Cruzado's IDGAF build thread

[CruzadoBlanco]

I done goofed with the title, supposed to be IDGAF, but ya know typing is hard
After many questions and people asking for a build thread i finally got around to doing a build thread.

As it currently sits

how its was when i got it bone stock in March of 2014 or something like that i dont really remember.

The first mods that were done.
-Fj wheels and taking the useless running boards off

Then came the first iteration of lift.
-Toytec BOSS with superflex HD 2.5" rear springs and bilstein 5100s.

i dont have a pic of just the lift on with out the 285s so whatever.

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

After taking it on its first trip to Ouray CO i finally decided to get some armour on it, so i bought some shrockworks sliders during a group buy and started beating the piss out of them

bonus flex pick with the bilsteins.

I also decided to mount my duallys i took off my wrangler before i sold it

After a while i decided i wanted more flex to help with the more hardcore wheeling i started doing. so i Bought the Metaltech stage 4 rear longtravel and lowered my BOSS c/o's to 1.5" and added a 2' spacer to give me a poor mans extended travel front.

also replaced my Light Racing UCAs with Ebay uniballs, i figured my chances of sudden death were about the same with how i abuse my suspension.

now i can do this

new front droop

with more hardcore wheeling came the need for heavy duty skids, so i originaly grabbed an RCI aluminum on a group buy. it didnt last too long, luckily RCI has great customer service and sent me a new steel on for warranty

already beating the new one up pretty good

also added some OPFOR rear LCA skids

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

One day i was bored poking around on Ebay and found this

got it for 330 and he brought it down to Dallas for free since he was planning to come down for a race.

Had it rebuilt with new master install kit and my OEM 3.73 29 spline ring and pinion. actuator was in pristine internal condition. needless to say i got real lucky on this one.

tracing the elocker OEM gasket

starting the notch cutting, had to use a dremel with those tiny cutting wheels and grinding bits, but it worked pretty well

it only ended up looking like partial hammered dog crap, but doesnt matter still fit.

pulled the dash apart to run the harness and wire in the panel.

panel in, i only cut the trim piece a tad, nothing a silver sharpie wont fix

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

i guess this can be the reply to put all my trail damage i accumulate.

the first good amount i got was right after i installed my Elocker and went to test it out at Barnwell mountain OHV, Things happened, i was only sorta mad, its mostly plastic

looking out my driver window, the lower cladded part of the door is being pushed in to the rock wall i just slid down off of, it was rear fun getting it off that wall

ill try to dig up some pics of my poor gas tank skid and other under body parts that have been bashed to death

heres my most recent trail damage from the last time i was out at Bridgeport OHV on a TTR group run

rip my poor gibson exhaust tailpipe. a month later and its still dumped above the axle where i cut it off with a sawzall.

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

reserved for wheeling pics or something, idk, future things go here.

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

added a 1" 4Crawler bodylift. then i decided i needed more ground clearance and larger tire to help on ledge climbs. so i decide to try out Treadwright Guarddod MTs. heard nothing but good things about them and love them so far, plus theyre cheap.

i did have to cut and hammer the crap out of everything to make them fit though, but it was totally worth it.

 

[tom5191]

Great build!

 

[CXS]

Did you run Poughkeepsie when you were in Ouray? Nice to see the trail damage, looks like I'm not the only one collecting scars.

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

Did you run Poughkeepsie when you were in Ouray? Nice to see the trail damage, looks like I'm not the only one collecting scars.

I run it every year I'm there, ran it with my wrangler and nos twice with my runner, once up and once down. It's a yearly trip weve made since I was 7. And they build character. If I didn't have any body damage how would anyone know I wheel like a bad ass

 

[CXS]

Good for you, I watched a guy flop at the wall at the start and have been intimidated by it since then. I did it in my Land Cruiser but not the 4Runner. Nice to have the permanent winch points there now.

I get to Ouray a couple times a year since it's fairly close and one of Colorado's best areas. Yeah, no dents means you're not trying hard enough!

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

So i finally got around to having my exhaust fixed after i pretzeled it. Had the exhaust shop do a whole new custom catback all high-tucked with a BORLA pro xs muffler.

Also got around to putting on my spare elocker connectors to replace the ones that came with my 12voltguy harness. i don't know why but the two plugs that came on it had come apart, like they were not crimped properly or something. But i emailed 12voltguy twice about it and got no response so i'm kinda pissed about that since i've had it less than a year. Luckily i have a spare oem chassis side set of connectors. I decided to disable my TPMS system while i was doing things today as well, took literally 5 minutes to do.

 

[zidaro]

So i finally got around to having my exhaust fixed after i pretzeled it. Had the exhaust shop do a whole new custom catback all high-tucked with a BORLA pro xs muffler.

Nice build and play.

Nice exhaust routing out the rear. Post a pic of it dumping from outside plz., been trying to decide on this for my future routing.
Hows the Borla xs sound on your runner? Too loud inside? I have one under my 1st gen crawler and its nice, but not the same comforts as the 4th gen.

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

Nice build and play.

Nice exhaust routing out the rear. Post a pic of it dumping from outside plz., been trying to decide on this for my future routing.
Hows the Borla xs sound on your runner? Too loud inside? I have one under my 1st gen crawler and its nice, but not the same comforts as the 4th gen.

outside you cant even see the exhaust at all. it sounds very quiet at idle and cruising. and can get loud if your flooring it. i love it a ton more than my gibson i had to replace.

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

so i went out to break the 35s in at Barnwell mountain OHV, and well i broke other things.

now i gotta go look for a replacement quarter window and figure out how to reattach my fenderflare on the passenger side. OH AND TREES ARE WORSE THAN HITLER. but the new exhaust didnt get touched so theres that i guess.

 

[CXS]

That'll buff right out!

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

That'll buff right out!

oh yeah. i dont give two flying ****s about the sheet metal, that builds character. i just get pissed when either 1) i break a window(s) or 2) a door doesnt open or close correctly. and i met one of those criteria today, almost both. had to drive the 200 miles back home with a trashbag window, and its supposed to rain heavily the whole week. but shit happens :bigok: hopefully i can find a window out of a wreaked runner or something.

 

[Inv4drZm]

So how did the 35's do on the trail? What's the report?

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

So how did the 35's do on the trail? What's the report?

the 35s were amazing. a small amount of rubbing on the front drivers firewall, but nothing a bigger sledge from work wont take care of, or less left turns, either one. climbing and descending 2ft+ steps out on the trail are like nothing now, before with the 33.5s even with the rear locker took some work and really made me nervous since i would have to bump it up so hard. but yesterday all it took to take the same ones was lock the rear and give it an extra couple hundred rpm and it walked right up. it seems like the extra diameter and surface area in general give a huge benefit.

I also only hit my skids once maybe twice overall, the body is another story, and shows why you shouldn't make a 1st gen runner the lead. its like a fat chick trying to follow a model into a party. it just ain't gonna work to well.

What i found i still need to do is clearance the front driver side fender well more at the fire wall and actually do a new tracbar in the rear. The driver side rear tire caught the inner fender well under full compression and rubbed the sound deadening off. All minor issues though, just need a bigger hammer and 2 rod ends and some DOM tubing.

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

Nice build and play.

Nice exhaust routing out the rear. Post a pic of it dumping from outside plz., been trying to decide on this for my future routing.
Hows the Borla xs sound on your runner? Too loud inside? I have one under my 1st gen crawler and its nice, but not the same comforts as the 4th gen.

like i said its damn near invisible from the out side. love the way its routed. And anyone who is interested in doing a gibson setup should strongly look into having an exhaust shop install a Borla PROxs and have the resonator removed. should cost less than my fancy smancy full high tuck and sound the same. Plus you dont get the vacuum cleaner sound the Gibson has in the higher RPMs (3200+). IDK why i didnt think to have this done earlier.

 

[CXS]

I still have my stock exhaust, not sure why it's held up so well, but figure I'll replace it before too long so I'm curious if yours drones at highway speeds or not. I pull a travel trailer and can't listen to any drone hour after hour.