Mike's truck part 2

the Grill Craft insert was about 130 with shipping, and looks so much better than stock, it's galvanized and powder coated steel,  preventing branches from poking holes in the radiator. The TRD emblem just adds flair! (its a panty melter)

this is a good view of the custom shifter on the left that activates the Inchworm 4.7 gear driven lefty transfer case, without electronics.  This can only be engaged when stopped, and in neutral, to activate 4hi and low. The custom shifter is exactly where an original would have been, this was a cupholder location in the 2wd Tacoma console piece. So I removed the 2wd console, notch a 4 inch by 3/4" hole in the floor pan with a Dremel for the shifter rod. The factory Toyota 4wd console part was about 70 bucks at a Toyota dealership parts dept. The shifter handle was cut off a couple inches above the trans, a right angle was made and welded together, then another welded on at a right angle to get back vertical and was measured to be as tall as the shifter boot.

Notice the above seat bottom bolster hasn't held up. This are Corbeau  and just didn't stand up to the daily in and out activity. The foam is shot, and the steel frame work of the seat should have been covered by a stronger material,. maybe foam rubber, or rubber air bags maybe. The seat material was stained from rain, and nothing has removed the rain stain. Avoid these seats.

Doug Thorley header purchased from LC Engineering in Arizona, Lake Havasu area. This aluminized replacement header for the factory original, is smog legal for California. This is about 250, vs a factory stock replacement costing about 600. And it keep the underhood temps lover, and might be worth a couple HP and Ft Lbs

The Warn wireless winch remote controller unit. This controls the M8000S Warn winch, which is mounted in a Shrockworks bumper (bumper info later)

The winch controller is mounted with a custom plate that goes under the battery, which uses the factory battery hold downs, and the custom plate was fabbed on a sheet metal brake. Mocked with a piece of cardboard, then the dimensions were transferred to steel

The blue is the new Inchworm transfer case, and front driveshaft mount. Why Inchworm? Everyone else discontinued these, and even Inchworm had to scrounge to get this assembled. Marlin Crawler had them listed on their website for sale, but had zero on hand. Only Marlin Crawler and Inchworm built them, and many other retailers were trying to sell them, but no one had them in stock, it's out of demand, and this is likely the last one sold new. The blue transfer case pieces, are factory cast, the aluminum in the center is billet, and manufactured by Inchworm, and is oversized to clear 4.7 :1 gears, for the crawl ratio to go from a stock 2.28:1... huge difference from stock. This is far different from a 3.4 liter Tacoma, and is just part of the math of determining what's needed based on the engine size, auto or manual transmission, and the gear ratio in the read end, plus the tire size

 

The above wiring harness is going to be moved later for a steering box when the front end is ditched for a solid axle swap (SAS)

U bolt flip kit from All Pro Off Road, needed to get the u-bolt nuts and threaded ends over the axle for a couple more inches of ground clearance and peace of mind that rock wouldn't destroy the nuts and threaded ends. Cost - about 60 bucks, new u bolts, 4 plates, nuts and washers, and two relocation tabs for the shock mounts

New Icon VS Series 2.0 aluminum shocks, they are awesome. Cost 270 a pair, these are cheaper than stock. From Down South Motorsports, talk to Neal, he hooks it up

Both the ubolt relocation and the Icon shocks

The Schrockworks bumper did take 6 1/2 fucking months to the day to get. This is to be expected, as Schrockworks is about the best in the business, and are backlogged with orders. Powder coated to epicness, 3/8" steel, standard Toyota bumper, without options, and the foglights are PIAA 4" had to be relayed, and the switch is next to the dome light switch.

 

 

Notice the rear bumper, custom made by Mike, so the license plate flips up for the D-Ring recovery point. And the bumper is snugged into the quarter panels, and the bottom is level with the quarter panel bottom. The original bumper was replaced because the factory bumper bottom was 6 inches lower than this, and would hit ground on some ascents and descents when going from a steep incline to level ground. Also, this is 1/4" steel powder coated.  6 x6 x 1/4" steel tubing.