Zombie Truck 2.0 MPAV Build!

[magert54]

I agree on Darkie3495, I their customer service will never be in question to me. It their logistics that is. I know small business and all. Heck if i made bumpers that could surpass the huge name such as "ARB" then i would be busy too. They just have to have attention to detail on the final out process. Maybe they should get a newbie checking those orders and if me messes up its on him for failing a simple checklist task.

Magert54's .02

 

[darkie3495]

I agree on Darkie3495, I their customer service will never be in question to me. It their logistics that is. I know small business and all. Heck if i made bumpers that could surpass the huge name such as "ARB" then i would be busy too. They just have to have attention to detail on the final out process. Maybe they should get a newbie checking those orders and if me messes up its on him for failing a simple checklist task.

Magert54's .02

Ha, it was because of a new shop worker that the bolts were not included and got a tacoma skid plate instead.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

As promised, Igot the lights installed last night and man does it look nice!

Ran into a few problems, but got them sorted out. Mostly had to do with the turn signals. They aren't labeled which terminals to plug into, and they are dual fliliment bulbs, so if you hook up the wrong filiment the resistance is different so that it will act like a burnt bulb to the flasher unit. Just switch the leads and problem is fixed.

By the way anyone had any luck threading the holes for the gravel shield for a larger diameter bolt? The gravel shield bolts are getting stripped out and its something that popped into my head as a possible solution.

Anyways... here's the finished product!



Lift Kit should be here by the end of the month. As for the planned roof rack, I don't know if I will get around to starting it, depending on financials and logistics.... but I am still pushing to try and get it done.

 

[magert54]

Loooks fricking great!




The PIAA fogs, did you have a gap between the top of the light and the bumper housing?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Loooks fricking great!




The PIAA fogs, did you have a gap between the top of the light and the bumper housing?

What do you mean gap? The way the lights mount into the bumper they are a little closer to the top of the tube in the bumper but, its only annoying if you want to keep the plastic covers on the lights. best way I found to install the PIAA light covers were to remove the cover during installation and snap it on afterwards.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Quick Update, working on designing the roof rack I want to make for my rig. Hoping that Wrestler managed to get measurements on his rack... never responded to my thread.


Note- Blue is for the Bottom of the Rack, Red is the Top tubing.

Running rough measurements of what the rack measure attached to my 4Runner and the length I want to extend that by... I am looking at about 70' of 1.5" steel tubing, which is going to end up running me roughly $350 in materials.

 

[darkie3495]

Are you planning to lay down grating on the bottom of the rack? What are the 45 degree angle bars in the front of the bottom rails? Structural?

I'm sure he'll get back to you but it's not hard to take the stock racks off yourself as long as you take your time and don't force it. During the design and fitment stage I took mine off at least a half a dozen times with no damage.

I'm sure you've noticed this, but just in case:

1. The distance between the mount in the rear is narrower than the front mounts.

2. There roof itself is not flat from left to right. it actually is higher in the middle.

These two observations can be compensated by how tall and what bend angles you build into your mounts.

Looking forward to watching the progress!!

 

[BlackWorksInc]

The two 45 degree bars on the lower (Blue) section are structrual. I will be putting mesh grating over the main body and possibly a plate on the front section. I was thinking of using LED Light bars so I had been playing with an idea to slot the plate so that you can adjust the sweep angle of the outer light bars.

Yeah, I spent many a night trying to figure out how to make it nice and curvy to match the curve of the roof, after which I just gave up and decided to work with what is there.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Heh, I can't wait for my OLW Lift to come in.



Got bored while out shopping for a tube notcher for my project, saw a really rutted up and torn up swath of dirt near a road I was driving on and couldn't resist.

Needless to say, I didn't have all that much clearance (made it about 3/4 through the swath before it plowed through a mound), didn't phase the 4Runner, kept on going and noticed the damage when I stopped for some WingStop. Will probably make a temporary skid plate to replace that until. I get around to buying the Budd Builts.

Figured I'd share it with you guys so you can laugh at me.

 

[snowbrdr033]

^^^^^ OUCH!!!! haha, as long as you're laughing about it and not pissed, we'll all laugh along too. :bravo:

 

[BlackWorksInc]

^^^^^ OUCH!!!! haha, as long as you're laughing about it and not pissed, we'll all laugh along too. :bravo:

I made sure nothing was cut or damaged, the gravel shield I could honestly care less about, it will be replaced by the 5 piece Budd Built Under Armor when I get the money.

On a side note, good thing I did my oil change less than 1k ago, looks like it may be a pain to peel away the now bent up gravel shield! LoL

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Okay, so I finally got fed up with the bolt holes that hole the gravel shields in place being stripped out. I have no damn threads left and I have no clue how the bolts are even holding on!

So I went ahead and drilled and tapped the holes for a M10x1.25 bolt, plenty of meat on the nut to accept the new thread size.

Here's a quick run down of what you will need, I went ahead and did the calculations to save you the trouble!

You need an 11/32" Drill, this is the closest standard equivilant drill size unless you happen to have an 8.7mm drill lying around. (The 8.7mm provides a theoretical thread engagement of 73% for a M10x1.25 Bolt, while the 11/32 provides a 71% theroretical thread engagement, not a big difference honestly for this application)

You will also need a 10mm x 1.25 Tap and tap holder (I reccomend one that has a chuck style end because its rather difficult to get a regular handle on some of the center holes.)

Penetrating oil, engine oil, lubicrating oil, or just tapping fluid if you have any. Remember to properly lube both the tap and the hole you are going to thread as well as turning the tap backwards a 1/3 for every full turn to clean the flutes, otherwise you'll be scrounging for a carbide bit to pull the broken tap out.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Update-

Went to Hollister, CA with a bunch of guys from Toyota120 and had a blast! We took a black diamond trail apparently, it wasn't as bad as you would think. But, plenty of spots were hairy and I was surprised that 3 of the most built trucks almost flipped! I managed to get stuck only once and needed a tug. If I had the lift kit on the truck it would have been fine...

Of course the running boards are ruined, I took those off tonight and will be planning on sliders soon. Its just down to funding at this point.

Post Note-

I am amazed by how well these vehicles handle off road! Even in stock form (the bumper being the only exception), with stock Dunlop AT20's it stayed with the group pretty well and was very manuverable in tight spots. I would love to say that it was mostly due to my skill, but the truck itself is an amazing off-road vehicle. You really don't understand how well it was engineered in that respect until you take it on some trails yourself.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

By the way, for those of you that don't frequent the Toyota120 Forums too often, this is the thread from our Sunday Trip to Hollister:

The 5th annual PPHHR, Sunday 10-30-11 at Hollister Hills Report - Toyota 120 Platforms Forum

 

[BlackWorksInc]

:girl: X-Mas came early!


Overland Warehouse 2.5" Suspension Lift + Light Racing UCAs

Now I just need to set some time aside to actually install it!

 

[Djrashonal]

:girl: X-Mas came early!

Overland Warehouse 2.5" Suspension Lift + Light Racing UCAs

Now I just need to set some time aside to actually install it!

:jaw drop:

Who has two thumbs and is extremely jealous?
THIS GUY!

 

[SkylineGTRracer]

Congrats on the new toys. You've been needing a lift for the longest time.

 

[Casper421]

:bravo: Cant wait to see it installed!

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Congrats on the new toys. You've been needing a lift for the longest time.

Yeah I know, my trip to Hollister Hills with the 120 guys really showed me what a couple inches can do for you.

Hopefully I can set aside time and get them installed in the next week or so. Depends how busy I end up being at work.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

So I got the lift kit installed today. I have to admit it looks nice!

I'm not going to do a whole walk through on installing it because the guys at OLW did a great job with their instructions. BUT, this was my first time dealing with the XREAS System so I will detail how I removed that.

First off, the XREAS is a HIGH-PRESSURE system. You do no want to crack lines willy nilly, otherwise you'll get a huge spray of stuff and possibly injure yourself.
There are junction points where you can safely disconnect the components, they look like this:


There are two of them per paired shocks, one junction point is located at the center dampener located on the frame rail, the second is located on the frame near rear wheel well. The reason Toyota wants you to disconnect the system at these points is because they have check valves in them:


I ended up just disconnecting them at the union bolts, since it was easier to get to. NOTE- Put a dense rag over the union bolt when you loosen them, there will be a large pressurized spray of fluid. The two union bolts I chose were these:


The only things did differently from OLW's instructions was that I did not remove the tie rods. I found that if you remove the UCA (which I was anyways since I was installing the Light Racing UCAs) and disconnect the sway bar links and sway bar mount (again you're going to have to anyways), I was able to just pry the lower control arm enough to get the struts in and out with out any issues. One more thing to note, if you're really lazy like me (I mean like Flat Rating stuff... Cough cough) then just take the battery hold-down off, lift the battery and slide the plastic tray out, then remove the bracket that holds down the hose near the battery to get the UCA bolt to slide out. I just didn't feel like reprogramming my radio and all the windows and crap that goes with disconnecting the battery

On the rear suspension I undid the panhard bar at the axle to get more movement out of the axle to slip the springs in.

Here's the finished product installed on the vehicle:


I did not take pictures after I lifted it because I was tired and night had fallen already. But when I do the alignment tomorrow I will snap some pictures.