2TH4IST's, Forrest's adventures and things.

[2TH4IST]

Well today I tackled the rear cargo sound deadening install. And my hands are toast. Love having arthritis sigh. It went well, let the mats soak in the sun while I took everything apart making them nice and bendable. Started on the wheel wells, then did the floor. Man all those humps and bumps was a pita. But its done and is nice. I don't really care for the blue color. Added 3m aluminum tape to help seal the seams up.

Then decided to fix a f-up I did (didn't think about the issues it would cause). About 6 years ago, I sprayed self expanding foam in the body vent in the left rear quarter panel. To prevent water getting in in deep water. Well today I decided to dig it out. What a massive pita! Luckily the foam didn't stick to the plastic and was moderately easy to remove, used a bendy grabber to get the small vent openings cleaned out.

Also measured all the rear cargo area and measured with the spare on the left side and measured for the fridge too. Everything will fit with room to spare. I have a 30" wide mattress that will fit perfectly. Now to draw up some plans and calculate how much lumber I need to buy. Also my 3/8 6061-t6 aluminum plates came in, I'll use those for the caliper brackets.

 

[2TH4IST]

Started cutting all the wood for the drawer/sleep platform this week. Also went out and got the metal for the mounting of the platform and the water tank and electrical panel. Also scored the exact sized piece of metal I needed for my gas tank swin out for the bumper. Was going to work on it more today, but it's so damn humid now and I don't want to mess with wood when it's this humid. So next week the build will continue.

 

[cblock406]

Impressive build! Would love to see what the whole truck looks like.

 

[2TH4IST]

[MENTION=117128]cblock406[/MENTION] thanks! I do like the way it's turning out! I don't take many pics when I'm on the trail. But I'm working on getting better at that lol.

Got an idea for the fridge and front sleep plank support that should be pretty sweet. Won't need to get any metal as I have what I need I found a few years ago.

 

[cblock406]

That's a serious rig, look awesome!

 

[2TH4IST]

Thanks again!

Yesterday started the platform build, well screwing and gluing the stuff together. Got some of the pocket screw holes drilled out. It came together nicely. Only had one mess up, cost me my front half of the sleep platform so had to get another sheet of 3/4 errrrrr 11/16 plywood.

Also going to stain/seal it with the color of American walnut in satin finish. Should be nice! Beige carpet for the platform with abs plastic for where the tire is going. Not feeling to hot today plus it's really humid again so, rest day it is!

The back of the platform is where I'll mount the water filter, pump and accumulator.

 

[2TH4IST]

So scrapping all this wood. It sucks but learned my lesson. I measured everything to be 3/4 thick, when it actually is 11/16. So think tolerance stacking. Would explain all the fitment issues. Luckily my friend is a carpenter, and (I'm really thankful to him!) Is going to get me 2 sheets of legit true thickness American made plywood at his cost. He has a big shop and fancy machines and he will even cut everything for me to make sure everything is square. I think it's maple ply or walnut ply. I don't remember.

It's a lesson learned, won't buy ply from home depot again lol. So this is setting me back a couple of days. But gives me time to weld up the electrical and water mounting brackets. As well as milling out the battery tray slots and the air compressor mount. Hopefully I can make good progress.

 

[2TH4IST]

Sorry for updating this so late lol. But got all the new wood cut by my friend. Took a week off of work so I could make some serious progress on the 4runner. Got all mounting brackets fabbed up and painted. Still working on the drawer/sleep system this week. But taking my time and making sure everything is perfect. Also picked up a brad nailer, man that helped a ton to keep the wood in place. Also picked up some legit wood clamps, which help too.

The second I left my friends shop, my brake booster failed. That was a white knuckle drive home for sure. So was going to get an aftermarket booster but lots and lots of land cruiser (lc80) folks said heck no to aftermarket due to failure in less the a year. So bit the bullet and bought an oem booster. Got it in this last Monday, man the braked are so much better now. That booster must have been going out for a while.

Anyways, unfortunately I chose to get work done then take tons of pics. But I got some pics I'll post up. The plywood is so much better then the stuff I got before. 13 plys. Spaced the pocket screws a bit better and made some new bracing for the drawer. The water tank and electrical panel is phenomenal. Absolutely solid, but I do need to clerance the holes a bit for final assembly.

Also made and finished the battery tray and air compressor mount with and extra mount for a 2.5 or 5 gallon water jug. So a total water capacity of either 12g, 14.5g, or 17g.

The spare fits perfectly on the driver's side now, with a solid eye mount and some rollbar clamps. Just got to finish all the little details out on that.

I still have all the car side wiring to do still. As well as the on board air compressor system too. But those will be a bit later. Also want to add a awning as well but a bit later.

Tomorrow will bring hopefully the final work on the main platform body. Then the fridge mount and the extended sleep platform will be next. Once all the wood work is done it will be time for stain and seal. Going with matte American walnut.

Oh also replace the water covers with some carbon fiber, because +10 hp.

That void between the platform and the water/electric panel I'll cover with some carpeting.

 

[2TH4IST]

One pic. The drawer is almost done.

 

[2TH4IST]

Today, my arms are wet noodles from all the sanding I did today. But the main drawer system is sanded and ready to get stained. My compressors air hose blew out and I got a good hit on my left arm. I'll have to wait to stain it until the air hose arrives. Also will be upgrading my oil pressure and trans temp gauges soon. They are gloshift and are acting strange/funky. Went with speed hut and got them customized. They look great. Also got a hand throttle, so I can set rpm's when I'm using either the air compressor or wench. Getting darn close now.

Kind of want to take a break from all this wood work and work on the electronic parking brakes. But alas I'll push on with the platform progress. Tomorrow will be the metal for the extended platform and fridge mount.

Oh yes, I was told the ply wood was good stuff, turns out is absolute crap. I've had to do delaminating repair and the veneer is so fragile if you sneeze it will peel off. I'm quite pissed off about it. If I was not this far along, I'd rebuild this thing a 3rd time. Sigh. It is what it is. All that white stuff you see on the wood is wood filler.

 

[2TH4IST]

Got some more work done today. But only for a short while as it's cooking hot today, well for the rest of this week.

Got the metal cut for the back of the platform, drilled, and the wood nuts glued in place. Now I can start to build the framing for the sleep extension and fridge. Also cut the platform extension. So overall, it's 70 inches long and 32 inches wide. Perfect. Wrapped it up before it got any hotter. Test fit the water filter, pump, accumulator and uv filter. It will all fit.

I tried staining the battery tray/mount. It turned out like absolute crap, thankfully it was just the bottom, so after is dried, I sanded it off and will be trying a different stain. Oil based this time, in mission brown.

 

[spartacus]

Looks great. ?

 

[2TH4IST]

Well today I tackled the framing for the extended sleep platform and the fridge mount. Got it all done, just need to add an extra hinge on the sleep side to stiffen it up a bit. Absolutely hate welding 16 gauge steel with flux core, but it's all I have now while saving for a better welder.

All the adjustable feet work perfectly, and it bolts together in the middle so I can remove it in pieces.

Also got the battery tray stained. All the issues I had with the stain was due to water based stain/poly. I'm now using a beautiful oil based stain called honey by minwax. It's nice! Next week I'll start staining the whole thing, though I need to make the filler panel for the gap over the wheel well. The battery tray and air compressor tray are not in yet as I don't want to damage them while I'm working on the framing.

So close I can taste it now lol.

 

[Posty]

Platform goals!