I did a coin flip between these and the Hankooks. I've ran BFG, Goodyear, General, and Toyo so figured I'd try something new.
SRQ Fabrications Ultra4 4600 3rd Gen Build
- Thread starter SRQ-Runner
- Start date
I did a coin flip between these and the Hankooks. I've ran BFG, Goodyear, General, and Toyo so figured I'd try something new.
snivilous
Senior Member
Literally the most boring "update" in history. We ordered steel last week since no one local has 2" DOM and it still hasn't arrived at the yard :wtf: So I haven't really done anything on the truck. Today I pulled the gas tank and heater core... On the plus side this made me realize how far I've come, since the first time I dropped the tank on my 4runner it seemed like the most daunting task in the world.
HOPEFULLY steel shows up tomorrow and I can do something productive on this thing.
HOPEFULLY steel shows up tomorrow and I can do something productive on this thing.
Rockdawg84
New member
Great Build Guys. Can't believe that I missed this thread till now. Sub'd for sure!!!
op2:
op2:
Chuckles89
New member
Woah there Sniv, you need a NSFW tag for that
snivilous
Senior Member
Steel showed up FINALLY, only a week late.
I'm starting on the front and moving back, since the front is (imo) the hardest since you need to make outriggers from the frame since the frame narrows up front where as the rear you can usually just come straight down onto the frame. I had to move the truck around a bit because there's only one 220 outlet in the shop that fits one of the adapters I have for the welder, and of course it wouldn't stretch to where I had it before. Then pulled the front tires to get room to weld.
I decided to come down where the body mount is, that's a good reference point on both sides and is nicely tucked forward and outward for good leg room. Though the body mount arm is kind of a ***** to work around, plus would need to get plated, so i said screw it and just chopped it off. I then welded a 2" piece of tube to the frame, then slid a 1/4" plate of steel over it and welded that to the frame and to the tube, then overlaid some little 1/4" plates over the edge to help blend it back into the frame.
As always, I am NOT a welder and if you have some feedback for me for how to improve I would love to hear it! I don't usually have anyone who can give me guidance or tips on how to improve, so any critique is appreciated!
And that kind of wraps up pictures....
Yes, these will be gusseted. I won't gusset anything until the very end once I know the locations of everything related to the cage and then will tie everything together. I started on the driver side and the frame is prepped but need to cut the steel still. I am hoping tomorrow to finish that side and then do the lower A pillars and dash bar and maybe get the steering column hung.
My tentative plan, although I'll mostly just go with the flow, is to kind of do a top and bottom half of the cage. This way I can fully weld up the top section and then slide it in and on top of everything and then weld it to the lower section, that way I can easily fully wrap all the top welds. So for example, the lower A pillars will come up and terminate at the dash bar. Then the top half of the cage will have the angled top section of the A pillar come down and be notched and set in on the dash bar. So instead of doing one long piece with some bends like i have before, those bends will just be a tube junction and allow the cage halves to separate. Of course there will be elements like braces where I already know the top welds won't be an issue, so they'll be one long piece, but in general that's my plan (though I still haven't figured out how I want to do the B pillar entirely....).
Let's see what else... oh the firewall insulation was kind of a ***** to get out and seems to be clamped underneath the steering column seal so need to pull that out. Also I was very happy to see how easily the floor sound deadening stuff comes up by just wacking it with a hammer, on my land cruiser that stuff was stuck down really well. Anyways, just trying to play catch up! I have a business trip I leave for on Saturday for the next 7+ days so lose another week at least from that too. Hopefully get a few tubes done before I leave though.
I'm starting on the front and moving back, since the front is (imo) the hardest since you need to make outriggers from the frame since the frame narrows up front where as the rear you can usually just come straight down onto the frame. I had to move the truck around a bit because there's only one 220 outlet in the shop that fits one of the adapters I have for the welder, and of course it wouldn't stretch to where I had it before. Then pulled the front tires to get room to weld.
I decided to come down where the body mount is, that's a good reference point on both sides and is nicely tucked forward and outward for good leg room. Though the body mount arm is kind of a ***** to work around, plus would need to get plated, so i said screw it and just chopped it off. I then welded a 2" piece of tube to the frame, then slid a 1/4" plate of steel over it and welded that to the frame and to the tube, then overlaid some little 1/4" plates over the edge to help blend it back into the frame.
As always, I am NOT a welder and if you have some feedback for me for how to improve I would love to hear it! I don't usually have anyone who can give me guidance or tips on how to improve, so any critique is appreciated!
And that kind of wraps up pictures....
Yes, these will be gusseted. I won't gusset anything until the very end once I know the locations of everything related to the cage and then will tie everything together. I started on the driver side and the frame is prepped but need to cut the steel still. I am hoping tomorrow to finish that side and then do the lower A pillars and dash bar and maybe get the steering column hung.
My tentative plan, although I'll mostly just go with the flow, is to kind of do a top and bottom half of the cage. This way I can fully weld up the top section and then slide it in and on top of everything and then weld it to the lower section, that way I can easily fully wrap all the top welds. So for example, the lower A pillars will come up and terminate at the dash bar. Then the top half of the cage will have the angled top section of the A pillar come down and be notched and set in on the dash bar. So instead of doing one long piece with some bends like i have before, those bends will just be a tube junction and allow the cage halves to separate. Of course there will be elements like braces where I already know the top welds won't be an issue, so they'll be one long piece, but in general that's my plan (though I still haven't figured out how I want to do the B pillar entirely....).
Let's see what else... oh the firewall insulation was kind of a ***** to get out and seems to be clamped underneath the steering column seal so need to pull that out. Also I was very happy to see how easily the floor sound deadening stuff comes up by just wacking it with a hammer, on my land cruiser that stuff was stuck down really well. Anyways, just trying to play catch up! I have a business trip I leave for on Saturday for the next 7+ days so lose another week at least from that too. Hopefully get a few tubes done before I leave though.
snivilous
Senior Member
Quick update. Worked on the truck for like 3.5 hours today and got a lot done. Got the driver's side outrigger made and welded in, got the lower A pillars made and tacked to the outriggers, got the dash bar made and capped and fully welded to the lower A pillars. I averaged over a tube an hour, which as I recall doing one tube an hour is hauling ass for me usually. That doesn't sound like much, but figure you have to measure everything, cut the tube out, clean the shipping shit off, test fit, notch, clean with acetone and grind/sand it, test fit, tack it, do the same thing on the other end, and that's assuming just a straight piece. Maybe I'm slow, but I feel like I move at least at an average speed 
Anyways here's a few pics I snagged. By the way, I'm pretty stoked on the fitment of the notches I did.
No pic, but I tacked the bottom to a tube so it wouldn't warp when welding it.
It's just tacked to the outriggers right now.
Single 15deg bend in the middle. Nothing fancy but I think it looks good and matches the lines of the body a bit and gains some room while not being a more complicated multi-bend piece like my 4500's dash bar was. I also have it set pretty low, it sticks up maybe a 1/4" past the bottom of the windshield mounting face--so tried to get it as high as possible while not impeding vision whatsoever.
And that wraps up today's work.
Anyways here's a few pics I snagged. By the way, I'm pretty stoked on the fitment of the notches I did.
No pic, but I tacked the bottom to a tube so it wouldn't warp when welding it.
It's just tacked to the outriggers right now.
Single 15deg bend in the middle. Nothing fancy but I think it looks good and matches the lines of the body a bit and gains some room while not being a more complicated multi-bend piece like my 4500's dash bar was. I also have it set pretty low, it sticks up maybe a 1/4" past the bottom of the windshield mounting face--so tried to get it as high as possible while not impeding vision whatsoever.
And that wraps up today's work.
phattyduck
Elite Member
1 tube an hour sounds pretty fast to me. Metal work always takes time...
What's the body mounting plan? Are you going to tie the cage to the body?
-Charlie
snivilous
Senior Member
I'm always surprised how fast time flies, you do hardly anything and half the day is gone...
Initially the plan was if there was extra time to tie the body in, but now at a minimum I will tie the body A pillars into the cage A pillars since the body mount is completely gone now. The floor will also get sealed up and welded to the cage right there. As for the rest of the truck, if I cut out body mounts then I'll definitely brace the body there but anywhere I leave a stock mount I won't brace it until the very very end if there's time. So realistically/hopefully, just brace the A and C pillars and I think the body will be plenty secured.
Thanks man! It's nice to be active on T4R again. Likewise I know almost nothing about welding, so just going by feel and experience haha. If I can maintain the consistency of my welds to the level I've done so far I'll be really happy, the last cage I did was a mix of nice looking welds and more blobby ones but I've gotten advice on what I did wrong since then so hoping to have consistent beads everywhere. Plus since it's not my truck, it's a lot more pertinent that they are good both structurally and cosmetically
SRQ-Runner
New member
Differential stuff ordered! The plan is to beef up the stock diffs as best as possible. Here are a ton of part numbers for everyone.
- RD90 (ARB Front Locker)
- RD132 (ARB Rear Locker)
- CKMA12 (ARB Compressor)
- YG TV6-488-29 (4.88 Front Gear Set)
- YK T7.5-REV-FULL (Front Diff Rebuild Kit)
- YG T7.5R-488R (4.88 Rear Gear Set)
- YK TV6 (Rear Diff Rebuild Kit)
- SK CSTV6 (Crush Sleeve Eliminator)
- EGS Rear Solid Pinion Spacer
- EGS Front Solid Brass Bushing
- RD90 (ARB Front Locker)
- RD132 (ARB Rear Locker)
- CKMA12 (ARB Compressor)
- YG TV6-488-29 (4.88 Front Gear Set)
- YK T7.5-REV-FULL (Front Diff Rebuild Kit)
- YG T7.5R-488R (4.88 Rear Gear Set)
- YK TV6 (Rear Diff Rebuild Kit)
- SK CSTV6 (Crush Sleeve Eliminator)
- EGS Rear Solid Pinion Spacer
- EGS Front Solid Brass Bushing
theesotericone
New member
Are you planning on cryo for the gears?
SRQ-Runner
New member
Nope. Front diff and rear axle will be upgraded after 2019 season if they make it that long
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hodgiemoto
New member
Sub'd. Awesome that you're doing this, I think the 3rd gen is a great platform for KOH having recently acquired one. What, if any, crawlbox are you thinking of using?
4Running Daily
New member
Why 4.88 over 5.29? I would think you would want it "quicker" as opposed to "fast". Asking for a friend....
Strength
4Running Daily
New member
Shipped the diffs off last week
Untitled by Connor Rhoades, on Flickr
Got our Ballistic order in for the rear 4-link
Untitled by Connor Rhoades, on Flickr
Untitled by Connor Rhoades, on FlickrGot our Ballistic order in for the rear 4-link
Untitled by Connor Rhoades, on Flickr
4Running Daily
New member
Head over to idpor.com to check out the new forum as well!
https://www.independentoffroading.com/index.php?threads/srq-fab-4600-build-thread-koh2019.16/
https://www.independentoffroading.com/index.php?threads/srq-fab-4600-build-thread-koh2019.16/
SRQ-Runner
New member
New bumper has been welded up and test fitted! True North Fabrications did an amazing job. Will be on the way to us next week so Connor can show us his spray painting skills on it
Yukon stuff began showing up. ARB stuff is still a week or two out.
Yukon stuff began showing up. ARB stuff is still a week or two out.
Hodgiemoto
New member
Yup, me too. I’ll be there and I’ll have my 85 crawler there but I want so bad to race KOH. Glad to see this coming together.
Similar threads
