Road Bull's 2002 SR-5 timeline.

[Road Bull]

That is exactly what I needed, thank you! So the widest portion of the kick out is only about a 1/2" wider than the main slider width?

I found another pre-paint pic.

 

[fourfive]

Do you have a tight space you are working with?

I was considering getting a similar style built for my wife's 5th gen that are bolt on by a local welder since there's not one currently offered & was trying to get an idea of the dimensions. Pictures and measurements were very helpful, appreciate it.

 

[Road Bull]

I was considering getting a similar style built for my wife's 5th gen that are bolt on by a local welder since there's not one currently offered & was trying to get an idea of the dimensions. Pictures and measurements were very helpful, appreciate it.

No problem brother.

 

[norcalassassin]

subbed... really sick build man
:zoom:

 

[Road Bull]

Update 02/25/19 Clearing 35s add ARB snorkel.

This weekend my friend Paul lent his welding skills to poking holes and filling holes in the 4Runner. With the SPCs set on the "G" setting and with the Cooper 315/75/16s and SCS F5s w/ 3.5" backspacing, we didn't have to take all that much out. Wheels clear lock to lock at full compression. Also added the Plastics Guy DuroBumps front bumpstops. The driver's side was a little more of a PITA. It was probably previously in a collision. A fair amount more work needed to be done on that side.

Added an ARB / Safari snorkel. This is good because the plastic wheel well trim is gone. The OEM air intake would have just funneled water into the intake.

 

[Road Bull]

Some more pics.

Some more pics of the weekend fun. The driver's side needed to be cut back a bit more, to the body mount, to gain clearance.

But overall, we went pretty conservative for the cuts. Paul was not trilled with the amount of glue filler Toyota uses that likes to catch fire. That and the sheet metal that you are welding to on the body is very thin. We went with 20 gauge cold rolled. This is thicker than the body metal. Only set interior on fire a couple times. Mostly just that glue type treatment that is applied.

Overall it went pretty good. At full compression, the tops of the tires with 35 psi is still about an inch or so from bottom of fender.

 

[violation]

Added an ARB / Safari snorkel. This is good because the plastic wheel well trim is gone. The OEM air intake would have just funneled water into the intake.

before you go nutso now that you have that snorkel, i took my 4runner through a water crossing. Water come up into the cabin (i believe through the heater(?) vent/hole under the front passenger seat), forcing me to pull the carpet for a steam clean because it was pretty gross water and you can smell a little bit of god-knows-what if the truck sat in the sun for a day or longer. But I had some wiring work to do too so that was a not very convenient excuse to get it done.

But more importantly, my starter went bad because apparently the starters are just positioned in a very poor spot on our trucks (low in the front). It got flooded and died a few days after my little trip.

 

[Fishwerks]

Tub looks clean and the 35s look badass! Doesn't look like you had to cut too much sheetmetal inside the wells towards the frame, do you rub the frame at full lock? And I'm surprised it doesn't rub under the airbox and the battery.

 

[theesotericone]

Overall it went pretty good. At full compression, the tops of the tires with 35 psi is still about an inch or so from bottom of fender.

Did you pull the bump stops to get full compression?

Nice work on the tub. Time for some wheeling. That will let you know if you actually tubbed enough. lol

 

[Road Bull]

Did you pull the bump stops to get full compression?

Nice work on the tub. Time for some wheeling. That will let you know if you actually tubbed enough. lol

Did not pull the bumps. LOL. I guess we'll see, hahaha. We compressed to bumps, then accounted for the rest of bump, so hopefully that should make the nut. Now hopefully I can back out there soon.

 

[Road Bull]

Tub looks clean and the 35s look badass! Doesn't look like you had to cut too much sheetmetal inside the wells towards the frame, do you rub the frame at full lock? And I'm surprised it doesn't rub under the airbox and the battery.

Thanks Chris! It should clear fine, but I guess I'll find out when I get back out there. I am set at the furthest SPC setting, "G", so we'll see how it all goes when I get out there. It might be a bit different if I ran larger 35s.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Truck is looking great. Love this group pic!
.

 

[Road Bull]

Truck is looking great. Love this group pic!
.

Thanks Brian! Yeah.. That was a fun, COLD camping trip. It got down to the low twenties and apparently I found out what season is not included in my 3 season REI tent. But yeah, as far as the pic, my stupid smartphone couldn't do it justice. There was a good mix of mostly Toyota FJs, a Tacoma, and a few 4Runners. That sunset was pretty epic going down behind the mountain. How's life been treating you?

 

[TonyB66]

Agreed, that photo is really cool!

I'll be playing-around with the SPC UCAs fairly soon, so thanks again for sharing your experiences...

 

[BrianSD_42]

as far as the pic, my stupid smartphone couldn't do it justice. There was a good mix of mostly Toyota FJs, a Tacoma, and a few 4Runners. That sunset was pretty epic going down behind the mountain. How's life been treating you?

Life has been treating me well. Not sure what's smartphone you have but I recently got a Pixel 3 and it really lives up to its reputation as the best smartphone Camera (ok as phone) on the planet. All of my pics from the last 3 months of trips have been with the Pixel-3. It does 8 level image stacking for super res and noise reduction for every photo, by default, every time! The iPhone does 3 level HDR but not noise removal or stabilization. I really recommend the Pixel-3 for pictures. My wife has an iPhone 8 Plus and the difference is incredible and noticable, especially in low light or indoors.

I would think most 3 season tents are going to be a similar warmth. If you have a large tent that could also be the problem. 2 people will warm up a quality 3 person tent very nicely but huge tents always stay cold. I looked at REIs website the other day and there aren't many 4 season tents and it seems super subjective. Marmot has a great 3+4 season tent at REI and it looks to be the best for the money.

Perhaps warm the tent some other way like a space heater? Also perhaps just bring more gear. I bring a nice camping pad Thermarest XL, a super warm top blanket (under sleeping bag) from Costco ($15 queen, cut in half) and another blanket (the other half) to drape over me so I can keep my bag open a bit while I sleep. If it is 30F outside it usually feels 40+ in my tent. Of course wind and snow are another thing entirely and I usually only camp down to the 30s, not 20s.
.

 

[fourfive]

Added an ARB / Safari snorkel. This is good because the plastic wheel well trim is gone. The OEM air intake would have just funneled water into the intake.

Ahh snorkel. I thought something looked different when I saw a pic in another thread lol. Tubbing looks good. Thanks for sharing the pics.

 

[Road Bull]

Life has been treating me well. Not sure what's smartphone you have but I recently got a Pixel 3 and it really lives up to its reputation as the best smartphone Camera (ok as phone) on the planet. All of my pics from the last 3 months of trips have been with the Pixel-3. It does 8 level image stacking for super res and noise reduction for every photo, by default, every time! The iPhone does 3 level HDR but not noise removal or stabilization. I really recommend the Pixel-3 for pictures. My wife has an iPhone 8 Plus and the difference is incredible and noticable, especially in low light or indoors.

I would think most 3 season tents are going to be a similar warmth. If you have a large tent that could also be the problem. 2 people will warm up a quality 3 person tent very nicely but huge tents always stay cold. I looked at REIs website the other day and there aren't many 4 season tents and it seems super subjective. Marmot has a great 3+4 season tent at REI and it looks to be the best for the money.

Perhaps warm the tent some other way like a space heater? Also perhaps just bring more gear. I bring a nice camping pad Thermarest XL, a super warm top blanket (under sleeping bag) from Costco ($15 queen, cut in half) and another blanket (the other half) to drape over me so I can keep my bag open a bit while I sleep. If it is 30F outside it usually feels 40+ in my tent. Of course wind and snow are another thing entirely and I usually only camp down to the 30s, not 20s.
.

I have a Samsung 9+. It does okay, but I am sure I could read up on how to take better pics with it.

As for tents, ideally,I would like to end up with two tent options. One option might be a sturdy Springar it Kadiak canvas tent. Cool enough in the summer, warm with heater and sturdy enough in winter. The other option might be more if a Swag type or cot tent, like an Oztent bunker. This would be nice if I had limited room to set up and would be somewhat self contained. For the main tent, I really like the idea of an Oztent, but the stowed size still is HUGE and needs to be transported on a roof rack. Still weighing my options.

Ahh snorkel. I thought something looked different when I saw a pic in another thread lol. Tubbing looks good. Thanks for sharing the pics.

Hahaha.. Something is different... Like when you head to the bathroom in the morning, start taking a leak, then notice something like a large spider inches away just in your peripheral vision... Eyes focus, and you wake right up thinking, well... This is awkward...

I am digging it. I plan on getting a pre cleaner for the dust when it comes.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Since you are looking at tents, also check out the Mountain Hardware end of season sale (gear is disappearing fast). I just bought a pair of gloves from them at 40% off and they have tents, sleeping bags etc at a steal now. They have a 15F down sleeping back for $129, normally $260 and some sweet climbing packs for near 50% off.

Equipment Winter Sale | Mountain Hardwear
.

 

[Road Bull]

Maintenance weekend!

The sun has shown back up and graced us with its presence for the week so it was time to knock out some maintenance. Saturday I lent a hand to a friend trying to put his Ranger back together after some major damage. Sunday, my friend Craig and I set to get his new 285/75/17s to clear, and swap out my front break pads as last weekend's maintenance found one of my driver's side Napa calipers had a stuck piston and eaten a lot of break pad.

Thing went smoothly till I started to load the new OEM brake pads. That when I found out the passenger side caliper was ALSO sticking. L-A-M-E... I mean... I'm glad they have a lifetime warranty, but if they keep doing this, I'll probably ditch them for another version. Stoptech? We'll see. But.. now I have all new front calipers and pads, and bled and feeling good. I hope to get out soon, but you gotta put in the work if you expect to have fun.

 

[Unner]

Looks good with the new tires and snorkel! I recently had to replace both my Napa TBU calipers as well, one was dragging, and the other was stuck open. Seems to be a semi common issue with them after a few years.