Charles4x4
New member
Thanks. Just passed this along to the 4x4Labs team. They take pride in what they do and love to hear feedback like this!
Steel City Racing: King of the Hammers 2019 Toyota 4Runner IFS 4600 Build Thread
- Thread starter Charles4x4
- Start date
Thanks. Just passed this along to the 4x4Labs team. They take pride in what they do and love to hear feedback like this!
AuSeeker
Elite Member
The first thing I noticed were the welds, a work of art, it in itself shows how good they are as well as the pride they take in what they do!!
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Charles4x4
New member
Update:
Armor is pretty much done. Luke will be driving the 4Runner to BigMike on Friday. All 4x4Labs has left is some finishing touches, final powder coating, and hooking up the Front AND Rear winches (yes, 2 winches)!
Two weeks ago I got a call from Luke and HD saying they wanted to put a winch in the rear too - I love their passion!
So I called our friends at Warn and was able to pick up a 9.0Rc that'll be perfect for the rear bumper - Warn is AWESOME!
I know we won't use it as much as the front Zeon 10K Platinum, but it'll be nice for rearward recoveries and to help other racers on the trail.
Last pics before powder coating below.
Huge sheet of AR400 being cut at 4x4Labs
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo2JIKuHCD-/?taken-by=4x4labs
Rear Bumper:
We'll be running Dual Exhaust above the frame rail and out of the wings in the rear bumpers:
Sliders:
Full Undercarriage IFS Skid-Plates:
More to come...
Armor is pretty much done. Luke will be driving the 4Runner to BigMike on Friday. All 4x4Labs has left is some finishing touches, final powder coating, and hooking up the Front AND Rear winches (yes, 2 winches)!
Two weeks ago I got a call from Luke and HD saying they wanted to put a winch in the rear too - I love their passion!
So I called our friends at Warn and was able to pick up a 9.0Rc that'll be perfect for the rear bumper - Warn is AWESOME!
I know we won't use it as much as the front Zeon 10K Platinum, but it'll be nice for rearward recoveries and to help other racers on the trail.
Last pics before powder coating below.
Huge sheet of AR400 being cut at 4x4Labs
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo2JIKuHCD-/?taken-by=4x4labs
Rear Bumper:
We'll be running Dual Exhaust above the frame rail and out of the wings in the rear bumpers:
Sliders:
Full Undercarriage IFS Skid-Plates:
More to come...
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Charles4x4
New member
That's definitely the plan. We'll see if the Atlas II changes that once RockSolidToys begins their work.
Charles4x4
New member
One more BIG Announcement. And before I disclose, Special Thanks to BigMike at Marlin Crawler for making this one happen for us. Without his support and sponsorship, this simply would not be possible.
I've been holding this one back for a while now...so here goes.
It's both exciting and terrifying to say that our Steel City Racing 4th Gen V8 IFS 4Runner will not only be racing 4600 EMC on Wednesday, but will also be racing in the 4400 Ultra4 Unlimited Class Main Event on Friday!
How?
For 4600 EMC Class, I'll be Driving and a close friend of mine who is a local Fire Fighter in AL will be Co-Driving.
But on Friday, I'll be Co-Driving for Hobie Smith, an OG13, who will be Driving this car on Friday in the 4400 Unlimited Class.
Our goal for 4600 EMC is to Win our class. Our goal for 4400 Unlimited Main Event is to Finish the race. If we can finish both, that would be an amazing win for both our team and our sponsors!
Fortunately this year EMC got pushed back to Wed, so we have all day Thurs to make sure the car is prepped and ready for Friday's Main Event.
I had mentioned a while back that we'd have help testing and preparing for the race. Well, Hobie has graciously agreed to help teach us everything he has learned over the many years he has raced KOH and will also be helping us with testing over the coming months. He's already given us a ton of tips on the overall build, driving style to make sure we survive EMC, pit operations, winching techniques, navigation, etc.
Our sponsors and I are proud to announce Hobie Smith as part of the Steel City Racing team for KOH 2019!
I've been holding this one back for a while now...so here goes.
It's both exciting and terrifying to say that our Steel City Racing 4th Gen V8 IFS 4Runner will not only be racing 4600 EMC on Wednesday, but will also be racing in the 4400 Ultra4 Unlimited Class Main Event on Friday!
How?
For 4600 EMC Class, I'll be Driving and a close friend of mine who is a local Fire Fighter in AL will be Co-Driving.
But on Friday, I'll be Co-Driving for Hobie Smith, an OG13, who will be Driving this car on Friday in the 4400 Unlimited Class.
Our goal for 4600 EMC is to Win our class. Our goal for 4400 Unlimited Main Event is to Finish the race. If we can finish both, that would be an amazing win for both our team and our sponsors!
Fortunately this year EMC got pushed back to Wed, so we have all day Thurs to make sure the car is prepped and ready for Friday's Main Event.
I had mentioned a while back that we'd have help testing and preparing for the race. Well, Hobie has graciously agreed to help teach us everything he has learned over the many years he has raced KOH and will also be helping us with testing over the coming months. He's already given us a ton of tips on the overall build, driving style to make sure we survive EMC, pit operations, winching techniques, navigation, etc.
Our sponsors and I are proud to announce Hobie Smith as part of the Steel City Racing team for KOH 2019!
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SAC-CA-Runner
New member
Great to hear! Now...when is practice? T4R.org meetup!!! Weekend please!! HAHA Might be tough to get out there to see the race on Wed, but Friday is possible.
And thanks to you...I talked to 4x4 labs today and will have my own custom "Expedition" rear bumper made for me in Dec/Jan for my long trip next June up to Yukon/Canada/Alaska/Etc.
Charles4x4
New member
Awesome! I'm not easy to please and it feels like more and more business these days are cutting corners or have poor customer service. I know I may not be viewed as objective, but I've honestly been blown away by 4x4Labs.
They call me with ideas, over-deliver (who knew they were going to add those amazing gussets to the front bumper - I only found out when they sent me the pic), take pride in their work (I've never seen welds or powder coating like theirs...), and are humble throughout the process.
They may not have the biggest marketing budget or the slickest sales pitch, but their products are simply as good as it gets.
You're going to be pleased!
Charles4x4
New member
Charles4x4
New member
4x4Labs is mostly done with our Armor for KOH. The car goes to Marlin Crawler starting tomorrow. The pics below aren't quite Final Product, but they're the latest ones I have and are getting close. 4x4Labs creativity, fab skills, welding, in-house powder coating, and overall attention to detail is Top Notch!
Everything you see below is made from AR400. Can't wait to see them in final form with our F/R Warn winches installed!
Front Bumper:
Rear Bumper - will eventually have Dual Swing-Outs, but of course won't be installed for KOH:
2 of 3 Skid Plates:
Sliders:
Luke said they had the welder "Dialed In" for our AR400:
They're wrapping up all the final details today before the trip tomorrow.
Everything you see below is made from AR400. Can't wait to see them in final form with our F/R Warn winches installed!
Front Bumper:
Rear Bumper - will eventually have Dual Swing-Outs, but of course won't be installed for KOH:
2 of 3 Skid Plates:
Sliders:
Luke said they had the welder "Dialed In" for our AR400:
They're wrapping up all the final details today before the trip tomorrow.
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SAC-CA-Runner
New member
Yeah...I can not wait! Going up beginning of Dec to start the layout process of what I want! Nice thing...since it's a 4th Gen they can use the one there as a template so mine doesn't need to be down!
Charles4x4
New member
Perfect. PM me if you need to know of a place to stay - there aren't a ton of options
. Yes, we used Luke's 4th Gen v8 as a template too!
gm350reratliff
New member
4x4Labs is mostly done with our Armor for KOH. The car goes to Marlin Crawler starting tomorrow. The pics below aren't quite Final Product, but they're the latest ones I have and are getting close. 4x4Labs creativity, fab skills, welding, in-house powder coating, and overall attention to detail is Top Notch!
Everything you see below is made from AR400. Can't wait to see them in final form with our F/R Warn winches installed!
Front Bumper:
Rear Bumper - will eventually have Dual Swing-Outs, but of course won't be installed for KOH:
2 of 3 Skid Plates:
Sliders:
Luke said they had the welder "Dialed In" for our AR400:
They're wrapping up all the final details today before the trip tomorrow.
Simply badass!! I'm very intrigued in the exhaust through the bumper. I want to do the same when I build mine so if you could post some pics covering that, I'd appreciate it.
Charles4x4
New member
Will do!
Charles4x4
New member
On Friday morning the 4Runner left 4x4Labs Shop for good. Luke and the 4x4Labs team were extremely kind to drive the car to Marlin Crawler for me while on their way to LA for the weekend. Thank you again to Luke, HD, and the entire 4x4Labs team for all their hard work over the past month!
It arrived safe and sound at Marlin Crawler ready for the next Phase of work!
We'll get some better pics of the armor in final form in the coming weeks.
I'm really excited about this next Phase! Stay tuned...
It arrived safe and sound at Marlin Crawler ready for the next Phase of work!
We'll get some better pics of the armor in final form in the coming weeks.
I'm really excited about this next Phase! Stay tuned...
Charles4x4
New member
My sincere apologies for the lack of consistent responses - you'll find out why I stopped giving updates on this phase of the build here soon.
Here are a few small ones:
1) I'm now almost 100% done purchasing things for KOH 2019! I'm now waiting for a few Black Friday things to arrive so I can include pics of the FINAL purchases. Wyatt's garage is packed full of all of the stuff we'll need for the pits that I had shipped straight to CA. Special thanks to Wyatt for allowing me to store tons of parts at your place!
2) KOH 2019 Registration Fees are PAID. It definitely hurt the bank account - fees, insurance, and trackers aren't cheap. I'm still waiting on confirmation for our race number that I requested.
3) Icon is almost done with the Front Coilovers, Rear Shocks, and Rear Coils. Wyatt has been orchestrating this part of the build and we are so thankful for Icon's support! More to come here.
As mentioned, we did get slowed down by a few shops that are doing specialty work for Marlin in CA having their timelines pushed out. BigMike and Wyatt (the final 2 shops working on this build) are in constant communication with each other on the build and timeline and both still feel really good about everything.
Once BigMike is done with his work in the next 2-weeks, the truck will go to RockSolidToys sometime right around Dec 7th. Wyatt and team can do the Atlas II, rear suspension, etc in their sleep. The cage will be the final big piece of the puzzle that'll also be done at Wyatt's shop by a specialty cage builder called Otwell Welding and Fabrication who Wyatt highly recommended. Unfortunately Wyatt's timeline has been compressed a little due to the delays, but he has promised to get it done.
I hope to still have a full month (Jan) left for tuning and testing. More updates and pics coming soon.
Here are a few small ones:
1) I'm now almost 100% done purchasing things for KOH 2019! I'm now waiting for a few Black Friday things to arrive so I can include pics of the FINAL purchases. Wyatt's garage is packed full of all of the stuff we'll need for the pits that I had shipped straight to CA. Special thanks to Wyatt for allowing me to store tons of parts at your place!
2) KOH 2019 Registration Fees are PAID. It definitely hurt the bank account - fees, insurance, and trackers aren't cheap. I'm still waiting on confirmation for our race number that I requested.
3) Icon is almost done with the Front Coilovers, Rear Shocks, and Rear Coils. Wyatt has been orchestrating this part of the build and we are so thankful for Icon's support! More to come here.
As mentioned, we did get slowed down by a few shops that are doing specialty work for Marlin in CA having their timelines pushed out. BigMike and Wyatt (the final 2 shops working on this build) are in constant communication with each other on the build and timeline and both still feel really good about everything.
Once BigMike is done with his work in the next 2-weeks, the truck will go to RockSolidToys sometime right around Dec 7th. Wyatt and team can do the Atlas II, rear suspension, etc in their sleep. The cage will be the final big piece of the puzzle that'll also be done at Wyatt's shop by a specialty cage builder called Otwell Welding and Fabrication who Wyatt highly recommended. Unfortunately Wyatt's timeline has been compressed a little due to the delays, but he has promised to get it done.
I hope to still have a full month (Jan) left for tuning and testing. More updates and pics coming soon.
Charles4x4
New member
We knocked out a lot of finish work on the vehicle wrap last week. Here is the latest.
Side:
Rear:
Hood:
Still doing a few final tweaks...
Side:
Rear:
Hood:
Still doing a few final tweaks...
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