Hodakaguy's Overland Tacoma Builds - FWC Combo

[Hodakaguy]

4:30 am on Sunday...time to get back to work.
Routed the ARB air tubing down to the front diff following the breather lines. Will be installing the compressor soon.

Getting ready to re-install the front axles. I pulled my fathers axles while they are still assembled to the spindles, this turned out to be a huge time saver and made re-installation a breeze. Not sure why I didn't do it this way on my Truck, oh well the second time always goes easier and faster

Seal greased and the inside carrier/splines lubed with fresh gear oil

Front drive line re-installed and torqued to spec.

Fresh gear oil applied to the axle shaft. The red arrow is pointing at the clip that locks the axle in place, during installation you want this clip facing upwards to it doesn't hang down and stop the axle from sliding into the carrier. (Clip is upside down in this pic).

Lower two bolts loosely fit on the spindle and holding the axle in place.

Getting ready to seat the axle/internal clip into place. The red arrow is pointing to the machined lips where I'll rest the brass drift to drive the axle in.

Using a brass drift to seat the axles, a couple hits and the axle pops into place.

Drivers side completely assembled and torqued (Minus the UCA Bolt) with new SS Brake line installed, no pics but the passenger side was assembled right after this pic.

Installing SDHQ ABS sensor guards, should do a decent job at protecting the vulnerable wiring connectors. Red arrow pointing to the passenger side front ABS Connector.

SDHQ Guards, very well built and finished.

And installed on the truck.

Managed to get a cut on my thumb in the middle of all this on a sharp thread, couldn't be bothered to walk to the house so had to improvise

New Tires/Wheels installed and brakes bled.

Off the jacks and back on the wheels.

After bouncing on the suspension several times it's time to torque the upper control arms and rear spring perch bolts. Greased the UCA's before final torque then re-installed the rear splash aprons.

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[Hodakaguy]

Continued from above...

My father setting the tire pressure to 30 psi, we will do a chalk test to find the proper inflation pressure for these tires but I'm betting this will be close.

Adding gear oil to both diffs.

Out for a quick test drive to test all systems and get the first heat cycle on the gears. 20 minutes of driving total to allow the diff to heat up then will let it completely cool down again at home. All systems performed perfectly, no vibration issues, no codes, 4WH, 4WL and Rear Locker all working perfectly. Now to get the truck aligned and start getting some easy break in miles on the gears. Stopped here for a quick photo shoot as we hit a gravel road to try out the 4WD system.

My fathers truck next to mine...twins! You can see my suspension has settled about an inch in the 500 miles that I've put on my truck since installing the kit, my fathers will settle out the same. Once the additional weight of the sliders, front bumper/winch get installed it should be about perfect. The initial harshness has also calmed down and my truck is riding better all the time, I'm really like this suspension setup so far.

Posing with the trucks.

Now that my fathers truck is out of the shop I warmed up my Diffs and dropped the initial break in oil. The rear looked really clean, the front had a little bit of grayish tint to it. Both magnets on the drain plugs had just a light gray film on them. We re-filled both diffs with fresh oil and I will drive another 1000 miles and drop the oil again, if all is clean at that point I will install the Redline Syn oil.

Next up install the bed mounting bars for the Four Wheel Camper. These bars will anchor the camper to the bed with turn buckles hidden beneath the camper. There is a multi piece rubber mat that goes on either side of the bars to make the floor one height.

The bed bars are held in place with the factory bed mount bolts.

Quite a bit of progress this weekend, now to just keep up that pace
More to come....

Hodakaguy

 

[billharr]

I am enjoying your work. I am closer in age to your dad, he must be enjoying working with you. Just want to say that is a real man's band-aid.

 

[Hodakaguy]

My father completed the break in miles on his truck so back in the shop to change both diff oils and the engine oil. All oils looked good, we will flush the diffs one more time then install the Syn oil.

Time to install the wiring for the Four Wheel Camper. This connection will tie the camper into the Deep cycle aux battery on the truck, I will also use this connection to power the ARB fridge when the FWC isn't installed.
Drilled the hole in the bed for the electrical plug using a Uni-bit. I picked this spot since it's out of the way and will protect the plug nicely.

After the hole is drilled I De-burred the edges with the De-Burring tool. This tool smooths out the sharp edges and reduces the chances of any cracks forming from the sharp edges. (Not a big concern on this plastic bed but still a good practice).

Wiring up the Electrical plug before installing. The blue wire won't be used so here I'm just placing a piece of shrink tubing over the end to cover the bare wire. I placed some Liquid electrical tape on the end of the wire and into the end of the heat shrink tubing before shrinking it with the heat gun, makes a nice tight seal. This wire will then be enclosed in the larger shrink tubing with the rest of the wiring.

I use marine crimps and heat shrink tubing, both have glue on the inside and when heated the glue oozes out of the connection forming a nice water tight seal.

Connections made up and ready for install, heat shrink tubing sealed on both ends with liquid electrical tape to get between each wire.

Installed

Carefully routing the wiring up to the battery. I followed the factory wiring looms up to the front being careful of any rub points, exhaust etc.

Fitting up the Blue Sea ACR (Automatic Combining Relay). This relay with combine the Aux and main batteries together when charging as well as disconnecting the two so the starting battery can't go dead . You can manually combine the two as well to jump start yourself off the aux battery if needed or to supply extra juice to the Winch. I'll weld on some small studs to the top of the Stainless battery mount to attach the ACR.

This is where I'm planning on mounting the ACR. The factory harness will be removed from this battery, extended and connected to the smaller battery on the passenger side.

Making up the connections to the battery on the FWC wiring, shown here pre-heat shrink.

This will be a temporary connection for the FWC power until I finish the dual battery wiring.

Installing the 30A Maxifuse into the fuse holder.

Testing for power in the bed....looking good!

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[Hodakaguy]

Earlier in the build I modified the lower air bag mounts so that the outer support leg would contact the axle again after I installed the thicker Dakar spring packs. All was good until I added the Degree shims to the rear axle and the outer support legs no longer touched the axle again. Time to fix it......again lol.

You can see the gap between the lower perch and the axle. What looks like grease is actually a layer of battery anti-corrosive wax that I had installed between the axle and the pad, this stuff drys to a waxy consistency and will prevent moisture from getting between the axle and support pad. When I installed the degree shims and the pad no longer rested on the axle it allowed dirt to stick to the wax.

Getting ready to cut off the support tab again.

Time to cut out some new support pads. Laying out the lines with a wrap around.

New support pad fabricated. Performing fit up and getting ready to weld on the new support leg.

Newly modified lower mount next to the previously modified mount. You can see the height difference here. I also changed the support shape to give a little extra strength.

And re-modified mounts installed and fitting as designed.

Installed the 285/75-R16 spare in the stock location. It's a VERY tight fit but it does fit. Had to tweak/bend the two forward mounts out a bit to allow clearance. I will also be fabricating a new extended heat shield to protect the tire from the exhaust pipe heat.
Installed in the truck.

It has clearance but I will be fabricating a better heat shield for the tire.

The two forward tabs (Red Arrow) need to be bent forward some for clearance, a large set of channel locks or crescent wrench works nicely.

Received the SSO hybrid bumper today. Overall the quality looks great although the push bar isn't level, it's a little less than a 1/4" lower on the right side than the left. I will cut the left side free and level the bar before painting, As well as cleaning up their welds. Pretty disappointing to see this on the bumper as I was going to paint it in the morning....oh well I can't leave it as it would drive me crazy knowing it's crooked

Baja Designs lighting that will be going in the bumper.

Warn Zeon 10-S that will be hiding behind the bumper.

Factor 55 flat link, should stow nicely on the front.

Back together once again.

Lot's more work to go.....

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

We headed in to my work early this morning to use the heated shop to get the Sliders prepped and primed.
RCI Sliders...the quality is great and they were packed and organized very well.

At this point we started sanding.....and sanding.....then some more sanding. LOTS of sanding lol.

Welds look good on the sliders.

After we had all 4 sliders sanded (Doing my sliders and my fathers at the same time) we hung them up and started wiping them down with Wax Remover/Degreaser in preparation for primer.

Time to apply the primer. I'm using a 2K Epoxy bare metal primer, should give the top coat great adhesion and durability.

I'll be applying the primer with a HF HVLP gun, when done it's going in the trash....no cleaning today for me

Primer mixed and waiting 20 minutes for activation before spraying.

Sliders primed and drying....glad that's over. I hate Painting!!

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[Hodakaguy]

Continued from above...

Now to level out the hoop on the SSO Slimline Hybrid bumper, the bumper arrived with the hoop a little less than 1/4" lower on one side than the other....Grrrrr.

Factory weld on the hoop. I'll cut this weld out, remove some material and then we will re-weld the hoop so it's level like it should be.

I cut through the weld using both a skinny wheel and my favorite tool a Porta-Band.

Next up remove some material so the hoop sits lower and level, any nicks will be blended back out before paint.

With the hoop now level my father is working his magic with the tig torch.

After the bar is welded back in place my father re-welded the other side to match. Much nicer looking than it started out....and the hoop is now level!

Now to straighten out the metal above the light opening, this piece had a bow to it when it arrived and you could see uneven gaps around the light when installed. A wooden block and a wedge made quick work on straightening out the piece, a little at a time until it measured even all the way across.

Done...ready for sanding, priming and top coat.

More to come.....
Hodakaguy

 

[billharr]

Tell your Dad, another old fart said that is a nice stack of dimes. That is not his first weld. Fine work.

 

[Hodakaguy]

Tell your Dad, another old fart said that is a nice stack of dimes. That is not his first weld. Fine work.

Thanks, my father is an artist with a tig torch

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

Time to get these sliders finished up. My father and I headed in this morning to apply the top coat so we can get them installed next weekend.

I'll be top coating with U-POL two part Raptor Liner, this is a bed liner material that is very tough and durable. The Raptor Liner should hold up better than powder coating in this application and if/when it does get scraped it will be easier to touch up. I've used this product before with great results.

Getting ready to apply the top coat, I'll be using the U-POL gun. I added about 75ml of reducer to each batch.

Primer dried and top coat coming up.

Raptor Liner Applied.....man I hate painting lol.

Finished up. I'll have a couple very small areas to touch up once the straps are removed.

Continued Below....

 

[Hodakaguy]

Continued from above.....

With the Sliders left to cure it's time to move on to modifying the battery tray to accept the Blue Sea ACR. Pelfreybilt Stainless battery tray.

The ACR (Automatic Combining Relay) set in place on top of the battery mounting strap. The ACR will automatically tie the two batteries together as soon as either battery starts to receive a charge, it will automatically disconnect the two batteries if the voltage starts to drop on one battery. You can also manually combine the two batteries to provide extra power/capacity for winching applications or to jump start the truck battery off the Aux battery. I'll modify the stock harness to extend it over to the smaller passenger side battery. The larger battery will be connected to the winch and the Four Wheel Camper on the back of the truck. The FWC has two of it's own deep cycle batteries giving 3 total batteries available to the camper to run the furnace and ARB Fridge. Once I install the Solar system on the camper the solar charge controller will keep all 4 batteries charged through the combiner.

Using a transfer punch to mark the hole locations on the battery strap, a slight tap with a hammer makes a nice mark that I will deepen before drilling with another center punch once it's removed from the battery.

Drilling out the marked hole locations.

Next up making some studs out of 4 bolts, cut the heads off the bolts with the Porta-Band and they are ready to install.

Time to weld the studs into the holes. I set the studs just below flush then used the Tig torch to make a flush weld so it won't interfere with the battery when mounted.

And mounted back on the truck. I need to pick up some metric lock nuts to match the studs. Hope to be wiring up the ACR soon.

More to come....
Hodakaguy

 

[Vic Harder]

Hey, excellent work here. Regarding that ACR... are you using it to combine the two truck batteries when needed or to combine the truck to camper batteries? From your description, it sounded like you are doing both. Don't you need TWO ACR's then?

 

[Hodakaguy]

Hey, excellent work here. Regarding that ACR... are you using it to combine the two truck batteries when needed or to combine the truck to camper batteries? From your description, it sounded like you are doing both. Don't you need TWO ACR's then?

Thanks. Planning on using it for both. I may jumper around the ACR built into the FWC and allow the two batts in the camper to be common with my Aux batt, then allow the ACR under the hood to separate the 3 batts from the truck battery. Should work nicely with one ACR....unless I'm missing something.

Hodakaguy

 

[Vic Harder]

Thanks. Planning on using it for both. I may jumper around the ACR built into the FWC and allow the two batts in the camper to be common with my Aux batt, then allow the ACR under the hood to separate the 3 batts from the truck battery. Should work nicely with one ACR....unless I'm missing something.

Hodakaguy

It would make sense to treat the 3 aux/camper batts as a "house" battery bank, since they function very differently than the starting battery. Are they of similar chemistry/make? As in all AGM by the same manufacturer?

 

[Hodakaguy]

I'

It would make sense to treat the 3 aux/camper batts as a "house" battery bank, since they function very differently than the starting battery. Are they of similar chemistry/make? As in all AGM by the same manufacturer?

Similar AGM...two different makes.

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

It would make sense to treat the 3 aux/camper batts as a "house" battery bank, since they function very differently than the starting battery. Are they of similar chemistry/make? As in all AGM by the same manufacturer?

Thinking about it a bit more the length of wire run between the truck aux battery and the camper batteries may make enough of a voltage difference to throw off the ACR. I'll have to do some experimenting.

Hodakaguy

 

[Vic Harder]

that can be a factor. I put my ACR right next to my Camper batteries for that reason. What size wiring are you running from truck to camper? I have 2g, 25' runs (so 50' total wire). I see about .3v drop at 80A.

 

[longhorn1]

Awesome work. So great to have this a water/son project. Sure has been fun to follow the double build. jd

 

[coloradoclimber97]

Hey Hodakaguy, I have enjoyed following your build - thanks for taking the time to publish. I have an 09 Tacoma that I am going to modify with the BP51's and Dakar AAL like you installed, with an eye toward a FWC this spring. I'm wondering if you have any suggestions on who I should purchase the suspension from? My plan is to do the work myself. but admittedly, I don't have your skill set and am probably way over my head but am to stubborn to pay someone else to do it ;-).

Mark

 

[ETAV8R]

How does your truck ride vs. your dads with the suspension set ups? Pretty harsh?
When do you expect to pick up your camper?