Bandit Runner's Build Thread

[Bandit Runner]

Those are going to look sweet. Interested in selling your old duallys?

I am selling the old duallys. I already have one interested party, but if that falls through, you're next in line.

 

[Bandit Runner]

My rock light switch showed up today.

The problem is I don't have a place to put it. I think I am going to design and build a new switch housing with an extra space or two.

 

[cdrewferd]

Hard to believe that you don't have a spot to put that 1 little switch. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

 

[Bandit Runner]

Jeez, I have a real addiction. I just bought more LED lights. I got 2 pairs of the Rigid Industries SR-Q spot lights. I haven't even mounted my last lights I bought yet. I have a real problem.

BTW, If anyone is looking for Rigid lights, 4wheelonline.com has a great sale going on right now and free shipping.

 

[tyr0981]

i've been thinking about turing either ofthose 'Rigid industries' lights into some yellow fog lights also, i had a set of super cheap ones i put some 3k HID's into and they REALLY REALLY HELPED in the fog & falling snow, i mean REALLY HELPED! but the housings began to leak (usual Autozone cheapness) so when i turned them on it smoked the HID bulbs.....


Really looking forward to your pictures Bandit! of both individually if you can buddy!

:reddance:

 

[fightman80]

So I bought a new set of fog lights. I was using a set of Rigid Industries Dually white floods. What I found was that the white light just reflected off the fog, and wasn’t real helpful. So I ordered a set of these:

Rigid’s D2 Dually lights with amber colored LED’s. I also went with the driving beam this time to try and get a little more distance with the lights. Got them installed tonight. I’ll get some pics of the light output soon.

I also finally ordered my offroad spot lights to replace the ones the deer smashed. I decided to take a chance on these Chinese LED long distance lights. I got them off Ebay for $180. They have 12 LED’s each at 5watts, and are supposed to shine up to 1000 meters. They arrived today, and I was actually very pleased with them. They are quite heavy and were well packaged, not cheap feeling at all.

As soon as I get my grille mod finished (waiting for warm weather so I can paint it), I’ll get these installed. Hopefully soon.

Keep us posted on those lights.... I'm considering replacing my HID's for LED's as the HID's don't react well to extreme driving conditions..... I've got one that won't light up now.... :/

 

[Bandit Runner]

i've been thinking about turing either ofthose 'Rigid industries' lights into some yellow fog lights also, i had a set of super cheap ones i put some 3k HID's into and they REALLY REALLY HELPED in the fog & falling snow, i mean REALLY HELPED! but the housings began to leak (usual Autozone cheapness) so when i turned them on it smoked the HID bulbs.....


Really looking forward to your pictures Bandit! of both individually if you can buddy!

:reddance:

So I bought a new set of fog lights. I was using a set of Rigid Industries Dually white floods. What I found was that the white light just reflected off the fog, and wasn’t real helpful. So I ordered a set of these:

Rigid’s D2 Dually lights with amber colored LED’s. I also went with the driving beam this time to try and get a little more distance with the lights. Got them installed tonight. I’ll get some pics of the light output soon.

I also finally ordered my offroad spot lights to replace the ones the deer smashed. I decided to take a chance on these Chinese LED long distance lights. I got them off Ebay for $180. They have 12 LED’s each at 5watts, and are supposed to shine up to 1000 meters. They arrived today, and I was actually very pleased with them. They are quite heavy and were well packaged, not cheap feeling at all.

As soon as I get my grille mod finished (waiting for warm weather so I can paint it), I’ll get these installed. Hopefully soon.

Keep us posted on those lights.... I'm considering replacing my HID's for LED's as the HID's don't react well to extreme driving conditions..... I've got one that won't light up now.... :/

Thanks guys. I have installed the amber lights and have used them a few times in the rain. They are better than the white lights. Looking forward to trying them in the fog. I thought they would be a light yellow color, but they are almost orange. Much darker than I expected. I also like the driving light pattern much better than the floods.

I'll try to get some pics up soon.

 

[tyr0981]

man the cheapest I've found the SR-Q's are still over 100$ each, i hope you've mounted them allot better than just the one bolt hole the mount provides.... not sure that i'd trust that much investment literally 'hanging by one bolt'..... than there's the sticky finger problems too....

:crutch:

 

[Bandit Runner]

Well it has finally been getting a little warmer out, so I’ve been doing some painting. If you’ve seen this thread you know that I have decided to change my color scheme to black with green accents.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/161395-poll-change-my-color-scheme.html

I got the emblems painted green first:

Then I finally painted my custom grille gloss black:

Decided to try the mesh that goes behind the grille green too:

And finally the finished product just waiting to be installed:

Here’s another project I’ve been working on:

Bet you can’t guess what they are. They’re going to be light guards for my new offroad lights. It’s a sheet of 3/16” plastic, in which I cut holes corresponding with each LED bulb. I thought this would provide some protection against stones, and give a unique look. It will be painted black. More info on this as they progress.

Also picked up a few goodies:

Scanguage II and some new center caps for my wheels from Wheeler’s OffRoad. I will be painting green Toyota symbols in the center of the caps also.

 

[Bandit Runner]

So I’ve been working on my green color change. Hood scoop mesh, emblems and shackle pins are all green now. l also got the new grille installed.

(Don’t mind the dirt and bird crap, it needs a bath badly.)

I still need to do my wheel rings and my sport edition badges green. I decided to make some new sport edition badges out of aluminum. So I cut these out of a sheet of 1/8” thick aluminum with an angle grinder. Then I hand filed them to make the edges straight and bevel the sides.

I’m going to paint them green and then apply some vinyl graphics that I designed and am buying from [MENTION=106708]Ghost.[/MENTION] He was real helpful, and I am looking forward to receiving my decals. I am getting some for my wheel centers too. His prices were very fair too.

I also made some more progress on my light guards. I got the main parts made and then epoxied the fronts in place. Just need to put a few coats of fiberglass resin on them, then sand smooth, and paint black.

 

[Ghost.]

Looks great. Got your decals in an envelope ready to the mail tomorrow!

 

[Bandit Runner]

Looks great. Got your decals in an envelope ready to the mail tomorrow!

That's awesome! Thanks for posting the pics. They look great.

 

[Ghost.]

That's awesome! Thanks for posting the pics. They look great.

I made an extra or two of both designs in case you have any trouble putting them on. Also included a few scraps of material for you
Let me know if I can help with anything else!

 

[cdrewferd]

The green is going to look great. Very cool idea with the sport badges, they'll look amazing as well.

 

[Bandit Runner]

Made a little more progress on a couple of my projects. The offroad light guards are ready for paint, and I did a test fit of them. I’ll be spray painting them satin black.

I also got my custom sport edition badges finished. I put the decals on that I got from [MENTION=106708]Ghost.[/MENTION] They were super easy to apply, and turned out great. Then I sprayed a few coats of clear over the decals to protect them from getting scratched up from dirt and mud.

I’ll let the paint cure for a few days before installing them.

 

[WRWhit93]

Your rig is looking really sick! I'm usually not a fan of the different colored accents, but this looks great, and that grill turned out awesome as well.

 

[Bandit Runner]

Your rig is looking really sick! I'm usually not a fan of the different colored accents, but this looks great, and that grill turned out awesome as well.

Thanks! I'm really liking the green accents as well. I really need to get the wheel rings done to complete the transformation.

 

[Bandit Runner]

Oh lord, I gave in to my addiction again and bought another set of LED lights.

24 watt floods (Chinese knockoffs of Rigid's D2's)

Gonna use them as ditch lights, and aim them at about 45 degrees outward from the truck. I will need to make some custom brackets to mount them by the corners of the windshield. The passenger side is going to be a tight fit with the snorkel right there.

In other news, I got my simulated beadlock rings all sanded down and ready to paint green next weekend. That will complete my accent color transformation.

 

[Bandit Runner]

Light guards for the offroad lights are done. I finished painting them yesterday. Going to wait a few days for the paint to fully cure before installing them. I think they turned out pretty sweet, and unique looking.

 

[Bandit Runner]

Finally got the light guards installed:

I also painted my wheel rings green, but unfortunately they didn't turn out very well. I'll have to sand it off and repaint them again. :hurt: