Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
You're welcome Ted, and thanks for the kind words!
Adventures of Megaweapon!
- Thread starter Ray Dunakin
- Start date
mrblah
Senior Member
Hi, I noticed that you lived in San Diego, and I just took delivery of a 16 trail with kdss, and I was wondering who did the suspension install on your truck (which looks awesome by the way). If you don't want to post in public, you can always send me a PM, and whether or not you are happy with their install.
thanks.
thanks.
Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
Thanks! It was done by The Truck Shop on Miramar Road. I also had them put the bumper on at the same time.
The suspension is a bit noisy (clunks and dull rattles), so I'm going back there this morning to have them take a look at it.
Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
Well I took Megaweapon in to the Truck Shop this morning and had them check out the noises. I don't know exactly what they did but it's now noticeably quieter. However, they said that a lot of the noise was coming from the bumper rubbing on the fenders, etc -- not from the suspension. They will be doing some more adjustments to the bumper on Thursday.
mrblah
Senior Member
I was there for 7 hours today. Had them install king shocks/springs, UCA, diff drop, and spacers.
When I left I was rubbing all over the place. Went home and took off the mudflaps and now I rub only in full lock in reverse. I'm going to go back on Thursday or Friday to have them adjust the shocks. Currently, the shocks is sitting at its lowest, so I"m going to have them raise it a inch to 2.5 inches and I think all my troubles will go away. Im trying to avoid a body mount chop as much as possible. I'm running 285's on stock trail rims.
Luckily for me, I have no noises coming from the kings. It's as quiet as factory for the time being. I'm still getting use to the ride. Kings definitely feel different from stock.
Anyways, thanks for pointing me in the right direction. The truck shop is run by good, people.
When I left I was rubbing all over the place. Went home and took off the mudflaps and now I rub only in full lock in reverse. I'm going to go back on Thursday or Friday to have them adjust the shocks. Currently, the shocks is sitting at its lowest, so I"m going to have them raise it a inch to 2.5 inches and I think all my troubles will go away. Im trying to avoid a body mount chop as much as possible. I'm running 285's on stock trail rims.
Luckily for me, I have no noises coming from the kings. It's as quiet as factory for the time being. I'm still getting use to the ride. Kings definitely feel different from stock.
Anyways, thanks for pointing me in the right direction. The truck shop is run by good, people.
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Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
Megaweapon turned one year old today!
Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
Thanks! Haven't had a chance yet to take it off-road with the new bumper but I'm sure it'll be fine. I really LOVE the way it looks.
I didn't do the install myself, but apparently it's kind of tricky to get everything lined up. At first I was getting a lot of loud clunks and creaks, which I thought was coming from the new suspension. Turned out it was the bumper rubbing against the body. I took it back and they made some more adjustments, and now there's no noise at all.
However, there's a slight difference in the size of the gap between bumper and body/lights, from one side to the other. I'm sure it could be corrected with more adjusting, but I don't think it's worth the trouble.
Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
I didn't get a chance to post these until now... Just for fun I shot a couple pics celebrating Megaweapon's "birthday". I figured a rock was more appropriate than cake for an off-road vehicle:
Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
I took Megaweapon in to The Truck Shop today to have the new RCI skid plates installed:
I got the set of front, tranny, transfer case and crossmember skids, plus the gas tank skid. Unfortunately
it looks like I still need something to fill the gap between the front skid and the bumper, but I didn't see
anything like that on RCI's website:
Here are some closer shots of the installed skid plates:
Afterwards I took Megaweapon to a local park to get some more pics:
.
I got the set of front, tranny, transfer case and crossmember skids, plus the gas tank skid. Unfortunately
it looks like I still need something to fill the gap between the front skid and the bumper, but I didn't see
anything like that on RCI's website:
Here are some closer shots of the installed skid plates:
Afterwards I took Megaweapon to a local park to get some more pics:
.
Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
Would you please review your suspension setup? How happy are you with it? I have the same tires in 275 and they are amazing.
Really enjoy the photos from your travels. The Toyota is a travel machine!
Thanks! I haven't had a chance to take it off road yet since getting the new suspension, but so far I'm very happy with it. On the road the ride is still smooth and it handles well. I've gone through a lot of big potholes just to try to get an idea of how it will feel on the trail, and it felt fine.
I really like the couple of inches of lift too.
Brandonium
Member
This grill and the Pelfrey are my favorites. I just wish there was some sort of finished grill cover for the exposed sections. Nothing blocking air flow mind you just something that finishes it off.
Nice seeing a KDSS Trail decked out. :iagree:
Nice seeing a KDSS Trail decked out. :iagree:
Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
Yeah, for me it was a toss up between the MetalTech bumper or the Pelfrey bumper. I ended up going with this one because it was a bit less expensive. Also, if I remember correctly, Pelfrey only had aluminum at the time.
Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
Today we took a drive out to the Anza-Borrego desert, hoping to see some wildflowers. I was also looking forward to the opportunity to hit some trails now that I have the new bumper, skids, and lift.
We went east out of town on I-8 to Ocotillo, then took S-2 north with a couple side trips off the pavement.
Didn't get to do as much off-roading as I had hoped, but I'll take what I can get.
As it turns out, we were too early. Lots of green but almost no blooms yet. With warmer weather expected this
weekend, the blooms should be taking off by the beginning of next week.
We still had a good time. It was great to finally get out to the desert again, and I also got a lot of nice pics of
Megaweapon.
We finally saw a few small patches of sand verbenas in bloom, just a couple miles north of Agua Caliente Springs:
Went as far north as Scissors Crossing, then headed up to Julian for pie and dinner before going home.
Along the way home we stopped near the top of Mt. Laguna to get the last photos of the day:
While there, I saw the "ice/snow" warning on the display for the first time:
.
We went east out of town on I-8 to Ocotillo, then took S-2 north with a couple side trips off the pavement.
Didn't get to do as much off-roading as I had hoped, but I'll take what I can get.
As it turns out, we were too early. Lots of green but almost no blooms yet. With warmer weather expected this
weekend, the blooms should be taking off by the beginning of next week.
We still had a good time. It was great to finally get out to the desert again, and I also got a lot of nice pics of
Megaweapon.
We finally saw a few small patches of sand verbenas in bloom, just a couple miles north of Agua Caliente Springs:
Went as far north as Scissors Crossing, then headed up to Julian for pie and dinner before going home.
Along the way home we stopped near the top of Mt. Laguna to get the last photos of the day:
While there, I saw the "ice/snow" warning on the display for the first time:
.
Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
Monday night I drove out to Anza-Borrego for a quick overnight trip. I spent the night up on Pinyon
Mountain. Didn't get much sleep because it was so cold. My sleeping bag has kept me warm even in
snow on a couple occasions so I was surprised that it wasn't sufficient this time. I had an old blanket in
the truck and put that over the sleeping bag, which helped somewhat. Anyway, here are some night
photos:
Setting up camp:
The view towards Julian in the west:
Northeast view towards Salton Sea:
In the morning I explored a bit of the trail on Pinyon Mountain:
Snow-capped Mt. San Jacinto in the distance:
Continued in next post....
Mountain. Didn't get much sleep because it was so cold. My sleeping bag has kept me warm even in
snow on a couple occasions so I was surprised that it wasn't sufficient this time. I had an old blanket in
the truck and put that over the sleeping bag, which helped somewhat. Anyway, here are some night
photos:
Setting up camp:
The view towards Julian in the west:
Northeast view towards Salton Sea:
In the morning I explored a bit of the trail on Pinyon Mountain:
Snow-capped Mt. San Jacinto in the distance:
Continued in next post....
Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
After leaving Pinyon Mountains, I headed south. The spring wildflowers are finally starting to bloom but mainly
in the southern half of the park and at lower elevations. The peak of the bloom is still at least a week away, I'd
guess. The first significant blooms I saw were in the Carrizo Badlands:
Desert Lilies:
Sand verbenas and other flowers:
Desert primrose (I think):
Even here, the bloom was still far from peak. Lots of green plants that haven't blossomed yet:
The creosote bushes are just barely starting to bloom:
A tiny wasp visits a poppy:
I used a suction cup camera mount on the driver's side, just below the mirror, to shoot some video on the trails.
Unfortunately the camera setting was accidentally changed while mounting the camera, so the video was no good:
Continued in next post...
.
in the southern half of the park and at lower elevations. The peak of the bloom is still at least a week away, I'd
guess. The first significant blooms I saw were in the Carrizo Badlands:
Desert Lilies:
Sand verbenas and other flowers:
Desert primrose (I think):
Even here, the bloom was still far from peak. Lots of green plants that haven't blossomed yet:
The creosote bushes are just barely starting to bloom:
A tiny wasp visits a poppy:
I used a suction cup camera mount on the driver's side, just below the mirror, to shoot some video on the trails.
Unfortunately the camera setting was accidentally changed while mounting the camera, so the video was no good:
Continued in next post...
.
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Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
As I left the Carrizo Badlands, I took the route up through Canyon Sin Nombre. The colorful cliffs there made
a great background for some pics of Megaweapon:
So far only a few lupins were in bloom. Here's one of them:
Megaweapon strikes a heroic pose:
I saw a nice patch of bright yellow poppies along the road at the southern end of the park:
The last shots of Megaweapon before leaving for home:
.
a great background for some pics of Megaweapon:
So far only a few lupins were in bloom. Here's one of them:
Megaweapon strikes a heroic pose:
I saw a nice patch of bright yellow poppies along the road at the southern end of the park:
The last shots of Megaweapon before leaving for home:
.
Ray Dunakin
Senior Member
This happened Monday night. I took a drive out to the desert for another little overnight trip, and shortly
after I got out there I noticed my mileage:
.
after I got out there I noticed my mileage:
.
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