Builds The "Red Rocket" Troopy (5 Viewers)
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Pura Vida
What an absolute noob
quite unusual for western north Carolina though
True.... I guess they don't drive that far up north usually.
I haven't seen it for a few years but one of the Toyota suppliers (Metalsa) would have a Mexican plated Hilux parked outside. The irony of a Hilux parked at the Tundra/Tacoma plant.
A lot of the upper management of Metalsa are from Monterrey MX and reside in San Antonio I believe.
You could remove the Hilux emblem and slap a TRD decal on the back and the vast majority of folks would think it’s a Tacoma anyway. 
Just remember... without those guys there wouldn't be some amazing cars and builds out there.@theglobb ….”The guy dropped that he paid 207k for it... wow, just wow. Sadly, I knew 100x more about it than he did, just a really loaded guy with a cool car. Hopefully, he may turn into a cruiser head” …….
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There will always be those guys that spend money simply because they can while others enjoy the attention which I guess is highly beneficial to the shops that build and sell unique vehicles.
If I won the Powerball... You know I'd support the Mud vendors much more.
Pura Vida
What an absolute noob
Id do both
It's winning the PB that's the hard part. The other is a given.
- Thread starter
- #489
It's getting colder and colder up here, Just hit 35f this morning, yet whenever I go to start up the troopy the 3B starts right up with only one cycle of the glow plugs. My water temp is staying more and more under control as it gets colder up here, still need to figure out an intercooler setup and maybe mix match some 1hdt fan/fan clutch onto this at some point to keep the temps in more control for my possible trip to Montana next summer in it. It's been hauling all of my friends wherever we want to go, I'm sleeping in the back whenever we go camping, all-around great... well except for the speed but I was expecting that with taking a 3B troopy to the mountains. Also never really have to use the brakes when descending, just put her in some gear and it engine breaks all the way down, however, 3rd gear when it's engine braking only in the higher RPM ranges sounds pretty harsh at times. Don't know too much about the internals of the h55 or what would cause a certain gear to wine at high RPMs while only engine breaking, guessing some bearing is worn. Regardless here are some pics of the troopy as everyone probably wants.
- Thread starter
- #490
A few more pics of the Red Rocket along the Blue Ridge Parkway
On the transmission and downshifting for braking:. There's nothing wrong with downshifting into a lower gear to control your speed when descending a hill instead of riding the brakes. Downshifting through the gears to slow down to a stop instead of using the brakes puts a lot of wear on your transmission. Think about how much your troopy slows down suddenly when you downshift. The deceleration puts more force on the transmission then acceleration when you floor your gas pedal, this force is also in exactly the opposite direction of the forces normally on the transmission components....... I used to have a 81 Toyota pickup with 160,000 MI one trip across the mountains where I was downshifting it driving it like a sports car and the transmission started ticking and I had to get it rebuilt. My 81 Isuzu diesel pickup that was owned by my father the transmission went out at 150,000 MI which I mostly blame on the fact that my father would downshift it through the gears to decelerate every single time he slowed down in his words "to save the brake pads". Every time you shift those gears it puts a little wear on transmission components. Downshifting through the gears to decelerate for every single time you accelerate through the gears, doubles your number of shifts and cut short the life of your transmission for no good reason. Brake pads are a lot cheaper.
Again this does not apply to simply shifting to a lower gear when descending the mountain to keep from overheating the brakes by riding them all the way down.
I think the biggest help with the 2H-T I did to combat overheating was get a custom radiator made, I had a radiator built that was two inches longer on the bottom. What sides are your water inlet/outlet ? I had the shop modify the inlet too. Mine has inlet/outlet on the same side, right side, so not a very efficient design.
Man I love the Appalachian fall colors... beautiful!
FJBen
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #495
Noted, thanks for all the info. Luckily for the troopy or any manual, I've driven... I always suspected that constantly engine braking when slowing down would just wear the transmission a lot and wear the clutch as well. Up here, I'll just stick her in 4th or 3rd while I smell brakes burning from everyone else in front of me that doesn't know to engine brake.
I'll check later, don't remember outlet and inlet by memory. Money Money Money
Soooooooooo... get the original fully rebuilt or get a custom one? Assuming having it rebuilt would be cheaper which is my main concern, unless a custom rad would make a substantial difference vs a fully rebuilt OEM one.
FJBen
SILVER Star
I had my original rebuilt and I think a great solution because Toyota makes great radiators. If it's able to be rebuilt then do that. I had mine repaired when I first rebuilt the engine but it started leaking 2ish years later. At that point I had to have the whole thing rebuilt with a new core. I went with a high efficiency 3 core which they said was more efficient than a regular 4 core. It was pricey at an old school radiator place, but so far it's been really good and I hope I don't have to worry about it for a loooong time.
You might be able to get a good custom aluminum one, but the "good" ones are usually pretty damn pricey.
A good start would be to just get it pulled, cleaned and maybe rodded out at a good radiator shop. Thats probably all it needs if it's not leaking. Will save a bunch of money.
Just remember that Bein turbo’s you are adding in extra heat, which you most likely already know 
An acid flush at a radiator shop can help but as old as your radiator is assuming it's original it's time to record or replace. You can do a DIY acid flush with muriatic acid. Poor little in let it sit till it smokes a bit and then rinse it out. Repeat this process until the liquid you rinse out is clean. Please wear gloves and safety glasses.
You can buy a made overseas replacement aluminum radiator the same size and shape in inlet and outlet as the original but you will have to drill holes in the flanges on the side and make your own mounting brackets. I paid $140 for my radiator this way and have had good luck so far...... Plenty others have not..... I welded aluminum yesterday with a spool gun connected to my MIG welder. If I had known how easy this was I would have done it years ago. Welding some aluminum brackets onto the side of the radiator to mount it would be a lot easier than the sheet metal screws and bent steel bar stock I'm using for brackets.......
- Thread starter
- #500
Also forgot to mention previously that I replaced rear axle seals and bearings when I was able to go home for a bit. We had heard one of the rear bearings start to whine back in Yellowstone and get significantly worse after being stuck in a mud pit in the Badlands for 6 hours... haven't gotten to that story yet in my Cross Country thread haha. I'm the only troopy I've seen on here with a semi float instead of a full floater, guess I got the base of the base model lol, nonetheless a troopy is a troopy.
(I cleaned the inside of the drums up after this photo)
Never done it before, all of the differential bits just slipped out when I pull the C clips off, scared me for a bit
And a pic of the Badlands aftermath... that clay/mud stuff is nasty
(I cleaned the inside of the drums up after this photo)
Never done it before, all of the differential bits just slipped out when I pull the C clips off, scared me for a bit
Awesome, thank you always for all the useful info. Will try to get this done during winter break.
Thanks for a view into the cheaper side of things for fixing it. might give that DIY acid flush a try
Nope, think I just need an arm since one is seized up. $50 bucks I need to save for other stuff right now. U will know its fixed whenever I start posting drone shots up here. Would've been very nice for the changing colors tho...@theglobb …. Did you get the drone airworthy again?
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