Black798's 98 limited build thread

[Black798]

Recent Pictures:
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Current Upgrades/Modifications:
Drivetrain /Engine/Performance
• K&N air filter (removed)
• AFE air filter
• Isr mod (removed)
• Safari Snorkel (removed)
• Dynomax super turbo 20 inch muffler (removed)
• Flowmaster Deltaflow 60 (removed)
• 3” turbo back stainless exhaust with vibrant muffler and resonator
• Transgo shift kit and glow shift trans temp gauge (Write up available Here)
• B&M 70268 Trans cooler with auxiliary fan
• Custom poly transmission mount
• Extended rear diff breather
• NWF ecocrawler dual case and triple stick
• Rear: TLC 9.5 diff with Nitro 5.29s and ARB RD142 air locker (nitro chromoly full float shafts)
• Rear: Custom built axle housing with full float ends 62” wms
• Front: TLC HP 8” with Nitro 5.29s and ARB RD132 air locker (rcv shafts)
• Front: Trail gear builder front axle 63” wms
• Second gen TRD supercharger (removed)
• MAPecu3 piggyback tuner (removed)
• GT3071 ball bearing turbo charger
• Haltech elite 2000 standalone ecu
• 650cc fuel injectors
• AEM wideband AFR gauge
• Glowshift boost and oil pressure gauges
Suspension
• Front:
• Toytec bilstein/eibach coilovers (removed)
• King extended travel coilovers with 600 lb springs (removed)
• SPC upper control arms (removed)
• Currie Antirock sway bar
• Custom 3 link solid axle swap with 12x2.5 Fox dsc coilovers
• Fox 2.0 x 2.0 hydro bumps
• Fj80 steering box with hydro assist
• Custom built crossover highsteer
• Rear:
• Dobinson C59-210v stock height progressive rate front coil for an 80 series (removed)
• LX450 7 wraps ≈ 3.5 inch lift (removed)
• OME 891 coils (removed)
• OME 906 coils with trim packer (removed)
• 4th gen rancho rs5000 shocks (removed)
• Fox 8 x 2.5 dsc coilovers mounted with a cantilever pivot. Strapped to 12” of travel
• Fox 2.0 x 2.0 hydro bumps
• Branik motorsports swaybar
• Custom 3 link suspension
Wheels and Tires
• Trail Ready HD17 beadlocks (4” backspacing)
• 37 x 12.50 Nitto trail grapplers
Lighting/Electrical:
• 4300k FXR 3 inch 35W hid retrofit
• Baja Designs LP6 spot lights
• Baja Designs Squadron Sport amber fog lights
• Extreme LED 5” scene lights for side lights
• Baja Designs LED Rock lights mounted to frame rails
• Extreme LED Stackerz for rear strobe dust lights/reverse
• Extreme LED pods for reverse lights
• Led taillights
• Full led conversion in cab and exterior lights
• ABS delete
• Big 3 mod
• Blue sea systems 12 circuit fuseblock with ignition relay and acrylic platform
• Fenix Industries switch controller
• 400 watt power inverter (mounted under drivers seat)
• Duralast Platinum H8 AGM battery
Interior
• 20% 3M Color Stable tint on front windows
• Sound deadening done with peel n seal and carpet padding throughout doors and floor
• 550 cord steering wheel wrap
• Milwaukee Packout mounted tool storage
• Weathertech front floor liners
Stereo/ Communication
• Cobra CB
• Upgraded sound system
Exterior /Armor
• 3M Clear Bra
• 3M 1080 anthracite carbon fiber vinyl on b pillars, gas tank lid, and rear spoiler
• Monstaliner medium quartz grey fender flares
• RSG sliders welded on
• Custom front bumper (powder coated satin black)
• Custom rear bumper (powder coated satin black)
• Custom tire swingout (powder coated satin black)
• Sherpa Equipment Matterhorn MK2 full length
Recovery
• 3in x 30ft Rugged Ridge tow strap
• 2in x 20ft Smittybilt tow strap
• 2 3/8in x 30ft ARB snatch strap
• 2in x 3ft tree saver
• x4 3/4in d rings
• x2 d ring hitch adapters
• 60in HiLift jack
• ARB ckma12 OBA setup
• ARB EZ deflator/Apex Design RPV valve stems
• Warn Evo 10 terminated with a factor 55 flatlink
• Tuff Stuff 10 ton snatch block
• Fire extinguisher
Trails completed
Montana
• Flathead Pass
• Brackett Creek and various other forest service roads
• North Meadow Creek
• Independence Pass
• Ringing Rocks
• Elkhorn Mine
Colorado
• Barbour Fork
• Yankee Hill
• Wheeler Lake
• Coney Flats
• Middle St. Vrain
• Chinamans Gulch
• Engineer Pass
• Black Bear Pass
• Imogene Pass
• Cinnamon Pass
• Poughkeepsie Gulch
• Tincup Pass
• Holy Cross
Utah
• Fins n Things
• Hells Revenge (including Hells Gate)
• Top of the World
• Poison Spider Mesa
• Gold Bar Rim
• 7 Mile Rim
• Gemini Bridges
• Moab Rim
• Pritchett Canyon
• Cliffhanger
• Steel Bender
Oregon
• Firebreak 5
• Crushers (upper/lower)

 

[Black798]

Looking for something specific? Here's the table of contents

Page 1, Getting things started, rock sliders, bed liner, grill
Page 2, Suspension lift, refresh, and tuning. Cargo box 2.0
Page 3, Air filter changes, why not to use a k&n, extended bump stops, diff breather, and new tires.
Page 4, ABS disable, sway bar discos, cb, trans cooler fan, cargo box changes, spring break in Moab.
Page 5, more Moab, rear bumper build, front bumper build
Page 6, Final install of bumpers, acrylic fusebock platform, Flathead Pass trip
Page 7, new skids, big 3 mod, aux fuse box install, swapped to OME 891 coils,
Yankee Hill trail run, Wheeler Lake trail run
Page 8, Middle St. Vrain, Coney Flats trip, panhard lift
Page 9, Gas tank skid build, winch rebuild and install, new battery, Independence Pass trail run
Page 10, Custom rear shock designing, North Meadow Creek trail run
Page 11, Independence Pass trail run,snow wheeling
Page 12, A couple snow wheeling trips, broke spider gears discovered in front diff
Page 13, Front diff replaced, rear axle rebuilt with built 3rd member, regear to 4.30, King outboard shocks installed
Page 14, Rear shock testing, SCS Ray 10s purchased
Page 15, Ray 10s installed, faulty ARB locker sent back to ECGS for repair, Moab trip planning
Page 16, ARB fixed and reinstalled, new alternator ordered
Page 17, Moab 2018
Page 18, Misc.
Page 19, 285 Wildpeaks installed, firewall tubbing

 

[Black798]

Here are some pictures and some brief details about everything that has happened before the build thread.
First thing I did was replace the stock sound system. I ended up replacing the front door speakers with a set of sound ordinance p52’s, the rears were replaced with a set of kenwoods, and the head unit was replaced with a JVC kd-r760. I also added an 8 inch powered sub to complete the sound profile.

Next I installed an outside temp in dash to the left of the steering wheel. I used a cheap thermometer from Amazon that has the temp sensor in the driver’s side mirror. Here is where I mounted the screen.
IMAG0556 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
Next were the led fogs. I knew right away when I got the car that I would need some more light. Being on a tight budget at the time, I went for the cheapest option, a 40 dollar set of led fogs bought off eBay and installed in the lower valence. I quickly regretted this because the light output wasn’t that great and they didn’t last long. They were replaced less than a year later by another set off of eBay that have much better light output.
This worked for awhile but I finally broke down and retrofitted the headlights with projectors. I chose to install some 3” fxr projectors with 35w morimoto ballasts. I modeled my design after the retrofit that [MENTION=63060]rickashay[/MENTION] did on his 4runner. Originally I intended for the halos to be white, but after I baked the lights and sealed them, I found out that the heat or something had caused some of the white cells to go dead since I had tested them last. So they ended up being orange and I think I actually like this look better.
Here they are installed
Headlights by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

The last major thing was tinting the front windows to match the rears. I went with the 3M colorstable film and this made a world of difference in the heat transfer through the windows while driving and as a plus the film is guaranteed to not turn purple.
Some other pictures:
Rear storage that I got for free. This will be getting an update sometime this fall.
IMAG0226 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

 

[Rwhockey29]

looking forward to seeing this build come along! ive got a 1999 limited im in the process of fitting out for small camping/overland trips

 

[Black798]

New Grill

Small update. This morning I took care of the satoshi style grill. I think it looks way better than stock and it should give a little more protection from gravel in the winter. I didnt take many pictures because it was pretty straightforward, just a lot of time with a dremel and sanding wheel.

After cutting and smoothing
IMAG0011 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
Finished.
IMAG0014 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

 

[Chim]

are you sure you dont have switchback halos? If you reverse the wiring the will be orange... They are supposed to be white all the time till you hit blinker and they go orange. Just curious cause I haven't heard anything about leds changing color on accident..

 

[Black798]

They are switchbacks, but when I baked the lights back together some of the white led cells broke and wouldn't turn on on the passenger side halo. So rather than take everything apart I wired them so they are orange full time because the orange leds were fine. Im not sure why the white cells burnt out like that but you can actually see the cells are burnt because there are little black dots where they are.

 

[Kbuch1]

I like your "modified" grille. Interesting take.

 

[Black798]

Thanks, I was originally going to do the whole grill in the mesh but I thought that with my color scheme it would be too much silver.

 

[trook]

Awesome!

 

[Black798]

:thanks:
So the past week has been crazy with part orders. First up was the bedliner for the fenders, followed by the 4x innovation rock sliders and then a few days later the lift from toytec. For the lift setup I ordered a set of bilstein adjustable coilovers with the eibach springs and OME 906s for the rear. So I should be getting about 2 inches of lift from this setup. I decided on 2 inch because i want to keep the center of gravity low and focus on maximizing travel. I may step up to the OME 891 coils in the rear down the road but Ill have to see how this current setup runs.

I also have been busy doing some small fab projects. First was the hitch skid so I would quit ripping the trailer wiring bracket off.
Here is the skid:
IMAG0021 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

And I also made some adapters that will allow me to use the mounts for my ski racks to mount the hi lift on the roof. Here are those.
IMAG0024 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

Up next on the list are LCA/mount skids, extended swaybar links after the lift, and of course the rock sliders need to get welded to the frame.

 

[Black798]

So a small update. I got this lovely package this morning.

IMAG0026 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

If all goes well they should be on by the beginning of next week along with the lift that gets here tomorrow and the bedliner should be done before the end of next week. And if anyone is interested the running boards are for sale.

A few mock up pics
IMAG0034 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
[url=https://flic.kr/p/VKTVjG]IMAG0036 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

 

[Black798]

Rock sliders and fender flares done

I made quite a bit of progress in the past week so I figured I should update the build. I spent the entirety of last Thursday and Friday installing the rock sliders and painting them only to find out that after having them on for 1 day that the paint wasn't going to hold up so they are now off waiting to be stripped and repainted. I didnt take many pictures because I was trying to get this done as fast as possible so I will take some once they are back on.

Also while I was working on the sliders I installed the 2 inch lift which was super straightforward and done in about 4 hours.

But, after having the lift on for less than 12 hours I found out the front droops too much and I blew up my driver side cv. So I got a nice lesson on how to change a half shaft in a 3rd gen. Limit straps are on order to fix this problem.
Here are some pictures of what the aftermath was.
IMAG0045 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
Attach3095_20160821_114853 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

The next thing I did was chasing the electrical gremlin out of my thermometer. Because of my original wiring, I couldnt remove it from the dash panel when I took all that apart, so the power leads got ripped out of the circuit board. This was originally "fixed" with hot glue. But the thing would routinely short out and shut off from road vibration. So I ordered a replacement and got that installed with a proper wiring harness this time. I also took the time to clean up the wiring behind the dash.

Finally today I went through the process of bed lining the fender flares. For this I used medium quartz grey monstaliner since it was a pretty close match to the stock color and I liked the texture of this vs rhino liner or any other bed liner. The process wasn't really that hard, just very time consuming. But I am really happy with the results and now and interested to see how it holds up.

Before
IMAG0194 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

After
IMAG0201 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

I dont have all the trim on yet but you get the idea.

 

[kolelt]

I recommend a plate/gusset for your rock sliders. And weld the gussets (2) per plate/tube at 8 and 4 o'clock

Trail gear sells one on Amazon for like $25

 

[Black798]

The 4x inovation sliders come with mounting plates and gussets. already included, you just have to weld them togeter. I modified these slightly so that the sliders were easy to take off but still very strong. So I got some .120 wall pipe that allows the slider to be bolted on but be as strong as if they were welded. Jacking the truck up with the hi lift the sliders do flex some but I think it was because the bolts weren't tight. Here is the mount on the frame.
IMAG0204 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

 

[kolelt]

The 4x inovation sliders come with mounting plates and gussets. already included, you just have to weld them togeter. I modified these slightly so that the sliders were easy to take off but still very strong. So I got some .120 wall pipe that allows the slider to be bolted on but be as strong as if they were welded. Jacking the truck up with the hi lift the sliders do flex some but I think it was because the bolts weren't tight. Here is the mount on the frame.

I had this idea in my mind. I think the problem with this is that it can eventually make the walk pipe stretch and make the sliders wobble around.

Can someone give their opinion on this option.

 

[Black798]

That was something I had concerns about was either the inner tube end crushing or the outer tube stretching. I figured if the inner tube starts crushing Ill weld a cap in to stop it but if there is someone else that has a similar setup and has some experience theyre willing to share that would be awesome.

 

[kolelt]

That was something I had concerns about was either the inner tube end crushing or the outer tube stretching. I figured if the inner tube starts crushing Ill weld a cap in to stop it but if there is someone else that has a similar setup and has some experience theyre willing to share that would be awesome.

I love the idea. Especially removable rock sliders. Incase you need to with your rocker panels or something. How tight of the fit is it ? Got pics of it mounted ?

 

[Black798]

I dont have any pictures of them mounted yet since I had to repaint them. Once that is done I will have some so probably sometime saturday. When I was test fitting them they were about half an inch at the closest point to the rear door fender flare. Everywhere else was about an inch.

 

[kolelt]

When you install them post some pics of you don't mind please. See I had to remove my rock sliders because a little bit of my rocker pannel rusted out. I couldn't get in with a welder or grinder to fix it. So I have to cut them of. But it worked out for better because I never welded plates, so i have plates ready to be welded. And #2 I want them more tucked under. But currently they just sitting in a shed painted with monstaliner waiting to be installed. But I'd like to have them bolted Incase I need fix rust.

Curious, when you grinder the paint if the frame. Did you spray anything so it would rust ? Assuming the welds aren't 100% water tight.