Jesus man... Rough day for maintenance I guess.

As far as having Toyota do the oil pressure sender, ask what the MSRP is for the part. Even a dealership should not be selling for over MSRP from what I have heard. Anyway, it could be lower. I heard about members going into Toyota and asking for transmission fluid, being quoted a price, (that was a fair amount over), then the member asked them to look up what the MSRP price was. It was lower. He asked if they would sell it at the listed MSRP, and they did. Worth a try.

As for your bumper, you must be STOKED!! That is one of my favorite looking bumpers on the market. I just installed my Shrockworks bumper last week, but if I had to pick again, I might have gone either CBI or AOR if I knew what a friggin pain it was going to be to get the thing on. LOL. Overall, I still like it though. I can't wait to see your new bumper on your rig!

You need to get chummy with the mechanics at BMW there. Before my friend got his hands on his fleet of X5s and 535s he drove a Honda Civic SI and the guys in the shop let him work on his car at all times. Don't know if that courtesy is still practiced though.

Can't wait to see the bumper on this. I think I speak for most when I say there will be some jealousy.
What are your plans for paint/powdercoat?

I wish it was that way at the Toyota dealer in Flagstaff... I know that they list the part for generally 30% over MSRP. When I pointed out to the parts guy over the phone that MSRP for a part I was looking for was $10 cheaper, the guy acted like he didn't know what MSRP was and actually ended up rudely hanging up on me. So... don't go to Findlay Toyota Flagstaff...

The only teaser pic I have of the bumper right now. Unfortunatley the turn signals got broke in shipping. This is literally how they shipped the bumper which I think it kinda pathetic. You have to go in there and peel all those labels off, clean all the sticky residue they leave, the least they could do is wrap it in ceran wrap and then put the labels on. I'm gonna call them tomorrow about the broken turn signals.
[20160217_125023 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I ended up getting a 10% discount there. The good news is they actually got the part in this afternoon. I was there around 4:30 to drop the truck off for tomorrow and then take the demeaning shuttle back to my house, get a ride to work tomorrow, and then get the shuttle back from work to the dealer. When he told me they already got the part in and could do it right then he made my week. I was in and out by 6:00 good as new. I talked to the service adviser for a little while about trucks, it was actually a pleasant experience, except for the $126 to replace it... I was also able to make it to walmart before it got dark and get new headlights also. So now $150 later, it looks exactly the same and runs like it did yesterday afternoon...

Yesterday I had an awful day at work before all the truck issues, my plan was to come home and do something simple and relaxing like change my oil and then all that happened. So honestly, I hadn't even got to think much about the bumper yet. Now that everything else is cleared up I'm pretty excited though. I got my family to drop it off at my powder coater back home this morning, and it should be done next week, just in time for me to come home and install it! I still think the AOR bumper is the best looking one just because of it's low and sleek profile. Plus that stinger is so pretty.

The only thing I'm thinking about or wishing was different was that there was a good way for me to run limb risers without the headlight gaurds. Suggestions?

I don't think we really have a mechanics area like that, or I haven't seen it yet. We have area's inside the factories where they pull cars off at the end of the line that need some sort of work, but I haven't seen an area where you would be able to pull your own car in. There's no way they'd let me drive my 4Runner into the assembly buildings, I'd leave a trail of mud behind me and be knocking all the signs with my antennas and rack haha

It's being powdercoated by the same guy who did my rack, sliders, skids, and CB antenna bracket. We're on a first name basis now haha. I'm super excited to get this thing on. It's gonna bring the truck to a new level.

I also can't wait to be able to see that stinger sticking up past the front end of the hood. I hope the wait was worth it.

I'll have scoops and hoops now!

The markup on the part I needed was exactly 150%... It was actually the first time I'd left a Toyota service department without a sick feeling in my stomach or without having to get into an argument with someone. That kinda made up for it I guess.

Sucks about the turn signals & shipping. There's been many complaints about them before. The least they could do is wrap it in large bubble wrap (we use it at work 60" wide) & then put the stickers on. I bet your Shrockwork sliders were packed better. Use a heat gun or hair dryer to heat up the stickers & they should peel right off along with the adhesive. I cant wait to see it on.

I don't get why they would ship like that. I mean, yeah, it's a sturdy great looking bumper, but how hard would it be to even wrap it up in cardboard? Even if it wasn't on a pallet, it would be better protected and have something besides the actual surface of the bumper to put shipping ladles and tracking numbers on. It sort of reminds me of old school trunks, like in a Marx Brothers film, or maybe a cartoon with luggage that's been around the world with all the stickers showing where it's been.

Lol, when my Shrockworks bumper was due to arrive, I almost went down to pick it up at UPS freight. Ha! I am sure as hell glad I didn't do that! It was very well packaged and would have been a complete bit*% to pick up. It was shipped in a coffin vault sized box, and anchored to a large wooden pallet. I wasn't even thinking about needing a socket set to free the bumper from the pallet that it had been mounted to. But I think most of this custom gear is a little live and learn. But that's what makes these forums great. Good information allow members to make their own best decisions with the best possible information available.

You picked a great one for sure. It seems like there are always some minor annoyances, but I think the final product will be kick ass. Any plans for a winch?

Here is a couple pics of my bumper arriving. I am lucky I had my truck then. I just backed up to the freight trailer and we pushed it in the bed of my pickup.

Attached Images

   

Well, you could always NOT run them =)

Top notch shipping from @AddictedOffroad

Guys, if you don't want to pay $300 in shipping it freight, then this is how it goes. We have been shipping our bumpers this way for 8+ years with no issues. Even wrapping them with bubble wrap causes issues with being able to pick it up. So, drivers will drag them to the door.

Look, we lose money on every bumper we ship. Its that simple. Even at $125 to ship this, we lose money on it. They are oversized, they are roughly 100lbs. If I box it, it will have to ship freight which is more $$$. If I box it, then I also have to palletize it.

So, before you bash us because of how its shipped, think about why. Its saving YOU money.
@Unner I will ship you out some replacement signals today.

Unner, etc...

We're talking off road armor... shipped bare metal. I can see this being an issue if the bumper was powder coated (and customer paid $150+ for the coating) then shipped unprotected, but it's BARE METAL. Seriously, what's the big deal?

Oh no, the UPS guy scratched up my BARE METAL bumper. Better cry.

RE the tape/labels... windex and a razor blade... 5 minutes. Paint that thing, install it, and post some pics... and let's keep the whining to a minimum. I've seen much worse from companies that people complain about much less.

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed

The Shrockworks sliders were packaged super well. They used some sort of injected foam that formed to the sliders in the 6 foot long cardboard box. They skids were shipped on a pallet with some heavy plastic wrapping on them. I can't wait to see it on either! Should be going on next weekend if all goes as planned.

Yeah I remember your pics of the shrockworks bumper, some crazy packaging went into that haha.

Yes, I do plan to run a winch. I really haven't done much research yet, but I'm thinking something with synthetic line to try and keep weight down and with a control box that is moveable so I don't have that sticking up in the front of the truck. That's about as far as I got, I remember looking at Warn's new line of cheaper winches last year though. I need to do some more research though.

Yeah it certainly isn't a priority, I just think they look cool haha

Not sure how they would look on a bumper without headlight guards though and only the stinger.

@AddictedOffroad

Thank you for taking care of me on the turn signals, I got the email notification just didn't have time to post on here as I was out of town all weekend.

I wasn't bashing on the shipping, sorry if I came across that way. My main point with the shipping was that it is really frustrating peeling all those labels off, when it is easily preventable, and I know I'm not the only one who has had that issue. A very simple solution would be take some ceran wrap, wrap it around where the label on the winch mount is put some packaging tape on it so it doesn't come undone and put all the labels on that part. Just my simple humble opinion on the matter.

I don't plan to go around bad mounting your company, I'm still gonna run your bumper, and you're sticker is still gonna have a place on my back window.

I realize that it was shipped bare metal, not an issue, my main point with it was the way the labels were attached is a pain. It was more than 5 minutes and a razor blade. The surface has to be perfectly clean for paint/powder to adhere properly. Everyone knows how difficult it is to get that sticky residue off of anything after you peal the label. I know you are a perfectionist as am I and wouldn't just scrape the large bits of adhesive off and let it be. I don't think it's an unreasonable thing to mention when you're paying $1000 for something.


Pics of the bumper installed are to come next weekend, some pics of last weekends adventures will be posted sometime tonight. Hopefully they came out as cool as it looked in person.

Nice build - if you ever make it down to B'ham let me know.

Thanks, looks like you've got a really nice rig too. I pass through B'ham a lot actually. We need to get an Alabama meet going this summer.



This weekend we went to the Conecuh National Forest. It's very southern Alabama, almost in Florida, and the weather was amazing. Something like 75*/55*. It's totally different down that far south. The earth is really sandy instead of all clay, lots and lots of pine trees, and everything still has it's leaves even in February. Even saw a couple trees starting to bloom.

This was the first time I've ever slept in the back of the 4Runner. It wasn't bad at all actually. I plan to get a foam pad of some sort that I can cut to fit between the wheel wells back there.

This is where we parked and camped for the night, we didn't get in until late so we left the exploring for the next day.


DSC03519 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03520 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03530 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Pond near the campsites.
DSC03533 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Interesting signs found all over the park. We wanted to see a gator, but only saw a deer and a turkey.
DSC03537 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

One of the forest roads. We were the only ones out here.
DSC03538 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03539 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03540 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Rooftop pictures
DSC03558 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03559 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03560 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03561 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Very blue sky out here.
DSC03573 by Unner Unner, on Flickr


Then we got to the intersting part. They had a sign out that said something like, caution smoke ahead. We went around the corner and the forest was on fire... Apparently they were out doing some sort of control burns at the time. I stopped and took pictures, as the crews just drove past the other way.
DSC03578 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03580 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03584 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03586 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

This one was eerie with how smokey it was up ahead on the road. They must have just started this one when we got there. They sky was orange with all the smoke and ash in the air, and just had a strange look to it. Didn't think I'd be driving through the woods while they were on fire this weekend.
DSC03587 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03593 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03595 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03601 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03602 by Unner Unner, on FlickrDSC03607 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We got out of the smoke and found a smaller trail to stop and eat lunch on the roof at. It's cool sitting above everything, being able to look around from up a little higher.

DSC03608 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03609 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03611 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03615 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

And a pic on the way out.
DSC03625 by Unner Unner, on Flickr