Fightman's Build Thread

After getting it all dialed in, I decided to take it for a cruise and see how she'd hold up. Nothing to crazy, just went up the highway for a ride, and then off into this little gravel playland......

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The next pic is kinda interesting.....I moved outside of the city, and use my wifes "Pimpala" to commute to work everyday. As a result, in a little less than 11 months....I've only managed to put an extra 10 000km's on the truck! HA HA HA! I guess we can change it's use from "Daily Driver" to "Sunday Cruiser"!

Today's Odometer reading:

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Last year in October:

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I think that translates to just 6214 miles!

Also, after the test drive, I decided to wire up the license plate light. I simply used an Electrical Connector and tapped into an existing power wire in the tail light's harness:

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I then taped all the wires up for good measure, and then tested it out.....

And....SUCCESS!

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Thanks guys! It certainly was a challenge to do......I had my battles....:boxer: but managed to finish it after about half a week of working on it off and on!
 
Nice work on revising the tire carrier and I really love how it now mounts alot closer to the hatch....makes for a cleaner look with the tire becoming more integrated with the truck.

Good work bud!:thumb3:
 
This is the best thread in the forum. BTW fightman, I went to order the 1079's and they are backordered across the country. I went to cancel, and they were going to charge me a 5 percent annoyance fee. So I ordered Mickey Thompson Classics. Problem is they only found 3. I complained, and they bought the third from an outside source.

Which sucks though, I actually found out a shop here in town had a set of the 1079's. Too late. I'll try the M/T's and if I don't like them, I'll throw them on craigslist and get the ones I want.
 
This is the best thread in the forum. BTW fightman, I went to order the 1079's and they are backordered across the country. I went to cancel, and they were going to charge me a 5 percent annoyance fee. So I ordered Mickey Thompson Classics. Problem is they only found 3. I complained, and they bought the third from an outside source.

Which sucks though, I actually found out a shop here in town had a set of the 1079's. Too late. I'll try the M/T's and if I don't like them, I'll throw them on craigslist and get the ones I want.

I too was about to order some black ones and i was like the 200th person in line! f that... Ill jus wait till fightman gets tired f em and decides to let em go:D
 
This is the best thread in the forum. BTW fightman, I went to order the 1079's and they are backordered across the country. I went to cancel, and they were going to charge me a 5 percent annoyance fee. So I ordered Mickey Thompson Classics. Problem is they only found 3. I complained, and they bought the third from an outside source.

Which sucks though, I actually found out a shop here in town had a set of the 1079's. Too late. I'll try the M/T's and if I don't like them, I'll throw them on craigslist and get the ones I want.

Thanks for the compliments guys! The truck has really been a labour of love....lol! I've had it for over 7 years now, and have not grown tired of it yet! About the only thing I'd prefer to drive, would be a New Generation Crew Cab / long box Taco.....but that won't be for a few more years!

Ogden8, You should still like the Mickey Thompson's.....they are almost Identical......can't wait to see them on your rig man!
 
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So, I've been slacking on something for a little over a month now. Seems as though one of Inner CV boots have torn, and it's been that way for a little while now. I don't use the 4X4 too often, so I didn't rush to try and fix it.

I had found it looking like this:

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I then cleaned it to get a better look at it:

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I then packed it with some Multi-purpose grease, and Hoseclamped it back on....

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As many of you know, I'm a little cheap, so I've tried the cheapest alternative for now, and will see if it works!!?? If this fails, I'll just try to take off the joint, and get a new boot for it.
 
As many of you know, I'm a little cheap, so I've tried the cheapest alternative for now, and will see if it works!!?? If this fails, I'll just try to take off the joint, and get a new boot for it.

In this economy its no longer "cheap" its being tactful and smart. Well played! Always looking forward to updates from you. Everytime i see something you post I just have to click on it and see what mayhem you have done hah keep up the great work :driving:
 
HA HA! Thanks Sleek! My next item will be the bushing on my driver side swaybar....it seems to be partially out of it's clamp.....

When I did my lifts, I never knew I had to undo the sway bars, in order for the energy to be released from the previous ride height....I had already done the lift months before, and then read it somewhere on here. My guess, is after the lift sometime the suspension flexed enough to make the rubber bushing turn too much, and maybe come out of the clamp??? I was going to tackle it today, but took the day off from work, because of a bad cold, and didn't want to push myself too much....;) My next day off, I plan on taking it apart, and then going from there.

Thanks for the comment man! It always strokes the ego a little bit when you guys give me compliments! Keep 'em comin??? lol!
 
So, I've been slacking on something for a little over a month now. Seems as though one of Inner CV boots have torn, and it's been that way for a little while now. I don't use the 4X4 too often, so I didn't rush to try and fix it.

I had found it looking like this:

DSCF5375.jpg~original


I then cleaned it to get a better look at it:

DSCF5377.jpg~original


I then packed it with some Multi-purpose grease, and Hoseclamped it back on....

DSCF5379.jpg~original


As many of you know, I'm a little cheap, so I've tried the cheapest alternative for now, and will see if it works!!?? If this fails, I'll just try to take off the joint, and get a new boot for it.

Woo baby look at all that Canada rust!! You should see my undercarrige. Its immaculate :surfer:
 
You're kidding right?? If you look close enough.....you'll see that it's actually a really good coat of grease/oil that is covered in sand and dirt.......there is some rust....but not as much as you think.......lol!

As I've stated many times before, I coat my undercarriage annually with grease and oil. I also drilled holes into the rocker panels, pillars, and doors and spray oil inside of those. Trust me man....4Runner's of this age....don't look like mine around here.....and I'm not trying to brag here...just been looking at some of the ones for sale in my area....and most have bumpers, rockers, and other panels rotted right through!

I'm not saying it's immaculate....God knows it aint....but I can take off almost any bolt under there.....and not worry about it stripping or breaking! ;)

Here's some pics from last year, shortly after I sprayed the truck with my recycled Motor Oil:

Shot of the rear diff. when I did the breather extension

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Shot of the rear heater lines....they rusted....but only were the shield stopped me from spraying them....

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shot of the front rad / support

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Side shot of the exterior....see the oil seeping out of the door handle?

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Rear shot.....you can see the oil seeping out and over the bumper

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On top of all this, I spray all my chrome with WD40 at least 2 times during the winter....and never wash it until spring......
 
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Well I feel ashamed of my ignorance! I had no idea. Ive never seen this before. What kind of oil/grease do you use?

No worries my friend...just thought I'd let you in on it...lol! I just use regular 5W30 (recycled from my oil changes) and multi-purpose grease. The grease is used mainly on my skids, pinch welds, door, hood, hatch seems, and wherever else is easy to apply. The oil is sprayed using a spray gun and air compressor.

Now, there are many schools of thought regarding the use of old motor oil and it's effects on rubber bushings and such, but I've used this method for many years, not only on the 4Runner, but my Impala, and a few other cars that I've owned in the past. I have NO regrets......;)

Now that being said, if I lived in Cali, or any other area which had dry climate with no use of road salt, I wouldn't grease up my rig.....but it's a must up here in the North Eastern parts of Canada.
 
No worries my friend...just thought I'd let you in on it...lol! I just use regular 5W30 (recycled from my oil changes) and multi-purpose grease. The grease is used mainly on my skids, pinch welds, door, hood, hatch seems, and wherever else is easy to apply. The oil is sprayed using a spray gun and air compressor.

Now, there are many schools of thought regarding the use of old motor oil and it's effects on rubber bushings and such, but I've used this method for many years, not only on the 4Runner, but my Impala, and a few other cars that I've owned in the past. I have NO regrets......;)

Now that being said, if I lived in Cali, or any other area which had dry climate with no use of road salt, I wouldn't grease up my rig.....but it's a must up here in the North Eastern parts of Canada.

Ya my 4runner spent its whole life in Colorado until this past year. It was practically %100 rust free. Then when I brought it back here to wisconsin last summer, I got my KYB shocks, and they rusted a bit over the winter. I tell you, these winters and all that salt they use just tear your undercarriage apart. So why not just treat your undercarriage with a rust protector? Im thinking of doing that before it gets too cold.
 
Another Tire Carrier Revision:

Alright, so with the weight of the tire, the tire carrier was just moving way too much. As a result, I decided to make another revision.

I tried to fight it since first building this thing, but finally decided to drill into the rear hatch, and add another mounting point. I want to thank Bigfish for forwarding me some pics of the inside of his rear hatch, as part of my R&D for this project.

First thing we did was take some measurements and acquire some materials. Turns out, the Tundra Top Plates I never used when I did the Tundra struts....came in handy! (Never throw away good steel pieces!)

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Some angle Iron:
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Some tophat Isolators:
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A piece of Stainless (all I had lying around) for inside the door panel
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Various nuts, bolts, and washers.

We lined up where we wanted the Tundra tophat to sit on the hatch by putting the tire carrier into place. We then marked the locations for the holes to be drilled, and went to work.

Small Pilot hole:
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Next size:
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Out came my step bit....at this point...I'm losing my mind because I'm cutting into Virgin Toyota Sheet Metal!
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A shot of the tophat plate mocked into place. Note, we pressed the old studs out, and replaced with longer bolts:
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Then we decided to do some trimming for the tophat to sit flush inside the Licence plate trim. We used a hot razor knife to cut/melt through the plastic:
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Bolted into place, we also welded a small piece of pipe to extend the tophat:
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Shot of the inside...it clears the window actuator arms:
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