Tacos Australian Cousin (1 Viewer)

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My insanely expensive Donaldson intake pre-cleaner came yesterday. So I played around with installing it this afternoon. I need to tidy up a few things but I’m fairly happy with how it’s sitting in the guard.
Hopefully my intake filters last a lot longer now, added bonus is it’s helped muffle the horrendously loud induction noise.
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Spent the last 2 weekends exploring my local area. Last weekend we went looking for some historic gold mines up in the hills. Got some superb photos thanks to my fiancé
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During the week I got the winch control box and wiring installed. I went for a stealthy install, removed the solid center section of the badge so the remote can be plugged in without lifting the hood.

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This weekend we took a track that’s renown for being boggy just for a bit of fun. Got a bit muddy but the Hilux drove it with ease. The track takes you through to an estuary with nice camping areas and good fishing.
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After that we checked out a little walking track through a paperbark swamp that is pretty impressive.
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Very cool! I love the walkway in the swamp.

I forgot how big QLD is. I thought you were further north, but there’s a lot of country between you and the tip. I’ve never been that far north in Oz, but have friends in Port Doug and would love to do a Cape York trip. Too busy now from what I’ve heard though.
 
Very cool! I love the walkway in the swamp.

I forgot how big QLD is. I thought you were further north, but there’s a lot of country between you and the tip. I’ve never been that far north in Oz, but have friends in Port Doug and would love to do a Cape York trip. Too busy now from what I’ve heard though.
It is a big place, at 6 hours north of Brisbane we are still only about 1/4 of the way up the coast. There is a lot of land when you start heading west too, I’ve seen plenty but I still have much more to explore.
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Been a bit busy with work but I’ve gotten a fair bit done in the last few weeks.
Roller shutter is installed and works well.
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Rear bumper is installed.
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New redarc tow pro brake controller installed.
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And took the family away for a weekend.
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Looking good!

There’s a big mouse under your caravan...
 
Haven’t posted in a while as I’ve been busy living and starting a new job.

I did finally get my kmc’s fitted, and my ih8mud plates, gotta have some bling in here.🤟
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Otherwise I’ve been getting out for a drive almost every weekend.
My fiancé knows to get poser shots for me.😂
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I designed a drawer for the tub and had the core components fabbed up. Started marking out and drilling the bolt holes for the slides last night. The main components are all 3mm steel, with 200kg rated slides. I’m going to tie the 2 side walls together at the back with a sheet of aluminium and tie them into the side of the tub for rigidity and to fill in with storage boxes.
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Getting back to finishing this project off. I’ve been distracted by too many other projects again. I did build new flat parking spot which is a treat.
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Got the frame bolted in using nutserts on the tub floor. Now I just need to fit out the compartments either side then pull it all back out for painting, then bolt it all back in again and line it.
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So in the area highlighted in green there is a space 280x300x1100mm. I’m hoping to fit an air compressor and tank, second battery and small water tank.
Then have air, water and power outlets in the outlined red area.
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Did a little mock up today to work out the fitment of everything.

60L water bladder on the right, battery and charge controller on the left. There’s also room there for a small water pump.
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In behind where the switch/outlet panel will be I’ve decided to cram in the air compressor. I will also cut a hole into the skin of the tub for a filtered air inlet to pressurise the tub. As the compressor will end up completely enclosed a second fan on the opposite side of its enclosure should help keep it cool while it’s running.
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I haven’t achieved much over the Christmas period. Not surprised really.

I did fabricate an exhaust mount for the dpf delete pipe. The manufacturer of the pipe didn’t include one to replace the ones removed with the dpf, which left the exhaust unsupported from the turbo back to the muffler. Cut the main piece from C channel with an 8mm web and 12mm flange then the gusset from 12mm plate. Sand blasted pre-heated before welding and post weld heat treated before being buried in lime for a slow cool down. I went overkill.
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And recently my new front coilovers arrived. I have some other work that needs to be done to fit them as I want to run eibach coils, so I will have to find time to machine custom top hats and spring seats to suit. I’m also going to switch to a UCA with less caster correction and install Durobump bump stops.
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Machined the lower spring seats for the 2.5 id springs this week, turned down from some 4140 bar. Once the top hats are done I’ll send it all off to be EDP coated.

I also started machining stainless sleeves for a bush set to be installed in my UCA. I have a length of Nylatron GSM (molybdenum impregnated nylon) bar being delivered that I will use to form the bushes.

I plan machining one end short to push the UCA forward to reduce the caster correction and increase clearance for 33s.
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Got the sleeves done after work today.
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And a photo of how the spring seats fit on my coilovers. The springs arrive tomorrow so I’ll have to get moving with the machining work.
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Bad news is I crunched the tub, I’m looking at going back to a tray now. 🤦🏻‍♂️
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Had a fun drive out on the local trails yesterday, and returned with evidence.😬😂

My wheels are too wide for my old tyres, time to order some 285s.
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However my nylon and new springs arrived so I’d better get to work.
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More machining done this arvo. Got the 4 thrust washers made, took some measurements and cut the sleeves to their final sizes. I just have to do the nylon now, which means grinding some tools to suit.
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I’ve also cleaned off the chassis including scraping off as much of the factory weld spatter as possible and thrown some primer on it. It will get some satin black same as the rear end before it all goes back together.
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Got the first nylon bush machined today, had to grind the correct geometry tool for the job. It took some maths and a crappy drawing to figure out the dimensions. Hopefully these experimental bushes perform, there is a ton of work involved in getting this done.
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Got the arms re-installed last Thursday night and a wheel alignment done Friday.
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Then left on Saturday morning for a little holiday, a 1500km round trip.
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Since I’ve been back I’ve thrown the middle bash plate in the mill and machined out a relief for the sway bar, as it was rubbing. Unfortunately the radius tool crapped out and made it a bit ugly so I had to clean it up with a die grinder. Here it is minus the sway bar.
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