Topic: BigMike's Big Project

[BigMike]

I was going to run some tires courtesy of dirtbag (), but then I found some used 33x12.50x16 Procomp Xterrains locally this last weekend for just $30 so I bought em. Just out driving and there they were at a yard sale. Who would'a thought? Im not to savy on the design much, but for $30 I can't complain. The only catch is that they are 16s. I actually told the guy I needed some 15s and then later I returned, he still had em, and I took em. Then today I find out that Goodyear doesnt offer a 37" tire x 16" rim size of MTRs so now what ever rims I buy I wont be using once I get some real tires. So after a couple of phone calls I came accross a set of 16x7.5" rims, and he's gonna let me borrow them for the winter season (or until I get some bigger tires on 15s). So that's great news for me, and hopefully tomorrow night I will make the 2hour round trip drive up the hill to pick 'em up. But the offset is horriable on the Chevy wheels, so the wheel spacers that I've got are still only going to put the tires about stock width.. I was definately hopeing for an improved track. It will be nice to get some decent tires on my truck, it needs it so bad, but with the 3.90 gearing at the axles, I can't really go 35s or 37s yet, well I could, but I dont want to. Im still keeping my eye open for some 36's or 37s but man I'm broke

Man page 24 and I havn't even started on the suspension/drivetrain yet 

[WHITE_TRASH]

Oh just get the tires already.   Its not nearly as bad as you'd think.

[dirtbag]

I was going to run some tires courtesy of dirtbag (), but then I found some used 33x12.50x16 Procomp Xterrains locally this last weekend for just $30 so I bought em. Just out driving and there they were at a yard sale. Who would'a thought? Im not to savy on the design much, but for $30 I can't complain. The only catch is that they are 16s. I actually told the guy I needed some 15s and then later I returned, he still had em, and I took em. Then today I find out that Goodyear doesnt offer a 37" tire x 16" rim size of MTRs so now what ever rims I buy I wont be using once I get some real tires. So after a couple of phone calls I came accross a set of 16x7.5" rims, and he's gonna let me borrow them for the winter season (or until I get some bigger tires on 15s). So that's great news for me, and hopefully tomorrow night I will make the 2hour round trip drive up the hill to pick 'em up. But the offset is horriable on the Chevy wheels, so the wheel spacers that I've got are still only going to put the tires about stock width.. I was definately hopeing for an improved track. It will be nice to get some decent tires on my truck, it needs it so bad, but with the 3.90 gearing at the axles, I can't really go 35s or 37s yet, well I could, but I dont want to. Im still keeping my eye open for some 36's or 37s but man I'm broke

Man page 24 and I havn't even started on the suspension/drivetrain yet 

Mikie, I have these 33x12.50/R15LT Cooper Discoverer STT's....

....still available, if you wish to partake in receiving them. Also, I have what's left of this 82 T-case, and an 82 front bumper for you as well. Just bring those shackles we talked about, look at my truck & tell me what all I need & need to do, and consider them yours. Hell, we might even be able to put them on while you're up here. Let me know, otherwise I'll just junk them, or give them away.


Josh

[BigMike [OP]]

otherwise I'll just junk them, or give them away

no !!!!! I am trying to make some time on Sunday to come give ya a visit.

I just drove up to Oakhurst, around 4000' elevation, took 1 hour each way, this being the biggest mountain test I've done for the engine, and man it's performing so well! The temp ran at quarter to half gauge all the time, power is amazing, only used 3rd gear to pass some guy, then shifted into 4th and out pulled him going up hill at 75 mph.

But Im sure this amazing power will all change once I get some real tires on board...

Only time will tell........

...........and the time is getting close. I picked up some GMC mag wheels. They are SUPER LIGHT, Lighter than my MR2 race wheels, and are 16"x7.5". I got the tires mounted (that was pretty hard) but the hub on the Yota axle is pretty big and the centers of the two front wheels will have to be bored out to 4.25" ID. They are some where around 3" ID right now, so you can imagine that's alot of material that needs to be machined out

I am going to try to order a 4.25" hole saw tomorrow as the largest one we've got is just a 3". Its seems like its alot of work just to get the tires on, but the wheels are very very nice, at first I didnt like em so much, but now I cant wait to see them on my rig

Oh, also I spent most of my afternoon at the DMV - Got my truck registered, horaaya!, and its now in my name, which is good because the previous owner still could have come over at any time and just taken the rig but now its mine haha, and now its just pending the smog job to get the tags. So you know what, I was able to get a moving pass for the month # 1. That means that I dont need to smog the truck until Jan. 31st! But I will do it hopefully this friday if all goes well, we will see..

If I can get the wheels bored out tomorrow, then expect some poser shots of my rig!

[BigMike [OP]]

Ok guys, I just made an appoitment for the Smog Ref for Nov 1st, thats next Monday, at 3:10pm. So right after class I will drive out of town and head south to Visalia.

It's gonna be $38.25 for them to check everything and this includes the smog, so man that's really cheap.

So this weekend I am going to go over everything and make sure she's in top shape.

So if anyone lives in or near Visalia, I'll be at the College of the Sequoias, where the ref station is located, Parking Lot #2, at about 3pm on next Monday.

Later
BigMike

[Brandon]

make sure your ebrake works, and your check engine light and you'll be good

[BigMike [OP]]

make sure your ebrake works, and your check engine light and you'll be
good

Got it, thanks. Any other advice?

Wednesday,

Got a chance to sneak into the shop today for a bit, mainly because my
Nology Hotwires came in 

...........but unfortunately like an idiot I ordered the wrong ones. I
got the wires for the twin coil DIS ignition system 3RZ, which is
1998+ I believe.
So I sent them back today and they will send me out a different set by
Friday, I hope.

Also, here's a shot of the beautiful stock Toyota plug wire #3. It's
got performance written all over it! See this is designed with a new
patented Insolation Gap design that allows the capture of any stray
electric fields from any near by current sources 

So that's why I want to get those wires replaced before I smog it.. Im
sure if the smog ref notices that, he will fail 'em

[BigMike [OP]]

Also I took some pics of my tires I am hoping to get on tomorrow night.

Not much tread is left, but it could be worse, not bad for just $30-

There's a pic of what the GMC wheels look like. They look great. I really like the way tires look with narrow rims. These are 7.5" wide I believe..
The metal shavings are from me starting to hog out the center of that one. I showed it to Andy today and he doesnt know of any easy way to do that... I might be dismounting two of the wheels and using our large adjustable drill press, hopefully it will move out far enough, and then I can use an end mill and just be done. That would be the easiest method I think..

Anyhow, soon I'll get those on and I'll be wheel'n!

[WHITE_TRASH]

Dont you have a lathe?  Thats by far the easiest way to do it.

[BigMike [OP]]

Yes that would be the best thing, but our lathe is only like 14" or so, I need like a 30" lathe

[WHITE_TRASH]

Hmmm your gonna love this one....  Now bare with me on this I just thought it up.  Why not bolt a wheelspacer to the wheel and chuck the spacer up in the lathe?  That would allow it to spin the wheel and it would give you a damned good referance point to finish the i.d.

[MidgetMike]

That's a=n idea put a wheel spacer in, I was yust wondering if your college has a metal shop if so they may have a lath that your wheels would fit in  

[BigMike [OP]]

Hey WT that is a great Idea but the problem is that the distance from the center line of the lathe to the table, or the surface that the chuck moves on, is the distance that is only 14" or so. So the problem is that the height of the wheel is to much for the size of our lathe. The center line on our lathe needs to be moved up about another foot or so before the wheel will fit and rotate.

Great idea, but its not a clamping issue but a physical size restriction issue..

College metal shop.. I could always go and check it out, but I dont like college shops I once went in for a class on how to weld and all of the people in there were guys and girls who have never touched a wrench in their life. My college shop department sucks monkey balls.

Its like a story Marlin once told me about his experience in college. He was in the shop class and they were going over what a spark plug does. And on the 2nd day Marlin asked the teacher "Excuse me sir, but when will we be rebuilding a V8 engine?" and the shop teacher was like "woah son, I dont even know how to do that" not really, but the teacher said that most of the students couldnt even rebuild a flash light...

So when I  go over there I see guys wearing those silly mechanic gloves and they are spilling oil during an oil change and then they take their story about their oil spill and tell all of their friends how hard it was to remove the oil filter. Give me a break. Do some real work or be quiet

I bet the first thing the metal shop guy says is "Why would you want to put Chevy wheels on a Toyota? Why not just get a Chevy" man those guys have no practicle since in their brains

[WHITE_TRASH]

Never trust someone who profess's to be a mechanic if he has clean fingernails.  I get a good chuckle out of older guys that think Im just another no it all punk.  Irebuilt my first small block chevy at 13 with no help what so ever and the dude that I did it for is still driving it!  Some people just dont get it.  Ill bet Marlin has a stone hone for honing cylinders doesnt he?  Get a set of 80 grit stones and put the drill on high!

[MidgetMike]

yeah I know what you mean about the people and teachers in those classes, that sucks that the metal shop sucks the mantinence guy for the metal shop might be good contact, mine happens to own 2 Fjs

[79coyotefrg]

Hey WT that is a great Idea but the problem is that the distance from the center line of the lathe to the table, or the surface that the chuck moves on, is the distance that is only 14" or so. So the problem is that the height of the wheel is to much for the size of our lathe. The center line on our lathe needs to be moved up about another foot or so before the wheel will fit and rotate.

Great idea, but its not a clamping issue but a physical size restriction issue..

uh,  its a 16" wheel,  half of that goes between chuck and deck,  right???

[Shamb]

I have what's left of this 82 T-case

Stock t-case??   i might take it from you if Mike doesnt want it! 

[Shamb]

btw, BigMike post up some pictures of the rig! 

im curious to see what it looks like.

[BigMike [OP]]

uh, its a 16" wheel, half of that goes between chuck and deck, right???

Well I think 14" is also the diameter of the chuck in the lathe, so half of that's just 7" or so from center line to the base..
I'll check it out today, but I'm pretty sure it's way to small..

I have what's left of this 82 T-case

Stock t-case?? i might take it from you if Mike doesnt want it!

Well I dont need it so you can take it Shamb!

btw, BigMike post up some pictures of the rig!

im curious to see what it looks like.

Hopefully tonight I can get the tires on and I'll get some pics then-

[88runner]

Hey WT that is a great Idea but the problem is that the distance from the center line of the lathe to the table, or the surface that the chuck moves on, is the distance that is only 14" or so. So the problem is that the height of the wheel is to much for the size of our lathe. The center line on our lathe needs to be moved up about another foot or so before the wheel will fit and rotate.

Great idea, but its not a clamping issue but a physical size restriction issue..

uh,  its a 16" wheel,  half of that goes between chuck and deck,  right???

seems obvious that's 8"  BigMike now go to work and do it

[freds40]

Would Ronnie over @ Fresno 4wd let you use a lathe for a bit? I thought he had a decent sized lathe. That would be the easiest and most precise way to bore them. I'd offer but I don't think the lathe I have access to is quite tall enough. I know it wouldn't fit my Hummer wheels.

[BigMike [OP]]

Actually Marlin is buddies with the guys over at Fresno 4WD so maybe I could swing that, but I really want to mount the tires tonight so its not an option now. If I have to, I will do it by hand with a die grinder cuz the tires are going on!!

Im off to the shop for some work on my rig- cya!
BigMike

[BigMike [OP]]

Thursday,
FINALLY I got some decent tires on my rig!!!

Here's the LD, or "low down" for the lay folk-

I measured our lathe and from the center line to the deck it's only 6.5" and I need at least 8" so that was a no go.
So I learned how to use the big mill press that I've never used before. Even when I made my manifold for my side drafts on my MR2 I used the our small drill press..

Here's a couple pics of the rim on the press. I used a centering dial indicator that attaches to the machine itself and uses a radial swing arm that spins around and gives read out on a gauge that you hold steady while it spins. After I got it centered, I used a boring bar and made cuts 0.1" (1 tenth of an inch) at a time. It was extremely easy and only took me about an hour for the pair.

[BigMike [OP]]

These GMC wheels have a HORRIABLE OFF SET and even with the 1.5" wheel spacers on, I get some minor tire to back half of spring contact at full turn.

The hub, despite the wheel spacers, is just inside of being completely flush with the flat spot on the rim, the place where tire weights go.. So that really sucks, but I was expecting this so its no suprise. At least they fit !

I drove around and made a U-turn and it barely rubs. Its real quiet though, I've been in rigs with much worse contact than this..

[BigMike [OP]]

Here's a cool comparison I made while changing the tires. 

That's 30" on 15" rims vs. worn out 33" on 16" rims

[dirtbag]

let me guess Mike, you want to come up this weekend & get some REAL wheels & tires mounted on your truck?

You know the number, I gave you directions already, let's get your carcass up here.....

[dirtbag]

Here's a cool comparison I made while changing the tires. 

That's 30" on 15" rims vs. worn out 33" on 16" rims

ULead gif Animator?

[BigMike [OP]]

And finally, here are some pics of what they look like on the truck.

Finally my truck is starting to look like one.

I took these pics when I got home around 10pm so its dark and I couldnt even see anything on the camera, but they turned out alright.

I'll take some poser shots tomorrow in the daylight for ya

[BigMike [OP]]

let me guess Mike, you want to come up this weekend & get some REAL wheels & tires mounted on your truck?

Yup, I still want to come up, but Im really liking these rims. If I ignore the offset then they are pretty cool. I know you are offering me some tires/wheels for free, but these aren't to bad for $30.

ULead gif Animator?

Nope, "GIF Movie Gear" I dont like all of the commercial :bull crap: surrounding ULead. Its a better prog but I like my complete working version of Movie Gear better for simple animations

[BigMike [OP]]

Oh and about the power, 33s suck butt with 3.90:1 diff gearing. The 3RZ does alright, 5th gear at 80MPH (now 70 on my speedo ) is a piece of cake, but the gears are stretched out much more now with the larger tires, and the 3RZ is finally showing some signs of weakness when bogged below 2,500rpm in 5th gear with this setup. It can barley accelerate then.

Remember that my torque peaks at 4,400rpm while the 22R/RE versions peak at an amazing 2,800rpm. I've always given the 22R mad props for the amazing bottom end power from just a 2.4L engine. I've never ever seen any other 4cyl develop so much torque at so low a speed.

I think what Toyota was thinking with the 3RZ was to develop a high power engine, hence the dual cam head, but they still wanted it to have some good torque since it's in a pickup, so they just made it huge, 2.7 L.
But when I bog the 3RZ in 4th or 5th below 2,500, you can forget about going anywhere. 1st - 3rd isnt so bad, but because the gearing is sooo wide now, it stays out of the power band in 4th and 5th for so long that you can notice its lacking in power in those lower rpms..

However, I can EAISLY do burnouts in 2nd gear at demand (sorry new tires ) so it's not like theres not power. Once the tach goes above 3k, she pulls really hard, and like I said, 5th gear gets up to 80 with out any trouble with the 33s and 3.90 gearing.

I will be moving up to 4.88s pretty soon, then Ill be ready for some bigger meats.

Cya
BigMike