The LFD Off Road Thread

[Akkording]

That's just a sticker we include with the shipments, you can simply choose not to put it on

Rocking LFD logo down here in the South

 

[007Tacoma]

I got the side scene lights installed and wired up last night...

The lights are SuperBrightLED's 7" Slim light bars, flood optic. They are moved off the side of the rack via a 1" plastic spacer found at Lowes, and held to the rack by 1/4-20x1.5" bolts with a washer/lock washer/nut combo on the backside.

All wiring exposed to the outside world is wrapped in heatshrink, the Deutsch connectors are secured to the rack by 3M VHB and then the wiring is secured via zipties. Because these only draw about 1.7A combined, wiring consists of 18/2 from the switch to the connector pigtail on the drivers side, where it joins the wiring over the passenger side light. Wiring then follows the side rail to the back, through the gap under the spoiler and then down the drivers side of the weatherstripping for the hatch. Instead of poking a hole through the factory grommet I ran the wires down and utilized one of the taillight openings to pass the (flat) 18/2 wiring pair through. The foam that backs the taillights leaves plenty of room for this, and if I don't like the lights (or more realistically, add more and upgrade to 16/6 or 16/8 wiring), I haven't created an unnecessary hole in a water-prone location (the upper grommet).

Excuse the mess in the last photo, was utilizing my parents garage for this as the 4Runner doesn't come close to fitting in our garage

OH! I almost forgot, no additional noise at all.

I like it! I wanted to do something similar before my Moab trip, but I didn't have time.

 

[mteolus]

I got the side scene lights installed and wired up last night...

The lights are SuperBrightLED's 7" Slim light bars, flood optic. They are moved off the side of the rack via a 1" plastic spacer found at Lowes, and held to the rack by 1/4-20x1.5" bolts with a washer/lock washer/nut combo on the backside.

All wiring exposed to the outside world is wrapped in heatshrink, the Deutsch connectors are secured to the rack by 3M VHB and then the wiring is secured via zipties. Because these only draw about 1.7A combined, wiring consists of 18/2 from the switch to the connector pigtail on the drivers side, where it joins the wiring over the passenger side light. Wiring then follows the side rail to the back, through the gap under the spoiler and then down the drivers side of the weatherstripping for the hatch. Instead of poking a hole through the factory grommet I ran the wires down and utilized one of the taillight openings to pass the (flat) 18/2 wiring pair through. The foam that backs the taillights leaves plenty of room for this, and if I don't like the lights (or more realistically, add more and upgrade to 16/6 or 16/8 wiring), I haven't created an unnecessary hole in a water-prone location (the upper grommet).

Excuse the mess in the last photo, was utilizing my parents garage for this as the 4Runner doesn't come close to fitting in our garage

OH! I almost forgot, no additional noise at all.

Do you have the fairing? And what traction devices do you have?

 

[007Tacoma]

Got to spend some time in Moab beating on my LFD Skid Plates. Everything worked perfectly!!!

Before Moab:

 

[Jay's T4R]

This picture is EPIC!!!!

 

[mteolus]

This picture is EPIC!!!!

Question is, did he make it without high centering?

 

[Buszzbait]

Anyone purchase the steel full rack or are most just going with aluminum? Those that bought the steel and had it for awhile, how's it holding up? Any rust spots? Whats the weight difference? It will be exposed to Montana weather.

 

[007Tacoma]

This picture is EPIC!!!!

Thanks!

Question is, did he make it without high centering?

Yep! Dobinson’s suspension and LFD Skid Plates to the rescue.

 

[young]

We are running the Green Lane Offroad Aluminum ladder. We have been very happy with it so far.

is the ladder as good as c4 ladder?

 

[Signal]

is the ladder as good as c4 ladder?

And does it work with after market bumpers?

 

[Signal]

Finally, I get to post in here with something substantial!

UPS dropped 3 large boxes off last night and this morning I installed my LFD Full Length rack. I guess I'll throw up a quick "review" of it.

Timeline: From the first email asking questions, to ordering, shipping, etc was about 6 weeks

Shipping: Three boxes, one super long box (side rails) and two moderately large boxes (hardware, crossbars, front fairing). It was humorous watching the UPS guy deliver it all via my Ring doorbell camera.

Quality: Everything fit together very well. No unusual edges or anything like that. The powder coat had a few issues, which I relayed to LFD already; but honestly, nothing more than what it's going to get from the wonderful low hanging branches on every trail around here. A little touch up paint will solve all of this.

Install: I did the install solo in a garage with the assistance of a step ladder (and my sliders) in a few hours. Including a few stops, lunch, handling some emails, etc I think laying out the parts to taking the final picture was about 4 hours. With another pair of hands and another ladder (one person working each side), I'm fairly certain this could be done in under an hour. The instructions are fairly straight forward (although my box had what appeared to be 7/8 rack instructions), and the fact that they include plenty of extra hardware is a HUGE bonus. Doing it solo I bolted one of the side rails in place, then the next and then started with front fairing/cross-bar, then the rear most cross-bar (which had to sit in front of the shark fin), and then worked loosely installing cross bars from back to front; then tightened the cross bars and rack to truck. OH! The front feet were loosely installed with the side rails, and their final tightening was the last step I did.

Final Thoughts: This thing is solid. Really. No wiggle. No jiggle. I really do like the look. Black hardware would have been preferred, but I read LFD's response either in this thread (or the 7/8 rack thread) about why this hardware comes with it. Maybe I'll just get busy with touchup paint when it warms up. I have driven about 35 miles with it (30 of which were highway). To say that today is a bad day to judge wind noise would be an understatement, currently we are having ~20mph sustained winds with 40mph gusts, so anything over ~50mph you hear the wind bustling around on the roof... The few times I feel like the wind died down on my drive, the added wind noise from the rack is noticeable, but not intrusive. As ridiculous as it sounds, it almost feels more stable in heavy cross winds. Maybe if the fairing came down closer to the body it would be quieter? I'll make another post in this thread after a few more days of driving to see if less-windy days change the wind noise. All in all, I'm quite pleased with the purchase; from looks, to assembly, to price point, the LFD Full length checked all of my boxes.

Is this a no drill rack? just unbolt the whats up there and bolt the new rack? I think I have just have the posts, no rack.

 

[007Tacoma]

is the ladder as good as c4 ladder?

We went back and forth between this one and the C4. Both are great ladders in our opinion. We went with the Green Lane because of the fantastic cost after converting CAD to USD. We spent under $400 shipped with no discounts. The ladder has been an excellent addition to our setup using an LFD Accessory Panel to mount our FuelPax to it has been a godsend.

 

[Jay's T4R]

Is this a no drill rack? just unbolt the whats up there and bolt the new rack? I think I have just have the posts, no rack.

No drill rack, correct. Part of the reason why I picked this one. From what I have read in the threads, the front most feet of the rack sit on the rubber channel.

 

[Scott11]

I got the side scene lights installed and wired up last night...

The lights are SuperBrightLED's 7" Slim light bars, flood optic. They are moved off the side of the rack via a 1" plastic spacer found at Lowes, and held to the rack by 1/4-20x1.5" bolts with a washer/lock washer/nut combo on the backside.

All wiring exposed to the outside world is wrapped in heatshrink, the Deutsch connectors are secured to the rack by 3M VHB and then the wiring is secured via zipties. Because these only draw about 1.7A combined, wiring consists of 18/2 from the switch to the connector pigtail on the drivers side, where it joins the wiring over the passenger side light. Wiring then follows the side rail to the back, through the gap under the spoiler and then down the drivers side of the weatherstripping for the hatch. Instead of poking a hole through the factory grommet I ran the wires down and utilized one of the taillight openings to pass the (flat) 18/2 wiring pair through. The foam that backs the taillights leaves plenty of room for this, and if I don't like the lights (or more realistically, add more and upgrade to 16/6 or 16/8 wiring), I haven't created an unnecessary hole in a water-prone location (the upper grommet).

Excuse the mess in the last photo, was utilizing my parents garage for this as the 4Runner doesn't come close to fitting in our garage

OH! I almost forgot, no additional noise at all.

Did you just paint the hardware or replace it?

 

[Anand]

Do you have the fairing? And what traction devices do you have?

Yes, the LFD full rack comes with a fairing as the front cross bar... Those are X-Bull traction boards.

Is this a no drill rack? just unbolt the whats up there and bolt the new rack? I think I have just have the posts, no rack.

Correct, no drill rack install. The front most feet just sit on the channel.

Did you just paint the hardware or replace it?

The hardware was painted with a matte black paint pen

 

[Charlievee]

So far not real happy with my order. If I don't contact lfd by email there is no info on a order that is going on a month now. Nothing listed back ordered on the web site. Every time I contact them ( twice now) I get next week as a response. No phone number on the site, no personal contact. Getting close to pulling the plug do to lack of contact. Fast to take your money, slow to get you the product or real world info on said product delivery. Forcing me to search for other options. I hope I'm in the minority, but a little info would go a long way.

 

[Anand]

I've always expected 4-6wks as being the "standard", and to not really expect constant communication... No point in being told "your rack side rails were bent today" or "we are sending crossbars to powder coat tomorrow"; instead it's more ideal just to advise "hey you rack is shipping today".

 

[007Tacoma]

So far not real happy with my order. If I don't contact lfd by email there is no info on a order that is going on a month now. Nothing listed back ordered on the web site. Every time I contact them ( twice now) I get next week as a response. No phone number on the site, no personal contact. Getting close to pulling the plug do to lack of contact. Fast to take your money, slow to get you the product or real world info on said product delivery. Forcing me to search for other options. I hope I'm in the minority, but a little info would go a long way.

Don't know what you ordered, but all this stuff is (usually) made to order. Almost all fabrication companies (not just LFD) need weeks to fabricate, prep, paint, and ship your order. That being said... I don't know what is going on with the communication side. I have never had an issue with communications between LFD and myself, and this is the first time I've heard of such a problem. maybe [MENTION=136636]jafrush[/MENTION] can help you out when he checks the forum next...

 

[jafrush]

So far not real happy with my order. If I don't contact lfd by email there is no info on a order that is going on a month now. Nothing listed back ordered on the web site. Every time I contact them ( twice now) I get next week as a response. No phone number on the site, no personal contact. Getting close to pulling the plug do to lack of contact. Fast to take your money, slow to get you the product or real world info on said product delivery. Forcing me to search for other options. I hope I'm in the minority, but a little info would go a long way.

I don't know what you ordered without a bit more information, but basically everything on the site is make to order at this point, and like everyone else has said, typical lead times are four to six weeks.

We're a small company and do not have the resources to update everyone on their orders every step of the way. We're also a division of another company, and share machine and production time with the other division. Often we're told that batches of our parts will run one week, but production issues, machines going down, etc, can often push those run slots to the following week.

With all that said, I can cancel your order and issue you a refund if that is what you'd prefer since you're looking at other options.

 

[blksubykid]

I have never had any communication issues with LFD. The Trail crossbars have been running strong these past few months with a RTT on them.