Fightman's Build Thread

No reason to change, thats a minimum a $250 if you price it out very jewishly (no offense to anyone, just the best way to describe it)

A couple of years ago I had a chance to do the Tundra brake swap.....as my stocker's were messed up beyond repair.....but not knowing about this forum...and the wealth of knowledge it had.....I was too sheepish to try it....and just replaced with Factory replacement parts.......:(
 
A couple of years ago I had a chance to do the Tundra brake swap.....as my stocker's were messed up beyond repair.....but not knowing about this forum...and the wealth of knowledge it had.....I was too sheepish to try it....and just replaced with Factory replacement parts.......:(

You haven't hit a tree yet it or the car in front so I would say you made out fine.
 
You haven't hit a tree yet it or the car in front so I would say you made out fine.

I was kinda thinking the same thing John....only time I wish I had better brakes is when I'm towing my tent Trailer all loaded up......it's a little harder to make the stops.....but otherwise....it's good!
 
Sorry guys....I have no idea.....I'm still running stock brakes........

I have the 16" 5 spoke limited rims, and it appears the backspacing is about 4". Can anyone reading this verify that?

Do you know what the backspacing is on the Procomps? They look 3.5" ish.

I wonder if the backspacing would affect the larger calipers, maybe it just affects how far the tire is centered on the hubs. I confuse myself sometimes, sorry.
 
I was kinda thinking the same thing John....only time I wish I had better brakes is when I'm towing my tent Trailer all loaded up......it's a little harder to make the stops.....but otherwise....it's good!

If you ever get the chance in the future, those Tundra brakes are awesome when it comes to stopping with trailers. As I pull a pop-up (tent trailer) myself I can say that those 231mm Tundra brakes I put on have saved my truck a couple times from slamming into the guy in front of me who's suddenly slammed on their brakes.

BTW, I've loved watching your truck progress and it's build. Fantastic!
 
If you ever get the chance in the future, those Tundra brakes are awesome when it comes to stopping with trailers. As I pull a pop-up (tent trailer) myself I can say that those 231mm Tundra brakes I put on have saved my truck a couple times from slamming into the guy in front of me who's suddenly slammed on their brakes.

BTW, I've loved watching your truck progress and it's build. Fantastic!

I definately agree. I towed my boat today, man what a difference compared to my Dodge Ram I just got rid of. But with the upgraded brakes, it stopped like my Ram did with that heavy ass boat.
 
Well Mr. Fightman, you convinced me to get the Pro Comp Xtreme 1079's. I'll have to sport the 31's with them for awhile until I get a lift and new meats. But thanks a lot bro. I just ordered the Satosh Toyota emblem today, but I am on the fence on doing it though.

I painted my grill the other day and didn't like the fact that it looked new on the inner part, yet the chrome on the outer was banged up. So I might get a new one. Just not sure what I want and what will roll with the rims.
 
Reading this thread is like a great novel...you never want it to end. Each adventure is better than the last. And quite inspiring! Nice job on the wheels, and everything else, Fightman!
 
Thanks man! I've got a few things I'm working on right now....hoping to get some finished in the next couple of months.......
 
Long story short, my tow package became loose when on my recent quadding trip. As a result, the tow package seems to have dropped down a little.

See the gap between the bumper and the tow package??? It used to be closer together.

DSCF5293.jpg~original


When I initially installed the tow package, I had modified it to fit as it had come off an 87 Pathfinder. When we came to install it, the bolts we had were too short, so we ended up having to bolt them to the inside of the frame rails. It's kinda hard to explain, but basically, the bracket for the tow package is just a plate, which sits against the inner side of the frame rail. Two holes (on each side of the tow package) were drilled through the plate, and through the frame rail, and then the bolt was pushed in. We then MIRACULOUSLY threaded a bolt onto the bolt, which took for EVER to do. Unfortunately, the bolts that were located deeper into the frame rails, did not have lock washers on, and therefore, the nuts backed off there. The other 2 bolts held tight because the lock washers were on.

Now, I decided to take the entire tow package / Tire Carrier off, and de-grease, grind off the loose rust, and then paint it with Rust paint.

Here are some pics of that process:

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Degreased and washed:

DSCF5295.jpg~original


Grinding it down:

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Paint:

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I figured I'd do things extra nice, look over all my welds, make sure everything was still nice an solid before mounting it back on the truck. Unfortuanately, things didn't go as planned, and I got upset (like HULK SMASH! upset), and gave up for the day.

DSCF5299.jpg~original


And the 4Runner........was left naked:

DSCF5297.jpg~original


Now I'm wasn't sure what I was going to do, but of simply buying longer Grade 8 bolts and drilling another hole directly across so that I can bolt it up on the other side of the frame rail instead of inside.

After talking with a buddy, he offered to give me a hand, and even went to the local fabrication store and picked up some Grade 10 bolts, as well as some new nuts, and washers. After about a half hour, this is what happened:

DSCF5300.jpg~original


We then grinded off the center tube, and cleaned everything up in order to re-locate the tube closer to the back of the truck. The plan is to get rid of some of that gap between the carrier and the hatch, and have everything sit that much closer.

DSCF5302.jpg~original


Now that's about all I have for you for now. We stopped last night around 1:30am, but I still need to do some finishing. Next up is cleaning off the spatter caused by his flux, more paint, and then finally install!

Here's another little pic I'm quite happy about! For a few years now, I've been running without my rear wiper arm, as it fell off Christmas Morning. It had frozen to the rear window over night, but I had left the wiper motor on the night before. As a result, upon remote starting my truck the motor turned, but the arm didn't........it ended up getting stripped! I tried JB welding it in the past, but that wasn't successful. My buddy decided he could fix it for me by just welding it onto the wiper motor stud.....so we did that!

DSCF5304.jpg~original


Anyway, I have a long day at work to look forward, but will come home tonight and try to finish that bad boy!
 
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Hey Fightman, was it possible to get the bolts a bit more centred on that bar? seems you may have less than a 1/4" from the edge of the drilled hole to the bar?
 
Possibly, but I wanted to avoid drilling more holes into the frame, got knows the N.E. has it's issues with rust, and the less holes I create....the better.....
 
Fightman,

I read your "I feel like a loser" thread... and I've gotta say, don't sweat it man.

Short story. The other day I was swapping suspension & brakes on my '97. After fighting broken shocks and sway bar end links, I broke a bolt off in the spindle on the front pass side. It started pouring rain and mud was getting tossed into the garage. The dogs were all up in my business, scared of the thunder. I was sweating like a pig from the 100% humidity and 85 degree temps. The next hour was me at my finest (ie... WORST).

I chased dogs out of the garage, lost my shirt, drilled out a bolt, asked "WHY ME?!?" countless times... finally I calmed down, and got the job done.

I went to bleed the brakes, using my Motive Power Bleeder. I pressurized it and went to open the bleed valve on the passenger side... I suddenly heard a "wwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

I look over and brake fluid is shooting out of the bleeder like a fountain. The line had ruptured. Half of my garage got showered in brake fluid by the time I depressurized the bleeder.

I was about to kill something.

Hang in there dude. Know when to put the tools down and walk away.
 
Update!!

Well, got her all together and painted. I managed to get it mounted up, but I had some issues with the Brand New Adjuster Bolts I bought for the little bumper on the passenger side. Seems as though it decided to strip! I'm gonna have to wait til tuesday, and get another one. Also, went to wire up my licence plate light back up, only to find it disconnected from the power feed in the tail light! ARGH! Looks like another couple of days before I get everything buttoned up....as I've been working steady for the last few days, and have had little or no time to finish this thing!

Anyway, here's another teaser of the entire assembly painted, and waiting to be installed on the truck.

DSCF5316.jpg~original


I thought I had taken a pic of the carrier installed on the truck....but I guess I didn't. I'll get a pic posted once all is complete. BTW, I've thought of a new name for the 4Runner! Instead of Mean Green.......BRUISER! The darn thing fights me with everything I do to it these days, and a "Bruiser" is an old term used in fighting......so BRUISER it is!
 
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Well, I woke up this morning to find myself fighting a cold! :( But I really needed to finish this Tow-package / Tire Carrier, so my "stubborn-ness" took over!

First, I went back to the Hardware store and got myself some Galvanized 3/8" X 5" carriage bolts. I decided if I was going to be replacing one of my bumper bolts, I might as well to both. I got them all mounted the same way as before, and then adjusted them so that they were nice an tight against the rear hatch.

Overall, the Tire carrier is much closer to the rear hatch....I'm happy to say! Probably about 2-3" closer actually!

Here's some before shots of the tire carrier...notice how far it sits from the rear hatch:

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Here's some after shots:

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Now the only thing left to do is test it throroughly!
 
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