Crazydubman's 97 limited runner build

[crazydubman]

Couple quick pictures from today. Finally got the hilift mounts, flag mount tab and anchor points for the pop up and the gas cans welded to the rack. the rows of anchors are 15" apart which leaves just over 12" on each side. The rotopax 4 gal gas cans are 13 1/4" wide so it will give me a little wiggle room for the 2-3 cans. Should be able to get some better pictures when I take it off to paint it Saturday.

 

[crazydubman]

Some more progress on the rack.

Got the wind fairing mounting tabs welded up and got the first coat of paint done.

Welds aren't the prettiest but they will hold for sure.

And a shot of the paint so far.

Should have it all finished up tomorrow.

 

[blk-4runner]

looks great Todd :thumb3::thumb3::thumb3:

 

[Stockwell45]

Looks good! But I would go crazy if I had a rack blocking my sunroof. Can it still at least tilt up?

 

[crazydubman]

Thanks guys.

Stockwell the moon roof now only slides back. There is about 1/2 inch of clearance to the rack so there is no way for it to tilt up. Wait till you see the wind fairing i have planned. Shouldn't be any wind noise after that. I thought long and hard about covering the moonroof and i just felt that it was better to have that space for lighter stuff than to leave it open. Plus i could have had a removable moon roof part but opted out of it because nuts and bolts tend to loosen over time and i hate rattles hahaha.

 

[crazydubman]

Rack is finished being painted and mounted hopefully for the last time for a long while. Still need to figure out the fairing but that can wait for another day.

Here are some completed pictures of how it looks.

I can't say enough about Josh and what he has produced. he really did build an amazing rack that filled that void in offroad accessories for the 3rd gen. Keep doing what your doing. Thanks again. :cheers:

 

[ADH8796]

Rack looks good. Look forward to seeing what you come up with for a wind fairing.

 

[crazydubman]

Rack looks good. Look forward to seeing what you come up with for a wind fairing.

Thanks for the compliment. I hopfully will be getting a paper template made either today or tomorrow. Just need to get home from work before it gets dark. Then I can get an idea of what im working with as far as material needed.

 

[Whitson Metalworks]

Todd what material do you plan to use for your fairing? Also, great job tricking out the rack, i love the tie down points, very functional.

 

[crazydubman]

Thanks Josh,

Still trying to figure that one out. I was thinking lexan at first and heating up the corners so it will shape around easy enough. On the downside of that, I will probably need probably a 4x6 sheet of it to make this work... I may be over guessing that but when I get the template made out of paper I will be able to know for sure. Then another thought was that TAP Plastics has this black textured sheet of plastic that would be fairly inexpensive and bendable. Has a textured finish on one side similar to bedliner. May be the best option. will try to take a trip over there today after work to pick their brains and see what they have to offer.

One other thing that we talked about briefly is that I swapped out the 5/16" nuts that you use for the mounting feet and switched them over to nylocks. Should help on any bumpy road that could possibly rattle the hardware loose.

 

[Whitson Metalworks]

Right on, i ordered a box of the nyloc nuts myself to send out with future racks, not that my plain ol' nuts have backed off at all, just another precaution. I've tried bending lexan and without an oven to heat the whole sheet its tough. A heat gun only gives you so much time to work any one area and its never big enough or long enough (thats what she said i know i know...). I wish i could find someone with a big oven to make some lexan or tinted acrylic fairings, wouldnt be anything to it with an oven and some sort of form to shape them on.

 

[crazydubman]

Ya i'm hoping that black plastic sheet will be sufficient from TAP. I know what it is in my head but can't find a picture to show what i'm talking about.

EDIT:
This may be the stuff i'm thinking of.

http://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/plastic_sheets_rolls/hdpe_m_m_opaque/258

At only $7.50 a sheet it may just do the trick. Hoping that 24x47 will be large enough to do what I'm looking at. May just fit.
It might be a little thin but with it wrapped around the corners, I think it will hold enough rigidity. Just need to see about getting some of the fender edge piping from O'Reily's or Autozone for the bottom edge. Thow some RTV along the edge and press it on.

 

[mikey's2010SR5]

Rack looks great. Makes me giddy to get mine but oh the wait.

 

[crazydubman]

Looks like you may have to talk to Josh Whitson to see if there are any 5th gen guys running around Florida.

 

[mikey's2010SR5]

Already ordered my GOBI rack a couple of weeks ago.

 

[crazydubman]

Oh cool. Did you order directly from Gobi?

How long is the expected wait? did you order the stealth rack? any add ons?

 

[SantaCruzRunner]

awesome man :banana:
love the way it looks, if i ever get one thats what im going to go with for sure.

 

[mikey's2010SR5]

Oh cool. Did you order directly from Gobi?

How long is the expected wait? did you order the stealth rack? any add ons?

I ordered it with Mark. I had them weld tabs on the front for a 40" Rigid (going to see if a wurton fits) bar and two 6" bars on the rear. Going to have the sunroof insert and a free ladder, which will get sold.

And I did go with the stealth.

 

[crazydubman]

I ordered it with Mark. I had them weld tabs on the front for a 40" Rigid (going to see if a wurton fits) bar and two 6" bars on the rear. Going to have the sunroof insert and a free ladder, which will get sold.

And I did go with the stealth.

Good stuff Mikey. You will like it alot. You can probably get a couple hundred back for the ladder too. Will it fit other generations?

 

[mikey's2010SR5]

Good stuff Mikey. You will like it alot. You can probably get a couple hundred back for the ladder too. Will it fit other generations?

Its gen specific. I know Ray has one on his 4th but don't know about 3rd gens. And hopefully I can find a buyer for the ladder.