4yogger Build Thread

[4yogger]

Figured I'd start a build thread so that everybody can see what I've done/will do.

As she sits today:

November 2016 purchase my unicorn, 1999 Limited 4x4, 160k miles, meticulously maintained, literally a 1/4 mile from home; I actually walked there to buy it. So pumped!

The day I got her, parked at the smog test facility.. California!!!!!!!



Immediately celebrated with a trip to Big Bear, my favorite place to be, whether I'm wheeling or just getting away.

Next came time to do something for navigation. I have an iPad that I used my previous 4x4 (cough jeep cough) that served me very well. But where to mount it? I decided to replace the factory double-dinn radio with an aftermarket Kenwood single-dinn, which left me with a bit of space. At first I added a little pocket underneath the radio, but the pocket wasn't even large enough to hold my phone or my wallet, so that's not going to work. Eventually I decided to use the bracketry that the factory radio used to fab up a little plate, to which I could attach a ram ball.

I added a plate of 1/4" aluminum and painted it up, then added the ram mount, very happy so far.

Weekend trip to Big Sur, very cool campground. We stayed at Limekiln SP, beautiful.

Next up, some new legs! after much debate I decided on the Sonoran Steel 1.2 kit, pretty much exactly as it's laid out on the website. Very cool system, as it is super complete with the track bar and bushings and bumpstops etc. I'm very happy here too. It does stink-bug a little bit but I'm okay with it. I think It will settle a bit and hunker down even more with an aftermarket bumper and tire carrier later on. My friend and I installed on both of our trucks that weekend, 22 hours of wrenching over 2 days, 4 trips to harbor freight... whew. We did the lower back joints too, I think that's what took the longest since we didn't get the right tool initially, the ball joint separator from HF was a wise purchase indeed.

I just now realized that I didn't take any pics before I got tires after the lift.. Anyway, I upgraded to 285/75/16 BFG KO2's. These things are awesome. I had the KO's on my jeep and they lasted forever but were pretty stiff. These seem a bit softer and quieter, we'll see how they hold up. Due to the size increase I'll have some trimming to do.

More to come later!

 

[Justin727]

Looking good!

 

[FROGrunner]

Nice and low mileage!! Are you planning on cutting/hammering/modifying pinch weld for my tire clearance?

 

[Denis_Ruso]

OOo another local runner. Lookin' good.

We should link up for a trail run sometime. I'm down the 101 in Woodland Hills.

 

[SnowLizard]

Welcome, I think you might like this one more than your jeep.

but that's not unusual


I like the stance, looks great and I too think armor will bring it down. be interesting to see this one progress.

 

[flyfishinguy]

did you have to adjust the pandhard bar or is it preset for lift?

 

[4yogger]

Nice and low mileage!! Are you planning on cutting/hammering/modifying pinch weld for my tire clearance?

Yea I was actually jumping on right now to figure out where to start with the pinch weld, definitely needs a bit of attention. I'm going to get this thread up to date so you can see where I'm at as of today.

OOo another local runner. Lookin' good.

We should link up for a trail run sometime. I'm down the 101 in Woodland Hills.

Oh dude definitely! I wish there were more local trails. I haven't really gotten this out on real trails yet so I'm very anxious. Friends and I are going to KOH next month so that will be a proving ground of sorts.

did you have to adjust the pandhard bar or is it preset for lift?

The pan hard bar comes unassembled, but its very easy to put together and to measure the correct length with the instructions provided. I think my overall measurement was 37 5/16".

 

[4yogger]

So after the lift and tires were done, I started looking into tire clearances.

From my other post:

Here's some pictures of when I removed the front-most lowest portion of the Limited fender flair, the piece that attaches to the bumper. I achieved a little more clearance just by removing these. I'm going to Big Bear this weekend so I needed to do something. If this is all I need to clear here, then I'll trim those pieces down and reinstall them to keep cleanest appearance. Some testing pictures too, although the real test will be this weekend, assuming some trails are passable. STUFF IT!!

 

[4yogger]

Up next came the spidertrax spacers. I chose this option for a couple of reasons: first, my UCA rub was minimal, secondly because I was able to achieve relatively respectable alignment and everything feels good when driving on the highway (not too dodgy), thirdly, the price of UCA's, and lastly because I like the look! Naturally I didn't get any good pics of the rushed job. I'll snag some later on and post. I've noticed no ill side effects of installing the spacers like others have mentioned, installed and torqued properly and everything rides great. I did only the front for now so I could see how the clearance will be affected, if I decide to go a different route then I can return the set for the rear and sell the fronts.

Once the spacers were in the UCA rub was cured, but the fender flair on the bumper was real bad. Time to bust out the dremel. I had already unbolted the flair portion from the bumper, so now the tire was contacting the corner of the bumper itself (blue tape), so I cut that down. There was a faint line that I followed on the bumper which made it easy to get a straight cut. That allowed me to clear the tires to go to work. Once I had more time, I resisted the flair that I had unbolted, I wanted to get it back on for a more factory appearance. This is where I ended up as of yesterday:

My goal here is to put this back together in the trimmed form, this should clear any amount of stuffing up front.

The aft portion of the front fender well, different story, I need to get the pinch weld bent down and heat the plastic trim to push it back. You can see pretty clearly where the tire rubs, behind there is the pinch weld.

 

[Unner]

Nice truck and nice start. Looking forward to seeing where you take it!

 

[Denis_Ruso]

Oh dude definitely! I wish there were more local trails. I haven't really gotten this out on real trails yet so I'm very anxious. Friends and I are going to KOH next month so that will be a proving ground of sorts.

There's some stuff around Santa Clarita that's not far. My friends were trying to get me to go to KOH too. Not sure if I want to go yet.

 

[Hepar]

Looking good!

 

[Road Bull]

Nice clean build 4yogger! I went with a hybrid SS 1.2 lift. I actually like the raked look. Things will settle a bit, but I don't really want a level stance myself. If you are planning for a rear tire carrier, what one are you thinking about getting? Looking forward to keeping an eye on this thread.

 

[4yogger]

Spacer Installation and Emblem Painting

Did a couple more things this past week: I installed the spacers on the rear wheels and I Plasti-Dip'ed the emblems. I waited to install the spacers on the rear until I knew I was going to keep the spacers on the front. Now that I've done some testing, I'm happy enough with the spacers up front. I still need to do the pinch weld mod to clear the tires on the backside of the front fender well but It's been raining a lot out here. I'm very concerned this white rig will be easy to bro-out so I've been slow to make any cosmetic modifications, especially of the blackening variety. I'm happy with how it came out though and I don't think it goes too far. It will be a good compliment to black bumpers. Although, I have been considering going a dark gray for the wheels, and possibly doing the same for bumpers. Anyway, stuff for later. For now, pics!

 

[4yogger]

There's some stuff around Santa Clarita that's not far. My friends were trying to get me to go to KOH too. Not sure if I want to go yet.

Sounds great! I don't know if you've been to KOH before but if you haven't, GO! It's an incredible spectacle. Either way, let me know if you have plans to head out anytime. I'm sure it will be a while with all of this rain.

Nice clean build 4yogger! I went with a hybrid SS 1.2 lift. I actually like the raked look. Things will settle a bit, but I don't really want a level stance myself. If you are planning for a rear tire carrier, what one are you thinking about getting? Looking forward to keeping an eye on this thread.

Yea you know the rake is definitely there, but It doesn't bother me much. I am planning on a swing-out carrier, my friend and I are actually designing a DIY system. I'm letting him guinea pig the project. I'd like to get a shrockworks or CBI but man, $$$.

 

[b.moore2011]

nice!

 

[taxed760]

Nice build!

 

[BeardedUnicorn]

Nice build

Looks really good!