Builds Gerry's Build thread: "If it happens again I'm buying an Abrams" (2 Viewers)

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Whatcha doin up there, fat girl?


I miss my truck 😥

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🤫


;)😁



But wait, there's more..

Icelandic flares, 6” body lift and 37s.. or maybe downsizing to 29s and installing 3.73s for a Prius tribute build
 
How? This looks like total annihilation of the driveline!
 
I'll give the full story when I reveal all of the goodies, but nutshell: Popped a rear u-joint. Then popped a front u-joint. In the process of the latter, I also grenaded the front diff as you see in the pictures.
 
So the last 2 months were fun.

In July, I popped U-joints in both drive shafts and subsequently blew the front diff at the same time. It was a real pain, but ultimately turned out well. Since I was going to either need new or to rebuild my driveshafts (they broke beyond U-joints), and since I was going to need to replace a front diff.. I went ahead and got a bunch of cool toys 😁

@Wermz Hooked me up and installed all of the goodies in the last few weeks. Nitro Gear 4.88s, Eaton E-lockers front and rear, Tom Wood's double cardan driveshafts, and all buttoned up with a factory Toyota locker switch in the dash.




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I'm still in the break-in period with the gears, so not much to say about them other than there doesn't seem to be any noticeable difference in driving. As in, there's no buzziness to the engine at all, no ill effects that I could find. After the break-in is done, I'll get to use the truck a bit more to see how the gears feel in acceleration from a stop. I can say that it's a lot less prone to downshift on slight hills around my area, so that's pretty cool. I'll get to test everything out for real in 2 weeks in Uwharrie for the Logan's Run trip.

We also put in a new Lexus battery, plus new rear axle seals (last ones failed), and OEM Toyota brake pads all around. For future reference, mileage is 260,8xx.

I ordered a full set of skid plates from @ASFIR 4X4 and hope to have those installed before GSMTR, but that may be optimistic. Still looking forward to them. AND! I'm expecting a really cool rear bumper from @TRAIL TAILOR to arrive in the next few weeks as well. At that point, I'll have gotten pretty much everything done to the truck as far as 'building' as I'd planned to. Everything going forward will be lipstick and accessories.
 
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So the last 2 months were fun.

In July, I popped U-joints in both drive shafts and subsequently blew the front diff at the same time. It was a real pain, but ultimately turned out well. Since I was going to either need new or to rebuild my driveshafts (they broke beyond U-joints), and since I was going to need to replace a front diff.. I went ahead and got a bunch of cool toys 😁

@Wermz Hooked me up and installed all of the goodies in the last few weeks. Nitro Gear 4.88s, Eaton E-lockers front and rear, Tom Wood's double cardan driveshafts, and all buttoned up with a factory Toyota locker switch in the dash.




View attachment 2428999
View attachment 2429020
View attachment 2428996

View attachment 2428998

I'm still in the break-in period with the gears, so not much to say about them other than there doesn't seem to be any noticeable difference in driving. As in, there's no buzziness to the engine at all, no ill effects that I could find. After the break-in is done, I'll get to use the truck a bit more to see how the gears feel in acceleration from a stop. I can say that it's a lot less prone to downshift on slight hills around my area, so that's pretty cool. I'll get to test everything out for real in 2 weeks in Uwharrie for the Logan's Run trip.

We also put in a new Lexus battery, plus new rear axle seals (last ones failed), and OEM Toyota brake pads all around. For future reference, mileage is 260,8xx.

I ordered a full set of skid plates from @ASFIR 4X4 and hope to have those installed before GSMTR, but that may be optimistic. Still looking forward to them. AND! I'm expecting a really cool rear bumper from @TRAIL TAILOR to arrive in the next few weeks as well. At that point, I'll have gotten pretty much everything done to the truck as far as 'building' as I'd planned to. Everything going forward will be lipstick and accessories.
Good for you! sounds like a lot of interesting work. FUN! Let us know what you think of the plates :)
 
This is a MAJOR upgrade - congrats! Glad it worked out for you after having rotten luck of being stranded on a trip.
Now lets see if you are still getting 16+ mpg once the gears are all broken in.
 
Yesterday ended my break-in period for the gears. I'd been driving it easy for ~550 miles, letting all of the parts get to know each other. We replaced the gear oil, found exactly what we'd hoped for in it, and pumped a little extra grease into the new drive shafts and U-joints.

I did a ~200 mile highway drive yesterday and noticed some vibrations in the drive-line that I don't like. Happens only over ~60mph. Feels like it's largely during acceleration, smooths out if you stick the transmission in neutral.

I'm having my old OEM drive shafts rebuilt for spares, so maybe I'll swap them in when they're done to check that there's nothing wrong with the new ones. :meh:

Outside of that vibration, I like the extra pep from the gearing. The truck is still slow, but no longer horribly sluggish. Less prone to downshifting on hills around town. Actually pulls from a stop. No downside for higher-speed that I can tell yet.

Had some new SPC ball joints delivered as the ones in my SPC UCAs are toast. Will try to have those swapped next week.

Mileage is 261,475.
 
So the last 2 months were fun.

In July, I popped U-joints in both drive shafts and subsequently blew the front diff at the same time. It was a real pain, but ultimately turned out well. Since I was going to either need new or to rebuild my driveshafts (they broke beyond U-joints), and since I was going to need to replace a front diff.. I went ahead and got a bunch of cool toys 😁

@Wermz Hooked me up and installed all of the goodies in the last few weeks. Nitro Gear 4.88s, Eaton E-lockers front and rear, Tom Wood's double cardan driveshafts, and all buttoned up with a factory Toyota locker switch in the dash.




View attachment 2428999
View attachment 2429020
View attachment 2428996

View attachment 2428998

I'm still in the break-in period with the gears, so not much to say about them other than there doesn't seem to be any noticeable difference in driving. As in, there's no buzziness to the engine at all, no ill effects that I could find. After the break-in is done, I'll get to use the truck a bit more to see how the gears feel in acceleration from a stop. I can say that it's a lot less prone to downshift on slight hills around my area, so that's pretty cool. I'll get to test everything out for real in 2 weeks in Uwharrie for the Logan's Run trip.

We also put in a new Lexus battery, plus new rear axle seals (last ones failed), and OEM Toyota brake pads all around. For future reference, mileage is 260,8xx.

I ordered a full set of skid plates from @ASFIR 4X4 and hope to have those installed before GSMTR, but that may be optimistic. Still looking forward to them. AND! I'm expecting a really cool rear bumper from @TRAIL TAILOR to arrive in the next few weeks as well. At that point, I'll have gotten pretty much everything done to the truck as far as 'building' as I'd planned to. Everything going forward will be lipstick and accessories.
@TRAIL TAILOR has a rear bumper out?😯
 
@TRAIL TAILOR has a rear bumper out?😯

I believe he's wanting to get back in to them due to demand. Mine should be one of the first of the new production.

This morning I pulled my rear drive shaft and drove around for the afternoon. Smooth as butter! Took it up to high speed and felt none of the roughness or vibrations from before (tons of torque steer though!). I'm disappointed that the brand new shaft needs to be serviced; will call TW on Monday and see what they'll do.
 
New TW driveline-assuming you now have spicer ujoints and yokes ?
 
New TW driveline-assuming you now have spicer ujoints and yokes ?

They are not Spicer. TW sells Spicer joints in the sealed, non-serviceable flavor (at least for this application). Their serviceable joints are "Goldseal". They used a 1310 series joint. I'd have to look to see who produced the yokes. I don't see mention of it on their site.

My truck did have Spicer joints installed. They were installed about 1 year ago.
 
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