Brilliant's Mod Thread

[Brilliant]

Put in the new shocks. They are the same damping as 5125s but they ride a lot better. Hopefully they take washboards as good as the 5125s. Before you ask - why not.

• With wheels off, drop the rear axle to the lowest setting on the jackstand
• Jack up the body to unload the shocks, jacking the receiver works
• losen the top bolt, take off the lower bolt, remove washer, put back in bolt
• use a bearing puller to easily remove the lower shock mount
• for install, clean to a near polish the lower mount and use some assembly lube and beat it on with a socket. New poly bushings must be either the same ID as OD of the mount or maybe a bit less. Its ridiculous how tight the tolerance is.
• lower mount 1st, then upper mount

Maybe standard stuff for shock install, but I had a hell of a time getting the first one installed. 2nd one took 5 minutes total once I figured out how to do it.

I am also ordering from sky manufacturing some new shock mounts or hoops to mount on the outside of the frame to increase travel an extra inch.

Weld-on Shock Mounts - Sky's Off-road Design

 

[MountainBiker]

Put in the new shocks. They are the same damping as 5125s but they ride a lot better. Hopefully they take washboards as good as the 5125s. Before you ask - why not.

Excellent! Is there something that keeps the shock from rotating and having the reservoir crashing into the frame or other parts?

 

[Brilliant]

Excellent! Is there something that keeps the shock from rotating and having the reservoir crashing into the frame or other parts?

The frame doesn't move relative to the shock. It's the axle that moves relative to shock. And the upper eye is fixed, the lower rotates.

 

[MountainBiker]

The frame doesn't move relative to the shock. It's the axle that moves relative to shock. And the upper eye is fixed, the lower rotates.

Good point, but the shock can rotate relative to the frame. If you still have the OEM upper mount, rotation is allowed. Sorry I don't have a picture, but this post from 4Ripcord shows the OEM stud mount at the top of the shock, which allows rotation.

 

[Brilliant]

Good point, but the shock can rotate relative to the frame. If you still have the OEM upper mount, rotation is allowed. Sorry I don't have a picture, but this post from 4Ripcord shows the OEM stud mount at the top of the shock, which allows rotation.

If its rotating along the major axis on the upper mount its not installed correctly. These are not OE shocks, as they have EB2 mountings. Even it were to rotate, it would just touch the frame, never damaging the shock. The condition you describe does not exist. The shock will deflect when its compressed or extended, but its never going to strike the frame as mounted.

btw, I also had the same initial though when installing it. Since it was in front of me, I saw that it wasn't an issue.

Shocks are great when paired with packed 99s and tunda fronts.

 

[MountainBiker]

Okay, thanks for the explanation. So you converted the upper frame mount from stud mount to EB (eyering and bushing) style. Any pics of the upper shock mount showing this conversion?

 

[chipsahoy]

how did you change the color of your clock and climate control screen?

 

[smallfry]

Do you have the part number for teh fog light switch you have? Is it the Scion switch?

 

[Brilliant]

how did you change the color of your clock and climate control screen?

light film screen filter

Do you have the part number for teh fog light switch you have? Is it the Scion swithc?

fog light switch was some replica toyota switch from china. search around for a toyota corolla fog light switch. I found it on ebay.

 

[zl936c]

My 99' temp window in dash has bubbled must be common, I think I want to get a white dash gauge panel and just replace it

 

[4Running Daily]

Painted my rear hatch with automotive touchup rattle can paint. It was a close match, but not exactly. Probably as good as you could expect. Given its trim trim vs metal panel, I think a shade off is acceptable. We'll see if it sticks long term.

Which company did you order it from?

 

[Brilliant]

Which company did you order it from?

Touch Up Paint and Accessories | AutomotiveTouchup

 

[4Running Daily]

Touch Up Paint and Accessories | AutomotiveTouchup

Did you use any adhesive promotor, or did you just use primer, base, and clear?

 

[Brilliant]

Did you use any adhesive promotor, or did you just use primer, base, and clear?

plastic primer, adhesion promoter, color, clear

 

[4Running Daily]

plastic primer, adhesion promoter, color, clear

Thank you!

 

[Brilliant]

Purpose: Install ICON ET RR coilovers, Camburg UCA, get 1" more travel, smoother ride over rough terrain

Process:

• Jack up car and unload spring tension
• Remove caliper and brake line, hang it on frame
• Remove lower strut bolt and unload strut
• Remove upper strut nuts x3 and remove strut
• Remove UCA and Spindle
• Using grinder, cut off UBJ
• With UBJ flat, hold the spindle in a bench vise and use BJ puller to push out the UBJ
• Clean spindle
• Install uniball per vendor instructions
• Install UCA
• Install new upper strut bolts, noting position of reservoir hose
• Place reservoir carrier against frame
• Remove inner fender plastics, utilize existing hole, run a tap
• Drill and tap another hole in frame
• Install LBJ bolts on spindle
• Align uniball and install uniball bolt
• Reinstall lower strut bolt
• Verify all torques

 

[A.Wilson013]

Holy Moses.

The envy I feel for your new front suspension is disgusting...

We should run some forest service roads sometime. That's the level of, "wheeling" I most enjoy, I think. haha

 

[Brilliant]

Rear Hatch Light

Objective: Get more light in the back hatch

What I did:

• Source a rear interior light from a yard
• Run a wire from rear interior light
• Make a template, trace the pattern, and cut
• Glue in light with epoxy
• Install LED panels

Holy Moses.

The envy I feel for your new front suspension is disgusting...

We should run some forest service roads sometime. That's the level of, "wheeling" I most enjoy, I think. haha

We should do that. I like going fast rather than crawling and don't want to beat up the body.

 

[Brilliant]

Dual Battery

I've decided to run a dual for camping. It would be nice to not worry about draining the starting battery when out.

I had read a lot about difference setups and decided I wanted a large main and a small backup starter. Some setups have 2 large mains and one is essentially not used. I read on several sites that people were running a small PC680 as a starter so I went with this. It is just enough to start the truck, but not much more. I picked up a tray, modified it a bit, and moved some the CC and ABS packs.

In terms of controller, I went with a blue sea 7620 for its remote switch, manual switch, and auto disconnect/connect behavior.

Relocated the cruise control, the hold down, and all but the short negative lead. Mounted the controller to the airbox. The screws are the right side of the filter so no worries other than another hole, siliconed the screws.

I found these 5mm battery monitors on ebay from gammatronix. These will illuminate 3 colors and blink appropriately depending on charge of the battery. Between this and the ACR, I'll have most of the functionality of those massive controllers.

 

[Brilliant]

I needed a couple more switch blanks, but didn't want anything non-oem looking. An LS300 trac slot and a single DIN is what I am working with.

I've cut it down and fitted it. Up next CA glue and plastic epoxy, then many sandings with bondo.

Holes drilled in the side to allow switches to be removed. 1st glue, CA glue and primer, then a tube of plastic epoxy.

Filled using bondo premix pinhole filler. 400 grit to sand it.

sand 800 grit, high build primer, and repeat

sand once more, and apply the top coat. Duplicolor black trim paint. Came out pretty decent I'd say. Considering where its going the minor imperfections wont be noticeable. Still wet in the picture and the matte paint will conceal more.

Final shot installed with temporary switches.