One thing led to another. Build thread.

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

In 04, I bought my first diesel truck. A special ordered, new 04.5 quad cab with an nv5600. I had parts waiting before the truck arrived, and had a turbo back exhaust, intake, and TST on it before the odometer had 100 miles on it. It was a fun truck that pulled a horse trailer a few times a week, and eventually transformed into more of a pull truck. A few years, and several turbo and injector combinations later, I destroyed the engine at a pulling event. I built a new engine for it with better parts, but had to sell the truck to start a new business.

Fast forward to early last year. The business was up and running, and the company had repaid my initial investment. I was recently married, settled into our home, and ready to get back into the diesel game. In reality, it wasn't the trucks I missed, but the good friends I made along the way. I liked my old quad cab, but always wanted a regular cab automatic. I went on the hunt for a few months and found a clean 07, 5.9 rclb auto. My buddy les (silver bullet tuning) met me at the dealership, and we had an efi live tune in it before I drove it off the lot!

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

I pulled a couple leaf springs out of the rear and added some caltracs.

Forged weld wheels in 16" don't come around very often, so I snagged these on craigslist a few years ago. Never had a truck for them, but knew I would someday.

The truck needed brakes anyway, so I slapped on a set of second gen brakes. Now I have good brakes and my 16's fit -- two birds, one stone.

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

Well, a race truck wouldn't be a race truck without a fuel cell, so with the help of a good friend, I had one. It had to sit out of the way, have a sump, and use the factory sending unit.

Fuel Lab pump and fuel cell installed

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

One thing led to another, so I picked up a bunch of braided hose, some parts from PPE, and Fleece, and got the fuel system knocked out.

I had a bad u-joint on the driver's side front axle, so I took care of that too.

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

At this point, it's still a work truck.

And a grocery getter. (had a party for my wife's birthday)

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

ordered a turbo from the guys with a 2 page ad in diesel power. Complete junk. Pitted cover, tag on the charger was scratched out with a new number written in, and the weld on the cover looked like a third grader did it. Sent that bullchit back.

Ordered a new one from boost lab, and it looked great. Had my buddy weld the flange on, and I was back in business.

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

I came to the realization that my truck would have to be down for a while. I had a regular cab tacoma in college, and loved it. So I bought one of the last ones available in CA. Tinted the windows, tires and wheels, bilstein 5100's, and it is ready for work.

This means that it's time to start tearing into the race truck.

This truck is my ultimate inspiration. If I had the money at the time it was being sold, I would have bought it. I will not be content until I am at this level with mine.

Even though I know I am ultimately limited with the 4x4 platform, I'm too far committed at this point to turn back.

Front bumper brackets and skin installed. That'll get some weight off the front end.

There, that looks better.

not enoughsmoke · Feb 13, 2015

looks good I will agree about building and meeting folks along the way.I have been out of the game for a while. I plan on making a comeback tour though lol.

Howling · Feb 13, 2015

Great build and I agree it's the "diesel family" that I enjoy the most. My 2 trucks are going to be on hold for a little while,wife is pregnant and plan on buying a bigger house with a shop this year.

oldestof11 · Feb 13, 2015

Looks awesome!

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

I got bored and started cutting up the tailgate.

Cut out the crash bars, and skinned it with an aluminum piece I had.

Test fit the steel (kinda heavy) roll pan

And put the first coats of paint on it.

Painted and installed. I may go to fiberglass in the future, I really didn't think these roll pans would be so beefy.

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

Time to strip the interior. Yes, a perfectly good SLT interior. (have it all for sale if anybody needs parts)

I traced out what I plan to remove, and later replace with carbon fiber or thin aluminum sheet.

I pulled out a decent amount of weight, but it still might not be enough.

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

The chrome grille had seen better days, so I swapped it out for a painted one.

A buddy of mine that does painless dent removal stopped by to get the body looking good. It's really cool to watch these guys work.

Since I had the dash out, I used part of it to make a template for the new dash.

newsmoke · Feb 13, 2015

I wish I had done this with my 06, very nice build!

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

The truck was sitting too high for my liking, even after pulling some leafs out of the rear. I pulled the front coils out and cut one wrap.

I also pulled 2 more leafs out of the rear. I couldn't go any lower in the front because I only had about an inch to the bumpstops. At this point, it was sitting too low in the rear.

I put 1 leaf back in and got the stance I was looking for. For now.

The u-bolts that came with the caltracs were now too long, so I used a piece of rectangle tubing until the new bolts show up.

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

not enoughsmoke said:
looks good I will agree about building and meeting folks along the way.I have been out of the game for a while. I plan on making a comeback tour though lol.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Howling said:
Great build and I agree it's the "diesel family" that I enjoy the most. My 2 trucks are going to be on hold for a little while,wife is pregnant and plan on buying a bigger house with a shop this year.

Sometimes you have to sacrifice to get the family matters in order.

oldestof11 said:
Looks awesome!

Thanks!

newsmoke said:
I wish I had done this with my 06, very nice build!

Thank you.

wideopen · Feb 13, 2015

Nice Build!

newsmoke · Feb 13, 2015

Do second gen breaks actually stop better? Or for clearance only?

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

Got the wiring harness simplified a little, and everything I'm not going to need is now wrapped in this bundle. I'm going to leave it like this until the truck is back up and running. Then hopefully I can get a little help on what I can cut out and still keep it running.

I headed up north to a dyno day, where I picked up a little more inspiration for my build.

more cutting.

the pile is getting bigger.

I pulled the bed off to do some clean up work on the chassis.

After an hour or so with the pressure washer, she's cleaned up enough to do some painting on the chassis.

jlibert · Feb 13, 2015

newsmoke said:
Do second gen breaks actually stop better? Or for clearance only?

They stopped better than my worn out 3rd gen brakes. But no, they are not better. This was only for clearance for 16's.

One thing led to another. Build thread.

New member

New member

New member

New member

New member

New member

New member

floatin in tha gulf

Soot Sniffer

Drag racer

New member

New member

New member

New member

New member

New member

Slum Lord

New member

New member

New member