n0rth's Platinum build

Thanks, this build has been a lot of fun.

Picked up another load of wood this afternoon for my mom.

 

Thank you for linking this thread.

I will be referring to this often when I start my build in the spring.

 

Did some more firewood wheeling today, actually used 4 low....pulling some juniper stumps out of the ground.











Wood pile at the house is looking healthy again.

 

sounds like you’ve been a busy bee.

 

Added a Softopper Telluride Tonneau cover to the truck, I've never run a tonneau cover but the price was right and my last Softopper on the Tacoma held up really well so I figured why not try it out.



I also recieved a set of Staun tire deflators for Christmas, my ARB tire deflator doesn't work with the Rock Warrior wheels and TPMS valve stems.



...

 

Haven’t posted in a bit, finally swapped out the Ironman UCA’s today with the replacements they sent for the recall due to bad balljoints. The new ones have Moog balljoints with zerk fittings, we’ll see how these hold up. The balljoints in the first set of UCA's were shot.

 

All shined up...

 

That's pretty cool you got him to do it for you. I contacted him in late 2022 about regearing the rear of my T100 again, after he did the my Harrop install. He said he was no longer taking out of state work which bummed me out a bit. I'm hoping the shop who did the work for me had the same level of professionalism and attention to detail.

The truck looks awesome too. Still liking the 5.29's?

 

Thanks, loving the 5.29's and Harrop's/Eatons. When I contacted Zuk he told me he wasn't taking any stuff by mail, luckily I'm in NM and have friends in Prescott that dropped my stuff off and I picked it up when it was ready. His work is top notch and he's a really cool dude. I've used other folks for gears and have been happy with them but hands down Zuk is the best gear guy I've worked with.

 

Yea now that he’s slowing down and limiting his work, those of us too far away are losing a heck of a resource. I learned a lot just talking to him before he built my last diff. But everyone deserves to retire.

 

Bits and pieces arriving for a much needed suspension refresh more to come. OME setup has served its purpose but I can’t wait to be on new suspension. Thanks to @memario1214 and Hotshot Offroad, one of my favorite vendors.

 

The brown truck swung by today and dropped off some more goods, stacking parts still waiting on UCA's and need to order a new set of leafs and shackles.

 

Nicely done… please name as “Madmax tundra “!!!

 

Video showing the tech of the 8112.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqLVRJbJ2vQ

5100's vs 8100's in this video, skip the first 1.30 to get to the comparison.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQfTdf6-AAM

 

The build up after 5 pages of reading...boxes of 8112/8100's stacked up in the garage, and no updates since....man, what a cliffhanger this thread is! Awesome build/build thread OP! Impressive setup...well thought out, looks killer, and entirely functional. Love the SOB armor as well, wasn't familiar with them until reading up after seeing your pics, great build! Subbed and will keep following for more.

 

Didn't mean for this thread to be a cliffhanger, suspension is still sitting on the bench Deaver U748's are on the floor. I plan to go to work on the suspension in the next couple weeks, work has been busy and I've been spending my spare time riding dirt bikes.

 

Went to work on the rear suspension this weekend, ran into a couple issues so I'll be waiting on a few parts to come in before I can finish it up. Installing a set of Coachbuilder +1 Shackles is where the first issue came up, I forgot that the OME frame shackle bushings have a different inner diameter than OEM frame bushings. Unfortunately you can't get the frame bushings by themselves you have to order the entire factory shackle to get the OEM frame bushing, ended up ordering a complete set of Energy bushings that has the correct frame bushings. It's mocked up with a spare set of bushings and sleeves that are the correct diameters but the widths are off.



Penton hanging out, supervising and checking out the goods.







Deaver U748's





Had to nip the corner on the rear bumper for the reservoir mount.





The passenger side rear lower shock bolt was seized and broke when pulling the old shock off, I'll pick a few up from the Toyota dealer tomorrow currently mocked up with grade 5 bolt that was handy.







Plan is to finish up the rear this week in the evenings after work, and start on the front next weekend.

 

The Evo Grey finish on those Bilsteins is sharp! Mock up looks great. You consider running boots on the rear shocks or just gonna roll with it? I messaged Bilstein a while back and they don't seem overly concerned about rock spray (some fancy "triple wiper" design for shaft travel inside the cylinder, which is nice, but nothing to protect the remainder of the shafts external from the bodies). Interested to hear some thoughts on adjustability once you get them all mounted and eventually sorted with some seat time.

 

I’m going to run them without any boots, I worried about it with a set of Kings on my Tacoma and it wasn’t an issue the shafts stayed in good shape.

 

Solid...Bilstein confirmed the same, they had no concern whatsoever running these bootless. And that SOB bumper is cleannnnnnnnn.

 

I bought these $6 boots from Rough Country and they worked perfect.

$6 Rough Country Shock Boot with Clamp - Black, 1PC

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0039OCQOW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

I was able to finish up the rear suspension this evening, Energy bushings showed up today and picked up the lower shock bolts on Weds.





I have some Old Man Emu looking for a new home, a couple of folks are interested locally otherwise it will go on Craigslist or the classifieds.



After taking it for a quick spin, it's back in the garage so I can work on the front suspension this weekend.



It feels good but I need to finish the front before giving a full review.

 

A little more progress this evening after work, we'll see how far I make it tomorrow.

 

I was able to finish the drivers front this evening, and finished it off with a set of RAD rubber design splash guards.



I made it a good way through the passenger front, I'll finish it up tomorrow.

 

Alright, finished up the passenger side got everything torqued and took it out for a test spin.















It's night and day from the old suspension, I need to adjust the front to around 3" they were set at 2.75" from the factory. Next up will be taking it in for an alignment and putting a new set of 37x12.50R17 Cooper AT3 XLT's on it that I picked up last summer when I found a deal on them that was to good to pass up.

 

I cranked the 8112's up .25" to bring the front to 3" of lift, it had a little too much rake for my liking. They were pretty easy to adjust on the truck, if the rear settles more I'll drop the front back down.





Cooper AT3 XLT's 37x12.50R17LT Load Range D, plan to mount these up once I get an alignment and will run 10 Oz of Checkered Flag ceramic balance beads.



Took it out again after adjusting the suspension and rallied some BLM roads out by the house, super supple and planted overall really impressed with the Bilsteins and Deavers.

 

One badass ride...

 

Whewwwwww, new setup is looking great! Bet it's beyond capable out in the wild, the additional 1/4" after adjustment was a solid move...sitting perfectly now. Excited to stay up with feedback once you get some more seat time and run the Bilsteins through their paces at the firm and soft ends of things. How much lift do you think you're getting out of the 748 leaf pack? You're going to love the Coopers - run the same exact on my 80 in 37's and 285/75's on my 2011 RW (bigger once properly lifted!). The lighter weight is nice with the D load rating. I ran balance beads for about 15 minutes of imbalanced driving after mounting the 37's before driving over to the tire shop and getting a conventional balance and they spun out perfectly....your mileage may vary. Best tires on the planet IMO for longevity, off-road capabilities, and highway performance all cooked into one tire. Too bad the dummies at Goodyear (who purchased Cooper in ~2021) are killing off (already killed off) the AT3 XLT and will keep the push on to further cut quality within Cooper's lineup...modern Corporate America.

 

Thanks, digging the Billies super impressive and seem to just be getting better. Lift with the U748's was a 1/8" taller than my OME's Dakars w/ the overload spring, I'm thinking they're going to settle out and sit just shy of the old springs. I have measurements from the ground to the rear center of the wheel well if needed. I had the Cooper AT3 XLT's on a Nissan Frontier and really liked them, I didn't realize they had been discontinued probably why I was able to score a good deal on them last September. I've had good luck running the balance beads vs wheel weights especially on larger tires.