Builds Truckasaurus - linuxgod's Build Thread (12 Viewers)

[linuxgod]

Fridge platform, cage, fridge, and battery went in this weekend. Battery is a Bluetti power station I picked up for $300 off eBay “refurbished”. No complaints except I didn’t realize this model doesn’t work with their Bluetooth app.

I’m not real happy with the molle panels I bought from Grey Man Tactical… they’re nice and would be fine hanging in a wall, but I didn’t realize they weren’t metal when I purchased and they flex more than I want (and rattle a bit over washboard city potholed streets). I will likely custom order some steel powder coated panels at some point but since I have <4 weeks until cruise Moab these will have to do.

 

[grinchy]

Fridge platform, cage, fridge, and battery went in this weekend. Battery is a Bluetti power station I picked up for $300 off eBay “refurbished”. No complaints except I didn’t realize this model doesn’t work with their Bluetooth app.

I’m not real happy with the molle panels I bought from Grey Man Tactical… they’re nice and would be fine hanging in a wall, but I didn’t realize they weren’t metal when I purchased and they flex more than I want (and rattle a bit over washboard city potholed streets). I will likely custom order some steel powder coated panels at some point but since I have <4 weeks until cruise Moab these will have to do.

View attachment 3584976

Love the idea of hard mounting the panels vertically and horizontally to make a box. Way better idea than the stand alone cube I'd did in my first fridge cage adventure.

For cheap metal Molle stuff consider something like this

 

[FrazzledHunter]

You're gonna love not needing ice.

 

[linuxgod]

Love the idea of hard mounting the panels vertically and horizontally to make a box. Way better idea than the stand alone cube I'd did in my first fridge cage adventure.

For cheap metal Molle stuff consider something like this

That’s an interesting idea and might work. I don’t need molle panels per se, just something reasonably rigid. Mounting them together might be the only challenge

 

[linuxgod]

You're gonna love not needing ice.

Yeah. So far the only thing I really don’t love was the effort to mount everything in the truck. I’ll probably run like this for the summer and pull it out in the fall once camping season is over. When it was just the cargo dividers I could remove or install in about 5 min, but the fridge platform is 20+ min of effort to install or remove.

 

[tincan45]

Fridge platform, cage, fridge, and battery went in this weekend. Battery is a Bluetti power station I picked up for $300 off eBay “refurbished”. No complaints except I didn’t realize this model doesn’t work with their Bluetooth app.

I’m not real happy with the molle panels I bought from Grey Man Tactical… they’re nice and would be fine hanging in a wall, but I didn’t realize they weren’t metal when I purchased and they flex more than I want (and rattle a bit over washboard city potholed streets). I will likely custom order some steel powder coated panels at some point but since I have <4 weeks until cruise Moab these will have to do.

View attachment 3584976

Love this setup! Very practical.

 

[wiseinvestor]

Yeah. So far the only thing I really don’t love was the effort to mount everything in the truck. I’ll probably run like this for the summer and pull it out in the fall once camping season is over. When it was just the cargo dividers I could remove or install in about 5 min, but the fridge platform is 20+ min of effort to install or remove.

Looks great.

 

[UPR LC]

Fridge platform, cage, fridge, and battery went in this weekend. Battery is a Bluetti power station I picked up for $300 off eBay “refurbished”. No complaints except I didn’t realize this model doesn’t work with their Bluetooth app.

I’m not real happy with the molle panels I bought from Grey Man Tactical… they’re nice and would be fine hanging in a wall, but I didn’t realize they weren’t metal when I purchased and they flex more than I want (and rattle a bit over washboard city potholed streets). I will likely custom order some steel powder coated panels at some point but since I have <4 weeks until cruise Moab these will have to do.

In the meantime, can you install some aluminum angle or square tubing to act as supports / stiffeners for the panels? You could drill and bolt the panels to the angle in several locations to minimize the flex and noise.

 

[linuxgod]

In the meantime, can you install some aluminum angle or square tubing to act as supports / stiffeners for the panels? You could drill and bolt the panels to the angle in several locations to minimize the flex and noise.

Possibly. It really needs a C-channel frame, but yeah I thought a bit about that. Probably need to put some padding between the metal and panels though. Right now I have the connecting points attached with L-angle aluminum and the panels are bolted to that, but even a little vibration in that seems to make noise, I think. It's hard to tell precisely where since all of it has a bit of flex and it takes a level of vibration I can't create when parked to really get annoying.

 

[linuxgod]

Today’s projects:

- Trail Tailor RLCA skids installed
- Bud Built rear shock guards installed
- BP51 rear rock guards removed, as one has lost the plastic retaining clips and was just flopping around.
- Dr KDSS panhard rod/track bar relo bracket installed
- Asfir transfer case skid smashed with a BFH a few times to straighten it
- Installed two self tapping bolts for my sliders as apparently I’d taken one bolt off each side
- Leveled my radar sensor, pointing it slightly downward. I had a radar sensor failure last summer that kept appearing when I was towing through Canada, and I think it was because the sensor was pointing a bit too high.
- Ran a new ham antenna wire. I need to take a drive and see if APRS is working now but the weather broadcast from the Sears tower 13 miles away went from struggling to pick up to a solid signal even at full squelch so I think it’ll likely work now
- Noticed the locker wiring grommet might be seeping. Didn’t get a chance yet but I intend to hit it with degreaser and see what reappears.

 

[wiseinvestor]

Impressions after installing panhard rod/track bar relo bracket?

 

[linuxgod]

Impressions after installing panhard rod/track bar relo bracket?

I posted in the DR KDSS thread but it made a noticeable difference. My rear end wobble wasn't terrible previously but it was definitely there. It's 98% gone. That's testing over those gradual speed bumps that are designed to hit at ~20mph where I used to feel the wiggle. So that's nice. Whether it has any actual bearing on performance otherwise I can't say, but I do appreciate less sway in that case (since there are dozens of speed bumps around me) and I assume if it's helping there it probably helps in other ways too.

FWIW my alley is full of potholes and I feel like there's less rocking of the truck as I bounce around through them. That might be the case, or I might just be imaging it, as the truck is still 7000# of mass with a single wheel dropping into them. It's not like the ride is smooth as butter over the mess which is a Chicago-area street so it's not going to turn an OME Nitro lifted truck into a 3-stage King racing suspension setup, but it won't hurt either.

 

[wiseinvestor]

I posted in the DR KDSS thread but it made a noticeable difference. My rear end wobble wasn't terrible previously but it was definitely there. It's 98% gone.

Sry I should have checked there first. I'm glad to hear it made a difference. Appreciate the feedback.

 

[lbcadvntr]

As much as I like wheeling with others, most of my exploration is alone with just our family. After doing some muddy forest trails in the woods of Michigan's upper peninsula in early 2018, I decided a winch was in order. I knew I wanted a bumper with bull bar, but I really didn't like how far the ARB bumpers stuck out. CBI had a nice one-off but wasn't doing mass manufacturing, and I liked the TJM but it's very heavy. Again Jason at Trail Tailor came through with a new-ish design that he modified a bit to meet my need.

View attachment 2664046

For the winch I snagged a Warn VR-12S on sale. I don't plan on using it every day and the Warn VR series seemed like a good compromise between an expensive Warn Zeon and a cheap Smittybilt.

To get "DOT Approved" fog lights, I ended up swapping the mounting bracket for the non-SAE fogs with the lens/body of the SAE fog lights. They are WAY better than the Toyota factory fog lights, and still retain the proper cut-off to avoid blinding drivers. The TT bumper has a very slight angle on the front which when combined with the SAE cutoff helps aim these perfectly.

I went with the PIAA LED driving lights because of their SAE approval as well, though in hindsight I should've just bought ARB something as IMO these are OK but not significantly better than the factory high beams.

I got to try out the winch a month later at the next LCDC

Great looking bumper. I went to TT site and it doesn't look like they ever started mass producing these.
From this angle it looks like a complete front bumper replacement. did you just pull the oem bumper off (intact) and store it in garage?

 

[linuxgod]

Yes it's a complete replacement. I didn't keep my old one... My truck is modified enough I'm not going back to stock.

I think TT still makes them but if you want a front or rear you need to call and discuss with Jason, they're not mass-produced.

 

[lbcadvntr]

Yes it's a complete replacement. I didn't keep my old one... My truck is modified enough I'm not going back to stock.

I think TT still makes them but if you want a front or rear you need to call and discuss with Jason, they're not mass-produced.

that's nice. do you hvae

Yes it's a complete replacement. I didn't keep my old one... My truck is modified enough I'm not going back to stock.

I think TT still makes them but if you want a front or rear you need to call and discuss with Jason, they're not mass-produced.

I thought i read that yours was the first LC200 bumper TT made.
Do you know of others that have ordered TT front bumpers since, and if TT made adjustments to close those gaps (front quarter panels and headlights) i saw in your photo album.

 

[linuxgod]

that's nice. do you hvae

I thought i read that yours was the first LC200 bumper TT made.
Do you know of others that have ordered TT front bumpers since, and if TT made adjustments to close those gaps (front quarter panels and headlights) i saw in your photo album.

Not the first, but maybe one of the first dozen?

You don't want to close the gaps. The body shakes at a different rate than the frame. If you don't have an inch of gap the bumper which mounts to the frame (unlike the plastic factory one) will shake into the body and headlights and damage them.

 

[lbcadvntr]

Not the first, but maybe one of the first dozen?

You don't want to close the gaps. The body shakes at a different rate than the frame. If you don't have an inch of gap the bumper which mounts to the frame (unlike the plastic factory one) will shake into the body and headlights and damage them.

oh really. is that unique to this one since it's a total replacement of stock bumper?
are all the aftermarket bumpers that include cutting part of stock bumper require that gap? is the gap "closed" with rubber lining that can address the shaking you are referring to?

 

[linuxgod]

oh really. is that unique to this one since it's a total replacement of stock bumper?
are all the aftermarket bumpers that include cutting part of stock bumper require that gap? is the gap "closed" with rubber lining that can address the shaking you are referring to?

Any full replacement will have the same issue/need for clearance. Typically folks use rubber bulb-style insulation to cover the gap if there is one. I haven't looked that closely at other vendors to see if they've managed to keep the gap but hide it a bit better? When I purchased my bumper I think there were only a few options out there (ARB, TJM, Ironman, Trail Tailor, and maybe one or two more.... I think CBI had done one custom bumper but wasn't mass-producing, and Dissent was still in "beta").

A number of the bumpers involve cutting the plastic since the plastic can fit closer to the bumper because it will flex if there is contact.

 

[lbcadvntr]

Any full replacement will have the same issue/need for clearance. Typically folks use rubber bulb-style insulation to cover the gap if there is one. I haven't looked that closely at other vendors to see if they've managed to keep the gap but hide it a bit better? When I purchased my bumper I think there were only a few options out there (ARB, TJM, Ironman, Trail Tailor, and maybe one or two more.... I think CBI had done one custom bumper but wasn't mass-producing, and Dissent was still in "beta").

A number of the bumpers involve cutting the plastic since the plastic can fit closer to the bumper because it will flex if there is contact.

Personally I prefer no to cut the stock bumper n instead do a full replacement. My searches came back empty got the full replacement bumpers so I got excited when I saw yours. Do u know of other companies that do full replacements?