"The word unblowupable is thrown around a lot these days"
Homer Simpson said it first, and I fully endorse the spirit if not the letter of the statement.
I've sort of lost a bit of track on what order everything happened in. Partly because it was a few months back now, and partly because at any one time I was working on about ten little projects. It's not the best way to do things always, but it's how I get through.
That being said, the rest of the build story may be a bit choppy as I just try to get everything down and in some correct order. If you have any questions about anything in particular, let me know.
PART 6:
Using the list from Part 5, let's see how much we've progressed as we come into the final few weeks.
OBA -What started out as a plan to use a factory Toyota A/C compressor, ended up with 12v ViAir unit going in. I had all the airlines and my airtank, a few fistfulls of fittings, and though it never got installed, I have the plans and valves for a type 12 maxi brake(air/spring brake) I'm going to be using it as my Parking brake. So it will be a hand valve controlled Parking brake. Spring on/Air off. Good luck stealing my truck.
Ultimately, I need a bit bigger tank to run stuff for longer, but the ViAir is 100% duty cycle. I've had it running for about 30 min straight with no probs. I only have a small piece of coiled plastic hose that mounts to the only quick connect under
the hood, but it reaches my rear tires, and it's regulated, so it's good enough for now.
get 2 more tires(spares) -Sounds easy enough, and depending on shipping etc... I may have been able to find a better deal on something online, but I looked everywhere locally for a couple of BFG M/T's used as spares. The deal I got for the first 4 was great, but it was only 4 and I needed 2 more. Finally with 2 weeks remaining I got a line on the last couple of km's(vs. km2?) in Canada and they got shipped, mounted, balanced and they even swapped my old ones around so the worst 2 were coming off to become spares and new ones went on the back. All in $500.
So our 3k has now become 3500. This is where a person starts to go "$3500? could have bought a "XXXXXXX" for that!" Well I didn't and here we are.
finish bumpers(front/rear) -As the pics have shown, bumper progress was slow at best. Partly because of school, partly because I kept changing my plan, partly because I'm a bit lazy. But in the weekend leading up to departure, it was because I ran out of welding gas. Well to be frank, it had been one of those months. 2 weeks earlier I had run out of wire on a weekend as well. A big spool no less! So with miscellaneous delays out of the way, and having a spare tire now that could be mounted on the back I plugged away with the swingout and side pieces to the rear bumper. We left on June 25th and I put on my last welds on the 23rd, didn't even get a chance to clean and paint.
I didn't get to complete the front one either, but got most done as far as having the winch securely mounted, but needed something better for the signals than zap-straps, and wanted a little bit of brush protection. So a couple of 1.25" pieces of tube got cut and fitted and when I came home on Monday the 23rd with gas, they became part of the truck, and welded the stock signal mounts to the tubing. also unpainted.
wire winch -Wiring sort of got left till the end. So much so that a day before we left I was wiring the winch to the solenoids that had been mounted on a cool little piece of Aluminum treadplate under the hood(see pic) it matches the piece I cut for my rear tailgate. I never actually got the ground cable to mount, so jumper cables where there if winching was required.
configure storage -"Configure" isn't really the right word. Since the drawer wasn't happening, it basically became "where do I pack everything." Besides the two of us and the dog, we had a 35l 12v cooler(best thing ever!), 2 large 114l rubbermaid bins(one for camping stuff/one for recovery stuff), our tent, the 2nd spare tire, 2 backpacks, a couple of smaller rubbermaids(20l?) and miscellaneous blankets, pillows, shoes and other small stuff that jams into places easily enough. I always liked the idea of drawers for the stuff you need that is under all the other stuff. We hoped that we just plain wouldn't need anything in the recovery dep't, so we packed it basically in the middle of the storage area with stuff we needed more access to in front or behind. Configure really had just become, getting it all in. The truck was filled to the brim, but we had avoided anything on the roof(higher COG, less aerodynamic)
install seats -Nothing new or fancy, but I had gotten a set of SR5 seats out of a newer Runner and the old ones were torn and very uncomfortable. 7000km, we were gonna need a bit of padding.
install cam -Way back in January when I had ordered a bunch of my front axle parts, I had also put in an order to ENGNBLDR for an RV cam and some fresh bearings. The bearings went in, but for some reason I held off on the cam. And well, I'm back from the trip and it still hasn't gone in. By the time I remembered it, it was getting too close to departure date and didn't want to mess with the engine internally since it was running great. Cam would have to wait.
front driveshaft -Obviously with 5" of lift, and me not afraid of launching off speedbumps, there were problems with the stock driveshaft. Last runner I had, I used the stock one with about the same lift, but this time I had made my own springs which had pushed the axle about 1" forward. Well more really, about 1 3/4", but I also made axle relocation plates to balance the height l/r, and to move the axle 3/4" back. So with the 1" forward of stock the driveshaft no longer worked. Some go square, some go to a pro. Me, I grabbed a big chunk of 2.5" sched 40 and just replaced the thin walled tubing of the stock one with a longer length of the pipe. It's a tough job, and I new it wouldn't be balanced, but by rolling it along a flat concrete surface with a straight edge and calipers, I got really damn close. I found it helped to put the pipe in the oven at full for an hour or so, and the 2 ends in the freezer. They slid on, and as they matched temps, they snugged up as I was lining everything up, so that when i was ready to weld, they were held in place.
T-case skidplate -Take one large piece of 5/16 steel, bend to match the upper side of a stock X-Member. Drill holes. Leave in driveway for months putting it off and then deciding to not put it on. Can't really explain that one, it looks great, it's big, I just decided not to put it on. There you have it.
sliders -I was gonna order a set, since they are pretty cheep these days. But then I had built both my bumpers, and figured I could do the same for sliders. Except I didn't, so, no sliders. They will definately be added soon, just not for that trip.
windshield -The windshield was a problem from the get-go. The stock one had a small crack in it, but more importantyl was rusted all the way around and would leak like crazy every time it rained. I decided one day to pull it and put in one from a wrecker. In pulling the old one, it cracked further. I cleaned out the area around and went to town welding the heck out of all the holes, about 50 pinholes and 12 bigger ones. Unfortunately when I went to install the new one, it cracked. Only about 4" on the pass. side, so whatever. It was probably gonna get cracked anyway on the trip as I've heard nightmare windshield stories from up that way.
finish front suspension(7th leaf &caster shims) -As I mentioned, before, the 6 leaf was a bit soft, so I had already cut the 7th leaf. I had been waiting on caster shims from the local spring shop for the fronts and they arrived Friday the 20th. SO when I ran out of welding gas, I figured perfect time to install new leaf and shims and button up the front suspension. So I did, only to find that now my U-Bolts were too short.
OK, so let's recap. It's the last weekend before the trip. I have a bunch of welding to do and no gas to do it with. I can't even drive anywhere because it would involve removing the 7th leaf and caster shim to allow the old ubolts to fit. So the wekend was really a "get ready for Monday" weekend.
finish wiring/plumbing all switches and gauges -So as you've just read, I had my weekend open up a bit and used that time to finish plumbing in the gauges and switches etc... All in all, there was the armrest panel that was all wired on the panel side, but only half so on the other ends of things. Pretty much the same thing went for the dash mounted gauges. I have a switch going from the armrest panel to the fuel pump, one goes to the 2 way winch switch also on the panel. The winch came with no remote, so this is how I did it, I wheel alone a lot so it works. The third switch was already in use as the arming switch for the push-button start that's located there as well. Best part is, I've reversed some of the switches, so on isn't always the same way. One more step in stopping a truck-thief. The two factory switches for the rear wiper and window had already been moved to the spots(unused) above the stereo opening. This was done to make room for the custom panel that was going in front of the armrest.
So a lot of plumbing went on throughout the weekend. I decide to move the CPU's temp sensor from the thermostat housing to down on the driver side of the block near the back. Anyone know what that spot is meant for? Every 22re I've seen has a plug screwd into it, with another sort of plug threaded into that. Anyhow, had to clean out a lot of crap that was in there, but eventually I reached coolant so decided the sensor could go there, and I'd mount the one for my new gauge in the thermo housing. For the oil pressure, I found a small pipe plug inside the engine mount on the pass side. Voltage went right to the battery.
make some rear inner panels -I had mentioned at the beginning about the truck being near the ocean and under cedars and having a leaky windshield. So, well the inside was prett rotten. When I first got the truck I had pulled seats carpets and all the panels. Carpets were cleaned seats were replaced originally for 10 set of truck seats that sortof worked. I'm still in need of a driver door panel. The rear panels I decided to replace with 3/8" plywood, paint it black and even install the factory seatbelt trim and cubbys. It turned out this would also be a good way to mount some speakers in the back. Though I wouldn't know that until 2 days prior to leaving. Panels turned out ok, some fastener replacement has gone on (bigger hex-head self-tapping screws). Left two square openings at the rear where the factory jack and tools go. still no doors on em.
install cd player and speakers(currently nothing) -Well, I've already alluded to this, so on the second to last day I decided to pull the CD player out of the GF's Civic and throw it in the truck. 7000km, we'd want music, I was sure of it. When I moved the two window switches to the spots above the stereo opening, there was no stereo,nor did I think to take a future stereo into account. Not a whole lot of space back there. Anyways, I shoe-horned it in there, wired up 2 2-way speakers for the rear panels. I had those speakers already, and there were no factory fronts so install was limited. 2 speakers, one cd player(mp3 compatible) couple hours later and whamo, truck has music for the first time since I'd owned it.
change driveline fluids -OK, that was just sortof a broad heading. As far as oil goes, I use Mobil synthetic, it had been done about 2k prior so I decided to ride it out for the trip, spun on a new filter and brought another anyway. The rings and pistons are old and she uses a bit of oil, so figured I'd add a litre at the turnaround point and we'd be good. Diffs had both been filled new when axles had gone back in, so they were good. Tranny and T-case were both done about 6 months prior, so they got the nod. Oh and since both the heater core and rad had gone after the HG & timing chain nightmares, the coolant was all pretty new and it too remained untouched. Brake fluid had all been completely replaced when the MC/Booster and LC/IFS brake upgrade had been done back in January, as well as the Clutch MC/slave going on me in the previous fall, leaving me with all new clutch fluid. SO, with everything getting the greenlight, I topped up my PS fluid and closed the hood!
I'm sure there's a few more things that I'll think of. All tolled it really didn't turn out to be too much of an "expedition" build. About $5000CAD was spent on the truck since day one, including the cost of the truck. Again, could have just bought a"XXXXXX", but I didn't, and now I have an 85 Runner, that I know inside and out, it's 50% new, and the other half has aged well. I still have a bunch of stuff to sell or trade that will ultimately bring down my figure to $4500, add that to the $3k for trip and I get an amazing trip with a kick-ass souvenir!
Part 7 will begin with day 1 of 17. Man could we have used another week, but this was a roadtrip and that means covering km's. If we'd had another week I'd have liked to stay in a few places longer.
