The Wild Crow - A Not So Wild Build Thread

jim65wagon

TundraBird1
Take A Breath, Take Your Time, Spread Your Wings and Rise

Here is the latest truck project. A few years ago we gave the truck a Wild Crow graphic on the hood. Over the few years it was on, the vinyl wrap became brittle and cracked and peeled in places. We decided to paint it on, so I gave it a go and after watching how to videos and reading many articles I screwed up my courage and taped out the pattern, painted the Crow and stripes on in a silver metallic, then clear coated the entire hood. My first ever automotive paint project. Hand in hand with this I cut out openings to add hood vents to alleviate some under hood temperature when we are driving slowly through the woods. It turned out pretty well I think.

20180822_190832.jpg

It took over a year to go from on the truck to finished, I got busy and this project got put on hold more than once.
20180902_125353.jpg

Taped out for vents
20180902_142714.jpg

Cutting!
20180902_142459.jpg

One layer done!
20180902_164145.jpg

Aaaaaggghh! I have giant holes in my truck!
20181112_162213.jpg

All taped out, ready to spray
20181113_211532.jpg

3 coats of silver metallic, then 3 coats of clear over the entire hood
20181117_165951.jpg

Venus from under the hood.
20181117_165905.jpg


20181117_165912.jpg

Finished! I love it! It makes me smile and that's all that's important isn't it?
 

jim65wagon

TundraBird1
I'M SO TIRED, AND I JUST CAN'T WAIT AROUND FOR YOU

7 tires. Yes, 7 Cooper Discoverer ST Maxx tires. 255/85/R16. Walmart had a price drop just before Thanksgiving, I was tired of waiting around for a sale so I jumped at the price. $196 each not bad.

20181127_071805.jpg

Mounted and balanced
20181127_170341.jpg


20181127_170330.jpg

One for the spare
20181127_170402.jpg

And a set for the trailer too!
20181229_114819.jpg
 

jim65wagon

TundraBird1
STOP! In the Name of......Stopping

We all need to just stop occassionaly. Stop hate, stop Nazis, stop sexism, and stop our trucksThe brakes on the Crow were doing OK but with 64,000 miles the pads were due to be replaced.

I've used EBC pads and rotors on the Tundra for years. They've always performed well for my needs whether I'm empty or loaded, towing or not. The rotors on the WC were in fine shape and all I really needed were pads.

Shopping around a bit and I found some EBC Extra Dooty pads. Yeah, I said Dooty.... not just regular dooty but extra dooty.

These are red, and shiny, but not to be confused with their regular dooty red pad. These are supposed to be better for towing. Time will tell. What can I say about changing brake pads? Nothing. Toyota makes it so fn easy. Here's the pics

20190506_110025.jpg


They came with these funky shims to keep squealing and vibrating to a minimum. Never seen those before but they seem to be doing their job
20190506_110052.jpg


20190506_111735.jpg


After the break in period they stop the truck. I like that
 

jim65wagon

TundraBird1
THANGS THAT GO BUMP! IN THA NIGHT That's me, Sam B. I gotta zombie army and you can't harm me. Who do you voodoo....... wait, sorry I got a little carried away.

While I had the wheels off to for the brakes I added a set of wheelers super bumps to the front. Modifications don't get easier.

Unscrew the old ones, and screw in the new ones.

20190506_105629.jpg


20190506_105639.jpg


20190506_111731.jpg


Inexpensive and easy to install. I like it. And they work. When the suspension bottoms out over a zombie, or a pothole its smoother....
 

jim65wagon

TundraBird1
Man, You've Got To Ac-Cenn-tu-ate the Positive
Eliminate the Negative
And LATCH on to the Affirmative


Since I bought one of the first double swing bumpers from SOS Concepts I found some incompatibility issues with my set up.

It had a simple and normal red handled latch to close the gate, and a secondary latch to firmly lock it with no possibility of it accidentally opening
20190520_210730.jpg



The latch mechanism actually interfered with the flip up license plate when the hitch was installed in the receiver.
20190102_094600.jpg


This pin (and its consequent locking mechanism) which is part of the security latch Eddy designed to positively lock the gate in those rough situations hit the license plate before the gates could get closed.

The easiest solution to this problem is simply having the plate somewhere else, like on the Jerry can holder. I don't like easy, the more difficult a project the better.

We ( and by we I mean Beth) found a latch similar to the red handled latch that came with a locking mechanism. All i had to do was weld it onto a plate and bolt it onto the swing gate.

Remember, I hate the easy way? Yeah, well the new locking latch needed a longer plate so the mounting bolt didn't interfere with the lock. Sure I coulda just drilled a new hole and slapped it down, but that's not me. I welded the holes closed, drilled new ones where i needed them and siliconed the heck out of them to prevent water intrusion

20190429_145830.jpg


And since I liked Eddie's idea of the secondary latch I added one with my spin. One plate on the end of each swing gate. When closed one plate rests on top of the other and a simple pin drops through and keeps it extra secure.
20190429_160002.jpg


Daily driving were just run the locking latch, off road and trail rides, the pin goes in and keeps that gate closed.

NOW, with all that said. DO NOT think I'm ranting or complaining about Eddy or SOS Concepts. He's a stand up guy with great products and I would buy this bumper again. He has since changed his design to accommodate the use of the tow hitch with the swing gates.

If you need a dual swing bumper (or single swing, or no swing) buy @SOS CONCEPTS it's so solid and well built it wasn't easy to modify.
 

jim65wagon

TundraBird1
COOL BABY! STRANGE BUT NOT A STRANGER, I'M AN ORDINARY GUY!

Long Tru Cool. I'm no stranger to these. I installed one on the Tundra yeeeaaars ago. I decided I wanted to add one into the Tacoma to alleviate any transmission issues towing in the desert or mountains.

20190520_093251.jpg


It comes with every thing you need for the install.
20190520_093735.jpg


I took out the grill and began bending those thick metal straps into brackets

20190520_113401.jpg


20190520_140147.jpg

Once bent into shape (unlike the out of shape I usually am) I painted them all black, ran the lines to the oe cooler send tied it into the system. I changed the fluid in the process, just changed not flushed, the old fluid still looked really good and smelled like, well, transmission fluid.

With the grill in place it looks like it belongs

20190520_163508.jpg

20190520_163442.jpg


This is one cool baby that won't be burning down the house anytime soon
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,531
Messages
2,875,588
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top