Hellamatic - Build Thread

Wellp, glad this is finally finished! Got the ARB bumper and winch installed and it took waay too long. Did it over the course of 3 evenings after work, then finished up wiring on the winch today after picking up some extra 4AWG welding cable from work. I'm sure this install took me way longer than it was supposed to, but my excuses are thus:

-The instruction manual was terrible. Very poor black and white pics without any sort of arrows/notations/etc on them, and confusing descriptions at times (I'm sure it's because it was written in "Australian")
-All of the hardware was just in a big bag. Not separated and organized in any way. You just open the bag and dump all the parts on the floor like a little kid playing with Lego.
-I worked on the installation in the evenings after 12 hour days at work
-Ran into a bolt that was broken off on the engine skid when I went to install the front skidplate - probably from when I hit my deer last summer. Had to drill it out, try an easy-out, almost break the easy-out, drill it ALL the way out, and chase the threads.
-My helper was my 62 year old father, and his endurance isn't what it used to be. My little 90lb mom stepped in to help stab in some bolts from time to time too. (Big thanks to my folks!!)

That being said, it wasn't a terribly difficult install. Just shitty and time-consuming.

My reasons for going with an ARB are:
-I was quoted up to a year waiting for a Shrockworks... The ARB was a few days.
-The price was right. Slightly too high with the shitty Canadian dollar right now, but that's the way she goes. Way she goes.
-They look way better in person than they do in the pics - seeing [MENTION=66300]Intruder[/MENTION] 's rig in person a while ago swayed me
-The ARB is the only one that is certified as airbag compatible. This wasn't initially a selling feature for me, but realistically, my rig sees a lot of highway miles. Safety is pretty important.

So, without further delay, here's how it turned out:

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I'm happy with how it looks. Took a drive into town when I finished, and got tons of looks - probably because I most definitely have the most modded 5th gen around town now.

I slapped on a Factor55 prolink as well today - it's a very nice addition to the whole package. Strong, light, safer, and it looks great!
 
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I'll second that statement about how they look in person. I think a lot of people see them in poorly framed pictures and think they look bad. However, in person they're stout and fit the vehicle nicely! Great choice!!
 
J-BlickPhoto said:
I'll second that statement about how they look in person. I think a lot of people see them in poorly framed pictures and think they look bad. However, in person they're stout and fit the vehicle nicely! Great choice!!
Click to expand...

I think it's also because a lot of the Google Image results are stock rigs with stock suspension and stock wheels/tires. Once you get one on a built rig, they look right at home.
 
Intruder said:
Looks good! Don't forget to order some LED bulbs for the turn signals otherwise those housings will melt.
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Excellent protip, haha. I'm not sure how they continue to overlook that.

Nathan sent me a pic of a retrofit kit that he found that replaces the plastic bumper inserts with metal fillers/LED indicators, with provisions for flange-mounted Rigid duallys. I just about went with those, but the last thing I need is more lighting that I can't use on public roads.
 
Hellamatic said:
-I was quoted up to a year waiting for a Shrockworks... The ARB was a few days.

Strong, light, safer, and it looks great!
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Any business quoting a year for their product is poorly run, absolutely no excuse. The 4 months I Waited for sliders was bad enough.

Truck looks great though!
 
Jhalko said:
Any business quoting a year for their product is poorly run, absolutely no excuse. The 4 months I Waited for sliders was bad enough.

Truck looks great though!
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Thanks man, appreciate it!

I understand Shrockworks is a fairly small shop, and the 5th gen isn't super popular, so I don't blame them for not keeping stuff on the shelf. Still, you'd expect them to at least be willing to set up jigs and produce 5th gen orders AT LEAST every month or two. My CBI rear bumper is being built to order right now, and (allegedly) is only supposed to be 4-6 weeks.
 
Looks great! And I can sympathize on the late evening vehicle mods - they suck. That is pretty much the only time I have these days between wife, kids, and work. I have been wanting to do a bumper for some time, but just don't know where the time for install will come from. I guess the kids will be off to college in 10 years time :mad: Until then...

Anyway, rant over, your bumper looks awesome, and I am jealous.
 
harkco said:
Looks great! And I can sympathize on the late evening vehicle mods - they suck. That is pretty much the only time I have these days between wife, kids, and work. I have been wanting to do a bumper for some time, but just don't know where the time for install will come from. I guess the kids will be off to college in 10 years time :mad: Until then...

Anyway, rant over, your bumper looks awesome, and I am jealous.
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Thanks man, I appreciate it! Fortunately (for me...not a fan of the kidlets,) I'm without wife and kids. Work always gets in the way, but that's what pays for the toys, haha.

Time vs money, right? Whenever you have lots of time, you're typically low on cash. When you're making the cash, you never have time.
 
Went out towards the Brazeau Reservoir today, drove along the canal, then started up a trail that runs up the spillway. I haven't been up that trail for several years, but wanted to go check it out because apparently there were some dinosaur footprints and fossils that were exposed during flooding a couple years ago. This was a good time to take the trail - the level of the reservoir is quite low right now, so there is no chance of water being released and flash flooding the spillway.

Unfortunately, the flooding had evidently washed out a couple of culverts, and I was stopped pretty early on in the trip by a water crossing that was a little deep. I carefully assessed the crossing and decided that it wasn't worth risking, as I have yet to extend my diff breather.

As I was snapping a few pics, a couple of Jeeps from the local Jeep club came along on their return trip from up the trail. One of the guys stopped to talk and check out the 4Runner, and he mentioned that the water crossing I didn't want to attempt was one of the mildest on the trail (I watched as they crossed, and it was at least 24" deep - I would've made it, but not worth the hassle of having to drain diffs before I go to Alaska in a few weeks.) This was also his first time up the spillway trail since the flooding. Although he made it the whole 38 kms up the trail, he said there was some pretty intense pucker situations, including a water crossing that was halfway up his doors due to recent beaver activity.

So, long story short, it's time to do my diff breather! It's a nice drive up the spillway, and unfortunate that there is so much damage to a once mild trail.

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Alaska/Yukon trip

Got back from my trip up north a few weeks ago, and finally got the time today to go through my pics.

My dad and I decided to take a drive up to Alaska for holidays this year - we went back in 2006, and decided this was the year to go back up on another father/son trip. Shortly before we left, dad was offered a retirement package from the company he works for - so this trip ended up turning into a retirement kick-off trip of sorts.

Here's a quick summary and a few pics:

Right before we left, I wanted to do a quick install on my Aeroforce Scangauge. I initially ordered a 3-place Autometer gauge pod so I could also put an air gauge in there once I set up the compressor, but the pod didn't look as great as I hoped it would in the 4runner:
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So, I headed down to the local speed shop and grabbed a single mounting cup that I mounted to the steering column. I think it looks much better. It does interfere with how far the steering wheel can be adjusted, but I'm not concerned since I'm the only one that drives my 4runner.
<a href="http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/kelseyreder/media/15c6bb87d44405ea7b0fa9168798627d_zpsbovkefr3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii615/kelseyreder/15c6bb87d44405ea7b0fa9168798627d_zpsbovkefr3.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 15c6bb87d44405ea7b0fa9168798627d_zpsbovkefr3.jpg"/></a>
 
And off we go....

As I mentioned, my dad was offered a retirement package after nearly 20 years working for the same company. All told, he spent 42 years rocking the oilpatch! First order of business on the day we left was for me to pick him up after work so he could hand his company truck in. I laughed and had to snap a pic as I pulled up....in classic fashion, he ditched the truck in front of the No Parking sign. Zero f*cks given.
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Next stop was my parents' place where I had the 4runner parked in order to load it up over a week or so before we left. You can clearly see that I've reached the limits of the factory coils. Luckily I didn't throw the rear bumper on before we left - I'd severely underestimated the weight of the gear and two fat guys. Looks like I won't be doing much wheeling up there.
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The first afternoon, we just headed 4 hours north to Grande Prairie. My sis and brother in law live up there, so we stopped for dinner, drinks, and a sleepover. My bro in law had just finished adding a roof basket and plastidipping the wheels on his Ridgeline. This is the only cool looking Ridgeline I have ever seen.
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The night after, we made our first camp. Summit Lake at Stone Mountain Park. It was extremely windy, but sunny. Lots of chop on the lake, so I only had the kayak in for a few minutes before scaring the shit out of myself.
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This park also has the coolest shitter I've ever seen/used. It's elevated and has two large holding tanks underneath that have heating elements powered by the PV panels. They dump a concoction of some type of microbes in the tanks and the little critters feast on the poo, turning it into an excellent dry compost. Best part - the outhouse doesn't stink!
<a href="http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/kelseyreder/media/493c60d0-bc57-4095-9382-a6802812aa00_zpsn6qpmxxo.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii615/kelseyreder/493c60d0-bc57-4095-9382-a6802812aa00_zpsn6qpmxxo.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 493c60d0-bc57-4095-9382-a6802812aa00_zpsn6qpmxxo.jpg"/></a>
 
On towards Whitehorse

Quick glamour shot leaving Stone Mountain Park.
<a href="http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/kelseyreder/media/10b3e6ec-af3b-4d0f-b5d0-15774c3b49a9_zpsokr9wexn.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii615/kelseyreder/10b3e6ec-af3b-4d0f-b5d0-15774c3b49a9_zpsokr9wexn.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 10b3e6ec-af3b-4d0f-b5d0-15774c3b49a9_zpsokr9wexn.jpg"/></a>

We arrived in Whitehorse and poked around a little bit. There was a couple incredible metal sculptures next to their public works building/firehall. These sculptures are made of old junk donated by Yukon residents. I love this kind of stuff - I'd like to find the time to build some creations like this one day.
<a href="http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/kelseyreder/media/IMG_3653-1_zpsilongl8e.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii615/kelseyreder/IMG_3653-1_zpsilongl8e.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3653-1_zpsilongl8e.jpg"/></a>
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We also stopped and walked around the SS Klondike, an old sternwheeler from the gold rush days. These are a pretty damn cool piece of equipment.
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We stayed at a lake about 80ish km from Whitehorse that night, whose name I can't recall. I woke up bright and early at about 4:30 local time and snapped a pic of the sun already coming up. I love the long days as you get farther north.
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Lake Laberge
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Stayed at another lake south of Dawson City a couple nights later. It was breezy all day, but calmed down in the evening. I put the yak in to go for a paddle at about 9:30 at night, and dad did a little flyfishing. He ended up catching a nice little whitefish about the time I was taking this pic. I paddled back in because it looked like there was some weather coming over the mountain, and it proceeded to dump torrential rain on us for about 15 mins. Despite being soaked, we cleaned the fish, made a fire, and cooked the little bugger up at about 10:00. We proceeded to drink most of a 26 of Crown, eat a delicious fish, and had a great evening sharing stories and drying out in front of the fire.
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Nice, looks like a fun road trip, on the outhouse, personally I like the ones with no roofs (all over around Moab). Not so good when it rains!

:rain:
:toilet:
 
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