First expedition rig.

[sixstringsteve]

love it. I'd love to see him pull into the tire shop and tell them to rotate the tires

 

[iamsparticus]

is it really a hover car or just a weird car? I looks sweet

 

[jeeper]

I thought it was supposed to look like a bumper car

 

[Gravy]

I dig the plan Nick. Keep up the good work dude.

 

[Stephen]

That hover car looks like it might have started life as a Renault 5 (Le Car)?

 

[SAMI]

It's not a hover car.. You can see the tires. It's supposed to look like a bumper car.

 

[Stephen]

Got it, looking on my phone. Still, looks like a 5. Maybe a early 90's Celica too.

 

[Panos]

it started life as a mitsubishi something, it has a turbo and a 4 speed with a splitter so 8 speed really. The guy kept telling me it was a smooth ride and he does 100mph on the freeway with it. Can you imagine this thing passing you at a 100 hahahahah!

anyway, back to subject. paging Kurt .......... can you shed some light on my transmission issue ?

 

[Panos]

Picked up some parts today, a FZJ80 steering box and a FZJ rear axle, these things are so big"big for toyota stuff " 9.5 ring gear, full floater, and disk brakes. They still need cleaning, a lot of cleaning! and cutting brackets off.

The steering box almost bolted up, Ill want to plate the frame anyway.

Rear axle looks good underneath it, good width I think.

not much else was done, too busy at work to work on my own stuff.

 

[Max Power]

Good work today. People sometimes underestimate how long it can take to gather parts for a build.

 

[Panos]

That is true, especially when they are a part not often found at your local junk yard. Hopefully I will have the front axle next week, And Some goodies from All-Pro I decided to do there new expedition 3" leaf pack; After talking to John at All-Pro. I told him what I was doing with the truck and how much weight I was going to carry, The expedition series was best suited.

 

[sixstringsteve]

are you still planning on coilovers in the rear too, or are you going to run the expedition pack up front too?

 

[Panos]

ill run the expedition pack in the rear with 2.5x12 shocks like these.

http://f-o-a.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_27&products_id=4

and yes, coilovers up front like these.

http://f-o-a.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_31&products_id=6

 

[sixstringsteve]

is the expedition pack the same as the baja pack? I tried to find the expedition leaf pack on their website and I couldn't find it.

 

[Panos]

No they are a completely different leaf pack than the baja. Similar to the regular leaf pack but with more thinner leafs and a heavier spring rate. The stated lift Hight for these springs is measured with 4-500 lbs in the bed

https://www.allprooffroad.com/9504tacomarearsuspension/9504leafsprings

 

[Panos]

Sliders should be here today. 58" TG's I wanted all-pro but hey free for trade work is not a bad deal

ok I am debating over pulling the cab off and building it to a almost driving point and then putting the cab and bed back on. what do you think? it would only be 4 more bolts and then I would have all that room to work and weld , What do I need to mark as reference points....fire wall, rear of cab, ???

 

[iamsparticus]

i would take it off it will save you hours of headaches and tough welding positions, just use tape to mark where the fire wall, rear of cab and such is

 

[Panos]

One day a week to work on my rig is not going to get it done very fast, I wish I had more time. But at least I made progress today. I tore down the rear axle,cut the brackets off and cleaned up the welds. Tomorrow it will get sand blasted and I will start to rebuild the Calipers and have them powder coated. Did i mention how much I HATE grinding!! I think next time I will just buy a bare housing.

 

[Panos]

I also wanted to change a few things on the motor, the green valve covers are killing me. I decided to pull the thing apart and just check a few things especially the starter contacts because the starter is under the intake plenum and I would hate to get this swap all done and a month down the road have a starter go out and have to pull all that crap off again.

Everything looks pretty good so far, I am going to have to do a completely new wiring harness for it, The one I have now is modified to be a stand alone system. I am wanting to run an automatic transmission so I would either have to put that part of the wiring harness back in or just get a stock one and go from there.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I am so jealous of your FF rear axle. Not so jealous of the green valve covers

Good call on re-painting them. Out of all the builds I'm watching, I'm most excited about this one.

If I ever decide to do a motor swap, you're the guy I want to do it.