Brilliant's Mod Thread

[tre9er]

I can take a picture if you'd like when I get home.

Essentially the 98 bumper chrome section is roughly 1" taller/thicker than the fatlip. The overall distance bumper top to bottom of rubber valance is the same. Said differently the ratio of bumper to valance is not the same between years.

If you look closely at your flare, you can see that the bumper flare hugs the valance and bumper. There is a protrustion at the bumper valance interface.

Gotcha, so the flares start to taper to the valance at a higher-up spot on the 99+, whereas the bumper is still present at/below that point on a 96-98 front end...right?

A pic of the "not quite right" would be awesome. If it goes on there and is hardly noticeable, I may do nothing at all.

Edit: I think I see what you mean. See pic below. The taper inward starts prematurely (red arrow) because there is still bumper left, hasn't gotten to the valance yet. Yellow arrow shows gap between rubber trim strip and bumper as a result of premature taper.

 

[Brilliant]

Edit: I think I see what you mean. See pic below. The taper inward starts prematurely (red arrow) because there is still bumper left, hasn't gotten to the valance yet. Yellow arrow shows gap between rubber trim strip and bumper as a result of premature taper.

yeah, that's it. The drivers side is worse than the passenger side. i think i was ready to be done and havent tightened the screws in a while.

 

[BrianSD_42]

The lights look great. Very cool project. I know how much of a pain it can be.

I also like your choice of wheels.

How much lift do you think you have?

 

[Brilliant]

The lights look great. Very cool project. I know how much of a pain it can be.

I also like your choice of wheels.

How much lift do you think you have?

Thanks man.

I am not sure how much lift I have. I've changed stuff around so much I cant tell anymore. I am 37 rear and 36 front ground to limited fender. Maybe you can tell me how much lift that is.

 

[Hepar]

Looks great! How do the Icon's perform on the street?

 

[Brilliant]

Looks great! How do the Icon's perform on the street?

They are stiff so you can eliminate the roll bar up front, possibly the rear. Equivalent up front to tundra/trd coil setup in terms of soft ride over small bumps though. Going off curbs or over tracks is all soaked up very well. Overall they're as good/better than other setups I've ran on the street.

No compromise, do well on street as street shocks/coils, and do far better than other setups on forest roads. Most of my activity is getting to trailheads.

 

[So Many Roads]

Just wanted to stop by and say that this is one of my favorite builds. You were quick to get started and haven't let up yet. Also more than willing to share the knowledge you've gained. I wish I had the time/money/knowledge/skill. A killer 4Runner.

 

[TheArkMaster]

They are stiff so you can eliminate the roll bar up front, possibly the rear. Equivalent up front to tundra/trd coil setup in terms of soft ride over small bumps though. Going off curbs or over tracks is all soaked up very well. Overall they're as better than other setups I've ran on the street.

No compromise, do well on street as street shocks/coils, and do far better than other setups on forest roads. Most of my activity is getting to trailheads.

I have Icons up front and barely noticed a difference taking my sway bars off. I actually prefer it. Also that way I don't have to remove them offroad

 

[Brilliant]

Just wanted to stop by and say that this is one of my favorite builds. You were quick to get started and haven't let up yet. Also more than willing to share the knowledge you've gained. I wish I had the time/money/knowledge/skill. A killer 4Runner.

Thanks man. Definitely other folks here have far more serious rigs, but for my perposes, I like where its going.

I have Icons up front and barely noticed a difference taking my sway bars off. I actually prefer it. Also that way I don't have to remove them offroad

I have the addico bars on so I'm not as rolly, but right now I run with front disconnected and its fine. I dont have long enough links to connect the front back up. I have the parts, just not the welder.

Are you running rear bar off as well?

 

[TheArkMaster]

Thanks man. Definitely other folks here have far more serious rigs, but for my perposes, I like where its going.



I have the addico bars on so I'm not as rolly, but right now I run with front disconnected and its fine. I dont have long enough links to connect the front back up. I have the parts, just not the welder.

Are you running rear bar off as well?

Yeah. I wheel often enough that I don't want to be putting both sway bars on and off so I said F it. I like the ride. A little rolly, but as a driver, I don't notice much. Its fun to scare girls with too when taking some turns :rockon: But thats only when I want it to be that bad.

 

[Brilliant]

Took the flares off, thinking about making it an unlimited. Taking it to the body shop and asking what its going to take to fill the holes. Then maybe heading to the yard to grab some doors if thats a cheaper route. I am thinking of rynolining the bottom holes to make it less of a job.

I did verify the mounting of the wide sport flare was close enough to mount up.

 

[Brilliant]

Cb

Objective: Put in a stealth mounted CB

What I did

• Installed CB unit behind panel
• Put a hole in panel to disconnect unit and stow console.

Body shop says its 300 per side to fill holes in the rocker. Doors need to just be swapped and reshot. Assuming I can buy SR5 doors and sell part my limited doors for a minimal loss, then it seems doable. I spent the day at the yard, buying misc trim pieces and a new bezel for another idea I have. No luck at the yard for doors, but got a few things I was after.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Someone tell me why this wont work...

Pictures soooo small.

Are you missing your nylon washer on the final product? I don't see anything that's not shiny.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Picture sooooo big... =p

So now that I have gotten some sleep...

What exactly isn't working? The AM/FM radio portion, or the CB transmit/recieve function?

I am sure that I have seen others here on the forum run a Firestik in that location, I am just not sure how...
I am NOT a CB expert, but from what I understand the mount would need to be metal in order to be properly grounded... Right?
OR, perhaps a dedicated ground wire would need to be run?

Test the resistance from the antenna mount to the body of the vehicle...
If properly grounded it should read zero.

If the ground is good, you can test the antenna and coax with the multimeter as well by simply holding the prongs to either end of them.
They should all read zero.

On the coax be sure to test both the center pins, and the outer shield (ground).

 

[Brilliant]

Picture sooooo big... =p

So now that I have gotten some sleep...What exactly isn't working? The AM/FM radio portion, or the CB transmit/recieve function?

I am sure that I have seen others here on the forum run a Firestik in that location, I am just not sure how...I am NOT a CB expert, but from what I understand the mount would need to be metal in order to be properly grounded... Right?
OR, perhaps a dedicated ground wire would need to be run?

Test the resistance from the antenna mount to the body of the vehicle...
If properly grounded it should read zero.

If the ground is good, you can test the antenna and coax with the multimeter as well by simply holding the prongs to either end of them.
They should all read zero.

On the coax be sure to test both the center pins, and the outer shield (ground).

Nothing wrong with it persay, just wanted someone to tell me why it was a bad idea. I cant tell anything about performance looking at it. I thought someone might tell me why it was a bad idea because no one that I can tell has done it this way.

I found a diagram, but this doesnt address any performance questions.

I didnt want to poke another hole in the truck and this makes it pretty clean. Overall height is about the same as a std antenna. I reused the lower half of the stock antenna for a ground mount and to provide rigidity. The fender sheetmetal is too thin to support the antenna.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Nothing wrong with it persay, just wanted someone to tell me why it was a bad idea. I cant tell anything about performance looking at it. I thought someone might tell me why it was a bad idea because no one that I can tell has done it this way.

I found a diagram, but this doesnt address any performance questions.

I didnt want to poke another hole in the truck and this makes it pretty clean. Overall height is about the same as a std antenna. I reused the lower half of the stock antenna for a ground mount and to provide rigidity. The fender sheetmetal is too thin to support the antenna.

Oh!

Well, disregard all of that.

 

[Brilliant]

Project unlimited is underway...

I was able to source all doors from a 2000 desert dune and fender SR5 with wide flares. Some are in Spokane, some are farther away. This means I don't have to paint the inside of the doors and might be able to sneak by with a bit of fade differences in the doors if I am really lucky.


I am undecided if the body work on the lower rocker is worth it. Utimately its going to get covered in rock chips unless I 3M clear it or beadline it. If I bedline it, it doesnt have to be pretty. Body filler then is an option.

Once I get this done I can do a black on desert dune scheme to really clean up the truck.

 

[JWaldz]

Interested in doing this cb antenna mod for fm and cb functions. Looks nice! I had a buddy do it to his fj60. I know it's definitely possible to do lol. Did you figure it out?

 

[MStudt]

The CB antenna will work just fine. There's a guy on the FJ forum that has been making these and selling them for quite some time now. Tons a people are using them over there.

NestahEdition

 

[Brilliant]

Interested in doing this cb antenna mod for fm and cb functions. Looks nice! I had a buddy do it to his fj60. I know it's definitely possible to do lol. Did you figure it out?

I sketched it out and think I understand how it will work. CB hasnt arrived yet to test though. I also ordered some brass all thread to better conduct and prevent corrosion. My real question is around performance, so if your buddy did it similiar, I assume the performance is acceptable. - thanks for the post.

The CB antenna will work just fine. There's a guy on the FJ forum that has been making these and selling them for quite some time now. Tons a people are using them over there.

NestahEdition

Good stuff, thanks.