The Mahalas........ BUILD

Well...........
It will take longer then a month and I'm not sure what the policy on NSFW is around here, but I'll see what can be done. :whistle:


P.S. That made beer come out my nose.... took like 5 min to clean my keyboard, well worth it! :thumb3:
 
i deleted my 1st post because i wanted your page to look better. not having one post in between yours. but man this thing has come a long way! you really do have some great hook ups and tools.
 
Thanks Shoot,
I didn't notice it but you're right, it definitely flows better.

As for tools and hook ups.... When you spend so much time in the industry you tend to accumulate both. Doesn't hurt that my dad and I own a body shop :lol:
 
Before putting more work in to the wheels I decided a test fit was required.
1'' wider, not sure what the offset or back spacing is but the inner lip is 3/8 further in then stock 5 starts.
I actually got a little paranoid the tire might rub on the upper control arm so I borrowed my neighbors tire machine again and mounted one of the tires.
Oh ya I forgot to mention my tires came in. $770 CDN to my door. Awesome deal for up here.
265/75/16 If they were available in a 255/85 I would of gone that route but I really didn't want to pick up an extra 2'' width for a theoretical .5'' clearance gain with a 285.
I do have to say tho.... I thought they would be bigger...... :shrug:







 
Last weekend while cleaning the wheels I totally ****ed up and ruined the finish. I left strong chemicals on for too long and they oxidized the shit out of the aluminum, deep spots that would require way to much sanding and materiel removal to fix.
Yesterday work was a little slower, after realizing there was no way the wheels will polish up I decided to paint them. Even the weather was on my side, right about the time I was masking and getting ready to spray the sun came out and bumped up the temperature. I'm way happier with the finish even tho it wont be as durable.


BEFORE




AFTER








Damage after the first trip.


 
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BrianSD_42 said:
Looks good. What type of paint / color?
Click to expand...


It's the basic dupli-color silver and clear.
I wouldn't call it paint tho..... It's more of a silver flake in a spray can. If you're too far away it goes on dry and gives a sand paper finish. If you're too close and move just a little too slow it runs like crazy. Most pain in the ass paint I've ever used!
Come to think of it maybe I was treating it too much like a single stage enamel and should of done a dryer spray and let the clear do the work, but since I never used it before and defiantly never sprayed a clear on my rims....
What ever, good enough and it was cheap.




Also painted the center caps.





One of the runs, looks worse in person but wont be that noticeable.


 
Time for an up date.

The suspension actually went in almost 3 months ago, but...... since the truck has been at a buddy's place getting armor built........ :evil:

It was more work then I thought, happy I had a extra pair of very capable hands to help out. Thanks Dan, you saved my ass.
Here's the pics.











This was our home made ball joint press. Lots of lube and it did the job nicely.












 
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Tundra brakes. How could I not :rockon:








Sway bars.... who needs sway bars?









Out for a quick test drive.









After math.








 
Around the first of march, literally 4 days after finishing the suspension install, I drove the Runner to my buddy's shop for armor. No sway bars, no alignment, no test drive..... I'm jumping on the highway and bombing it out of town with only my ride back following me.
Geoff quotes me "2-3 weeks no problem". Now, I'm thinking more on the realistic side. It's a shit load of work and if he's saying 2-3 weeks, it will be like a month.....
2-3 months later 2.5 ish. I'm picking up my truck the night before packing for my annual bear hunting trip. I knew there was no way I'd have the truck ready in 1-2 days so I bummed a ride.

During the suspension install there was allot of discussion if I shouldn't build the bumpers my self. Dan was really persuasive and willing to help, but it just wasn't in the cards.
There is no way we would of built such a nice final product, not from lack of fab skills, but from a lack of experience, and most of all a lack of tools to work with such thick gauge steel.

I've seen the work before and heard nothing but good things. However I was still paranoid as f*#@ about dropping of my truck. Not because I was worried any thing bad was going to happen but more so will he build it to my standard/strength.

I'm extremely happy with the final product. Yes there is things I could pick apart or complain about, but it's not the stuff I was concerned about so I don't care.


Don't have too many pics right now, but I will take a whole bunch once every thing comes off for painting.

















 
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Parking in my usual spot today I heard a huge clunk. Some quick investigation revealed that my drive shat balancing weight contacted the gas tank skid....
Ok no problem I got a BFH and made some space. " But wait this isn't even flexing... "
borrowed my neighbors forklift for 5 min and now I need some advice...









Gas tank I'm not too concerned about. I'll move it over as much as possible and the rest a hammer or cutter will solve.
What I'm concerned about is, am I bottoming out my shocks or is the junk yard bump stop enough?






 
The shock was bottoming out with the bump stops.
I tacked a 1.5" spacer made from 2.5" exhaust pipe on top of the base plate and tested again.
I was thinking of going back to the factory ones with a spacer, but after chatting with my dad we decided the softer ones were a better choice. Mind you we didn't realize just how soft they are.









If I'm measuring right (and I think I am from what I looked up online) the 1.5" spacer is enough.
This is with no sway bar and lifting the other wheel off the ground.









This is the finished product.







Oh and there is about 19'' of travel on the out side of the wheel.





 
Moved the gas tank and skid plate over.
Probably could of gotten some more out of it but I was worried about rubbing the frame (even after massaging the gas tank itself) and the break line.
Big hammer came out and I should be fine now. There is enough space for the zerk fitting and if I ever do flex it out off road enough to hit I'll go back and figure something else out.






























 
Thanks man. I'm very happy/surprised how well they turned out.
I don't have a pic but originally I mounted them with the center cap..... :toilet:
Seriously, it was horrible worse then the worst "so ugly only a mother could love" They had that GM wheel cross with a lifted mall crawler/ rims on a mini van look. I can't really describe it but when I installed them my hart sank.... "All that work, already balanced..... f*@# me"
 
After the body lift before sending the truck off for bumpers I had to cut a notch so that the spare tire is removable. But now with the new bumper its causing a problem again. Rather then making an ugly cut I decided to relocate the cross member and thereby also giving me more clearance.




BEFORE



AFTER





Single handedly removed and installed a 123 lbs bumper..... well with the help of a lift.










Moved about 2 inches







I hope the crank assembly never breaks cause I doubt there is enough room to undo the bolts.














Since I was already here I welded the nuts just in case. Ive dealt with a few of these broken before and I would need to cut the bolt off.






Yes I chose the side with the nicer welds for the pic.





And fixed that ugly cut in the end panel.

 
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