Rubegoldberg's 3rd gen build

[rubegoldberg]

How it sits today (I'll change this pic with every mod):

Midway.....

Here it is the day I purchased it:

I'll clean this thread up later and properly list mods, but my ebay recent purchases should give you an idea of where I'm headed.

I've also contacted bandit, who is well known for his bumper, to work on a custom design based on his bumper.
Bandit Runner's 3rd gen front bumper build - YotaTech Forums
Can't wait to have it built

 

[rubegoldberg]

First order of business.. getting rid of the factory deck, grabbed some nice looking Sony double din deck from CDN tire, it didn't have bluetooth, but i realized any device I want to hook up, I'll want it powered too, so I'm fine with just USB.

Honestly F*ck going in to the dash though, my least favorite thing.

Second order of business was painting the trim with Duplicoat bedliner (the gas cap I did with krylon fusion, I want to see how the paint holds up before I mess with the entire truck)

 

[Bandit Runner]

Can't wait to see the bumper built!

 

[rubegoldberg]

Snorkel is here, plate bumper is being produced by local fabricators.

Had some business guests from Argentina up this week, took them up to Jones lake, just outside Vancouver.

 

[rubegoldberg]

I now have my Bandit Bumper ready for assembly,
If you can weld, I highly recommend going this route.
It cost me 200 dollars CDN for the plasma cut metal from his drawings and another $125 for the drawings, which he customized to my specs.

EVEN if you buy a welding machine and **** up bad enough to buy a 2nd set of metal, you're still saving money compared to buying pre-made

 

[shootmymime]

I now have my Bandit Bumper ready for assembly,
If you can weld, I highly recommend going this route.
It cost me 200 dollars CDN for the plasma cut metal from his drawings and another $125 for the drawings, which he customized to my specs.

EVEN if you buy a welding machine and **** up and have to buy a 2nd set of metal, you're still saving money compared to buying pre-made

ive been thinking... i have a welder, i have access to a free cnc plasma table. but time is my problem. no time to do anything.

 

[rubegoldberg]

ive been thinking... i have a welder, i have access to a free cnc plasma table. but time is my problem. no time to do anything.

lol, yeah im paying a fab shop to assemble it for me, I live in an apartment, so it was the best option.

still will end up costing me quite a bit less than what that same fab shop charges if they build a bumper from scratch for you.

 

[rubegoldberg]

All tacked together, fitted to the truck. I'm starting to like where this is going.

 

[Bandit Runner]

All tacked together, fitted to the truck. I'm starting to like where this is going.

Looking real good! Everything come together alright?

 

[Son-Uva-Driller]

Very interesting in asking Bandit to design a bumper for me. Can't wait to see how yours turns out.

 

[rubegoldberg]

Looking real good! Everything come together alright?

yup, the fabricator guy was really impressed by the whole thing.

The real challenge (for me lol) comes when I take it home to paint it on my apartment balcony instead of spending 350 on sandblasting and powdercoating through the fab shop

 

[rubegoldberg]

Satoshi will be ready for its debut with the new bumper, I wasn't gonna bother posting this since there are so many satoshi builds on here, but i went a very easy route and bought grille mesh off ebay and then molded it so there is about a 1 inch lip behind the mesh, which i will then secure to drilled holes using black zap straps.

the advantage is

1. the mesh sits more forward in the grille than some satoshi mods, which can sometimes be aesthetically unpleasing.

2. No need for any body filler because the mesh sits in front of the holes

 

[rubegoldberg]

satoshi done, fab shop has finished the bumper.. cant wait to see it come together.

my truck is getting way too aggressive for stock tires/lift

 

[hanngmcgon]

I'm starting to like where this is going.

 

[rubegoldberg]

mounted and starting to like it.

 

[rubegoldberg]

Bumper is painted (sorta, I need to do another layer of POR-15 and then a topcoat)

Installed the hilux 167 snorkel today. I used a hole saw 1 size bigger than listed here on the forum thread about them. I feel it hopefully led to the tighter fit overall.

When doing the template, i just wrapped some paper around the snorkel, taping it in place. I then poked holes and put the snorkel on the truck.. once on the truck, I carefully removed the tape holding the paper to the snorkel and taped it to the truck. It ended up fitting like a glove without much effort.

 

[rubegoldberg]

1 more pic, i'm really happy with how close the snorkel fit to the body, i was worried about a gap, but it really looks like its meant for this truck

 

[SoSoJeff]

coming along nicely... remove the running boards and it will look better. its really easy to do and you can always put it back on incase you change your mind about it.

 

[rubegoldberg]

coming along nicely... remove the running boards and it will look better. its really easy to do and you can always put it back on incase you change your mind about it.

yup, running boards will happen soon, just been lazy about it and worried that the nuts will be seized on pretty hard.

I sold the front bumper to a guy on CL who rebuilds 3rd gens that were insurance writeoffs, and he is interested in the running boards for about 100 bucks, Local fab shops charge around 350 for rock sliders installed, selling the running boards that only ends up at 250, which is really reasonable

Lift kit and bigger tires with offset rims are on the horizon soon too. I'm thinking 32 inch duratracs so i dont have to regear.

 

[rubegoldberg]

Just playing around in MSpaint plotting the future..... Gonna go back to the fab shop who finished my bumper and get my 40 inch lightbar installed on custom mounts (i gotta finish painting the bumper he welded first so I dont horrify him)

Going to spraybomb the rig in krylon fusion OD green like the jeep in the image, I feel with the black contrasting trim, snorkel, roof basket etc.. It will pop really nicely without making me look like some redneck kid who tried to make his shitted out chevy blazer look like a military vehicle. Combined with a lift/tires and a headlight retrofit, i think it might look okayl.