when accessing the roof. 1.5" or 2" .25" wall DOM should do the trick. Rubber home made flare simply screwed to the top or bottom of it to stop the rocks o' flying.
-new struts for back lift gate and hood. Mine are all going down.
-Screens on my back sliding windows. To keep them from blowing out I may have to do something more.
-Gear loft in the back cargo area. Just a simple net stretched up in a clean smart fashion for light weight gear.
-Back up light switch. I got the kit just have not put it in yet. Need to customize the bracket a bit and then wire it up is all. I am also maybe going to add a few more lights but nothing crazy, just a spotty or two front and back. I have had front spot lights that point outwards and I like that for game on the road at night. So that is probably in the plan.
-Extend all my breathers. Only deep forded the truck once but did get water in my diffs from it. Rest need to come up too for the once in 10yr deep fording.
-Aux. fuel tank where the stock spare mounts. At least 10 gallon but maybe as large as 15-20gal. This will take my truck to the range I desire without the need to carry cans.
-tint on front windows. I like tint. Don't like it only on half of the truck. No laws on tint here in Wyoming. Had dark tint on my Taco, drove it to Panama x2 and all over the west coast. never got pulled over in it once for tint. So I am getting the front windows tinted, fairly dark.
That is most of it. And that is likely not even going to all happen this year, more like a longer term list. How I want the truck before I call it a done deal, in other words. See what I can get done this year though.
More than anything, I just want to take it out on trips and use it plus enjoy the hell out it! Plan to do the Morrison Jeep trail late summer. Would like to hit Moab once this year and a buddy has a trip to a trail called Hole in the Wall planned in a few months. Not to mention as many local trips as I can cram in.
Cheers
