Ode to FGT; a refresh story

This reminds me of a very similar setup I have with my truck. My dad built it probably 10 years ago- he'd borrow the truck from my grandpa to transport bikes to cycling events with his friends. It's just a 2x6 that runs across the width of the bed, it sits vertically between the pieces I've circled below. I think it fits 4 road bikes.

 

Thought about doing that

 

It worked well but I'm not sure if it would work for mountain bikes. It was barely far enough towards the back for a bike to fit. I think with a big mountain bike you might not have room.

 

New rear leafs got the squeaks of late. An investigation using some penetrating oil revealed the culprit to be the pads at the end of the leafs. Squeaking gone for a couple days but returned with a vengeance. Repeated the lubrication with a gel based lube for some staying power. Spread the leaf ends with a big screw driver and sprayed the gel. Squeaks be gone again. Will monitor.

 

The once every 5 years or so windshield wiper paint refresh. Usually go satin, but gloss is what I got. Needed some new wipers, so figured I would just spruce em up now. Pic of part number for wiper arm nut cap in case anyone is missing one, appears to be 85192-12800. Will confirm.

 

Part number confirmed, just ordered a pair as the tabs are broken on the only remaining one.

 

I bought a wiper arm cap from Rock Auto after someone removed one of mine. Perfect fit.

 

Wiper caps came in, final product, complete with authentic rain.

 

Got a link to your lights? I need to add about $7 to my scamzon order of cap keys and struts, to get free shipping. All I can think of is lighting.

 

Nilight - TR-05 2PCS 60 Inch

$21 Nilight - TR-05 2PCS 60" 180 LEDs Bed Strip Kit with Waterproof on/Off Switch Blade Fuse 2-Way Splitter Extension Cable for Cargo, Pickup Truck, SUV, RV, Boat , 2 Years Warranty

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KXR799K

check if your brake light works. You can use a 9v battery to test. You may need to order a new one also.

 

$43 Nilight 3PCS 60" RGB Truck Bed Light Strip Kit 270 LED Neon Accent Lights with RF Remote On Off Switch Splitter Extension Cable for Cargo Pickup Truck Camper RV SUV Boat

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B37HSZ8Q?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

https://youtu.be/dgJ3ULzN2Js?si=UTFTBIlHI3IP6Zvk
That's you this morning, my shadow lmao

 

Oh snap, you got the 3pc! I got the 2pc. I need to install still.

 

The third piece along the cap opening really throws light onto the tailgate.

 

New horns came in. These were my second choice behind the Hella horns that have more of an exposed speaker with grill look that are well reviewed.



Install was easy, removed the factory horns from the 12mm bolt holding the bracket on and bolted these up. Plugged the factory harness into the horns positive post, made a ground wire with a female spade for the negative post and grounded to the 12mm bolt holding the horn bracket on.



linky:

$30 HELLA 007424801 Twin Trumpet High/Low Tone 12V Horn Kit with Bracket, Red

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000COBK8A

 

Damn, I wanted to hear before/after video.

 

Before: meep.

After: HOOOOOOOOOOONK!!

 

After my flat tire / valve stem failure issue, I discovered my spacer and center cap setup did not allow fitment of my spare in case of emergency. So after receiving my replacement tire (other was ruined running flat on the freeway unbeknownst to me) I decided to change up the centercap arrangement. Really dig the more flush look. I have the centercap mounted behind the spacer to reduce the amount it sticks out of the wheel hub. These things are like 4.5” long.



Marked for trimming to be more of a flush centercap that does not have to mount behind the spacer. I built a jig to hold the cap and trimming tool in a steady position out of some stacked 1by.



Trimmed with my multitool



Reinstalled on the truck. Bent a couple of small tabs into the freshly cut flange to seat in the back of the wheel groove. Once seated, used a hammer to flatten the flange into the groove. Worked decent, ball peen would have been better than the framer I was using.

Before:



After:

 

Flush look is way better. Jig was a good idea.

 

Well done! Can’t beat a jig and a multi tool.

Side note - I may be headed for a gray/black/red color scheme on my truck too. Just got my red JBA UCAs and I’ve been looking at the Trd pro 4Runner wheels with the red TRD emblem on the center cap. Seems like it’s a sign.

 

I don't personally have a preference between before/after for looks, but for removing lug nuts, after must be way better. Always annoys me to have to pop the caps to remove lug nuts.

 

Yeah, these don't pop. Lugs are accessible either way. But the centercap stayed on the truck when the wheel was removed. Would have to also unbolt the 1.25" wheel spacer to get the cap off. Spare won't fit over the cap. So this exercise had 2 goals. Improve the appearance (subjective) and allow the spare to be mounted with minimal fuss.

 

That's what I like about the push-through cap. Don't have to worry about theft or having them fall off. One of my spare methods has a pop-in cap. Haven't tried the push-through cap on it, usually just run that wheel with no cap.

 

Posted in the today thread as well, here for record keeping and anyone following along. Needed a little trimming for tire clearance. Pics at close to max static compression, wheel turned for maximum contact. A little off the airdam, a little off the fender liner, a couple solid whacks with a hammer on each bumper edge to deflare.

 

Couple of items today. Drain and fill transmission. Added some LubeGaurd while I was at it. So far seems nice and smooth. Wasn’t having issues before other than occasional hard 1-2 shifts. We’ll see how it does over the next week. Fluid didn’t look bad or smell burnt. 3.4ish qts came out, replaced the same amount.

 

Also pulled all of the wheel spacers and center caps and am rolling no spacers for the first time in 16 years. We’ll see if they stay off or not. Seems to drive a little smoother without but doesn’t look as cool to me.

 

We need pics. You know why.

 

I didn't know that product existed. I've always used Valvoline Maxlife.

 

Oh, and I fixed this terrible tinny ringing sound around 1400rpm that was ruining the sweet exhaust note. Turns out some chuckle head broke one of the O2 sensor studs off 10 years ago and rigged this crap up. The broken stud side was what was rattling since it wasn’t bolted down. I stuffed a washer in between the shield and exhaust. Sits nicely on the remaining stud stub. No more rattle.