newbiee :]

[Tucson4runner]

thanks man. i want it to look "off roady" in the sense that i dont want it to look like the dealer painted it two tone. im also doing my flares and lower door trim. i noticed your runner doesnt have the lower door trim but have you thought about doing the flares and running boards and lower front bumper to have the black go all the way around. theres a guy on here who has it and it looks pretty sick to me. ill look for the pic in a sec

 

[Tucson4runner]

heres the only thing i have painted except for the rear step, spoiler and of course the emblems and then this is the runner i was talking about

 

[corny]

thanks man. i want it to look "off roady" in the sense that i dont want it to look like the dealer painted it two tone. im also doing my flares and lower door trim. i noticed your runner doesnt have the lower door trim but have you thought about doing the flares and running boards and lower front bumper to have the black go all the way around. theres a guy on here who has it and it looks pretty sick to me. ill look for the pic in a sec

yeah pretty sure the paint does not look like the dealership did it and it does look "off roady" haha.
& I removed the running boards and I think ill leave the flares the color that they are :] I just wanted to get rid of all the chrome because it was bugging me. although now my rims are kinda stickin out with its chrome but i don't think its too bad.

&Gonna keep the front bumper stock because my OL Front bumper should be coming in soon and yeah.

Edit*: And I'm still trying to decide if i should black out the front toyota emblem on the grill like yours hehe :]

 

[Tucson4runner]

id leave it... it looks pretty sick on yours. you may have even convinced my to cut the plasti dip of my emblem. gotta love plasti dip! only reason i painted it was because i wasnt sure how it was going to look with all the emblems blacked out except the front one. but i gotta say you pull it off well:thumb3:

 

[Tucson4runner]

oh and 2 more things. one, how much did that lift set you back? and two, do you have any pics or pointers on removing that rear bumper. i want to know how early to wake up on saturday

 

[corny]

oh and 2 more things. one, how much did that lift set you back? and two, do you have any pics or pointers on removing that rear bumper. i want to know how early to wake up on saturday

What do you mean by set me back?
& for the rear it comes out in 3 pieces and it'd help alot if you had a buddy or someone help you out.
Just remove the plastic part first by basically pulling on it til the snaps come out and hopefully they don't break haha.
after the plastic piece is off there some bolts that need to come off and you can see which ones hold the bumper in.
some bolts near mudflap area so you needa take off the mudflaps too.
putting it back on is much simpler because most of the bolts are the same size so it doesn't matter which ones go where.
took about 20min to put back on but i lost track of time when removing it because it was hot and i couldn't take the heat haha. wish you luck! just wait for some pics tmmrw and maybe that'll clear up some questions still ahha

 

[BrianSD_42]

I dont think dipping the hitch will be as effective as using some POR-15

Paint the hitch using Automotive semi-gloss Black by SEM

I used Rustoleum automotive enamel Gloss Protective clearcoat haha. It was the only one I saw at home depot.

The Home Depot paint Rustolium is crap for automobiles. I would only ever use it on skid plates, not wheels, bumpers or sliders. Call around and find a paint store that will sell automotive paint. You can pickup a can of SEM spray paint for $6.


RE Painting the rear bumper: you can paint the whole thing without removing it if you are a good tape artist. I would suggest a flat or semi-gloss black to match your future ARB bumper ohh and btw I think that over time you will find that paint matching the body to the bumpers doesn't work out very well. The paint usually fades at different rates than factory paint. For this reason I try to pick a second tone and stick with it.

 

[Tucson4runner]

like how much did it cost? did you do basic ultimate lift or did you upgrade shocks and uca's? and does that kit come with a diff drop kit? because it says it in the details but im not sure if it comes with it. and ill probably wake my gf up and have her help me take it off, got any pics of the bolts near the mudflaps that need to be removed? i took the rubber piece off last weekend to plasti it but i wasnt paying attention of how many bolts i saw. and as for that paint to do the hitch where can i pick that up and will it be a matte black?

 

[corny]

Paint the hitch using Automotive semi-gloss Black by SEM


The Home Depot paint Rustolium is crap for automobiles. I would only ever use it on skid plates, not wheels, bumpers or sliders. Call around and find a paint store that will sell automotive paint. You can pickup a can of SEM spray paint for $6.


RE Painting the rear bumper: you can paint the whole thing without removing it if you are a good tape artist. I would suggest a flat or semi-gloss black to match your future ARB bumper ohh and btw I think that over time you will find that paint matching the body to the bumpers doesn't work out very well. The paint usually fades at different rates than factory paint. For this reason I try to pick a second tone and stick with it.

Thanks for the advice! much appreciated

&yeah where can you buy that paint for the hitch?

 

[corny]

like how much did it cost? did you do basic ultimate lift or did you upgrade shocks and uca's? and does that kit come with a diff drop kit? because it says it in the details but im not sure if it comes with it. and ill probably wake my gf up and have her help me take it off, got any pics of the bolts near the mudflaps that need to be removed? i took the rubber piece off last weekend to plasti it but i wasnt paying attention of how many bolts i saw. and as for that paint to do the hitch where can i pick that up and will it be a matte black?

Yeah i went with the Toytec Ultimate, didn't upgrade uca's or shocks and yes it comes with a fron diff drop kit. I haven't installed mine because i don't really know how to and I'm not sure if i need it need it ahah if someone could advise me on whats it for and the benefits of it that'd help me alot haha.

 

[Tucson4runner]

Yeah i went with the Toytec Ultimate, didn't upgrade uca's or shocks and yes it comes with a fron diff drop kit. I haven't installed mine because i don't really know how to and I'm not sure if i need it need it ahah if someone could advise me on whats it for and the benefits of it that'd help me alot haha.

ok so this is someone who knows very little when it comes to this so bare with me. your changing the chamber angle when you lift the diff and it puts excess stress on your joints. if you go off roading a lot you will def break something without that drop. even if its just a dd your control arms and such werent meant to be used at such an extreme angle especially since youve got the full 3'' lift. from what ive read and with no actual experience a lot of people pay extra for the diff drop because it saves money and runner in the long run. lucky you got one for free with your lift

and ill look into that paint probably tomorrow and see if i find any at major hardware/auto shops. but for now im afraid im gonna have to call it a night. this site is determined to make sure i never sleep

 

[corny]

okay so from my pics I'm trying to remember how many bolts there were in total.
I think for the mudflaps there were 2 clips and 2 bolts on each side.
and then about 16 bolts of the same size that hold the bumper.

And here are the pics! I think I'm gonna add another coat of PD on the side parts cuz the coating doesn't seem to be even but for now I think I did a decent job. LMK what you guys think thanks :hello:

 

[corny]

here's a comparison!
before/after

 

[corny]

Oh and if anyone has an extra SR5 badge lmk :]
Mine's an SR5 model but has limited flares and I don't know why ahha.

 

[Tucson4runner]

Sick! I want to do mine tonight! As for the Sr5 badges. There is an old runner that was in a wreck and is parked in one of my neighbors yards. It's an older model but I do know its an Sr5 ill see if I can get then from him this weekend. It's been there for years so I doubt he's gonna do anything with it.

 

[Tucson4runner]

Oh and are these pics with the clear coat on? They look Alittle shiny but not to bad.

 

[corny]

Oh and are these pics with the clear coat on? They look Alittle shiny but not to bad.

yeah the clear coat is on in those pics and just a little shinier but still has that matte look you were looking for

 

[corny]

& the 2nd picture is a little shiny cuz thats right after i put the clear coat on so it was still wet haha.

 

[SRSRunner]

I'll be next to follow suite, turned out really nice. Nice work.

 

[Tucson4runner]

I think once you do your hitch and maybe Alittle pd on the mudflaps and you should be looking better then new!