Troopy

[decoco]

Back in the shop again! Have the steering shaft sorted with a perfect u joint from borgenson that goes onto Toyota steering boxes. This then connects to a double D steering shaft and another u joint at the column. Much better than my older version. View attachment 2642993View attachment 2642994View attachment 2642995
View attachment 2642996

every time I look at this thing.. I'm amazed. this is so cool!

 

[arnott1t]

ok a long awaited update after only 4 year.....

Troopy is back on the road and driving the streets of Calgary and the surrounding area... Over the last 3.9 years we:

• had a kid
• changed jobs
• sold our acreage
• lived in a motorhome
• bought a farm
• cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned
• bought animals
• played farmer

In the last 0.1 years we:

• Pulled troopy into shop
• Revived his 8-year-old AGM batteries that sat dead for 2.5 years. They were at 1V each when I pulled them. Watch the project farm YouTube video on reviving, and you'll get the idea. I used a 24V charge on one battery at a time.... it would sit at 28-29V for 3-4 hours, then start dropping as it took charge.... eventually it would fall to 9-10V and slowly start creeping back up. They came back to each having 1000 amps of cranking power by my older battery tester, though, so I'm still very happy. With a 430 dollar replacement price tag, I'll milk these as long as I can
• Installed the rear third assemblies. The factory 14 bolt was narrowed and shaved already but I'd never put the gears back in. It came with a "gov lock" limited slip. These need a turn or two of slip before grabbing and can break under shock loading.... who would drive like that though..... I opted to go for a tired and true Detroit locker. This meant I also needed a factory open carrier as the Detroit lives within it. Those parts were already previously ordered and still waiting to be installed. I lost some hardware I the move but managed to scrounge everything up and get it put together. It went well. I can see why @Behemoth60 likes these 14 bolts so much. Very easy to work on, very big and seems to be very strong. The narrowed version is right at 63" WMS-WMS which is about the same as an 80 rear. I also installed my high angle driveline companion flange on the pinion. this lets me use toyota drive shafts to connect to the 14 bolt. Cook piece of kit... I messed up and didn't realize the pinion flange has a speedy seal-like sleeve that needs to be fitted onto it for oil sealing.. I stole the old one off and all was well.
• Mounted front fenders. I'm pleased with some adjustable mounts I built that are welded to the shock towers. These let me move the fenders in and out 3" with one 3/8" bolt and they seem rock solids so far. Bonus points for easy removal for service work on the engine. In 20 mins I could have the entire front clip forward of the firewall removed on this thing. That will be a nice feature in the future. Also, to pull them for hard-core crawling in Moab or other places is a cinch.
• Reworked rear wheel tubs. With the rear shock towers now poking well into the rear cargo area, some modifications to the rear wheel wells were required. We built large steel boxes with angle iron and skinned them in 16 gauge to contain the towers and the tire area. I made these as high as the roofline split to the tub so that in the future, if I go to 40" tires, I won't need to change them again. These are teck screwed in but likely with being rivnuts the next time they come out for a little better seal. All seams are sealed and weather-stripped to keep out the weather. I still need to add a cross-bar support for the rear towers that will pass through these, but that is coming.... someday.
• Rewired a bunch. After sitting a long time and needing to remount some aux fuse panels a bunch of wiring was redone and cleaned up.. I used the term cleaned very loosely.
• Rear Captains chair. A 2nd row seat from a tahoe was added to the back for our kid. It's pretty slick and has the link points for the car seat to click into.

More to follow

 

[arnott1t]

First time running in a long time

Empty 14 bolt waiting for parts.... I guess its a 15 bolt after its shaved...

Pattern looks good enough for me

Detroit install

Rear D shaft line up geat when narrowed.

 

[arnott1t]

Front fenders on wide mode... but not the widest.

The Strut material we used for mounts. One slides in the other....

Fenders are on!

 

[arnott1t]

 

[arnott1t]

 

[arnott1t]

Today Troopy got a new set of gauges I bought a long time ago. I had ordered a Dakota Digital setup a long time ago. Finally got it in today. What a treat these gauges are. They work… a big plus compared to the old ones. Bright… work at night… have an app to connect to them and set them up. Just really nice and well put together.