tbst improvement and build thread

Was the Hilton Garden Inn at the mall. Working on sister properties in Elkins and Clarksburg.

Now that we've derailed your thread - got the bumper and winch in yet? When's the install?
 
Was the Hilton Garden Inn at the mall. Working on sister properties in Elkins and Clarksburg.

Now that we've derailed your thread - got the bumper and winch in yet? When's the install?

Elkins is beautiful. If you ever touch on the Marcellus stuff and want some insight, let me know.

Sitting at the engineer lab doing this bull**** reservoir estimation delineation right now.

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As far as the winch and the bumper, see below. :)

Probably gonna miss the FedEx because I am here.

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ARB Bumper Install

A few pictures from the bumper install.

ARB has a new design. I would recommend doing a little modding before you try and install using this new hardware.

The picture below shows the new hardware. The picture is of the impact absorbers, the part that the bumper itself mounts too.

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The problem is that you cannot push the bolts through the little clips shown below when the bumper is hanging on the impact absorbers. I had to take the bumper off twice to realize this, alone.

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So to "mod" this, I would recommend stretching the square brackets that hold the nuts to the impact absorbers.

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And then once they are inside the square holes on the impact absorber, use a screwdriver to stretch them even more and to make sure they are in place.

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Then check and make sure that the bolts will fit in BEFORE you lift the bumper onto the absorbers. Before these bolts WOULD NOT fit into the square tab things when the bumper was on.

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Even after doing this, one of them wasn't quite right and I had to take it off again and secure one of the tabs (it was spinning).

This is with no bumper on.

d598df0d.jpg~original


Poor / incompetent mans frame end cap mod. Just cut the mounting brackets for the crush cans with a BIG anger grinder and be sure not to cut any of the welds. Once I buy a welder I will weld it correctly, however for now this will do.

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This is the end result.

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Saggy is never good. Lift time.

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Interior + Tail light LEDs for $14.21

For those not looking to spend $45 on interior LEDs, here is how you do it. A h/t must go to 004runnerLtd for his work in this thread.

Here is what you need and here are some working links.


Dome Lights = Panel 48 SMD LED
Map Lights = Panel 12 SMD LED
Glove Box/Ashtray = 74 SMD LED
License Plate = T10 SMD LED


Links:
1. Dome lights, you need two orders
Light Lamp Panel 48 SMD LED+T10+Dome Bulb+BA9S Adapter | eBay
2. Map lights, you need two orders
White Car Interior Light Panel 12 LED SMD Dome 12V | eBay
3. Ashtray + Glovebox lights, you need one order
2X T5 74 White 3 CHIPS SMD DASHBOARD LED CAR BULB LIGHT | eBay
4. Tail light lights, you need one order
2 X T10 10 SMD LED License Plate White Light Bulb Lamp | eBay

ledtools.jpg~original


It took about 2 weeks for them to get here from mainland China. They came at all different times in no order. Even if you order two sets, they don't come together.

Below pictured is how you need them to go into the Runner.

Tail light
IMG_1111.jpg~original


Ashtray + Glovebox
IMG_1112.jpg~original


Map lights
IMG_1116.jpg~original


Dome Lights
IMG_1109.jpg~original
 
Lift Preliminaries

So after installing the ARB w/XRC8 and wire rope, I definitely need to get the front end back up.

To give myself some idea about what a lift would look like I took these two photos.

This is the one with no lift after the full ARB install, however the winch line isn't on in either of the photos.

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This is one with a lift (the lift being a floor jack on the ARB).

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I am planning on running some Tundra TRD struts up front. I supposedly have a deal lined up for some with 20k on them, if the guy can ever get back to me. I think I am going to replace the stock biltsein's with some adjustable shocks. That is if I can sell the 4600 stocks that are in there.

IMAG0256.jpg~original


I am going to run LX450 coils in the back with some cheapo shocks for now. Hopefully that won't give me too much lift.

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Hey dude I saw that you are looking to ad used TRD front struts.

Don't do it. I replaced my front TRD blue Tokiko struts with adjustable bilstiens and was surprised to find that one of them was seeping oil. The front suspension had only 40,000 miles.

Basically TRD quality is not what everyone thinks it is, I would go with the Bilstiens.
 
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Congrats on getting the ARB installed. On your other thread, I wasn't really understanding where the difficulty was coming into play, but now that I've seen your pictures here I completely understand. That new hardware looks like a pain in the ass.

That must be some kind of cost cutting measure, reducing the labor time to crank out the brackets by throwing in some of those funky nuts instead, and letting the customer fight with them. Glad to see it didn't stop you.

RE your suspension setup, if you install that setup as is, you are going to have some serious rake. Probably 2" front to back, maybe more. The Tundra setup will only give you about 2" of lift (and that's on a truck w/o the extra weight) without a spacer of some sort. Those LC coils are going to get you around 4".

I would definitely go with the adjustable 5100's, right from the get go. And don't be shy about the setting, go right to the middle notch. Compressing those tundra coils is NOT something you want to do twice.
 
Hey dude I saw that you are looking to ad used TRD front struts.

Don't do it. I replaced my front TRD blue Tokiko struts with adjustable bilstiens and was surprised to find that one of them was seeping oil. The front suspension had only 40,000 miles.

Basically TRD quality is not what everyone thinks it is, I would go with the Bilstiens.

I plan on buying a complete set from Down South Motor Sports. They have what seem to be good deals on a complete set. $332 shipped. That is Tundra adjustable in the front and regulars in the back.

Congrats on getting the ARB installed. On your other thread, I wasn't really understanding where the difficulty was coming into play, but now that I've seen your pictures here I completely understand. That new hardware looks like a pain in the ass.

That must be some kind of cost cutting measure, reducing the labor time to crank out the brackets by throwing in some of those funky nuts instead, and letting the customer fight with them. Glad to see it didn't stop you.

Yeah, the were able to save 0.25 hrs on each bumper, so they decided to make spending and installing $800 a painful experience. I had only heard good things about ARB and their products (combined with excellent customer service). My first experience with their product wasn't that great. Although the end product is nice.

And I wrote that thread out four times trying to describe what was going on before I submitted it. I knew it still wasn't clear, but it was impossible to describe what was going on.

I am glad I got through it too. :)

RE your suspension setup, if you install that setup as is, you are going to have some serious rake. Probably 2" front to back, maybe more. The Tundra setup will only give you about 2" of lift (and that's on a truck w/o the extra weight) without a spacer of some sort. Those LC coils are going to get you around 4".

I would definitely go with the adjustable 5100's, right from the get go. And don't be shy about the setting, go right to the middle notch. Compressing those tundra coils is NOT something you want to do twice.

Yes, I have come to realize that the coils I have are going to net me too much lift. Frankly, a little rack is OK with me. However, I don't want ridiculous lift anywhere because I have new tires (265/70/16) that were on it when I got it and I would like to burn those up before moving on up...

So that leads to why I have a sale pending for the coils. I am going to call around tomorrow and see if I can find some. Reading back over old posts, it seems like LC shops would have them laying around, as they are junk to them.

I guess I will find out tomorrow.

I am glad I came to terms with the fact that the rear would have been too high with the coils I have.
 
Good write up's tbst! Seems like you are moving really fast with this thread and those are always the fun ones to watch.
 
Good write up's tbst! Seems like you are moving really fast with this thread and those are always the fun ones to watch.

Thanks! Trying and trying not to bankrupt myself at the same time.

Time for some shocks. And a new front end setup. Ordering stuff now.

9ed8b9db.jpg~original


Some other goodies came. I don't really ever want to be this stuck, but if I am, I want out. (One of the reasons I only want to get a rear locker and not a front.)

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Gotta be able to see stuff when I am stuck.

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Lift Part

It's a start.

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And my price was good. :)

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Sold off the other LC springs. They would have given me more lift than I would have wanted.
 
Nice! How much did you get the LC coils for? How many wraps are they?
:nicethread:

They are 8 wraps.

19.5" Purple Green White 8 wraps
19.25" Double Purple Dark Blue White 8 wraps

I had to pay $28 for them, because the guy on iH8mud wanted to get rid of both at the same time. Understandable, and still a smoking deal. They were from VA, so one state over, got here quick.

People should look on iH8mud if they want LC coils. They're our equivalent of our stock front coils after we lift. Who wants them? No one.

Wow, great thread. Tons of good progress and informative posts!

Thanks. I am trying. I have learned a lot from the posts on here. I am actually behind with posting. Should see a slew of posts here in May when I get loads of free time.

:)

Love this thread. I've subscribed to it consequently.

Thanks man. Commenting on build threads makes people want to continue posting, so I appreciate it.

Start a build thread!
 
Expeditions East

The way I have been avoiding getting slack for all the modding is telling the GF it is so we can go places. And I wanted out of Morgantown. Heavy drinking was a lot more fun when I was under 21. Since then stress has become my vice.

Decided to head to the Monongahela National Forest, outside of Elkins, WV. Bought a whole slew of camping stuff a few weeks before hand. Found that there is one campground that is open year around, which is Laurel Fork Campground, about 17 miles on 33 E from Elkins.

Had my first experience with forest roads. 17 miles to be exact. Learned a few things from this. First, no way do I want an Aussie locker if there is ANY chance of it locking accelerating going around a corner (there is, that is what would happen, is my understanding). Second, my tires are good for now, even though once I lift they will look tiny. Third, I am gonna do an elocker retrofit when I can find an entire rear axle I like. Got kinda stuck on a trail and wished I could go 2wd, elocker, 4wd, 4low, winch. I go out alone (with the GF, but alone from a functionality standpoint, in the kindest way). And finally, that I can't fit in a womens sleeping bag, but the GF can fit in my 0 degree sleeping bag and be warm all through the night.

Now for pictures.

Forest entrance, took 7 mi to get there. And another 7 to the campsite.
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Picked up some wood on the way in.
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Lookout from the campsite.
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Natural habitat.
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Trees.
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Creek 20 feet behind campsite.
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Woodrunner.
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Dinner. Man dogs for me. Tofu dogs for her.
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Warm fire. Froze balls at night though. Need to reup on gear. When you see it, you'll sh!t brix.
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3,603 ft.
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Windmills, pretty cool. Took an ass backwards way home, and got up next to them.
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Next trip is to CT to visit a friend to to NE PA to check out where I am going to be living for who knows how long. Taking the Civic there though. The next outing for the 4Runner is George Washington National Forest.
 
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I thought I got my LC coils (same ones you have) for cheap at 50 bucks, but 28?! Nice! :) I've seen them go for $200-300 on Craigslist, just because people know a lot of 3rd gen guys look for them, so I consider the both of us lucky to get both for way under that!
 
Warm fire. Froze balls at night though. Need to reup on gear. When you see it, you'll sh!t brix.

I didn't see it, but I rarely do unless somewhat obvious. Even then I often don't. Was gonna make a comment about the amount of wood you gathered, but then read it was cold at night.

Great pictures and narrative. Keep on keeping on.
 
I didn't see it, but I rarely do unless somewhat obvious. Even then I often don't. Was gonna make a comment about the amount of wood you gathered, but then read it was cold at night.

Great pictures and narrative. Keep on keeping on.

It was the LED lit up runner in the back. Sh!tting brix fail!

We had a lame fire the first night because I was being beta due to rain, so I had to prove my alpha provider status the next night. :D

Thanks for the compliments. Will keep on keeping on.
 
I thought I got my LC coils (same ones you have) for cheap at 50 bucks, but 28?! Nice! :) I've seen them go for $200-300 on Craigslist, just because people know a lot of 3rd gen guys look for them, so I consider the both of us lucky to get both for way under that!

Yes. They guy was told me I had to pay shipping for both at $28 dollars. I was pumped. He sent them out that afternoon.

What kind of lift did you end up getting?
 

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