What washers did you install on the banjo fitting? Oem or oem equivalent?

 

I imagine they are only oem equivalent. They came with an Engine Pro brand head gasket kit.

The first time I did this, I was lazy and reused the washers from before and did not experience any leaks. I tried going back to those on this ocassion just to try after the new ones leaked and had no luck of course.

 

The whistle almost sounds like a high pitch grinding noise from the video. Did u touch the cts or temp sensor I lost a copper washer bog of the temp sensor and got a similar sound before on my 86. Also did u touch the throttle body ? New gasket ? Everything tight and torqued to spec? If it's a intake thing start at the beginning and work your way back if it's a vacuum line u can check with a colored smoke test. U can also get rid of the charcoal canister

 

Did not mess with any sensors. The throttle body stayed on the intake when it was pulled. The only new gaskets that could be an issue are the head and EFI box to lower plenum gasket. Everything is torqued.

As soon as I can get the banjo fitting dealt with, and if that doesn't solve anything, I'll start tearing into it again.

I have thought about cutting some emissions parts like EGR and charcoal can. Mostly to clean up all the colorful hoses I bought. Makes sense right?

 

Yea it's probably a vacuum issue for sure my sounds was from the throttle body because the stud got cross threaded so didn't have the right torque. The noise could be a different issue from it dying on ya. Use ur camera and keep an eye on ur oil pressure when it comes on see if u have pressure at all if not could be a gasket. And u could get a fuel pressure gauge on the cold start to make sure ur lines are staying full

 

Oil pressure is good. Fuel pressure test will come in at some point. For now, I need to track down the crush washers for the fuel dampener. Apparently they are not easy to find.

 

Darma is up and running quite nicely. The whistle was a monster vacuum leak that was bad enough to keep her from running. It was a simple mistake of course. Took the EFI box off and discovered the ground wire that attaches to lower right stud coming out of the lower plenum was on said stud BETWEEN the two parts.....


While I had the EFI off I gave the fuel dampener washers a light sanding, got them heated up and put them back on the fuel line. It is ALOT easier to get everything on straight when you have the room to work.


I'll get some pictures up soon, me and my brother finally got our trucks out in the mud, got stuck, broke a tail light, a tree took part of his bumper. It was a good trip. I was impressed with how well the trucks did with stock size tires and suspension. CANNOT WAIT to get some Super Swampers and a locked rear end.

 

Future plans for the truck. Get the rear end welded or spooled. I would like to do it all myself but I have yet to get a grasp on installing differentials. I also just don't have the tools to set backlash or to pull/press the bearings.


I need to get a look at the drum brakes as well. I imagine a shoe that is 90% gone and a drum that has grooves like a record. I'm excited to turn to some other parts of the truck finally!

 

I managed to pick up some tires sooner than I expected. They are a used set but have a lot of life left. 36x12.5 TSL SX. They were previously run once a year on the sellers hunting Jeep, so there's not more than a few hundred miles on them. I'm going to see how they fit without any lift because I can't afford a good one like I want. Some fender trimming is in order. Before a lift I'll be regearing so I don't tear the drivetrain apart too quickly. Can't wait to get these shoes out in the dirt!

 

I got the tires to fit, just barely, but they do fit. I have no problem cutting the body away because the bed is coming off someday anyways to make a flatbed and the front fenders don't look any rougher than they did at first. My plan for a lift is to do the 63" Chevy spring swap in the rear and 1.5" BJSpacers from 4crawler in the front, possibly wheel spacers. I would like to do more for the front but responsibility....

 

This is an awesome build thread! I love the truck. Keep the updates comin

 

i dig the beefy look. keep on with the good work!

 

Believe it or not, the tires are awful on roads over 45MPH and hills with a 1% grade or greater. But I expected that until I can afford to re-gear to 5.29's. Which will likely be some time from now. I picked up the BJ Spacers and went to install them and found that my upper cv boot is completely separated from itself. Darma has been really squirrely on the ice lately so I suppose I found out why. I found two used CV's from a local Toyota guy for $60 and a homebrew. Good deal. hopefully I can get all of that installed this next week and find out how she sits. Life is expensive so I still haven't bought the spring swap kit.

Someone put a bug in my ear about how much of a difference a front locker makes, even a lunchbox style. I found a Spartan on Amazon for $250 with shipping, which is almost unheard of for a heavy item shipping to Alaska. So now I'm torn on whether to get that first or the spring swap kit. Here's a picture.

 

Remember that post where I said I was going to re-gear first? I lie it turns out. unfortunately the $500-$600 to re-gear is a little harder for me to muster up and with spring approaching, I can't get away from the need for traction from a welded or spooled rear end and maybe a spartan up front. I can do one of three things next.
1. Be patient, save and re gear.
2. Spool or weld the rear and/or put in a spartan up front.
3. Buy the 63" spring swap kit to lift the rear end.
I would say which one I'll do first but that changes weekly.

I did get the BJ Spacers installed along with new upper ball joints, front differential drop kit and a used set of CV axles. I was pretty happy with how smooth it all went, just a little time consuming being patient with a few nearly seized bolts/nuts. However the tires still rub!!! At a full turn, they rub on the front side on the idler arm. This is in part because my camber is awful, turned way in on the top side. So after an alignment, I may get a little help. All I can think to do while staying cheap, which I will, because I am, is to crank the torsion bars a little more and hope nothing breaks.
I do realize that I can run wheel spacers, but I have heard a lot more cons than pros as far as the general safety of them and besides that, the extra wear on my axle parts that are already under strain. But if it comes down to it, I'll throw some on as thin as possible.

 

An update...

I learned that cranking the torsion bars as far as I did is terrible on CV joints. It didn't take long for the inside boots to tear. I turned them way back down, replaced the boots, redressed the locking hubs and replaced some bad bearings on the drivers side wheel hub.

Another project that should be underway soon is building a new front bumper the can take a winch. I found a Ramsey that needed some repairs that should be ready to mount before too long.

Not much excitement with the rig lately. I'll try to get around to updating with some pictures.

 

I'm going to post some info about Darma (the truck) and then remember more later.

I've neglected this thread for some time now because I really haven't been putting much time and effort (money) into the rig. It drives and that's been sufficient. But I have recently started giving the ol' gal some needed attention and have made some note worthy changes. Hardly any of which are things I have mentioned earlier in this thread.

I finally pulled the trigger on the LCE header kit. Shipping to Alaska was $110, very discouraging. Luckily I work with some guys who come up every two weeks from the states, one lives in CA, $25 to ship it there and have him bring it on the plane as baggage for free.99. I ordered new studs with it and the install was smooth.
--Pull the old cast manifold.
--Used the double nut trick to get the old exhaust studs out, nothing broke!
--Cut my bailing wire exhaust hangars....
--Throw the old exhaust with cat and muffler attached, as far as humanly possible. Yell at it.
--Removed the bracket that is attached to the bell housing, *reinstall the 17mm bolt*
--Removed the heat shield opposite the afformentioned bracket.
--Smile while torquing down the header. And installing the new O2 sensor which I grounded to the t-case.

I chose to not get the Flowmaster that LCE sells as I am not into the noise. Just my preference. They recommended the Dynomax 17731 for a tamer sound. It's fine. Still a little louder than I wanted but I have excellent power gain from the new system, all 2.25". I also stacked it.

Ting ting ting
I got the idea for the stack and rain flapper from someone who lives in farm country Illinois, imagine that. But I like the way it turned out. I bent a bracket to secure it to the cab from some 1/8"x1" bar, drilled holes for a 2.25" exhaust bracket threads and it does what it's supposed to.

Using observation you will also notice that the bed is gone. At last I have begun the flatbed undertaking, I have the steel for the frame which will be 2"x3" exterior with 1.5" square cross members, leaving just the right depth to drop 2" (1.5" truly) boards for a deck. That's the bare bones plan for now.
Bed removal went surprisingly well, I used an abundance of PB blaster and Aerokroil to make sure I didn't break any bolts or gall threads. There are 8 studs, 4 in front of the rear tire and two behind. They have a steel tab welded to the head to keep them from spinning while you remove the 2 17mm nuts per bolt.
--Removed 16 nuts from 8 bolts--Removed tail lights and license plate lights--Remove a couple of plastic clips holding the tail light wiring in, only a couple and they are all behind the axle.
--Reinstalled 4 nuts to drive it to the dump and shove it off into the scrap pile.
What was left of the bed weighed 220# FYI.
More on the bed as progress happens.

Turns out I had been dripping coolant out of the lower radiator hose where it connects to the radiator. I don't remember where I got the hose but it was an inch or more short of completely covering the radiator inlet. Got a new hose at NAPA and that one was actually too long which is a good problems. Cut the hose, installed the hose, good to go.

Knock sensor replacement. I had HORRIBLE power loss and fuel mileage, skips a beat on start up, pinging. All the symptoms of a bad knock sensor. The OEM part is $$$300+ and hard to find. I called Toyota and got two part numbers from them because I didn't have my VIN available. One was no longer produced and the other was. So I tried it and I found a Japanese made, Isumo brand knock for........$10 on ebay!! Here is the link.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/e1124...=loc,osub=osub
I figured if it doesn't work out, I'm only out $10. Well by golly it worked!!! Drove it to the city (50 miles away) and no pinging, much better power. BIG WIN.

I put 31x10.5 Milestar Patagonia MT's on in January 2020 and they have been great, good for snow/ice, quiet, not too expensive and they are wearing well so far. Not a lot of mud time but I expect good things.