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

[BigFishAllDay]

When you gonna make a trip to the coast?

It's been a long time since I've been out that way. I think my last trip was in 2007... I had front row tickets to the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Forum in Inglewood. What a crazy trip. The next day I drove through Compton to see what it was all about and my RED Toyota Camry rental got keyed in less than 5 minutes when I ran into a Walgreens for a drink. Compton was the real deal, so I split and drove straight to Hollywood from there and checked out the Walk of Fame. Talk about day and night.

I really don't know, man. I get jealous of all the trip reports that you CA guys put up... there's a lot of great wheeling to be done out there. I've always got my eyes peeled for a Rubicon run, so we'll see.

There's not many other 4Runners I'd consider trading mine for, but yours is definitely one of them. Oh wait. I've said that before...

Yeah, but it's like an old song that I still like to hear when it comes on the radio. Thanks, Hepar!

That gas tank skid turned out very nice. I know you have a lot of hours in your skids, but I'm sure it was worth it. Building skids is one of the selling points to my wife for a welder. Hope I can make mine turn out as nice as yours.

Definitely. I learned alot about metal working, got to make some of my own armor, and got enjoy the pride that comes with that. If you took me back in time, I'd still do it all over again.

As far as selling it... try this on for size. I have built items that would have cost me ~$1300, not to mention helped out several friends w/their projects. I also got to put some custom tweaks on those items that made them (IMO) stronger than anything I could have purchased commercially. The welding set up cost me about $900, the steel $160, and add in maybe another $200 for some new tools & consumables. So, at this point the welder has fully paid for itself. The only additional cost was my time.

The gas tank skid turned out amazing!!! Everything on their looks perfect. Like Natemob said, I would probably put that up against anyone elses. Very nice job. Nice welds as well!

Thanks for the compliments, man. And don't sweat our little exchange earlier in the thread, that was small potatoes.

 

[poleclimber63]

Great skills!

BFAD, as usual, your coverage of the skid fab was excellent! Now that I've bit the bullet and bought a replacement engine (JDM with 45k miles) for my beloved 4runner, I can start saving for all of the projects you've documented over the last couple of years! Post pics of your next outing as I'm interested as to how this skid holds up!!! :bravo:


By the way, I wish I had your shop!!!!!!

 

[THatfield]

\ The breaker only tripped three times, so it went pretty fast.

Spoken like a real man! Lol!

Job well done, as with everything you've done. You're a good resource around here, and I appreciate the information packed write ups and other threads... including the porn filled one you call a build! Haha.

Good job friend. Drink a beer.

:beer:

 

[TBuzz]

Another well planned and executed display of your engineering prowess. Plain bad ass and welds are smooth, can't see why it matters how long it took. Lot of pride in your rig and piece of mind that it will get you out and back.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Really nice job on the skid plate. You've definitely one of the best self-built trucks I've seen man.

 

[TheArkMaster]

Thanks for the compliments, man. And don't sweat our little exchange earlier in the thread, that was small potatoes.

No problem and no worries man. I have nothing but respect for you and your build. Now that we've got that cleared up, here is a ceremonial peace panda. anda:

 

[fightman80]

NIce work as always man! Just when I think you've done it all to this truck.... you find another cool project to make this thing even better! Congrats on a job well done!

 

[Dous]

Awesome job on the skid! I really need to get one, or move my tank..I can only put 9 gallons in mine :cheers:

 

[smkd13]

More organized, huh? I've been following the thread on TW and it sounded to me like they were going for a more relaxed format this year with fewer planned runs and more "wake up and make a plan" kind of stuff. Thanks for the invite to run with your group. I'm off work 5/30 through 6/1, so I'd only need to ask for a day or two of vacation... or just leave thurs night and do a Fri-Sun trip. We'll see.

Hey anytime bud. We had the same issue with the behind the rocks run last year and so we got irritated especially my buddy cause he was suppose to lead. So we make our own group and have our own trails planned plus we are staying at BFE this year. I know NYCO is holding back a bit on getting the trails planned til we get closer. Hope to see you out there again bud.

 

[GhostDog]

Hey Nick!
Just want to say awesome build and thanks for all the detailed write ups. They are gonna save me a ton of time as I get started on my 4runner!

 

[WhiteSky]

For years, my Uncle owned a business where he built industrial scales, and he built the circuit boards that controlled them himself. I'm pretty sure he's still got all his equipment, so I'm going to ask him to lend me a hand on it.

What kind of scales are manufactured there??
I am searching about some scales manufacturers and still could not have any person in touch with me which is dealing with thus business.

 

[smkd13]

So tell me more about this broken CBI tire carrier??? Just saw your YouTube video. It looks like there isn't even a weld there

 

[TCMach]

So tell me more about this broken CBI tire carrier??? Just saw your YouTube video. It looks like there isn't even a weld there

x2 on this. Just saw it. Sucks for sure but your getting to be handy with the welder so I'm sure it wont slow you down much.

FWIW on my CBI that isn't a weld joint, just a bend. Yours may not be the same though.

 

[NateMob]

Cant wait to see the improvements you made, no doubt more functional than the stock design. Now if it'll just get rid of the shake....

 

[BigFishAllDay]

BFAD, as usual, your coverage of the skid fab was excellent! Now that I've bit the bullet and bought a replacement engine (JDM with 45k miles) for my beloved 4runner, I can start saving for all of the projects you've documented over the last couple of years! Post pics of your next outing as I'm interested as to how this skid holds up!!! :bravo:

By the way, I wish I had your shop!!!!!!

Congrats to you on the new engine. I'm glad you decided to stick with it concerning your rig, and breath some new life into her. As far as taking on all these projects, save more than you think you'll need because they add up in the long run. I'll definitely post some pics once I've had a chance to test the gas tank skid.

And the "shop" is just a regular old two car garage with tools and parts stuffed into every nook and cranny. Nothing too special. I always find myself wishing I had more room.

Spoken like a real man! Lol!

Job well done, as with everything you've done. You're a good resource around here, and I appreciate the information packed write ups and other threads... including the porn filled one you call a build! Haha.

Good job friend. Drink a beer.

It seems you're the only one who caught that : Thanks for the compliments, I'm glad to be able to contribute to the forum. To ensure that I complied with your instruction, I believe I had 3 beers on the night of your post.

Another well planned and executed display of your engineering prowess. Plain bad ass and welds are smooth, can't see why it matters how long it took. Lot of pride in your rig and piece of mind that it will get you out and back.

Hey Chris, sorry for the delay in getting back to you on the PM's. It's been busy around here, and I know you can relate. Thanks for the compliments on the project! I guess the time factor is important mainly because time spent on the rig is (often) time not spent with my family. Time is a precious commodity for me these days, so I have to allocate it accordingly. Like you said though, I know the rig will carry my family and I safely wherever we go.

Really nice job on the skid plate. You've definitely one of the best self-built trucks I've seen man.

Thanks, Brian! That's a great compliment considering all the nice rigs you guys have, and get to see, in CA.

No problem and no worries man. I have nothing but respect for you and your build. Now that we've got that cleared up, here is a ceremonial peace panda. anda:

Ah, and what a fine peace panda it is!! :cheers:

NIce work as always man! Just when I think you've done it all to this truck.... you find another cool project to make this thing even better! Congrats on a job well done!

It's never ending, man. You know how it goes. Thanks as always for the kind words, and for keeping up w/the build.

Awesome job on the skid! I really need to get one, or move my tank..I can only put 9 gallons in mine :cheers:

9 gallons!!! :wow2: Dang. I could not hang with that action... It would be time for a replacement tank, or a relocation. That wouldn't cover even a one way trip to most of the places I take this rig. Thanks for the compliment, Dous.

Hey anytime bud. We had the same issue with the behind the rocks run last year and so we got irritated especially my buddy cause he was suppose to lead. So we make our own group and have our own trails planned plus we are staying at BFE this year. I know NYCO is holding back a bit on getting the trails planned til we get closer. Hope to see you out there again bud.

Yeah, hope to catch up with you too.

Hey Nick!
Just want to say awesome build and thanks for all the detailed write ups. They are gonna save me a ton of time as I get started on my 4runner!

Max! What's up dude? Glad to see you made it over here. You're welcome and I'm glad the build helped you out. Consider it a "Thank You" for spotting me through Tank Trap.

What kind of scales are manufactured there??
I am searching about some scale manufacturers and still could not have any person in touch with me which is dealing with thus business.

His scales were used primarily for weighing large volumes of material being conveyed via a belt, across the scale. Mining, manufacturing, etc. The scales provided instantaneous data, or cumulative data over a period of time.

So tell me more about this broken CBI tire carrier??? Just saw your YouTube video. It looks like there isn't even a weld there

You must be subscribed to my channel huh? I'll post up some details tomorrow hopefully, and early next week at the latest.

x2 on this. Just saw it. Sucks for sure but your getting to be handy with the welder so I'm sure it wont slow you down much.

FWIW on my CBI that isn't a weld joint, just a bend. Yours may not be the same though.

Stalkers!!! J/k. It's already fixed, actually. I was so pissed off I dropped everything I had planned that afternoon, and got the tools out. I took a couple quick measurements and cut that S.O.B. to peices with the angle grinder within minutes.

Take a close look at yours. I would have said the same thing but when I inspected the break, it looked like a welded seam that appeared to have been ground smooth. CBI is always changing their process and yours is a later version, so who knows?

Cant wait to see the improvements you made, no doubt more functional than the stock design. Now if it'll just get rid of the shake....

Surprisingly enough, the improvements I made DID cure most of the shake. It still happens, but not as frequently and it seems to settle down a bit faster than before.

 

[NateMob]

In that case, sounds like I'll need to emulate another of your home brew mods. Bringing it closer to the center line of the bumper and carrier support reduces the leverage of the tire so I can see where it would help. At least in my mind anyway.

Cheers buddy. How all is well.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Alright, so here's the story on the broken tire carrier.

I took the rig to the car wash the other day and like always, I looked it over before I got started. I always check the items on the tire carrier to make sure they are secure. When I gave the tire a tug, much to my surprise, it moved.

Once I got home, I pulled the tire down and this is what I found:

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ckz10sn5h6Q?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I'm not sure whether there was a weld there or not. I was ready throw the damn thing over the fence, so I didn't take a lot of time to study the failed joint. Notice in the picture below that crack in the metal is not a straight line, and has a curve near the middle. I also noticed that the edges of the two separated parts were pretty straight and square. Finally, the metal didn't have the nice, consistent thickness at that bend that it does at other locations where the metal was obviously bent on a brake. IMO, it looks like the seam was welded, and then ground smooth.

Notice in this picture where the weight of the tire was causing the upright face to jump the diagonal face, leaving marks in the powder coat. I tried to force this to happen by hand, but even with the broken weld it was difficult. The rigidity of the top section of the tire mount resisted the downward motion, and the seam was still tight enough that the upright face had to come outward a bit to get over the diagonal face. I don't think there was an immediate danger of the tire falling off, but over time the remaining metal would have fatigued and cracked as well, dropping the spare on the road. I'm glad I caught it right away.

So, not many pictures were taken after that. I figured that while I had it cut apart I would take care of another issue with the CBI tire carrier: departure angle clearance at the spare tire.

To illustrate what I mean, on the obstacle pictured below, I was dragging the spare tire on the rocks behind the rig.

While the tire carrier on the CBI is height adjustable, I really wanted to move the tire inward, toward the body of the rig. I settled on moving the tire 3 inches inward, and 4 inches upward.

A few pics from about the halfway point...

And this is where it sits as of today. I still need to add a few more gussets, specifically another upright gusset to support the face of the tire mount, and a couple along the top outside bend. I'm also going to weld the wheel mounting studs in place, rather than using star washers to secure them.

Once I moved the spare inward, the inside lip of the wheel contacted the tire mount, preventing the mounting surface from sitting flush. I had to notch the mount to make room for the lip of the wheel. With less backspacing this would be less of a problem (my wheels have 4" BS).

If you refer to the first picture of the tire mount, above, you'll see a triangle shaped hole in the bottom diagonal face of the mount. I welded a piece of steel over that hole to provide additional support and offset the reduction in strength from notching that part of the mount to accommodate the inside lip of the wheel.

I also used another piece of steel to create a tie between bottom diagonal face and the main upright structure of the mount.

Finally, I tied everything together with a vertical gusset. This should prevent any future separation of the joint that failed. I will be adding another identical gusset on the other side of the lower mounting stud.

I welded the seams on both sides wherever I could fit the gun. Also, in case you're wondering, all of the welds are covered in Vaseline. I had to put something on them to prevent rust, because I had a trip planned the day after the initial failure and had no time to get the mount painted before leaving.

At the top, I welded the seam top and bottom, ground the top weld flush, and welded in two chunks of steel parallel to the primary welds. These got rusty because I forgot to put Vaseline on them.

And the results...

Before (the tire looks goofy sticking way out there, not to mention creates a ton of leverage on the swing arm, which leads to the tire bouncing around while the vehicle is in motion...which probably contributed to the stress failure I experienced with my tire mount)

After

Departure angles...

Before (notice that the bottom trailing edge of the tire is right in line with the departure angle from the tire to the bumper... if you drag the bumper, you drag the tire)

After (the tire is tucked up and in... drag the bumper, and the tire stays clear)

3/4 view....

Before

After

Anyway, that's about it. I'll post a few more pics when it's finished and painted. Thanks, [MENTION=64712]CBI OffRoad Fab[/MENTION]

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Since I was already fooling around with the rear bumper, I decided to take care of another thorn in my side. There is really no good place to route the wires cleanly from the body of the vehicle to the swing arm.

I had mine routed between the tailgate and the bumper, which was messy, and caused the tailgate to rub the wires. That not only damaged the shielding on the wires, but rubbed the paint off the tailgate (hence, the edge trim on the gate).

So I broke out a 1" hole saw.

And after I re-routed the wires.... ahhhhh, much better.

The hole is large enough to allow the wires to pass in/out of the bumper easily as the swing arm opens/closes. I also filed the edge of the hole and covered it with a thin layer of black RTV, so there are no sharp edges to abrade the shielding.

Last, I wanted to add something to the front face of my IFS skid, just to spruce it up a bit. "TRD" is overused, imo, so I was looking for something a little different.

I like pitbulls, I own a pitbull, and I found a pitbull stencil on ebay for $10, so I figured why not? If I change my mind I can just spray over it with some more silver.

Baby girl, helping me tape the outline of the stencil in place...

Done...

My rig has a tattoo!

Meanwhile, my kiddo wasn't done taping.

Figured I'd toss in this shot of all the armor...

And this one from the trip I was talking about earlier (right after the tire mount broke)...

 

[cdrewferd]

That came out awesome. You're giving me all the faith I need in the Hobart 140 to do the welding on my bumper and skids. Sucks that it broke though.

 

[TCMach]

Take a close look at yours. I would have said the same thing but when I inspected the break, it looked like a welded seam that appeared to have been ground smooth. CBI is always changing their process and yours is a later version, so who knows?

I'll take a look. Although after seeing yours finished I kinda just want to hack it up, if only I had a welder. My tire is a little bit more vertical and higher than it came already due to an incident involving a tight three point turn on a trail and a tree :loco: so maybe I have fixed the issue, but in doing so I'm sure I've stressed the mount.

Also, those welds are tits. Gonna give Dirtco a run for his money soon