Rokyoat's mild DC Tacoma build-up

[<MIKE>]

LooKs like an ox locker.. Should be a cable I believe

[88Rokyoat]

Hydro assist and ARB? line look really exposed

it's an ox locker and I don't like how the cable is routed but it's the way it has to be so it won't bind.

[88Rokyoat]

I got to work on the truck some more today. I pulled the t-case and crossmember out. I got all the adapters put together on the crawl box. the inchworm tranny adapter can is used with diff year tacomas, so I had to drill a couple holes out for different clocking options. I am not going to clock the cases, I would have to cut the floor and the t-case doesnt really hang that low anyways. I got he 23 spline coupling put into the tranny tailhousing but i messed up the seal. A new one should be here weds. from inchworm. hopefully all the parts I have ordered will be here by next weekend so I can put it all in and start building the crossmember.

[<MIKE>]

hey where did you buy your crawl box and for how much. i'm looking for one too but i don't know which year to look for and what a reasonable price is. thanks

[88Rokyoat]

i got my t-case for the crawl box from a buddy for like $40 I think. it's easiest if you find a top shift case. mine was a forward shift, I pulled the case apart, kept the low range stuff as usual, and cut the shift fork off even with the case. then I had to cut and weld the part where the shifter comes into on to the shifter fork. I'm not sure what t-cases are going for these days but I do know top shifts are usually more the forward shifts...

[<MIKE>]

right on man thanks.

[88Rokyoat]

right on man thanks.

no prob.

So I'm still waiting on my parts from Front Range. I was told they were going ship Monday... Got the new seal Jim at inchworm but that won't get me much further. Hopefully the rest shows up soon! This things needs to be wheeled bad

[88Rokyoat]

I got the rest of my parts came yesterday. on the tacoma t-cases only way to get the interlock pin out for the twin cases is to split the case and pull it out. I got that done today and got the crossmember all planned out. I have to get the materials on monday and start fabbin' it all up. tomorrow I am going to get the crawl box and t-case bolted up.
I snapped a couple pics for anyone who wonders what chain driven t-case looks like...

the other picture is the center plate that I will build off of to make the crossmember.

[pumkin toy]

center plate looks like a good start!  Is that a front range off-road piece?

[88Rokyoat]

center plate looks like a good start!  Is that a front range off-road piece?

yeah it is. I wish it went completely around the case but the housing shape/design won't allow it. there is a small stock skid plate that goes there.

[pumkin toy]

can you leave the stock skid plate off of the case and weld in another piece to connect the entire center plate?  That would make it alot stronger, plus you are building your own skid plate/x-member so you wont need the stock one

[88Rokyoat]

The drain plug is in the way. That's why the center plate can't go all the way around. Should be fine.

I put it all together and bolted it in but isn't quite right. The gears aren't turning freely in neutral. Something is bound up somewhere. I took the t case off and I think the shift rod is hotting the rear adapter and putting downward pressure on everything, not letting it spin. Time for the grinder...

[88Rokyoat]

Worked all day on it again today. I spent a couple hours trying to make the center plate work for my crossmember set-up. So after $100 and 2weeks of waiting, I'm not using the centerplate. Instead I'm using the stock tranny mount and 4 cyl t case mount and making my own crossmember/skid plate. I'll post some pics tomorrow...

[pumkin toy]

well hopefully you can re-sell the center plate.  Sounds like the end result should be pretty good though

[88Rokyoat]

well hopefully you can re-sell the center plate.  Sounds like the end result should be pretty good though

yeah I'm going to call Brian and see if I can return it, if not it will be for sale. I knew when I ordered it, I might be able to use it.  Room is tight and I should have known, the way this build has gone, it would have to be a one off custom piece.  Im stoked how it's turning out so far, it will be better than a store bought piece...

[88Rokyoat]

I got the crossmember 98% done today. I still want to plate the bottom in but im not sure what I want to use. I dont want it to be too heavy. It is attached to the frame in 4 places and I used the tranny mount and t-case mount under the crawl box.  i think is turned out pretty good, it is diffently solid. here are some pics.

[88Rokyoat]

couple more.. the mount up between the front cat and upper link was a pregnant dog! I spent a couple hours on it alone.

[pumkin toy]

wow thats quite the assortment of tubework for a skid plate!  Looks like it should work.  I would think that if you welded some 3/16" plate to the bottom it should be strong enough and not really heavy.

[88Rokyoat]

Yeah there ended up being a lot tube. There is a lot to work around under there, which is why I had to build my own. 3/16 is what I was thinking too.
I go back to work tomorrow but I'm hoping to finish it next weekend. I need to do some work to the shifters and order drivelines.

[-Matt-]

you should post some picks of your shifters inside the cab. im curious where they ended up with your center console.

[88Rokyoat]

I can but I'm not using the stock console. I'm going cut and reweld the shifters forward some. I have a locking tuffy box that I'm going add some cupholders to and mount close to where the original one was. But the twinsticks would have come up right in the middle of the cupholders.

[88Rokyoat]

i got the drivelives ordered today and got the crossmember plated in. tomorow the plan is to pull the Xmemeber out and paint it. then try and get the shifts dialed in. hopefully it will be driveable next week.

[88Rokyoat]

I picked up the drivelines yesterday finally. I was supposed to get them last Monday but ended up working 4 days of OT last week. Rear d-line is 59" with a 30* CV and the front is 34" with all new parts since it's replacing the square one I had. Truck should be drivable tomorrow. I will get some pics up then...

[88Rokyoat]

Finished putting it all together today and drove it.  Everything works good. Low range is pretty slow. I'm not sure what 1st gear ratio is, so I can't really figure out the final ratio is. I'm sure it is close to what older trucks low low ratio is. I need to re-do the rear pinion angle. After the one piece driveline, the driveline has some bad vibes. Tomorrow I should be able the get that done.

[88Rokyoat]

Here are a few pics. this is what the pinion angle was before cutting the perches off and re-doing it.
few other random pics too.

[pumkin toy]

everything is looking pretty good man!  so you rotated your pinion down in the rear to fix that pinion angle right?

[88Rokyoat]

everything is looking pretty good man!  so you rotated your pinion down in the rear to fix that pinion angle right?

yeah. it's set at 2 degrees (up) from straight now. hopefully it will be better.

here it is now...

added a breather also while I had it all tore apart.

[pumkin toy]

do you have a double cardan rear driveline?

[88Rokyoat]

Double Cardan??
I'm not sure what that is... I had a carrier bearing(2 piece) before. Now I have a one piece. The problem with the 2 piece is the 9" pinion is off center, so as soon as torque was sent to the rear it straightened the d-line out and wore out the carrier bearing and made some bad vibes. The pinion angle didn't help either. I should have it done tomorrow and know if I got all the vibrations worked out.

[lilbuddy]

Double Cardan?

A CV driveline. Like what comes stock in the front.