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

[sschaefer3]

You have to hit the bumper hard. Not just scratch it. Dropping down this thing always did it, because one side would hit when I used to slide down in the 1999 SA (Straight Axle) 4Runner. I have tested the new body mounts quite vigorously at the Las Cruses Chilli Challenge 2013 on the IFS 2001 4Runner, zero defection. Just like the pickup trucks. The 2001 went to the 2013 FJ Summit, but there are not a lot of testing opportunities there.

So you have full weight of the truck, coming down hard on a big rock. You would hit when the back tire comes down on the drive side. This is a 1997 FZJ80 with Radflow long travel reservoir 2.5" shocks. 35" Tires

My Big Chevy had no problem, those are 37" tires, looking kind of little here. These photos are October 2013.

Dana 60 and 14 Bolt!

2013 FJ Summit,

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Same trail as the photos above, same day. The blue FJ with a stock rear bumper went down this as well obviously. October 2013.

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Last but not least a little big truck bumping !!!



Testing at Sonoran Steel does not involve parking on a rock in the middle of a flat field......

 

[sschaefer3]

I should clarify. The bumpers I made/make have a 1" gap, between any part of the bumper and body of the 4Runner. So yeah you have to hit it hard to close a 1" gap.

A smaller gap will get contact with much less, a small gap and you will get body contact twisting the suspension up on a deeply rutted dirt trail.

The 1" gap on our bumpers and the new body mounts, does not get contact even with hard hits, just like a pickup truck. The road ride is unchanged.

 

[sschaefer3]

Also, I don't think I ever posted these pictures, but for anyone who has a CBI rear bumper.....

I watched your video it's the body mounts, I know without a doubt, a body lift and it will still happen. I had a 1" on the 1999 and it still happened. A lot.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

You have to hit the bumper hard. Not just scratch it. Dropping down this thing always did it, because one side would hit when I used to slide down in the 1999 SA (Straight Axle) 4Runner. I have tested the new body mounts quite vigorously at the Las Cruses Chilli Challenge 2013 on the IFS 2001 4Runner, zero defection. Just like the pickup trucks. The 2001 went to the 2013 FJ Summit, but there are not a lot of testing opportunities there.

So you have full weight of the truck, coming down hard on a big rock. You would hit when the back tire comes down on the drive side.

Testing at Sonoran Steel does not involve parking on a rock in the middle of a flat field......

I should clarify. The bumpers I made/make have a 1" gap, between any part of the bumper and body of the 4Runner. So yeah you have to hit it hard to close a 1" gap.

A smaller gap will get contact with much less, a small gap and you will get body contact twisting the suspension up on a deeply rutted dirt trail.

The 1" gap on our bumpers and the new body mounts, does not get contact even with hard hits, just like a pickup truck. The road ride is unchanged.

I watched your video it's the body mounts, I know without a doubt, a body lift and it will still happen. I had a 1" on the 1999 and it still happened. A lot.

[MENTION=1795]sschaefer3[/MENTION]

Thanks for the input Steve. That is some good information regarding the upgraded body mounts, especially the part about the road ride remaining unchanged. That was my one concern about going to a harder polyurethane body mount.

Cool pics/videos, too. You guys get to play with some nice toys. I wanted to run Poughkeepsie while we were up there a few years back, but we went in early June and it was still full of snow. I dropped down into it from the top side off California Pass, but got stopped by a huge snowbank just past Lake Como.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Just getting caught up on this thread. Pretty cool pics.

When's the next fishing trip... March?

 

[BigFishAllDay]

March? No way I could wait that long.

I've got three weeks off during December, so I'll get out on the water for a couple days during that period. There's a few options for river fishing in northern NM that are available year round, and then there's always ice fishing. I'd rather go skiing than look down a hole in the ice, though, so I hit the snow once everything freezes.

Thanks for checking out the updates, Brian!

 

[BigFishAllDay]

[MENTION=56044]downpour11[/MENTION] , thanks for the rotopax! I finally picked them up a couple weeks ago. Thanks for returning the favor, and I'll definitely find a way to put them to good use.
[MENTION=44448]ToyTec Lifts[/MENTION] [MENTION=9139]steezemcqueen[/MENTION] ... Somebody at Toytec is an artist!

LMFAO...

WTF?

The guys at Toytec even threw in a T-Shirt! Oh yeah, BONUS!!!!

 

[BigFishAllDay]

As I posted earlier, I took some vacation during December. I was hoping to get a gas tank skid built, but haven't had the time.

I put up Christmas Lights for the first time. It's nothing crazy but our house is the brightest one on our block.

Got a day on the water with a friend. Slow fishing, but good to be out.

And my favorite experience of the season! Going out to the woods to cut our very first Christmas Tree as a family!

From Me & Mine to You & Yours!!!!

 

[downpour11]

Awesome! Glad you got em!

Yeah, also unsure what that drawing is supposed to be… it kinda looks like "the thinker" sitting on some berries and leaning up against the twig lol

 

[t4r4life]

I emerged from the forest triumphantly with our prize!

"me manly man! me carry trees!"

 

[Bearcat5150]

Your little one is getting big. It kind of looks like you got your tree near Cuba. I have a family cabin up that way.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Awesome! Glad you got em!

Yeah, also unsure what that drawing is supposed to be… it kinda looks like "the thinker" sitting on some berries and leaning up against the twig lol

Yeah, I thought there might be some kind of twig and berry business going on there as well. You never know with those "artist" types.

"me manly man! me carry trees!"

Hell yeah! If I had a free hand I'd have been beating my chest at the same time, and whooping like Tarzan!

Your little one is getting big. It kind of looks like you got your tree near Cuba. I have a family cabin up that way.

She sure is... We were on FR376 above Gilman and the Cebolla meadows. Good eye, and great place for a Cabin!

 

[AlphaEcho2k5]

Awesome build, as a new comer to the T4R I really appreciate your details on the mods you take on. Thanks.

 

[URBAN ASSAULT]

I emerged from the forest triumphantly with our prize!

Nick! I saw you're commercial. Nice tree. :wink2:
Dr Pepper TEN Mountain Man Commercial - YouTube

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Awesome build, as a new comer to the T4R I really appreciate your details on the mods you take on. Thanks.

You're welcome! I'm glad you found some useful information in the build, and thanks for taking the time to post.

Nick! I saw you're commercial. Nice tree. :wink2:

:lmao:

I was supposin' I'd go out for that commercial but I was busy as a moose in mud clearing my homestead plot, trapping beavers for pelts, and felling trees to build a cabin. The producer's letter arrived via post and offered me a pack of huntin' hounds, and I couldn't resist. :hunter:

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Coming soon... :beer:

 

[SCRunner12]

Nice! Are you going to weld each side piece on or do you somehow have access to a bender? Also are you still happy with your Hobart. I may pick one up today and just curious if you feel like you should have went 220 instead.

 

[SmoovRunner98]

Simply Beautiful!!!

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Nice! Are you going to weld each side piece on or do you somehow have access to a bender? Also are you still happy with your Hobart. I may pick one up today and just curious if you feel like you should have went 220 instead.

I wish I had access to a brake, but no such luck. I've got my methods, and they work pretty well for me. Maybe I'll do a write up on metal working for the poor man someday. Each seam will have to be welded in this case.

I love my Hobart. There's nothing that I need to do that it can't handle. I don't have a 220 outlet in the garage, so I had to either go with a 120 machine or pay an electrician a couple hundred to come out and do a rewire. It trips the breaker a couple times during each project, but that's no biggie. It melts 3/16" nice and easy, and that's the thickest stuff I've worked with so far.

Simply Beautiful!!!

Thanks!

 

[Dirtyfingers]

Looks good my friend!