SOcalTrail's 2011 Trail Edition Beast Build Thread

This build is epic! I can't find anyone who will fab a bumper for me in the local area. I've looked at the shrockworks rear bumper but it's HUGE and seems like I would be losing ground clearance and adding unnecessary weight. Your design is functional and looks great. It's a shame it's not out there for the general public....:thumb:
 
Fuel tank is ALMOST done!!!!!

I was camping all weekend but made it back early today and finished up a bunch of the welding on my tank, got the hole drilled for the sending unit, got a pick-up tube, transfer pump, filter, and got the NPT threaded bungs welded in for the vent and the output. All I am waiting on is the filler neck which should be here next week. Looking great so far, everything fits perfect... almost like, it was made for it..... hahahaha:crazy:

The dimensions of the tank are 35"x15"x5" for a grand total of 11.3 gallons of aux fuel which is more than worth the work for me. I will have an honest 33+ gallons of fuel for a highway range of right at 540+ miles, around town somewhere around 450, and on 4x4 trips.... well... who knows. The fuel will be transferable (hopefully...) while driving. I should have no problems with the pressurized OEM system.. time will tell, and if there are problems, I have a contingency plan.

Here are some pics. Enjoy.




Inside the tank to see the baffle. There are 2 baffles in the tank to stop the side to side sloshing and stiffen it up. I left one end open because I still have some drilling and welding to do and its easier to do the final clean with the end off.



Sending Unit - Universal VDO model.




Professional products transfer pump, 4-7 PSI. Bulletproof little pump.




3/8 NPT bungs for the pick-up tube and vent into the OEM system.

 
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SoCal, Absolutely love your build and I consider it a dream truck as most of us probably do.

Just one question on the Aux Tank. Any concerns about safety of the tank location? After seeing the pics, it reminded me off all the safety issues that the Ford Crown Vic Police cruisers had a few years back and the explosions that occurred when the vehicle was rear ended. I know it's a little different story being protect by steel rather than just a plastic bumper but just thinking out loud here.
 
eggersstp said:
SoCal, Absolutely love your build and I consider it a dream truck as most of us probably do.

Just one question on the Aux Tank. Any concerns about safety of the tank location? After seeing the pics, it reminded me off all the safety issues that the Ford Crown Vic Police cruisers had a few years back and the explosions that occurred when the vehicle was rear ended. I know it's a little different story being protect by steel rather than just a plastic bumper but just thinking out loud here.
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Thank you sir!

Regarding the safety of the tank.... It is my opinion that is is the "safest" way of carrying auxiliary fuel on the truck. Bear in mind that I definitely won't have this tank full all the time.... there isn't really a need for an extra 11 gallons of fuel for my day to day driving habits. I plan on using it similar to how everyone else used Jerry cans and Rotopax... most just fill em when we head out on the trails or on a trip. Also, there is a ton of steel protecting this tank, that is not to say that a rear end collision wouldn't rupture the tank, but if I was hit that hard from behind, my guess is the OEM tank / filler neck assy. would probably have issues too. That said, it is still a safer option (in this guy's opinion) than having a couple 5 gallon Jerry cans on the rear bumper, inside the truck, or on the roof.

Man A Fre has a aux. tank kit for the FJ that many, many people have used without issue, it has way less protection than mine.

FJ CRUISER AUXILIARY TANK
 
More progress on the aux fuel system. Its a time consuming project because this is all a "one off" deal so everything has to be made, or ordered which takes a couple days to get here. Anyways, I mounted the bumper this weekend for the first time since it was coated, and slid the fuel tank in and its fits absolutely perfectly, I actually could have made the tank slightly bigger but at least now I have plenty of room above the tank. AFter exploring quite a few options for plumbing the tank, I opted to go with a dedicated fill line instead of filling the tank through the OEM filler neck like the Man-A-Fre FJ Cruiser tanks do. I have read and spoken to a couple people about this who all agree that this is problematic for a couple reasons. First off, we already have a pretty small filler neck, hence the slow fill some experience and the constant clicking off of the nozzle so any modification to the OEM neck has the potential to add turbulence and slow the fill down even more. Also, I want to avoid tapping into the filler neck as much as possible, I will still have to make connections for the transfer line and vent, but these are smaller. The aux tank will have its dedicated fill cap on the rear bumper, straight shot into the tank. The actual cap itself is 100% hidden and secured by the overhang of the rear hatch, pretty tricky. I got everything layer up and got a hole saw to cut the hole where the cap will be, surrounded by a nice protective trim ring. I should have all the fittings and hose to finish this by wednesday, I am going in 100% to get it finished by next weekend, stay tuned.





 
SOcalTRAIL said:
More progress on the aux fuel system.
Click to expand...

Are you adding any metal strapping over the tank? saw a section on Extreme 4x4 this weekend recommending that strapping is used to take the strain of sloshing fuel of the tig welds of the tank (an aluminum one in their case).

Okki
 
Okki said:
Are you adding any metal strapping over the tank? saw a section on Extreme 4x4 this weekend recommending that strapping is used to take the strain of sloshing fuel of the tig welds of the tank (an aluminum one in their case).

Okki
Click to expand...

Yessir. The tank is baffled (2) to eliminate most of the sloshing side to side.

Here is a pic looking down the open end of the tank to see one of the baffles:




My tank has 2 Inconel straps (one length wise, one width wise) to hold it down to the bumper and its on a .125" thick rubber mat to absorb vibration. The problem A LOT of people encounter with fuel tanks, aluminum to be specific, is they weld a flange direct to the tank and bolt it up with this. The vibration and movement eventually cracks the tank at the welds (heat effected zone) and you have problems. I believe the Man A Fre FJ cruiser tanks mounted this way and had some problems. The solution is to mount them with straps. No mo cracking!
 
SOcalTRAIL said:
Fuel tank is ALMOST done!!!!!

I was camping all weekend but made it back early today and finished up a bunch of the welding on my tank, got the hole drilled for the sending unit, got a pick-up tube, transfer pump, filter, and got the NPT threaded bungs welded in for the vent and the output. All I am waiting on is the filler neck which should be here next week. Looking great so far, everything fits perfect... almost like, it was made for it..... hahahaha:crazy:

The dimensions of the tank are 35"x15"x5" for a grand total of 11.3 gallons of aux fuel which is more than worth the work for me. I will have an honest 33+ gallons of fuel for a highway range of right at 540+ miles, around town somewhere around 450, and on 4x4 trips.... well... who knows. The fuel will be transferable (hopefully...) while driving. I should have no problems with the pressurized OEM system.. time will tell, and if there are problems, I have a contingency plan.

Here are some pics. Enjoy.
Click to expand...

Oooooooohhhhh such pretty welds... :wow2::wow2::wow2:
 
eddiebx said:
Antman inspired tailgate mini cup holder mod in progress :noidea:


Glad you decided to keep the fill neck simpler than planned, I'd give up the bit of wow factor for reliability any day of the week.
Click to expand...

Indeed... Faster fill ups and much, much simpler.

Vegas said:
Oooooooohhhhh such pretty welds... :wow2::wow2::wow2:
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for the welds. My dad is the aluminun TIG welding master. I could definitely get the tank welded up, but it wouldn't be pretty!


Antman said:
This build is friggin awesome.
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Thank you sir! Plenty of solid inspiration and support on this forum, your vehicle included.
 
Its been a bit hot and humid down here which makes for a miserable time working on the rig so I bounced out to the mountains to summit another one of Cali's 14er peaks.

Shameless photo:

Top of Mt Langley @14,042' - Mt. Whitney to my immediate left.



Now for truck related stuff. Its cooled down just a bit so I am gonna try and finish the plumbing on the aux fuel tank and get it permanently on there. On top of that, I picked up a Sears Die Hard Platinum Marine 31 on sale for $187!!!! Almost $100 off! I'm hopefully gonna pop this bad boy in this weekend as well and may even make a machined aluminum tray for it. Anyone interested in a tray for the group 31 batt. upgrade?

 
SOcalTRAIL said:
On top of that, I picked up a Sears Die Hard Platinum Marine 31 on sale for $187!!!! Almost $100 off! I'm hopefully gonna pop this bad boy in this weekend as well and may even make a machined aluminum tray for it. Anyone interested in a tray for the group 31 batt. upgrade?
Click to expand...

Yes, please! I can drop my new type 35 in the GX and get a 31 :bigok:
 
DannyLlama said:
UMMM YES!!!

Is this replacing your current dual batt setup?
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Ahhhhh hello Danny:llama:

This will just replace the OEM battery. Quite of few other dudes out there have made the swap to the larger OEM battery but they have either cut the plastic batt. tray up or just not used one at all. I'm keeping my ODyssey PC1200 of the other side. That gives me something like 140 Amh / hrs 12V That is a LOT of juice!
 
SOcalTRAIL said:
~~~Upgraded Rear Hatch Struts / Gas Springs~~~

As many of you have also experienced, my rear hatch gas struts blew out a month or so ago. I spent the last few weeks searching for a replacement solution that would offer more lift to accommodation the Gobi Ladder and be as close of a direct "snap on" replacement as possible.

Well.... I FOUND IT!!!!!

After ordering 3 different pairs of struts with no luck, I came upon LiftSupportsDepot.com One of the very helpful employees invited me to stop by so we could try out a few different struts and see which one worked.

Those with the Gobi Ladder, here is what you want:

Lift Supports

When you order, you must put in the comments section the following: "Convert to 10mm straight ends"

Part#49124 244LB Force 22.7" Extended 15.45" Collapsed



Other than that, they give the hatch the perfect amount of lift, they are an easy upgrade or replacement of yours are already blown, and best of all, thy are DIRT CHEAP!!!! How does $17 / each sound!

Anywho. Thought I would share, I am happy to have my hatch back up and functional again, I got tired of resting it on my head as I grab my crap out of the back. :boxer:

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Can anyone comment on the install? I didn't see any guidance, maybe I missed it. Keep in mind I have zero skills, can I do this as a novice? (with the help of someone holding up the gate of course)
 
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