Tacos Australian Cousin (1 Viewer)

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serenity

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Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Threads
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Location
Gladstone Qld
Since there’s no Hilux section and the two vehicles share many similarities I figured I’d post my little build in here.
I have a 2016 that started life as a cab chassis, it was built with an Ironman bullbar, 2” lift and bash guards. The tray has been excellent, but now that I no longer use it for work I am switching it for a tub.
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New plans:

Front Suspension

Sway bar - custom made 22mm
Bump stops - Durobump
Cv boots - high clearance
UCA - Cal Off-road
Diff drop - Cal Offroad

Rear Suspension

Parabolic springs - Terrain Tamer
Bump stops - Durobump
U bolt flip - Durobump
Sway bar - Whiteline
Brake line extension

Bull bar - high clearance

Tub install

Repaint chassis
H
tailgate seal kit
roller shutter hard lid


Engine

Egr delete module and blank plate
Improve intake pipework
Dpf delete
Inspect
 
Started with modifying the bullbar this week. Gave it a bit of nip and tuck, so I can fit a higher clearance bash guard. These things have a woeful approach angle.
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Welded in new support strips and nuts to bolt the side plates to.
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I’ll be sending the bar in for powder coating next week while I work on the rest.
 
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Why switch to the tub? Lower deck height?
 
Why switch to the tub? Lower deck height?

A few reasons, lower tailgate height is a big one as my fiancé is short. Also with the hard lid it provides a clean, dry cargo area, I plan on building a low profile slide out tray to make access even easier.
There are a few other minor reasons as well; better fuel economy, shorter length, nicer styling, and a tailgate to sit on and drink beer.
 
So yesterday I got the tray removed and started cleaning up the rear chassis.
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Pressure washed everything then started sandblasting the rust patches. Had to give up in the afternoon as the humidity messed with my air compressor.
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Made slow progress I n between the crazy heat and humidity. I managed to get some paint on though.
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Also expanded the hole in the inner fender for my air intake. The nibbler attachment for my drill works a treat, now the metal just needs painting and covering with pinch weld.
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So the humidity finally dropped enough to finish blasting and get some more paint on.
Time to get it in the garage and start installing new parts.:bounce:
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Switched my focus to the engine bay today after getting it parked in the garage. I’m going to leave the paint on the rear to cure while I wait for a few parts to arrive.

Got the most major job under the hood completed, installed the DPF delete pipe and wiring module. Just got a few things to tidy up such as wiring clamps and an extra mount for the exhaust pipe. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll move onto the airbox and intake.

The big sooty lump is crammed in under the exhaust manifold.
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And a nice shiny straight pipe in its place.
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Good to see you back on the tools, its coming along well.
I’m getting there slowly, luckily most of the projects on my Hilux are just bolt on bits not full blown fabrication jobs. It still ends up a bit taxing at times, the DPF did a number on me yesterday and I woke up this morning with fat fingers and a sore hand and arm. Then I made it worse today, back into the compression wraps tonight.
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Today I pulled apart the intake piping to clean it all up and remove the now redundant throttle butterfly. I’d be love to remove and clean the sludge out of the intake manifold, but that is a mammoth task.
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I also started working on the pipe work between the airbox and turbo. Did a tiny bit of porting and polishing in the cast pipe before the turbo, forgot to take photos of that somehow. Then started mocking up the new aluminium elbow and silicone joins.
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Tossing up whether or not I pull out the EGR cooler and blocking it all off. It’s now redundant but is possibly leaking coolant, the expansion tank has slowly dropped and the egr to intake pipe has signs of moisture. It’s a big job though.😬
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Well I got the egr system all blanked off and sorted. Then the next problem reared it’s head, the new bushes for the rear springs don’t fit at all. Had to order another set from a different supplier, they should be here Monday.:bang:

Made progress in other areas at least. Got the intake piping finished and looking tidy.👌 (excuse the filthy filter)
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Also started fitting my new winch, a present from my awesome fiancé.:bounce:
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Back at it today, went and got replacement bushes so I could keep the job moving.

Just about got the suspension completed, parabolic springs, progressive bump stops, 11” remote res shocks and sway bar.

I’m really impressed with how much these springs droop compared to the ones that I had. I could possibly get a little more with extended shackles but they aren’t road legal here.
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Still need to figure out where to mount the reservoir, considering piggybacking them to shock body or waiting until the tub is mounted and seeing if I can find suitable spots there.
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Spent some time today playing with the sway bar position. The manufacturer designed it to go under the diff but I wanted to maintain better clearance so I’ve been working on making it fit on top.
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Decided to chop up the bracket so I can shift it forward about an inch. I’m also going to extend the arms of the bar to give myself some softer settings.
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All welded up. I gave it a decent gusset to help keep the bracket from bending.
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So I’ve had a crazy month. Picked up my first job in over 2 years, working as a labourer for a week or so. Then get a phone call from my aunt to say my grandma has days to live at most and that she can’t get a hold of my mum. That’s because my parents are camping, I live at the opposite end of the country so I call the cops and they go find my mum. I book tickets and fly down. In the middle of this I get a job offer for a permanent job. Now I’m having to put my Hilux back together in a hurry and some jobs will have to wait.

In all that I did manage to get the rear suspension completed. And install the tub.
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Kudos on the hard work. As they say, when it rains it pours.

the hilux looks really good 👍
 
Either your dog is REALLY small, or your truck is really big! :rofl:

Sorry to hear about your grandma. I lost my stepdad of 45 years last Saturday, and my dad on the following Monday. It was a s***ty couple of days...

Is your lack of work due to the “flu”? Good to hear you have a permanent prospect.

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Either your dog is REALLY small, or your truck is really big! :rofl:

Sorry to hear about your grandma. I lost my stepdad of 45 years last Saturday, and my dad on the following Monday. It was a s***ty couple of days...

Is your lack of work due to the “flu”? Good to hear you have a permanent prospect.

View attachment 2638962
Yeah my dogs are really small.😂
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The time off work was from carpal/cubital tunnel syndrome caused by the work I do.

Got the bullbar installed yesterday, new powder coat looks good.👌
Took it for its first shake down run this morning to our favourite beach, my fiancé got some photos for me.
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The dogs and the ute look great. My wife’s name is Ute (pronounced ootah) which is a common name in Scandinavia. I have many Aussie friends, and one from Brissy constantly asks me “are you still driving the Ute”. Decades later, I still find it funny. Her, not so much.
 
Here’s some close ups of the bash guards I’ve been building. I wanted everything to be smooth and seamless so I cut the upper and lower sections to slot between each other. Unfortunately I can’t get countersunk bolts in that size so I’ve kept the standard bolts.
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