Originally Posted by Sarge

Great tips, much appreciated.
I'll look into the pdf file for the pattern - I have some seriously strong high-density plastic that can be conformed to fit almost any shape and it's basically bulletproof. The stuff was leftovers off a HAZMAT job I worked on doing liners in a huge pond that holds an acid-based runoff from contaminating the surrounding area. Unless the fasteners fail, it should easily outlast the truck as it carries a 100yr warranty against failure.
Yeah, I work in some pretty messed up places, lol. Health issues, go figure.

Those manifolds, after looking more closely at them are a joke. I'd assume a thin cast iron, or are they cast steel? Almost would have to be cast steel, or they would shatter they way they are built. I've seen several used ones on Ebay that have been welded, albeit pretty poorly. I do a lot of specialized tig welding here on odd alloys, given the time/place to get the thing on a lift I could fabricate new ones from T-304SS and heavy 4041 flanges. One issue I've always seen with aftermarket tubular manifolds is rust and I live in Illinois - most are not properly cleaned to keep their coating tight enough to withstand our weather/salt issues here. Any corrosion issues with the Doug Thorley setup?

If there is insulation inside that gate - that would explain the rust issue spot. It must be sandwiched against the inside of the sheet metal and created the corrosion. Not kidding, it's completely gone through and the inner layer is just hanging in there - looks pretty ugly on an otherwise good condition truck. I've only found one decent looking gate used and it's knocking on a grand with shipping, ugh.

I already did the dome light mod and added in a pair of the 1N4004 diodes to prevent ground feedback into the rest of the lamps - works great. Map lights work as they should as well as light when unlocking/door open interior system is active. I would very much like to find a source for a gauge lamp feed that works with the stock dimmer to add in an ambient light to that map light panel. The white/soft white one in my Dodge pickup is it's best lighting feature - with my eyesight fumbling around in the dark is a part of life that I hate and that one feature is worth gold to me.

I really have to get the thing inside at my son in law's and work on that dash light mod - I hate not being able to read the gauges they way the bezels are designed. To me it seems like a design error by the electrical engineers or just a simple thing they missed, but for me its a big problem. Almost seems like the daylight sensor for the Auto headlights function needs a cutout relay or something.
I really like the red pointer dots on the gauges, though - adds a nice reference touch to an otherwise black hole on the speedo and tach. During the day, however, I almost can't read that speedometer at all despite the red pointer. Too much surrounding light causes that problem with my eyes - it may as well not be there simply because I can't see it. Been using a speedo app on the phone to monitor highway speed and I generally use the cruise control out in the open anyway.

How much of a difference does 265/70R17 tires make against the stock suspension? Any rubbing/bottoming issues? I'd prefer something slightly taller and more narrow to help with rolling mass - the stock/current Michelin tires are shot and starting to dry rot badly. I'm leaning towards the Toyo ATII as I go offroad a lot on different job sites. An aggressive All Terrain like that performs the best overall on my trucks for work. I had a set on the '08 Taco and they performed excellent and wore like iron - still at 80%+ with 35,000 miles on them when I traded it off.

Been spending a lot of time reading other's builds/mods and generally trying to get to know this new to me T4R - so far, I like it a lot. Never thought I'd own a modern SUV - historically I've always had either pickups or things like the old Cruiser. Still hunting for the clutch every time I get into this thing. Not real fond of the seating position or the height off the floor - but it does not have enough headroom to even run the seat to it's highest setting without hitting the headliner constantly. No idea why they laid it out like that, almost like it's built for smaller/shorter women or something.

Why in the world is the dumb gas pedal buried so far past the brake pedal? My Dodge is the same way and I hate that, about ready to add a 1" spacer behind it to properly position it for driving on both trucks. I use both feet, always have and it's just plain weird having that pedal so far off the other one. Has anyone spaced the pedal out off the firewall ?

Thanks again,

Sarge

Originally Posted by Sarge

I can repair the manifolds I have easily enough - looking for a better design from better materials. Castings that thin have a failure built into them - Toyota should have known better but they did it anyway. While welding them up is an option - it will not fix the problem of the base material being far too thin to prevent it from shattering. Those pipes should have been welded into a single billet piece of steel, not mushroom rolled into a cast flange that is less than 3/8" thick. That design has been tried before and failed miserably.

Sarge

Originally Posted by Gavin S.

How much for the install if you don't mind sharing?

Originally Posted by smokey73

I installed myself. Took about three hours total, not too bad.

Originally Posted by Gavin S.

Really? I heard it was a *****. Thanks man.

Originally Posted by smokey73

I bought a set of the Pacesetter manifolds off Amazon for around $200/ea. The reviews were mixed and most of the bad ones were from people who were just being too picky about silly things. The ones I received were unflawed and fit perfectly. I did use toyota gaskets instead of the ones provided. I replaced mine due to them leaking and I couldn't get rid of the Cat inefficient codes. I can't attest to their longevity yet but so far so good.