Congrats on 280k

Shrockworks delivers! Well packaged and the truck driver was nice enough to drag it all the way up the driveway behind the house.





Still gotta get my Camry Alltrac back together first, but the front bumper install will be coming soon!

-Charlie

this one hell of a build and transformation...good work

Loving your build my dude! I'm glad I got to be a part of it via a long trip to the Bay Area to do some rear axle seals in Timmy's Garage!

That field monitor unit color match was spot on! I need to do that!!!

Thanks!

Can't remember where I found that color, but it was in my notes... It should look perfect once installed. It sprays on really well too and doesn't ruin the texture of the plastic.

That weekend (err, long day?) rear seal/bearing install worked out pretty well. I'm happy you guys were willing to help out.

-Charlie

I put on a 1/4" front top plate spacer (more like 5/16", but close enough) to get back some of that front height lost with the 4WD swap. Also put in 10mm trim packers in the rear. I figured they are all parts I'm going to want access to in the future when I actually do the suspension, so why not put them on now. Very subtle height increase, but I have noticed less hitting the bump stops in the front. It is basically back to 'stock' '99 height, just over 20" hub to fender all around:



Also, helped a friend move. I think I get the award for most sketchy tow on t4r.org so far in 2018:







The Impreza was supposed to be running (and thus driven to his new house), but a fuel hose leak made that impossible... The real vehicle that we were planning on moving was a bit more reasonable for that single axle trailer. 1970 Datsun 1600 roadster at ~2100 lbs:



We stayed on side streets the whole way when loaded... It was sketch all the way (mostly due to no trailer brakes and no good way to really secure the cars).

-Charlie

Front bumper install time!

Step one, off with the stock bumper and impact bar. It is amazing how easy it is to take off.



The Shrockworks bumper includes brackets that mount/bolt over the front of the frame rails, so the stock bumper caps come off:



It was at this point I found out that the replacement radiator I have in my 4Runner is just a bit wider than the stock one and doesn't have clearance for the bracket to run back between the radiator and frame rail. I was able to make clearance by removing the supports on the radiator and modifying them. I also had to clearance the front crossmember that holds the stock skidplate in place.







No we are ready for the first test fitting of the bumper...







Oopsie! Does't fit. That little bit of leftover material from the stock front skidplate crossmember kept the bumper mounting brackets from sitting flush with the frame rails. After a bit of contemplation, I decided to cut off that crossmember completely to get the clearance required. The bumper and skid plate hold that area of the frame together quite nicely now anyway...





Frame ends all clean!







Loosely bolted on, ready for alignment:



Aligned and bolted down, ready for clean up (fender liners, wires, etc.):



Turn signals wired up, ready for a test drive:



Got that all done and took it down to my buddy's house... same place where I did all the 4WD swap work. Got the frame end caps welded on. I actually got to weld for the first time! (not shown, it was the 'side' plug welds)







Now the brackets have the 'front' bolts for a stronger attachment for winching... whenever a winch gets installed.



The whole process took a couple weeks due to the rest of life happening (9 month olds kinda do that). We have a desert trip planned in two weeks, so fun will be had soon.

-Charlie

looks great, and nicely done with the pictures and explainations, ill be getting a shrockworks bumper eventually, they are just so good looking!

I missed a few good shots here and there (modifying the end caps, finished radiator brackets, etc.) but I like to have the history as much for me as anyone else. I was between this and the AllPro Apex... since I already had the Shrockworks skids, this seemed to be the smarter choice.

-Charlie

I was able to get my hands on some '01/'02 rear seat back frames and center latch. They have upper tether attachments for front facing child seats. I'll be needing those in the future, so here's a few pics of the install...

Stock seat back frame exposed:


Frame swapped out (not really that difficult, just remove hog rings to take off upholstery and foam).


Rear seat back board cut and back in place. You can see that these came from a grey interior, so it doesn't quite match. I swapped my upper hardware:


The center hinge also has a hook built in for a center car seat:




Other than cutting my finger while trimming the back cover board, it went pretty smoothly. I used some trim adhesive (leftover from another project) to hold the rear carpet in place around the tether cover during install. It should stay fairly well now with the board in place.

-Charlie

Nice work! I did this upgrade last year and have been very happy with it.

You can actually order the little plastic covers if you need oak. If you want I can try to find the part # I ordered.

Looks good Charlie!

I realized I haven't posted a recent overall picture of the truck. Here it is from the recent desert trip (towing a trailer full of wood for the fire):



Next up is suspension and sliders... the wife has been complaining that it is hard to get in and out now without the running boards...

-Charlie

Truck looks great!!

Yup..my wife complains about the same thing.LOL

New steering rack ordered (old one is leaking). Also ordered new meter glass and a new flex PCB for the back of it - I have been getting random electrical issues that all point back to the gauge cluster (reverse lights coming on dimly with turn signals sometimes, p1780 CEL, etc.).

I'll be doing the gauge cluster stuff first and I'll be ordering suspension components (Bilstein 5100's, etc.) to do those at the same time as the rack.

-Charlie