Anyone know a shop that can weld Cab relocation kit and regear 5th Gen in bay area?

[Cytronus]

Hey guys, I've got a 2016 4Runner Trail Premium, KDSS, with Icon Stage 7 lift with Icon hydraulic rear bump stops, 700 lb springs front and rear and 33" BFG KO2s today. I want to upgrade to 35s but need help with some of the steps:

1. Does anyone know a shop in the San Francisco bay area that can chop off and weld on a new cab mount relocation kit? I'm going with DRT Fabrication's Cab Mount Relocate Kit. I've emailed some local hot rod shops that do welding but no one has responded. I reached out to 88Rotors in SoCal and they won't do it for liability reasons because the OEM body mount is designed to prevent the front wheel from crushing into the foot well in a front end collision. A cab mount relocation reduces that protection in such an event, which I'm okay with but finding a welding shop because of this is proving difficult.

2. Does anyone know a reliable shop in the bay area that can re-gear front and rear? Are there any easy prep steps I can do to minimize the labor cost before driving the truck in? Living in the bay area w/ 95% of my driving being daily on level ground in suburbia, any suggestions on which gears would be best - 4.56 or 4.88? My goal is to have a similar feel and pep on the acceleration and daily street driving as I have with the 33s now.

The reason I'm doing this is to be able to gain more ground clearance and do more difficult trails. This is not a mall crawler and not for looks. I will be stuffing the wheels on trail. I am well aware of the work needed for clearance, such as folding the pinch weld, removing plastic, cutting the front bumper, cutting the front fender flares and fenders, new front bump stops, etc. I have the SSO front bumper with the "wings" add-on to provide forward clearance. I also have a transmission and power steering cooler I'll be installing.

I'll likely go with the BFG KM3 or Toyo Open Country M/T in a 35 x 12.5 R17LT. I'm leaning towards the KM3 for lower road noise. Would appreciate opinions from you KM3 owners.

Wheels are TBD but considering the Black Rhino Apache in a 17 x 8.5.

thanks in advance to all you bay area folks who have any advice here!

 

[BlackPhillip]

Hey guys, I've got a 2016 4Runner Trail Premium, KDSS, with Icon Stage 7 lift with Icon hydraulic rear bump stops, 700 lb springs front and rear and 33" BFG KO2s today. I want to upgrade to 35s but need help with some of the steps:

1. Does anyone know a shop in the San Francisco bay area that can chop off and weld on a new cab mount relocation kit? I'm going with DRT Fabrication's Cab Mount Relocate Kit. I've emailed some local hot rod shops that do welding but no one has responded. I reached out to 88Rotors in SoCal and they won't do it for liability reasons because the OEM body mount is designed to prevent the front wheel from crushing into the foot well in a front end collision. A cab mount relocation reduces that protection in such an event, which I'm okay with but finding a welding shop because of this is proving difficult.

2. Does anyone know a reliable shop in the bay area that can re-gear front and rear? Are there any easy prep steps I can do to minimize the labor cost before driving the truck in? Living in the bay area w/ 95% of my driving being daily on level ground in suburbia, any suggestions on which gears would be best - 4.56 or 4.88? My goal is to have a similar feel and pep on the acceleration and daily street driving as I have with the 33s now.

The reason I'm doing this is to be able to gain more ground clearance and do more difficult trails. This is not a mall crawler and not for looks. I will be stuffing the wheels on trail. I am well aware of the work needed for clearance, such as folding the pinch weld, removing plastic, cutting the front bumper, cutting the front fender flares and fenders, new front bump stops, etc. I have the SSO front bumper with the "wings" add-on to provide forward clearance. I also have a transmission and power steering cooler I'll be installing.

I'll likely go with the BFG KM3 or Toyo Open Country M/T in a 35 x 12.5 R17LT. I'm leaning towards the KM3 for lower road noise. Would appreciate opinions from you KM3 owners.

Wheels are TBD but considering the Black Rhino Apache in a 17 x 8.5.

thanks in advance to all you bay area folks who have any advice here!

For #1 take a look at Milogen Fabs. He's doing my BMC next week and also chatting with him about a custom rear tire swing out. Good reputation in the forums and Im pretty sure I saw cab mount relocation work on his instagram somewhere.

Milogen • Instagram

Nor-Cal CMC and pinch weld services? | Tacoma World

 

[Nalcyon]

Hey guys, I've got a 2016 4Runner Trail Premium, KDSS, with Icon Stage 7 lift with Icon hydraulic rear bump stops, 700 lb springs front and rear and 33" BFG KO2s today. I want to upgrade to 35s but need help with some of the steps:

1. Does anyone know a shop in the San Francisco bay area that can chop off and weld on a new cab mount relocation kit? I'm going with DRT Fabrication's Cab Mount Relocate Kit. I've emailed some local hot rod shops that do welding but no one has responded. I reached out to 88Rotors in SoCal and they won't do it for liability reasons because the OEM body mount is designed to prevent the front wheel from crushing into the foot well in a front end collision. A cab mount relocation reduces that protection in such an event, which I'm okay with but finding a welding shop because of this is proving difficult.

2. Does anyone know a reliable shop in the bay area that can re-gear front and rear? Are there any easy prep steps I can do to minimize the labor cost before driving the truck in? Living in the bay area w/ 95% of my driving being daily on level ground in suburbia, any suggestions on which gears would be best - 4.56 or 4.88? My goal is to have a similar feel and pep on the acceleration and daily street driving as I have with the 33s now.

The reason I'm doing this is to be able to gain more ground clearance and do more difficult trails. This is not a mall crawler and not for looks. I will be stuffing the wheels on trail. I am well aware of the work needed for clearance, such as folding the pinch weld, removing plastic, cutting the front bumper, cutting the front fender flares and fenders, new front bump stops, etc. I have the SSO front bumper with the "wings" add-on to provide forward clearance. I also have a transmission and power steering cooler I'll be installing.

I'll likely go with the BFG KM3 or Toyo Open Country M/T in a 35 x 12.5 R17LT. I'm leaning towards the KM3 for lower road noise. Would appreciate opinions from you KM3 owners.

Wheels are TBD but considering the Black Rhino Apache in a 17 x 8.5.

thanks in advance to all you bay area folks who have any advice here!

As a new 2 month member of the re gear club I would recommend 4.88's based on what you plan as well as 35's. I went with 4.56's with my 33's and feel as though it is just right but having ran 4.88's with 32's on a previous jeep I was expecting a little bit bigger change. I think you will be disappointed if you go to 4.56's with 35's for off road use. 4.56's will be noticeable on pavement but I think you will always wish you went 4.88's.

 

[jawkdna]

Shaffer Offroad get's my business. Best in the Bay Area.

4wheel Drive Shop | Alameda California | Shaffer's Offroad

 

[mrblah]

1. cab mount relocation isn't necessary to run 35's. BMC, pinch weld, and fender cap mod is all the is needed (if you did the front bumper mods and suspension mods already).

2. 4.88 if you going to jump to 35's right away. 4.56 if you don't plan on jumping to 35's right away.

3. When shopping for 35's, go with the lightest tire you can find if you want to keep your steering components from destroying itself. So of your two choices, I'd go with KM3's. I would also consider yoko geolandar mt003.

 

[Cytronus]

Thanks guys

I emailed both Milogen and Shaffer's Offroad. We'll see what happens soon hopefully.

 

[vt100]

Shaffer Offroad get's my business. Best in the Bay Area.

4wheel Drive Shop | Alameda California | Shaffer's Offroad

+ 1 for Shaffer's

They've just completed regearing (and fixing) mine

 

[jawkdna]

+ 1 for Shaffer's

They've just completed regearing (and fixing) mine

How's the regearing? What gears did you go with 4.56 or 4.88? It's my next move ...
how are you liking it?

 

[vt100]

How's the regearing? What gears did you go with 4.56 or 4.88? It's my next move ...
how are you liking it?

4.88 - originally wanted 4.56 but Mike convinced me that 4.88 would be better in the long run. Also added ARB front locker since they were already there.

How do I like it? Hard to tell as I have to be very light on gas pedal for the next 500 miles - break in for the new gears
Will report back after that

PS: but what surprising is that estimated mileage jumped back to what it was when the truck was vanilla stock. I had about 300 - 330 miles on full tank before but now it's back to 420 miles. Not sure if it's because of regearing or because the ECU was reset

 

[Cytronus]

Shaffer's Offroad it is! Going Nitro 4.88. Plastic wheel liner to stay or go?

Thanks to you fine gents for the referral to Shaffer's. They can do both the cab mount relocation kit weld job and the re-gearing. I'm going with Nitro gears but they also partner with Yukon. Added bonus, they will also install a front E-Locker. I'm dropping off the rig on Monday March 14th and should have it back on Friday.

In the meantime, I will be installing both a transmission cooler and power steering cooler.

I have removed the front plastic inner wheel well liner and performed the pinch weld bend. I was wondering if I could re-install & modify the plastic liner. Have any of you guys done that and if so, any problems with rubbing? I would like to shield the air intake area from mud and dirt on the passenger side and the electronics on the driver side that are exposed when the liner is removed. I figure I could trim the plastic liner, use some of the native clip locations remaining and maybe zip tie other areas.

 

[slixx1320]

Thanks to you fine gents for the referral to Shaffer's. They can do both the cab mount relocation kit weld job and the re-gearing. I'm going with Nitro gears but they also partner with Yukon. Added bonus, they will also install a front E-Locker. I'm dropping off the rig on Monday March 14th and should have it back on Friday.

In the meantime, I will be installing both a transmission cooler and power steering cooler.

I have removed the front plastic inner wheel well liner and performed the pinch weld bend. I was wondering if I could re-install & modify the plastic liner. Have any of you guys done that and if so, any problems with rubbing? I would like to shield the air intake area from mud and dirt on the passenger side and the electronics on the driver side that are exposed when the liner is removed. I figure I could trim the plastic liner, use some of the native clip locations remaining and maybe zip tie other areas.

If you don't mind me asking, how much did all this run you (re-gear, front lockers and labor)? I plan to do something similar with mine. If I can get away with no CMR kit I prefer to just have a BMC. A lot of members have 35's and no CMR needed. It's $$ I wouldn't want to throw at it if not needed.

 

[Cytronus]

How much?

If you don't mind me asking, how much did all this run you (re-gear, front lockers and labor)? I plan to do something similar with mine. If I can get away with no CMR kit I prefer to just have a BMC. A lot of members have 35's and no CMR needed. It's $$ I wouldn't want to throw at it if not needed.

It's $875 for the cab mount relocation labor so a BMC would be significantly cheaper. It's $3K for the Nitro gear set and labor. Likely cheaper outside of California. Everything in CA costs more.

 

[vt100]

It's $875 for the cab mount relocation labor so a BMC would be significantly cheaper. It's $3K for the Nitro gear set and labor. Likely cheaper outside of California. Everything in CA costs more.

+ if you want the front locker:

I payed $990 for the ARB locker and ~$700 for ARB dual compressor and its mount.
And for labor (specific to installing the locker and the compressor) it seemed to be extra 3 hours added.

 

[slixx1320]

It's $875 for the cab mount relocation labor so a BMC would be significantly cheaper. It's $3K for the Nitro gear set and labor. Likely cheaper outside of California. Everything in CA costs more.

So regear for both front and rears and front lockers for $3k? Unfortunately I'm also in Ca so I'm also one of the unlucky ones.

 

[vt100]

How's the regearing? What gears did you go with 4.56 or 4.88? It's my next move ...
how are you liking it?

How do I like it? Hard to tell as I have to be very light on gas pedal for the next 500 miles - break in for the new gears
Will report back after that

OK, breaking in is almost over...
I can tell I love the way it goes now! It's not a rocket obviously but accelerates better than before. I don't need to floor it anymore when passing someone on highway. Much better going uphill (though will test in real mountains on the weekend).
Fuel consumption is still to be measured, cannot trust the computer. But it's noticeably better around the town.

Oh, and noise slightly increased at 65 - gears are humming quite a bit.

 

[Cytronus]

Actually....

So regear for both front and rears and front lockers for $3k? Unfortunately I'm also in Ca so I'm also one of the unlucky ones.

It was $3 K for the gear set and labor, no front locker. I just got the quote for the Eaton front e-locker - $1,315 and a few hundred bucks for the labor. I decided to go with an e-locker for the reliability and ease of use (single push button for on/off) vs. air which has the added step of turning on the compressor and has more points of failure. So all-in on the cab mount relocation, re-gearing, front e-locker, gear oil and labor, I'm looking at $5,700. And I still need to pick up some new wheels and 35s.

 

[Cytronus]

Update: I think I'm going to pull the trigger on the Black Rhino Primm 17x9 with -12 offset as my wheels, paired with the Cooper Discoverer STT Pro 35" tire. I ordered the wheel and will get it mounted to test fit it. If it works, it'll just become the spare on my rear swing and I'll order 4 more and swap the TPMS sensors over from my current wheels.

Question for you guys: Is there a reputable local, bay area tire shop that carries or can order 35" tires that can balance & mount them, swap the sensors, and do the alignment?

 

[Cytronus]

Comparison of 33" BFG KO2 on TRD wheels to 35" Cooper Disc. STT Pro

I did a ton of research and finally selected wheels & tires - moving from my current 33" BFG KO2 A/Ts on the 17x7 +4 offset TRD Pro wheels to 35" Cooper Discoverer STT Pro M/Ts on Black Rhino Primm 17x9 -12 offset wheel.

I chose the Primm because they're designed for Toyota and light weight at 29 lbs vs the TRD wheel at 25 lbs. Plus I think they look good in matte black with the rig’s mag gray color.

I chose the Cooper Disc. STT Pro because it's cheaper and 8.8 lbs lighter than other tires, like the KM3 and Toyo M/T but has overwhelmingly positive reviews and low road noise reported compared to other M/Ts.

All in, increasing weight by about 62 lbs across 5 wheels going from 33"s to 35"s. Not bad considering with other options, it could be much higher. Total weight will be 476 lbs for all 5 wheels/tires.

I used Wheel Offset Calculator to calculate and visualize the fitment difference.

 

[Cytronus]

Update: cam mount relocation, regearing complete, cutting started

The folks at Shaffer's Offroad did a great job installing the DRT fab cab mount relocation kit and re-gearing to 4.88. the proper break-in is now completed and I will be changing gear fluid this week. The noise level of the rear diff was high upon pick up but slowly went away since. It's very faint now and I'm sure will decline further over time.

One thing that is strange is that there has been a consistent wine/whirl sound coming from the transfer case since day 1 that has not changed. It only sounds when stepping on the gas. When I let off the gas, you don't hear it. Speed doesn't matter. I wonder why the transfer case would make noise after a gear change? Anyone know or experience something similar?

I'm now beginning cutting of the fenders. I'm customizing the front fenders and flares to maintain the mud guard and factory plastic inner wheel well liner.