Jamie's 2000 Tacoma Build-up

[SAR_Squid79]

Just read over your thread!

Nice job!

Love the ExPo white!

Keep up the great work!!!

Thanks man! I'm a fan of your rig too. Hopefully we can hit the trails together soon. I'll be moving back out to the West Coast in the Fall.

[TACODOC]

Thanks man! I'm a fan of your rig too. Hopefully we can hit the trails together soon. I'll be moving back out to the West Coast in the Fall.

What a coincidence... Tacosupreme has orders to Ft Irwin in August. We need to get out to the desert!

[SAR_Squid79]

Yep - I've got orders to Coronado in September!

After being here in Illinois for 3 years, I'll be very eager to hit the desert with you guys!

[StumpXJ]

Yeah, you guys will be getting my wheeling partner.... Logan (tacosupreme) is stoked to be heading out that way... He is a desert head for sure.

Hopefully when we get out of here, it will be to the northwest somewhere. Might have to meet in the middle at some point, and do a run.

~James

Oh yeah... nice truck Jamie!

[IronSmiles]

Yep - I've got orders to Coronado in September!

After being here in Illinois for 3 years, I'll be very eager to hit the desert with you guys!

Sucks you won't get here til sept. I work on NAB Coronado now and start my terminal leave in July, moving back to TX in August, we will just miss eachother, hah. You've got a great rig though and theres a HELLA lot of good places to wheel out here!

[SAR_Squid79]

Yeah - I tried to stay out there for my shore duty, but it was either:
1.) Stay in San Diego and do a job that I hated for 3 years, or
2.) move away from San Diego for 3 years to do a job that I like...

...I chose #2. I'll be back out there soon. No big deal. Sucks that I'll be just missing a fellow Navy ExPo guy, though.

[corax]

Just saw this thread . . . very nice rig.

If I decide to make a new front bumper, I think I'll have to steal some design ideas from yours (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery you know)

[SAR_Squid79]

About 8 weeks ago I made yet another trip to 4xInnovations for another session of custom fabrication.

When I initially did my PreRunner - to - 4WD Conversion, I had Budbuilt build me the crossmember I needed for my Inchworm Lefty Transfer Case. I needed something ASAP, and I could not have something custom built unless I had a fabricator RIGHT THERE the day I did my conversion (which was not possible). Budbuilt was/is the only person who already had all the demensions neccessary to build the mail-order, bolt-on part that I required.

The Budbuilt crossmember fit perfectly, and did the job that I needed.

The only issues I had with the Budbuilt Crossmember was: #1 - it used an OEM Toyota (rubber) transfer case mount. With that old-style rubber mount, and my T-Case geared at 5.0:1, that rubber mount allowed for a lot of movement in the T-case & shifters when I was in Low-Range in a crawling situation. #2 - The other thing that neither Bud nor I though of - is that I have Demello Bolt-On Sliders, and one of the mounting points is right in the way of the Crossmember!

I originally had to kind of jury rig the crossmember to clear the slider mounts, and I couldn't mount the crossmember flat, and consequently I had to cock it at a bit of an angle to get it to work. Me being the perfectionist that I am - that never sat right with me.

ENTER 4XINNOVATIONS!

So I had that BudBuilt X-member for about 9 months, and as I said it worked fine, and never caused any problems - I just knew that there was room for improvement. I talked to Adam about it, and he said that he could definitely offer a solution which would integrate one of his new Super Duty Toyota Transfer Case Mounts.

Here's what he came up with:

A custom tube crossmember, with integrated Transmission / T-Case mount:

The mounts are welded and gusseted onto the frame, and Adam was able to integrate my Slider mounting point - which you can see in the pic:

Integrated Super Duty Transfer Case Mount:

He fabbed up a Heavy Duty skid-plate to provide maximum protection for the transmission pan, and transfer case:

(This is kind of a crappy pic - I'll get a better one soon!)

REAR FRAME REINFORCEMENTS:

The other project that had been on my to-do list since Moab was rear frame reinforcements. In Moab, on "Moab Rim Trail", my frame flexed, and just like every other Tacoma that's been wheeled hard - my bed hit & dented the back of my cab. I had talked to Adam about this as well, and he took measurements, and made a template, and laser cut the reinforcement plates, and they ended up fitting just about perfect (he had to do a little grinding to trim a little fat around the edges).

[SAR_Squid79]

--VIDEO--
(24 May 2008)

[OldSven]

Nice!!! It's all about the long wheelbase