My better late than never build thread
- Thread starter gm350reratliff
- Start date
gm350reratliff
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I'll try to remember to get pics later. I had some pics but I think they were on a laptop that suffered a major hard drive failure. I don't have any issues with departure angle, it sits somewhat close to the mudflap. Way better departure angle vs. stock. As an added bonus, no more rotten egg smell.
In other news,
My OCD got the best of me last night and I re-taped and installed the door emblems I had removed. Everything went smooth except a weird problem happened with the masking tape and paint. I ran a tape line across the door near the bottom of where I could see the emblem marks. After installing the emblems, I removed the tape but the tape left an impression on the paint. At first I thought it was the glue from the tape but no, the tape actually left it's textured impression in the paint. It is less noticeable than the pitting the emblems left behind but still drives me nuts. I was using ordinary blue masking tape. The mod gods have not been on my side lately.
cloudrunner
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gm350reratliff
New member
I started my Satoshi grill yesterday and I'm hoping to finish it up today. I followed the Satoshi grill thread by [MENTION=72408]Mytoy4[/MENTION] for the most part.
Just look at all that chrome!
Got the inside of the grill all sanded and smooth. This grill has some chips and nicks in it so the face of the grill was sanded as well to help smooth those out as well.
I thought I would be a step ahead when I ordered the black mesh instead of raw aluminum. Well, after bending it, I discovered this was not the case and I would have to paint it anyway. Also, I ordered this mesh off of amazon but I wouldn't order the same mesh if I had to do it over. This stuff is pretty flimsy and brittle.
Just look at all that chrome!
Got the inside of the grill all sanded and smooth. This grill has some chips and nicks in it so the face of the grill was sanded as well to help smooth those out as well.
I thought I would be a step ahead when I ordered the black mesh instead of raw aluminum. Well, after bending it, I discovered this was not the case and I would have to paint it anyway. Also, I ordered this mesh off of amazon but I wouldn't order the same mesh if I had to do it over. This stuff is pretty flimsy and brittle.
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Mytoy4
New member
Can't wait to see the finished product! Mine got crushed in a front end accident and is in the process of being rebuilt from scratch again. By far, one of my favorite mods!
I started my Satoshi grill yesterday and I'm hoping to finish it up today. I followed the Satoshi grill thread by [MENTION=72408]Mytoy4[/MENTION] for the most part.
Just look at all that chrome!
Got the inside of the grill all sanded and smooth. This grill has some chips and nicks in it so the face of the grill was sanded as well to help smooth those out as well.
I thought I would be a step ahead when I ordered the black mesh instead of raw aluminum. Well, after bending it, I discovered this was not the case and I would have to paint it anyway. Also, I ordered this mesh off of amazon but I wouldn't order the same mesh if I had to do it over. This stuff is pretty flimsy and brittle.
gm350reratliff
New member
Got around today and finished my Satoshi grill today. The original grill was a little beat up from rocks and the occasional bird hitting it so I sanded the high spots and plastidipped the whole thing. I chose the dip because it can really build and fill in imperfections. Hopefully it won't start peeling anytime soon.
On the next grill I need to take about an 1/8" off the pattern. Pretty tight fit and it took a lot of finesse to get it in there without the mesh totally comimg apart.
Looks much better than the chrome I think.
On the next grill I need to take about an 1/8" off the pattern. Pretty tight fit and it took a lot of finesse to get it in there without the mesh totally comimg apart.
Looks much better than the chrome I think.
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gm350reratliff
New member
I should've quit while I was ahead but my OCD kicked in and I was trying to tweak the bottom to get it perfect and I ended up pulling the mesh apart at the bottom. Friggen great. I fixed it. I think only I can tell but at some point I'll have to redo it. Earlier when I said this was flimsy mesh I wasn't kidding. I'll definitely go with something a little more stout next time. I went ahead and mounted a TOYOTA emblem from an old FJ 40. Not sure if I'll put that on the next one but anyway here it is.
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gm350reratliff
New member
Some more fun stuff to install.
Unfortunately, the fun was short lived when I noticed that the Comet lip mount for the antenna has way too big of hole for the Firestik stud. Gotta call in the morning to see who messed up there.
**Update**
Apparently, I shouldn't let Jack Daniels help me plan my build and order stuff. FYI- the Comet RS-720 has a 3/4" hole that is to be used with NMO style mounts (more common with HAM radios, I guess). To use the Firestik antenna and spring I needed the Comet HD-5 mount. Cool thing, this mount comes with coax cable already attached. Uncool thing, I already purchased coax and I have my 4runner torn apart to route it. Guess I'm throwing the interior back together until the new mount comes in. Sigh............
Unfortunately, the fun was short lived when I noticed that the Comet lip mount for the antenna has way too big of hole for the Firestik stud. Gotta call in the morning to see who messed up there.
**Update**
Apparently, I shouldn't let Jack Daniels help me plan my build and order stuff. FYI- the Comet RS-720 has a 3/4" hole that is to be used with NMO style mounts (more common with HAM radios, I guess). To use the Firestik antenna and spring I needed the Comet HD-5 mount. Cool thing, this mount comes with coax cable already attached. Uncool thing, I already purchased coax and I have my 4runner torn apart to route it. Guess I'm throwing the interior back together until the new mount comes in. Sigh............
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gm350reratliff
New member
Since I have to run some coax cable to the front and that involves pulling interior panels anyway, I figured I would drop the headliner and see if I could solve that annoying sunroof rattle.
Honestly, I didn't take any pictures of "the fix". Hell, I don't even know if my "fix" will even work until I drive it next. I do know that I was fighting multiple rattles from the sunroof. One from the linkages that hold the glass, one from a couple nuts loose that hold the whole sunroof frame in place, and a couple from the sunshade (one from the shade fitting loose in the tracks, and one from the shade resting on a metal crossmember). So my fixes are; two rubber shock bushings jammed up between the frame and the rear corners of the glass, retorqued all the nuts and bolts holding the sunroof frame in place, squeezing the aluminum tracks for the shade very slightly for a tighter fit, and stuffing a piece of foam between the shade and the metal crossmember. The sunroof will not work with all of this in place but that's ok because I don't use the stupid thing anyway. If I took out the foam and rubber bushings, the sunroof would still work though. Fingers crossed!
I also plastidipped the rear chrome garnish above the license plate but I forgot to get a pic of that.
Honestly, I didn't take any pictures of "the fix". Hell, I don't even know if my "fix" will even work until I drive it next. I do know that I was fighting multiple rattles from the sunroof. One from the linkages that hold the glass, one from a couple nuts loose that hold the whole sunroof frame in place, and a couple from the sunshade (one from the shade fitting loose in the tracks, and one from the shade resting on a metal crossmember). So my fixes are; two rubber shock bushings jammed up between the frame and the rear corners of the glass, retorqued all the nuts and bolts holding the sunroof frame in place, squeezing the aluminum tracks for the shade very slightly for a tighter fit, and stuffing a piece of foam between the shade and the metal crossmember. The sunroof will not work with all of this in place but that's ok because I don't use the stupid thing anyway. If I took out the foam and rubber bushings, the sunroof would still work though. Fingers crossed!
I also plastidipped the rear chrome garnish above the license plate but I forgot to get a pic of that.
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gm350reratliff
New member
I put the interior back together today and installed the dipped rear garnish. Debating whether or not to peel the dip from just the Toyota logo or leave it as is. Still need to dip all the other emblems at some point. Now more than ever, I want some color matched door handles. I would dip them but I don't think that stuff would stand a chance on a door handle.
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gm350reratliff
New member
The correct cb antenna mount came in earlier this week so I started over with the cb install yesterday. I'm using the Comet HD-5 cb antenna mount. Right out of the box, I can tell this is a much more robust antenna mount than the Comet RS-720 that I previously purchased. The Comet HD-5 comes with 16.6 ft of coax cable already attached. The downside is you will have to scrape a little paint off in order to properly ground the mount and antenna. I used some di-electric grease so hopefully the rear door won't start rusting. As far as holding the coax cable to the door, I'm just using black gorilla tape.
I ran the cable up along the inside of the door and into the rear door wire harness boot. The other nice thing about the cable that comes with the Comet mount is that the connector comes apart so you can get it through tight spaces easier.
I routed the cable along with the OEM harness on the driver side. Originally, I was going to run the cable on the passenger side but I realized the cable was going to be too short. Hopefully, it doesn't pick up noise from the OEM FM antenna and my sub amp wiring.
I stole some ideas from T4R and the 120 site and decided to mount the cb radio inside the center console. This is all the coax cable that is left. Hard to believe that I used up all 16.6 ft. of cable from the rear door to the console. Originally, I estimated ( I thought I severely over-estimated) 18 ft but figured 16.6 would work.
I ran the cable up along the inside of the door and into the rear door wire harness boot. The other nice thing about the cable that comes with the Comet mount is that the connector comes apart so you can get it through tight spaces easier.
I routed the cable along with the OEM harness on the driver side. Originally, I was going to run the cable on the passenger side but I realized the cable was going to be too short. Hopefully, it doesn't pick up noise from the OEM FM antenna and my sub amp wiring.
I stole some ideas from T4R and the 120 site and decided to mount the cb radio inside the center console. This is all the coax cable that is left. Hard to believe that I used up all 16.6 ft. of cable from the rear door to the console. Originally, I estimated ( I thought I severely over-estimated) 18 ft but figured 16.6 would work.
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gm350reratliff
New member
Stealing from T4R and the 120 site again, I also mounted the external speaker in the cubby door.
This is all the trimming I had to do to fit it in. I did have to go to Ace Hardware and get longer screws for the speaker as well as trim off a lip on the speaker grill so it would fit snug on the front of the door.
Sitting in the front seat, you can hardly notice the speaker.
This is all the trimming I had to do to fit it in. I did have to go to Ace Hardware and get longer screws for the speaker as well as trim off a lip on the speaker grill so it would fit snug on the front of the door.
Sitting in the front seat, you can hardly notice the speaker.
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gm350reratliff
New member
CB inside the center console.
4ft. Firefly antenna with a HD spring and a quick disconnect.
4ft. Firefly antenna with a HD spring and a quick disconnect.
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gm350reratliff
New member
Loaded up and ready to roll out in the morning!
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gm350reratliff
New member
My dad and I finally had time (yeah I know, it's a little late) to go through all the pictures and video that we took during the FJ summit. I honestly didn't take too many pics because I was driving. Definitely thankful my dad was there to fill in as photographer. I'm also thankful my dad was able to go at all. Both me and him have been crazy busy the last few years so we haven't had a chance to hang out in a long time. This trip was the perfect remedy.
My 4th gen worked flawlessly but by the end of the trip I did have a couple LCA bolts loosen up just a little. The slight pop in the front end every now and then was the giveaway. I didn't find them loose until I returned home and went over everything with a torque wrench. I've never had that happen on this vehicle before so I'll definitely keep an eye on them in the future.
We took a ton of pictures but here are some of my favorites.
This was an interesting shot. Just as we pulled up to get pics of our rigs on "The Rock" heading up Imogene Pass, a crazy little thunderstorm with sleet rolls in. My poor dad was braving the storm trying to get a pic but this was as good as it was going to get. Unfortunately, we couldn't just sit and wait because the next group was coming up behind us.
Yes, that is ice on Lake Como, in July.
Can you spot my 4runner?
My 4th gen worked flawlessly but by the end of the trip I did have a couple LCA bolts loosen up just a little. The slight pop in the front end every now and then was the giveaway. I didn't find them loose until I returned home and went over everything with a torque wrench. I've never had that happen on this vehicle before so I'll definitely keep an eye on them in the future.
We took a ton of pictures but here are some of my favorites.
This was an interesting shot. Just as we pulled up to get pics of our rigs on "The Rock" heading up Imogene Pass, a crazy little thunderstorm with sleet rolls in. My poor dad was braving the storm trying to get a pic but this was as good as it was going to get. Unfortunately, we couldn't just sit and wait because the next group was coming up behind us.
Yes, that is ice on Lake Como, in July.
Can you spot my 4runner?
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gm350reratliff
New member
Between my work schedule and the weather, I haven't had a chance to properly wash my 4runner. Yesterday I was finally able to get a coat of wax on it as well.
A very rare occurrence that both my 4runners are able to get washed and waxed the same day. I can't remember when they were both this clean together.
A very rare occurrence that both my 4runners are able to get washed and waxed the same day. I can't remember when they were both this clean together.
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gm350reratliff
New member
Went for a quick drive up Mt. Taylor today and was greeted by some snow at the top. Not much but there's a good chance the mountains will get more snow over the next couple days. I know the mountain picked up a few inches last week but most of it is melted already. Unfortunately, I was stuck at work all last week so I never got to enjoy that storm. Here's some pics from today;
I went down the back side of the mountain (north side) on my way back to town. The snow and clouds eased up and the views were awesome as always.
I went down the back side of the mountain (north side) on my way back to town. The snow and clouds eased up and the views were awesome as always.
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gm350reratliff
New member
Finally had a chance to install the quick disconnect rear sway bar links I purchased from [MENTION=98153]MStudt[/MENTION]. It took a little to set them up properly but it seems worth it so far. I also rotated the tires since I had them off anyway. I'm not running a long travel rear suspension (hopefully soon) but there is just a hair more flex with these disconnected. Also, these links are longer and I think they fixed a clunk I was getting when flexing over rocks. Only time will tell I guess. So far they are super quiet, just like OEM.
Down travel with the links disconnected.
Down travel with the links disconnected.
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