Foxtrot's Build Thread

[CHawks_12]

Thanks! I'll try and get some shots of it tomorrow. I just ordered an addicted off road front bumper and winch for it, along with a complete set of RCI skid plates. Will be mounting them soon! Driftwood pearl is a great color. I didn't like it at first, but got a great deal on it. The color has grown on me over the years, and it hides dirt really well. Only downside as you noted is that the only color that is a good accent color is black.

Felt the same way when I first bought mine, but could not pass on the deal I got and was the only 4R they had with the V8 in it

 

[foxtrot]

[MENTION=78170]foxtrot[/MENTION] How did you support it on the passenger side from where the reservoir drops? Or does it sit at an angle?

If you are talking about the battery, it is supported by the bolts on the driver side. I also have a little piece of tube that the bolt goes through for added support but I don't even think that is necessary. There is enough support from the other two bolts to hold it easily

 

[CXS]

Looking good Brad! Nice to see the winch so you can get me out of any mess I get myself in next time we wheel together. Hopefully it would be the other way around though! :thumb:

 

[foxtrot]

Haha thanks Chris! I need to update this a little bit, going to take some pictures tomorrow of everything but here is a list of what I've done the pat few weeks:

Finished dual battery install w/ blue sea fuse block. Wired my led light bar to this, and it is bright. Works good for the little that I will use it.

Replaced rear bearings, brake pads, rotors, parking brake shoes, and all seals. Wanted to do it since I am towing a 5000 pound camper now. Better to be safe than sorry.

Since I am towing now, I also added an aux transmission cooler, which will help a lot on those big hills.

Also re-geared the front and rear diffs. Went from a 3.73 to 4.56. I got complete diffs from east coast gear supply and they were great! I notice a huge difference in power, and they told me with 285 tires and this gearing, it is a little higher than stock. Definitely will help with hauling that trailer. Just finished my 500 mile break in period so I'm changing the oil this weekend.

I am jumping in on the RCI group buy and getting my fuel tank skid and some sliders. This will complete my armor from RCI and all that's left is a rear bumper. I'll take some more photos tomorrow and upload them.

 

[morphious]

[MENTION=78170]foxtrot[/MENTION] Did you ever put in the new rear springs? I would love to see how they look compared to this:

 

[foxtrot]

Yep, sure did. It sits a lot more level. I'll snap a photo tomorrow for you. Here is a comparison of the springs:

 

[coldwiz]

We need a Driftwood Pearl picture thread. Hey did RCI fix the problem with the rear doors hitting the sliders? I was going to go the RCI slider route but went WKOR instead. I liked the RCI bolt on design. Or are you going to weld yours on?

 

[CXS]

Haha thanks Chris! I need to update this a little bit, going to take some pictures tomorrow of everything but here is a list of what I've done the pat few weeks:

Finished dual battery install w/ blue sea fuse block. Wired my led light bar to this, and it is bright. Works good for the little that I will use it.

Replaced rear bearings, brake pads, rotors, parking brake shoes, and all seals. Wanted to do it since I am towing a 5000 pound camper now. Better to be safe than sorry.

Since I am towing now, I also added an aux transmission cooler, which will help a lot on those big hills.

Also re-geared the front and rear diffs. Went from a 3.73 to 4.56. I got complete diffs from east coast gear supply and they were great! I notice a huge difference in power, and they told me with 285 tires and this gearing, it is a little higher than stock. Definitely will help with hauling that trailer. Just finished my 500 mile break in period so I'm changing the oil this weekend.

I am jumping in on the RCI group buy and getting my fuel tank skid and some sliders. This will complete my armor from RCI and all that's left is a rear bumper. I'll take some more photos tomorrow and upload them.

Nice looking trailer, how's it working out for you?

I got my RCI skids on a bit ago, in enough time to make it to Moab only to blow another CV. CVJ's are going in now.

May I ask what the 4.56's set you back?

 

[foxtrot]

We need a Driftwood Pearl picture thread. Hey did RCI fix the problem with the rear doors hitting the sliders? I was going to go the RCI slider route but went WKOR instead. I liked the RCI bolt on design. Or are you going to weld yours on?

haha no kidding, I feel like it is the red headed step child color. I don;t have the sliders quite yet, as I am waiting for the group buy that is going on right now. hopefully it is fixed or I might have to re-consider.

Nice looking trailer, how's it working out for you?

I got my RCI skids on a bit ago, in enough time to make it to Moab only to blow another CV. CVJ's are going in now.

May I ask what the 4.56's set you back?

the trailer is awesome. the perfect size for some small family vacations. only had a bad CO2 detector so far so not too bad for a new trailer. the gears were right about $1450 all said and done (set up diffs, gear oil for break in and after break in, and some RTV). not horrible but not great either lol. They do have a 5 year warranty which is nice though.

on to the photos:

Here is a side view. (note: my driveway is angled so take that into account.)

A view from the front with the new light bar for $30 off Amazon!

The dual battery setup:

and finally the switches for the dual battery and light bar. the battery switch didn't quite fit, so I had to dremmel a little bit on each side of the opening, then it slid right in.

 

[tigster562]

Thanks for the write up. It's giving me a lot of ideas for mine. Sweet ride!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nyc-Runner]

Wow lots of updates since last time i saw your build, everything looks great and very tastefully done good job!

Did you swap your springs out up front before you put your bumper on or after? So far my icons have held up fine with everything up front, they are cranked up a decent amount but no complaints.

Good to hear about the positive feedback on the re gear! I'm doing mine this coming weekend. I'm also going with 4.56s and went the same route you did and got everything built from ECGS, except i'm swapping out my rear end with a FJ housing and Elocker. Can't wait to get it all swapped out! I'm sure the extra power is going to be great both on and off road. Did you do the swaps or have a shop do it? Geez you did the rear wheel bearing too, were they bad or you just decided to have them done while you were in there? I heard that's not a easy job because you need a bearing puller. I'm doing the swaps this weekend with the help of my two buddies that have both done multiple swaps and re builds so thank god for that! I don't know if i'd be confident enough to take on that big of a job by myself!

How are you liking those tires? I have had my eye on them for a while as my next possible set. Also bumper looks Bad A$$:thumb3:

 

[foxtrot]

Wow lots of updates since last time i saw your build, everything looks great and very tastefully done good job!

Did you swap your springs out up front before you put your bumper on or after? So far my icons have held up fine with everything up front, they are cranked up a decent amount but no complaints.

Good to hear about the positive feedback on the re gear! I'm doing mine this coming weekend. I'm also going with 4.56s and went the same route you did and got everything built from ECGS, except i'm swapping out my rear end with a FJ housing and Elocker. Can't wait to get it all swapped out! I'm sure the extra power is going to be great both on and off road. Did you do the swaps or have a shop do it? Geez you did the rear wheel bearing too, were they bad or you just decided to have them done while you were in there? I heard that's not a easy job because you need a bearing puller. I'm doing the swaps this weekend with the help of my two buddies that have both done multiple swaps and re builds so thank god for that! I don't know if i'd be confident enough to take on that big of a job by myself!

How are you liking those tires? I have had my eye on them for a while as my next possible set. Also bumper looks Bad A$$:thumb3:

Thanks! I swapped my springs out before the bumper so I don't have any experience with the stock icon springs and the weight. I actually did the wheel bearing two weeks before I did the diffs. One of them was squeeling a little bit, so I decided to do both. You actually don't even have to take the axles fully out to change the diff. I just unbolted the axle, and unbolted the e-brake cable from the body, and it slid out far enough to get the diff out. I really didn't want to take apart the e-brake assembly and this made it a lot easier. The front is a pain in the ass though. The axle tube you have to swap has an inverted torx bolt so make sure you have to socket for that. It's not super difficult, just tedious.

The tires have been great, the best set I've had so far

 

[Nyc-Runner]

Thanks! I swapped my springs out before the bumper so I don't have any experience with the stock icon springs and the weight. I actually did the wheel bearing two weeks before I did the diffs. One of them was squeeling a little bit, so I decided to do both. You actually don't even have to take the axles fully out to change the diff. I just unbolted the axle, and unbolted the e-brake cable from the body, and it slid out far enough to get the diff out. I really didn't want to take apart the e-brake assembly and this made it a lot easier. The front is a pain in the ass though. The axle tube you have to swap has an inverted torx bolt so make sure you have to socket for that. It's not super difficult, just tedious.

The tires have been great, the best set I've had so far

Awesome man thanks for the feedback. Wow that's a lot of work you did all in all haha My buddy said to me that i should do my rear bearings while i'm in there but now i'm swapping out the entire axle so no need. The reason i'm doing that is because i'm installing a FJ 3rd member with Elocker, originally i was going to have to retro fit the 3rd member to the 4runner housing which is a little bit of work (notching,drilling,tapping) but luckily my buddy just upgraded the rear on his FJ to the 8.2 so i was able to get his old housing so now were just swapping the whole rear which essentially is easier than the retro fit but yes we have to deal with the parking brake. I'm getting a new parking brake spring kit and shoes also since i'm pulling it all apart anyways. As far as the front yes if heard that's a lot of fun and all about the torx bolt so we have all the necessary socket for that! Thanks again man!..

 

[waworiginal]

Awesome build! I see that you plasti dipped your door handles. How did you get to the back of the handles? I'm thinking about doing the same to my 4r

 

[wadle5]

Awesome build! I see that you plasti dipped your door handles. How did you get to the back of the handles? I'm thinking about doing the same to my 4r

Did the same not quite the easiest task, but really the stuff is durable and will last. You can barely see any chrome when walking around the truck unless you stick your head up against the door and look up or down on the handle. Just do it and you will thank yourself later. Not to thread jack!.




And where is the link for that $30 light bar OP?!??!

 

[foxtrot]

Awesome build! I see that you plasti dipped your door handles. How did you get to the back of the handles? I'm thinking about doing the same to my 4r

Thanks! Like said above, you can't see the back of the handles unless up close. I didn't worry about it. I did tape them off though as I didn't feel like dealing with the overspray. Just make sure to do lots of very light coats. And make sure to hit it from the top and bottom also to get as much coverage towards the back. I did end up take ng off the rear trim piece to plasti dip it though

 

[foxtrot]

Did the same not quite the easiest task, but really the stuff is durable and will last. You can barely see any chrome when walking around the truck unless you stick your head up against the door and look up or down on the handle. Just do it and you will thank yourself later. Not to thread jack!.




And where is the link for that $30 light bar OP?!??!

Thanks for the reply! Here is the light bar and switch I used. Switch feels kinda cheap but it works and fits in the stock opening. And it came with a harness. The light has been awesome. Had been through pouring rain, and had piles of snow sitting on top that slowly melted and still doesn't have any moisture in it. It is bright as hell and was definitely money well spent.

Light:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00KQXKG46/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Switch:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0117B1J3W/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Wile.E.Coyote]

[MENTION=78170]foxtrot[/MENTION] I'm looking at the same dual battery set up. Can you answer a couple questions for me? When you did the PS reservoir relocate did you run completely new lines? Or extend the existing ones somehow and if so how? What size battery did you squeeze in there and what battery tray did you use? Did you fab a bracket? Thanks!!

 

[Wile.E.Coyote]

[MENTION=78170]foxtrot[/MENTION] I'm looking at the same dual battery set up. Can you answer a couple questions for me? When you did the PS reservoir relocate did you run completely new lines? Or extend the existing ones somehow and if so how? What size battery did you squeeze in there and what battery tray did you use? Did you fab a bracket? Thanks!!

Never mind, just read through the thread. Sorry.