Pluto is getting a hybrid flatbed

I cannot imagine it weighing more than 400lbs... probably in the 300lb range.

I've never removed mine but have read enough build threads. usually 3-4 men are required to manually remove the bed.

 

So if we went with a safe low estimate of 300 plus my earlier estimates.. that's about 550lbs of rear weight I'd have off the rear. That's plenty room to mess around with for the design I think.

 

might as well box the frame and drop in a 38 gallon fuel tank while you have it all opened up.

 

Hah. You got a spare tank laying around? I'll be boxing the frame as much as possible for sure though. I'll need to dump the exhaust before the axle, too.

 

for a while there i had a spare truck laying around.. lol
but others have done the swap... i'm sure they can chime in on where they sourced it.

 

Its like 1200 in parts all in. @papasmurf has a thread with all the info you need

unless you get lucky and find a used noe, but guys are getting smart so good luck getting a good price

 

Factory bed weighs around 300lbs

Interested in seeing what you build

 

wasn't there a thread the other day where someone was rebuilding a tundra from two dead ones?

Not sure if they were both 38G tanks but.....

https://www.tundras.com/threads/tundra101s-project-truck-powertrain-replacement.29155/

 

Yeah I don't plan to do a perm top either and no spare under. I have 2 spares in the bed with a water tank and fuel cell on each side of the spares. Add mounts so I can add my RTT if I want, but really trying to get away from that and build a sleep platform above the top rails and maybe a hammock setup above the bed rails.

 

So I've started gathering some material and parts but it also gave some thought into relocating my battery from the engine bay to the new bed behind the cab. I did some research here and Tacoma World. It seems like the easiest way to do this is..
1) Add two power distribution blocks to the OEM location for the positive/negative connections.
2) Run some beefy wire from the positive block to the bed where the battery is. I have some 1/0 cable I could use for this and I estimate I'd need about 12 feet of length (ie. accounting for some minor flex offroad).
3) Run the same beefy wire from the negative block to a frame ground in the engine bay.
4) Run the same beefy wire from the battery negative to a frame ground on the bed.

The only thing I'm not clear of as far as any concerns is the starter. Would the battery being that far away and having to travel ~12 feet of cable -- albeit with proper gauging -- be detrimental to the starter?

If I could relocate the battery, that's over 50lbs of weight off the front corner and I could also run a bigger battery or dual batteries much easier in the bed.

 

Your starter will be fine as long as you run the proper gauge for the length and amps used in order to keep the voltage drop minimal probably 0/2 would work

You better make sure that line is properly fused and protected. If it makes contact with your frame or body anywhere, it will turn into a very hot toaster wire and burn your truck to the ground.

 

nope you will be fine on voltage for the started as long as guage of wire and amp loss over distance is kept to spec

 

hahah we posted damn near the same thing as the same time..

and yeah 0/2 would be better than 0/1 but the 0/1 would work fine if you have it already

 

I just normally default to 0/2 because you can get welding cable for cheap on Amazon

 

if you can run dual lithium. a bunch of guys have switched and love them. @KevinK care to chime in? I switched to optima years ago and have battery boxes specific to them so im kinda stuck. But group 31/34 lith batts are the new way to go now

 

thats what i used for my dual batt setup

 

true i was just saying hes got it, its plenty fine for the length hes talking

 

Yea, I mean I know these cables come with thick walls but I was also planning on wrapping two layers of electrical tape down the whole length plus plastic wire loom. Not sure what other layers of protection I can stack.

 

Noting that I have an Odyssey 31R-PC1500 right now but a single 2250 is tempting.

 

I do electrical/mechanical engineering and maintenance for a living. Electrical tape and plastic loom wont help. The vibrations from off roading will chafe right through that. Honestly, nothing will help short of metal conduit, which is over kill.

Just use nylon mesh and tie it properly. If you lay it on the top or inside of the frame rail and make sure there are zero rub points you'll be fine. BUT YOU HAVE TO FUSE IT AT THE BATTERY END! I can't stress this enough. Use a marine grade ANL fuse with the proper rating

 

umm yeah no tape.. thats bad

all you need is something like this

$11 Besteek 50ft - 1/2" & 1/4" Expandable Braided Cable Sleeve, Braided Wire Sleeving, Cable Wrap Mesh Wire Loom

https://www.amazon.com/Besteek-50ft...qid=1538504640&sr=8-4&keywords=mesh+wire+loom

 

this alex has seen my dual batt setup and that is exactly how mine is done..

 

This is what h

Thats the right stuff ^^

But I found several places on my ground wire where I wore through that stuff. I was just lucky it was ground and not positive. I relocated the wire away from the chafe points and now I'm good to go

 

so i still have a batt in the front, but i use mesh nylon for abrasion resistance, and everything is isolated and fused, all the wires running to the rear batt are tucked in the frame rail and secured with zipties all the way.

 

ummmmmm yeah dont ask.. LOL

it works great though!

 

LOL. You answered too quick. I was trying fix the quote.

 

yeah, we went with Valence Batteries LiFePO4 chemistry for our dual battery. This one here: http://www.valencetechstore.com/u112rt.html

It's 40 Ah and that's 100% usable, not like on lead acid where you need an 80 Ah rated battery to get 40 Ah out of it (deep cycle AGM, not a regular old starter battery)

Basically we got the equivalent of 80 Ah lead acid in a 14 lb package instead of 70 lbs and it's smaller than 8x8x6 inches.

 

So I've finalized the design after several iterations and gathered some starting raw material so I could move onto the next step and point of no return, which was removing the bed..

https://www.instagram.com/p/Br77V0YBDZs/

 

Status has been halted due to rain.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsRmU3cBIrA/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1m8ostxsy61q

 

Status update; the blue tape shows what's left to add as far as tubing.. after that comes the floor and paneling for the sides.