I found "The One", 2001 Sport Ed. TRD SC'd

[t4r4life]

Brake line, Bump stop, dang your truck is really clean under there

 

[T4R2014]

Your welds are looking really good. I have a silly question, when you welded the armor to the lower links, why did you weld 3 separate sections and silicone the gaps instead of welding the whole way through?

The underside of your truck is super clean too. As much as I like to see squeaky clean paint on a 4Runner, I like to see the nice satin black paint of the suspension and frame components just as much.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Those Alameda guys are complete A-holes especially that one old hispanic-ish guy that has the longer grey/brown hair and talks all quiet.. he hates me haha. Because I'm a d*ck right back to him. He see me walk in and just gives me a dirty ass look every time.

There is one guy that works there thats cool though, older skinny gentleman with real short hair named Jim. We're cool haha.

Even when I need a part NOW and the Toyota on Eubank doesn't have it in stock, I will order it online and wait for it rather than give those pissy old farts my business. I'd love to talk to their Manager but he's probably just as bad.

It looks as if you are putting that Hobart through its paces. Those LCAs should outlast the 4runner.

I wish I could sleep that soundly with my arms flung up by my head!

That welder definitely is not collecting any dust. I'm having alot of fun with it, and the LCA's are officially "Tank Strength".

Thanks for the link on the chop saw notching method..Long article but lots of good informative stuff.. Boy you're giving me more excuses to put the welder to use, aren't ya? but i'm gonna get into building that rear upper control link myself sooner or later to correct any downward angle between the diff pinion and the shaft.

Your welds have been improving as of late and the results definitely show. I'm impressed how well you've done to date from the short time you've had your 140...i guess with such a nice unit , it's impossible not to get good looking welds and penetration even with little practice, huh?

Keep it up man!

You're welcome, and I'm glad I could help put some ideas in your head. Thanks for the feedback on the welds, I definitely appreciate the evaluation coming from someone who uses the same machine. Like you said, it's a great welder... the hardest part is dialing in all the settings. I ended up with two small sections of funky looking welds on the LCA's but after playing around with it, I realized it was because I had the cord to the gun looped and it was impeding the wire feed.

Agreed! Great updates. Clean and thought out as always. Count me in as a no on the wheels.

Thanks man! Another NO for the wheels, check!

Is it the longer bump stops? Also your daughter is sleep celebrating for you with that pose. Very cute and she has as much hair as my 2 year old!

Brake line, Bump stop, dang your truck is really clean under there

Thanks SCRunner... I love that she has lots of hair.

Not all of these upgrades were added recently, but compared to a similar photo of a stock truck the photo contains alot of upgraded parts...

1. Stainless Steel Extended Brake Line (also note that this is the LH side line, only found on '01-02 4Runners)
2. E-Locker wiring harness... knowing from the brake line that the truck is an '01-02 the keen observer would know this does not belong and has been added to the rig.
3. OME 861 coil
4. Adjustable Panhard Bar
5. Beefier Extended Length UCA (note center section compared to stock)
6. 80 Series LC shock
7. Extended Bump Stops
8. LCA skids

You can also see the bolt/mounting bracket for the CBI, but even someone with a sharp eye probably couldn't tell that's what the picture shows.

I thought it was a cool pic because it captured all those upgrades in one shot.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Your welds are looking really good. I have a silly question, when you welded the armor to the lower links, why did you weld 3 separate sections and silicone the gaps instead of welding the whole way through?

The underside of your truck is super clean too. As much as I like to see squeaky clean paint on a 4Runner, I like to see the nice satin black paint of the suspension and frame components just as much.

Thanks, T4R2014! Re the welding technique on the skids... the more I do it the more I realize that there are alot of nuances to learn. When you lay a weld down one side of the skid, the metal contracts a bit and sort of rolls the control arm over inside the notch of the skid, toward the weld. Ideally I should have tack welded it on one side, then tacked the other side @ the opposite end, and kept going back and forth to seat the control arm perfectly into the skid... then laid the final welds. I realized this after I did the first one, and luckily the consequences were minor, resulting in a gap of about 0.5mm between the control arm and the skid all down one side.

Also, regardless of how you weld the skid there is a gap between the end of the control arm and the end of the skid where it is impossible to lay down a weld (the section in my picture that I filled with silicone sealant). So, regardless of whether I welded the entire length or just the 3 sections per side I would have had to seal it to some degree w/the silicone to 100% prevent rust from forming between the two parts.

Third, the skid will only see force from the bottom up (pushing it against the arm), never from the top down (pushing/pulling it away from the arm), so the welds are there more to hold it in place than anything. No significant load will ever be placed on the welds, and they would not be considered structural IMO, so there is no need to weld the entire length of the arm. There is 10" of weld on EACH side of EACH arm.... that's 20" of weld bead holding each of those things on, which is plenty.

RE the undercarriage, that's one of the reasons I bought it, and I always make sure to clean it promptly and thoroughly after it sees mud, snow, ice, salt, etc.

Sorry for the long winded post.

 

[Millerad1651]

Man o man, i had some catching up to do reading your thread lately. Everything looks great though. I may be the minority, but I like the wheels. Maybe not chrome, but polished or machined. They look like the Racelines that Crazydubman? has. Also similar to mine if they were machined.

 

[poleclimber63]

Grille Question

This grille is going to be sex on wheels... :frisky:

Any advice on peeling the chrome foil off the grille? I've peeled maybe 30% so far (the easy 30%) and its become apparent the rest will be a PITA with the corners and edges... I was thinking of trying a heat gun (very carefully) to see if I can soften the bonding a little. Otherwise I see lots of filler and sanding in my future!

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/membe...s...-picture15278-getting-down-grille-mod.jpg

In the pic, with the grille, before you started on it, I observed a pair of headlights... spares for the trail? As stated by another forum member, he says the 99-02 headlights are significantly brighter than the 96-98s. Did you notice a difference between your 97' and the 01'? I'm thinking of sourcing a pair here and upgrading...

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Man o man, i had some catching up to do reading your thread lately. Everything looks great though. I may be the minority, but I like the wheels. Maybe not chrome, but polished or machined. They look like the Racelines that Crazydubman? has. Also similar to mine if they were machined.

Thanks for the kudos, Miller. I kinda liked the wheels too, and I still might change it up someday, but for now the $600-800 for new wheels could be spend on more useful upgrades. You've got a good eye for wheels though... the ones in the picture are Raceline Renegade 6's. They are very similar to the Level 8 Strike 6.

Any advice on peeling the chrome foil off the grille? I've peeled maybe 30% so far (the easy 30%) and its become apparent the rest will be a PITA with the corners and edges... I was thinking of trying a heat gun (very carefully) to see if I can soften the bonding a little. Otherwise I see lots of filler and sanding in my future!

In the pic, with the grille, before you started on it, I observed a pair of headlights... spares for the trail? As stated by another forum member, he says the 99-02 headlights are significantly brighter than the 96-98s. Did you notice a difference between your 97' and the 01'? I'm thinking of sourcing a pair here and upgrading...

I'll describe the way I peeled the chrome as best I can. I took my Dremel tool and attached a sanding barrel with a coarse grit band. Then I sanded through the chrome all along the edges of the grille, down to the plastic. This exposed what looked like a cross section of a sandwich... chrome/plastic/chrome. Last, I took a box cutter blade and used it to start peeling the chrome away from the plastic @ the cross section, working my way forward toward the face of the grille. Once I got a nice long edge up I'd grab it with pliers and pull it forward and off. Hope that helps.

The headlights in the picture are the 99+ versions I picked up and installed on the '97... (LINK to that post > New headlights on the '97). I got that set of headlights for $30!! It was a steal. They have a much better light output than the old style headlights. Check out the link to the '97 thread.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

I've been eyeballing the Lotus LCAM skids for awhile, so I got to looking at the metal that I had in the garage and the large plate of 3/16" jumped out at me. I said fark it, I'll just make some LCAM skids of my own. I need the practice, right?

Mounted on the truck... Done and Done. They took me a total of about 5 hours to make.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

I also trimmed up the pinch welds @ the back of the rear wheel wells...

The triangular area at the top was not cut because there is a void between the two panels at that location that would have left an open hole in the body of the truck. That part should never meet the tire anyway.

A little paint to mask everything...

I applied a little edge trim after the paint dried to keep rocks and other debris from chipping the paint off... no me gusta Rust.

:cheers:

Next up I had to address my No. 4 Crossmember. It had seen better days, and I had a replacement ready to go on.

I took the replacement crossmember off a '96, and it was lacking a mounting bolt on top that is used to mount a standoff for the rear O2 sensor wiring harness. So I had to add the mounting point.

Drilled...

Sunk a flange nut with matching threads...

Welded in place...

Smoothed out and ready to go...

Now that's better... Nice and straight, and all ready to bolt up a new belly skid, perhaps?

A while back I broke off a bolt in my transfer case... one of the four that holds the t-case skid on there.... So I broke out my set of "EZ outs", yanked the broken bolt shank and replaced the bolt. I've been putting off doing this until I replaced the cross member because you have to drop the cross member to make enough room to get in there with a drill.

I took care of a few other small things as well:

- Drilled and tapped one of my skid plate mounting holes... it was stripped out by a mechanic who got a little happy with an impact wrench.

- Finished the last two wire connections for my alarm... First was to tap into the Tachometer signal coming off the igniter. DEI alarms/remote starts use a voltage sense feature to identify whether or not the truck has started and the remote start was having to make several attempts to start the truck on cold starts. Now that I tapped the Tach signal it has a reliable indicator and the truck fires up the first time every time. I also connected the pin switch for the hood so the alarm will go off if the hood is opened... this also kills the remote start when the hood is open so the engine can't be accidentally started while you've got your hands/tools in there.

On to the next one... :zoom:

 

[Qyota]

Nice! I envy your time off and nice weather to get things done. I also just bought the same welder cart, but only paid $35! Found a coupon in my Family Handyman mag! ;-)

I too think the front casters suck. At the bare minimum, they should be set wider apart. I think I'll also put a spacer below the Hobart 140 so the door can be opened.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Qyota,

I shoud clarify... I paid $49 for the cart, and then another $10 for the upgraded casters, so a total of $60 for the whole deal. However, I would not have been offended if they'd sold it to me for $35. Sounds like a score on your end. Maybe I'll have to look into this "Family Handyman" magazine... I am a family man now, after all, and I consider myself handy.... hmmm.

RE the spacer under the welder, I just used a section of cardboard folded in half and it worked perfectly. It lifted the door side of the welder just high enough that I can open the door while it's on the cart. Then I put the bungee cord around it just to hold it down a little better.

 

[4-Ripcord]

Nice work Nick! Those skids are clean!

 

[TCMach]

x2 on the skids. When do your skids go into mass production? haha
Those welds look damn good! That's exactly why I want a welder. Homemade everything! Its like christmas when you get scrap metal:hungry::hungry:

 

[Fishwerks]

The skids look great! Really well done.

Welding and wrenching on the 4runner is time well spent and all, but you better get out fishing soon! :fishing:

 

[Qyota]

How's the cutting go with the metal blade on the jig saw? The cuts look nice - did you use any cutting oil or anything?

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Nice work Nick! Those skids are clean!

Thanks! :

x2 on the skids. When do your skids go into mass production? haha. Those welds look damn good! That's exactly why I want a welder. Homemade everything! Its like christmas when you get scrap metal:hungry::hungry:

There will be no mass production here. To tell you the truth, after having built this set, I can honestly say that the Lotus LCAM skids are a pretty good deal @ $94 (esp. considering you can buy them on Amazon.com w/free shipping). There would be no way to make a profit on these things without using a laser cutting service. Cutting/drilling the metal is where all the time/labor goes. The welding/cleaning the welds takes 30 minutes per side, tops.

The skids look great! Really well done.

Welding and wrenching on the 4runner is time well spent and all, but you better get out fishing soon! :fishing:

Thanks, FR4R! You're telling me, man. I missed out on fall fishing (my favorite time of the year), and now the flows on all my favorite streams are a little high and cold. As soon as things shape up, I'll be out looking for a tug on the line.

How's the cutting go with the metal blade on the jig saw? The cuts look nice - did you use any cutting oil or anything?

VEEEEEEERY slow. That's probably because I have a cheap jigsaw though. No cutting oils, just a heavy metal blade. I only used it on the curved sections though, all the straight cuts were made with a cutoff wheel on the angle grinder.

 

[4ever4running]

Nice work Nick! Those skids are clean!

X2 man, those looks amazing!

Also, I got the "Toyota" emblem you sent me. Thanks!

 

[HCurphy]

Great work as usual.

Say, why I'm here. Have you contacted the mods yet about changing you're username? BigFishOccasionally still has a pretty good ring to it, or maybe BigFishEveryOnceInAWhile. :hiding:

 

[ADH8796]

When I look through your build I feel very unproductive. Good job on the lotus knock offs. I've got card board templates sitting in my garage for the exact same thing. I was thinking of welding mine for a little added strength. Do you get any rattles from them being bolt on? Or are they cranked down enough it's not an issue?

 

[BigFishAllDay]

X2 man, those looks amazing!

Also, I got the "Toyota" emblem you sent me. Thanks!

Thanks Jimmy, and I'm glad to hear the emblem reached you in one piece. I'll look forward to seeing it installed.

Great work as usual.

Say, why I'm here. Have you contacted the mods yet about changing you're username? BigFishOccasionally still has a pretty good ring to it, or maybe BigFishEveryOnceInAWhile. :hiding:

Not yet, I've been working on something more descriptive. Both of your suggestions would work quite nicely. :nono: It's terrible. I was thinking DirtyDiapersAllDay???

When I look through your build I feel very unproductive. Good job on the lotus knock offs. I've got card board templates sitting in my garage for the exact same thing. I was thinking of welding mine for a little added strength. Do you get any rattles from them being bolt on? Or are they cranked down enough it's not an issue?

You must be kidding, right? Your rig has gone from zero to hero in a matter of a few weeks. Thanks for the compliments on the LCAM skids though.

RE noise from the skids, I'm glad you asked. I have ZERO noise. The "galaxy cut" on the Lotus skids is nice to look at, and fancy, but not necessary. I built mine so they fit tightly over the LCAM. Once you add the torque on the 1/2" bolt they have no play side to side or up and down. The only area where rattles could possibly develop was between the skids and the front of the LCAM, where there was a gap of about 1/16" between the two parts. It wasn't rattling to begin with, but just in case, I glued some rubber washers to the inside of the skid (between the two parts) so there is a buffer that keeps everything nice and tight.