Fightman's Build Thread

Looks great! Nice find! I think you will make it through the winter just fine with that purchase!

...now the tire purchase on the other hand, I'm not so sure about that. LOL :cheers:

:lmao: Good one!

Man, those tires look good! Can't wait to see them on there in the winter.
 
HA HA! On the tires....or the Swimsuit??? lol! JK! I'm thinking of buying 2 more used Procomps (if I can find them), as 2 out of 4 of them are badly worn on the inside edge.......we'll see.....

I still think I got a decent deal on them....$340.00 for all 4...they retail up here for $1160.00 brand new!

After getting home, I decided to give the truck a good wash inside and out. It's been weeks since her last bath! (truck...not the wife! lol) Here's another artistic driveway shot of her:

P1130478.jpg~original
 
lol Fightman, you always crack me up :P
but i'm confused........
why do you need winter tires? i'd be home all winter long if i were you :P :jaw drop:
 
Well, got my winter rubber purchased! Well, at least some of it.....2 out of 4 are worn pretty bad, as the guy was running them without a proper alignment on his Cherokee...so...looks like I might search around for another 2, and see what I can get before the snow fly's!

Hi!
This is a question from someone that has never seen snow, so don't flame me... Why would you change your pretty good tires for used ones for the winter? I would expect your current ones, with significantly more rubber to perform better. What is the deal with winter driving?

Cheers.
 
Hi!
This is a question from someone that has never seen snow, so don't flame me... Why would you change your pretty good tires for used ones for the winter? I would expect your current ones, with significantly more rubber to perform better. What is the deal with winter driving?

Cheers.

Just going to assume he wants the truck to look cool in the summer, and not as much in the winter. His 33's are summer tires or atleast thats how it went this past year.

As long as it can go anywhere in the snow with the used tires, more power to him!
 
I think he mentioned the winter ones are smaller and better able to clear the flaps and stuff once the slush builds up.
 
Hi!
This is a question from someone that has never seen snow, so don't flame me... Why would you change your pretty good tires for used ones for the winter? I would expect your current ones, with significantly more rubber to perform better. What is the deal with winter driving?

Cheers.

Just going to assume he wants the truck to look cool in the summer, and not as much in the winter. His 33's are summer tires or atleast thats how it went this past year.



As long as it can go anywhere in the snow with the used tires, more power to him!

Right!

Oh, so it is not related to traction then... Thanks for the reply.

Right again......

I think he mentioned the winter ones are smaller and better able to clear the flaps and stuff once the slush builds up.

BANG ON!

The main reason for the tire / wheel change, is the road salt up here eats up the finish on my Aluminum wheels. For the past 2 winters, I've been running my Small Mickey Thompson's on my stock wheels, and well....it makes me hate the look of my truck! Those Mickey T's were so short and skinny, it reminded me of this:

P1130453.jpg~original


HA HA HA HA!
 
lol Fightman, you always crack me up :P
but i'm confused........
why do you need winter tires? i'd be home all winter long if i were you :P :jaw drop:


The tires are a new form of birth control??? When I'm working on my truck....I'm not making babies! lol!
 
Tire Carrier Repair

All right,

After a long distance drive and camping trip, I found my tire carrier to be a little worse for wear. Looks like the little bumpers I made up, have finally buckled under the pressure of that 285 70 R16, and snapped!

I had made the bumpers out of old record player legs, a long bolt, some washers and a couple of nuts. The bumpers gave me almost a year and a half without any major issues, but now I'm looking to beef them up a little.

Here are a few pics of my current setup

Side view of the carrier: (note the distance from the rear hatch...I'd like to bring that closer)
P1130733.jpg~original


Pic of the little bumper I made up:

P1130735.jpg~original


Pic of the little bumper installed on the carrier and doing it's thing:
P1130730.jpg~original


Pic of the locking pin:
P1130731.jpg~original


The entire assembly lowered down:
P1130732.jpg~original


And another shot of the assembly up:

P1130734.jpg~original




Please keep in mind, my theme for this truck, is kind of a "TRD Edition 4Runner", so I want things to look as stock as possible without costing me a fortune to do. I realize that some have installed the rear tire carrier from the Hilux Surfs in Japan, but I can't afford to go that route. I don't want to cut into the rear bumper, and am not remotely interested in adding any armored bumpers.

I ended up using some 3/8" X 5" carriage bolts and locknuts to replace the tiny bolts and nuts I had before:

P1130736-1.jpg~original


Here's the new bumpstop:

P1130737.jpg~original


For now, I've placed some rubber on the end of my bumpstop to fill the gap between the bumpstop and the rear hatch. I plan on trying to bring in the carrier closer to the hatch in the next few weeks....so the rubber can then be removed at that time.
 
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What a great ride! I have a question, where did you get the clear lenses in the front bumpers? Mine are orange and clear is so much cooler! :driving:
 
Thanks for the compliment man! I got the Lenses off E-bay......about $45.00 shipped....if I remember correctly.....
 
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Rust Repair

Alright, so the evil monster I like to call Rust, has come back to haunt me! As always, I used my Angle Grinder with a wire wheel, and clean off all the rust.

P1130785.jpg~original


P1130784.jpg~original


Then I shot everything with some Semi-gloss Black Tremclad:

P1130789.jpg~original


P1130788.jpg~original


While waiting for paint to dry, my 3yr old daughter decided to play photographer....

P1130739-1.jpg~original


It was a couple of hours later, and the paint had still not dried, so I just drove the truck into the garage, and will finish with the base coat and clear coat in the morning.
 
Just got done reading your build. Nice work! Also, what's Tremclad? I don't think I've ever heard of that brand, is it similar to POR15? I too need to remove some rust from the undercarriage of my T4R and looking for good paints to use to prevent rust from comment back.
 
Thanks for the kind words man! Compliments never get old! BTW, Tremclad is simply a rust paint similar to Rustoleum. If you are planning on painting the undercarriage of your truck.....then POR15 would be a better choice for you. I personally never paint the undercarriage, but opt to simply coat everything down there with oil and grease. It's really messy, but around here, 13 year old trucks just don't stay as healthy as mine does unless they are parked all winter long...........
 
Thanks for the kind words man! Compliments never get old! BTW, Tremclad is simply a rust paint similar to Rustoleum. If you are planning on painting the undercarriage of your truck.....then POR15 would be a better choice for you. I personally never paint the undercarriage, but opt to simply coat everything down there with oil and grease. It's really messy, but around here, 13 year old trucks just don't stay as healthy as mine does unless they are parked all winter long...........

Ahh gotcha. Good idea on coating with oil, I've got gallons of used oil from oil changes. How do you coat it on?
 
Ahh gotcha. Good idea on coating with oil, I've got gallons of used oil from oil changes. How do you coat it on?

I use an Undercoating gun that I bought at a retail store that sells automotive supply stuff, and also recycle my used motor oil for this purpose.....

There are different schools of thought on this practice though. People will tell you that it's messy, (it is), others will tell you that the acidity level in the oil from being used, is not good for your truck....(I beg to differ!) I've done everyone of my vehicles since I first got each one, and the undercarriages and bodies look great on all of them. My 4Runner is 13 years old, and I see 99's or newer models for sale that are full of rust.....body panels and bumpers with holes rusted through, and undercarriages that are so orange....you'd think someone sprayed KD powder under the darn things!

Bottom line, in Northern Climates where Road Salt use is common practice in the winters, the only way to keep a vehicle from rotting is to spray it with a rust inhibitor.....motor oil done by you = CHEAP ALTERNATIVE! :)
 

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