Extreme Makeover: Clampy Edition, Part 2

Steering the big tires was going to be an issue so I decided on a ram-assist system. I was at Off Road Unlimited and got its setup with the ram and hoses. Though ORU usually only does fullsize trucks, I twisted some arms to get them to port my Toyota steering box. In addition I had a spare reservoir from AGR that I used to help carry the larger capacity of steering fluid needed with the ram. Since I didn't have the funds or time to get a true steering cooler, I made one out of steel fuel line that I ran in front of the radiator. Finally I drilled the power-steering pump restrictor plate out to 13/64, which increases the volume, and helps turn the big tires.

In order to mount the ram in a safe place, I welded the axle side tabs to my Blue Torch Fabworks fabricated front diff cover, and then built a tie-rod clamp bracket for the other end. Everything was a very tight fit, but I had absolutely no problems with the steering all week, and though I used a hodge-podge of parts on mine, I would recommend using the ORU kit.

I also used the crossover steering kit from Sky Manufacturing. The billet upper passenger-side arm is as massive as Popeye's and uses a big 1-ton tie-rod end on the drag link. On the steering-box side, I pivoted the box around the upper rear bolt hole and installed Sky's flat pitman arm. I then drilled and sleeved the frame and used a Land Cruiser FJ-80 upper tie-rod end on the drag link.

With bigger axles and bigger tires, I need a bigger master cylinder to stop my new Super Clampy. Again Sky Manufacturing came to the rescue with the inside secret that a Toyota Land Cruiser from 1994 will bolt right up to the mini-truck's brake booster, but with a larger 1-inch bore to greatly improve braking ability. Eventually I ran nearly all-new brake lines and, though I had to do some custom metric-to-standard hard lines, the truck would stop just fine. I never had a very hard pedal, but I felt completely in control. I still need to install the Russell brake proportioning valve, which may help the soft pedal a bit. Another option is Sky's new adapter to put a Chevy master cylinder on the Toyota brake booster.

Finally the driveshafts arrived from Driveline Tech in Portland, Oregon. I was getting close to the deadline, and had never used anything from this fairly young company before, but I now consider them top-notch. Owner Brian Stanton sent me two very heavy and very burly driveshafts, both with genuine Toyota CV's at the transfer-case end, and both running 1/4-inch-wall tubes. The front long-slip unit uses a pinion flange at the 60 from High Angle Driveline, where the rear uses the stock 1410 U-joint. It was very cool to not be worried about dinging driveshafts while on the trail. During one obstacle I had the truck resting on the front shaft and pinion flange, and as it turned the truck actually moved sideways over the rock. Onlookers started giving me alarmed looks, but my Driveline Tech shafts just shrugged it off. As for running 1/4-inch-wall shafts at highway speeds, the front gave a little vibration when running the drive flanges, but the angles are far from perfect for it. The rear - on the other hand - wasn't noticed at all, and even with a bit of rock rash it still spun true and was vibration free. Also note the Big Stevie cast-iron diff cover from Off Road Unlimited on the rear Dana 70.

I'm quickly running out of space for all the little things I did like building the front Warn 9.5 XP winch mount seen in last edition's lead photo, mounting the Hi-Lift Jack so it would also act as a spare-tire hold-down, and adding the various rollbar supports running to the All-Pro Off Road internal cage. But I will mention the fuel tank and cooler mount. By moving the stock fuel tank up and perpendicular to the framerails, I was able to keep all the original fuel lines (some tweaking of hard lines and lengthening of soft vent lines is required), as well as the in-tank fuel pump/sender unit. Then to protect the tank, I quickly fabbed this little cage/cooler rack for my ARB cooler. Having ice-cold beverages within reach was a godsend during the swelteringly humid days of UA, even if the rack looks similar to lawn furniture with the perforated metal sides.