The Smokey Build

[Rockdawg84]

So I have been patiently waiting (not really lol) for my sweet birthday present to come. And this showed up in my email! woot woot

Bumper shipping by Sam Wright, on Flickr

In other matters. I have been sitting on a new to me set of seats from a 2001 and new to me Carpet so while I had everything out I decided to to add a little bit of sound deadening.
Untitled by Sam Wright, on FlickrUntitled by Sam Wright, on Flickr

 

[Rockdawg84]

Look what showed up today:cheers:

New Front bumper by Sam Wright, on Flickr

 

[cekman]

Great build. Really miss the chrome bumpers.

 

[Rockdawg84]

Well it has been a crazy 6 months without an update. Well I haven't got to do much to the Runner or to got to go out and wheel. But over the last couple of days I finally got the chance to dig into my front bumper. First had to modify the sides so that I could use my Ramsey REP9000.









Then I cut a piece of plate to fill in the front.




got it all tacked in and secure



Then I decided to put a plate on the back of the bumper to make a box around the Winch. This should give some good structural support if there was ever a side impact on the bumper.





And then the most drastic and boy was it hard to cut those beautiful welds. But I am convinced that in the end I will be very happy.





I still have a lot of grinding and finish welding and then it will go to paint. But at least I will have it done. My wife joked with me today that this was my birthday present in January and I might have it on the Runner by my next Birthday. She could be right. lol

 

[fourfive]

I still have a lot of grinding and finish welding and then it will go to paint. But at least I will have it done.

Good work on the bumper improvement. Appreciate the pics showing what all is involved to make it better looking.

 

[Rockdawg84]

Good work on the bumper improvement. Appreciate the pics showing what all is involved to make it better looking.

Thanks It's a fun project. More pics to come.

 

[Rockdawg84]

So after work today I got to work on the bumper a little more.

finished welding everything and I know that my welds are not pretty but the are strong and they will grind out beautifully. LOL .




then I got grinding and man is there a lot of grinding. So I am using a miller 4.5" grinder with 5 amphr batteries and a 40 grit flapper disk. And my battery charger can't keep up. So while my batteries were charging I decided to test fit the bumper, and man does it fit nice.







Also while it was bolted up I decided to mark and drill holes for my turn signals.







And now back to the grinder. LOL

 

[a4runner97]

Hey do you have any info on what you did to clear all your shifters for the triple sticks? Did you cut and weld the sticks? Or just bend them?

Thanks!

 

[meeceboy78]

That is an awesome bumper. reminds me of the old bentup fab bumpers. nice work

 

[Rockdawg84]

Hey do you have any info on what you did to clear all your shifters for the triple sticks? Did you cut and weld the sticks? Or just bend them?

Thanks!

It was a lot of bending. It's a pain to do a little at a time and keep putting them back in and out. make sure you do it with the boots on as they add an additional need for bending to clear everything. No need to cut and weld in my opinion but I know that a lot of guys do.

 

[Rockdawg84]

That is an awesome bumper. reminds me of the old bentup fab bumpers. nice work

Thank you! it is a fun project, and I had a killer foundation to work from.

 

[CrawlerOnABudget]

Sweet build man. I want to dual case mine someday. It's not on the immediate need right now though as alaska has no real rocks lol. I'll be moving back to northern california in about a year but being locked in the rear with 33s will cover me until I SAS it.

 

[Rockdawg84]

Sweet build man. I want to dual case mine someday. It's not on the immediate need right now though as alaska has no real rocks lol. I'll be moving back to northern california in about a year but being locked in the rear with 33s will cover me until I SAS it.

Dual cases are one of the best mods you can do to improve offroading capability. A SAS will be sweet on your Runner. Make sure to document it with a build thread.

 

[Rockdawg84]

getting a little closer:




Still need to do:

1. get fairlead bolted in
2. wire the turn signals
3. install the winch
4. mount the winch control
5. install grill

 

[onemanarmy]

you don't have a corded grinder? They are cheap and worth every single penny.

I keep 3, each with different discs.

 

[Rockdawg84]

you don't have a corded grinder? They are cheap and worth every single penny.

I keep 3, each with different discs.

I burned up my corded grinder a couple of months ago and haven't had a chance to replace it. I just need to get a couple of 9amphour batteries and I will be good to go. LOL

 

[Rockdawg84]

Got a little further with the bumper.







Still need to:

1. mount and hook up winch controller

2. get Winch Rope spooled

3. hook up turn signals

4. be patient for the 4-6 week wait on my Pittbull Rockers....... :behindsofa:

 

[Rockdawg84]

I have been running the Front Range Off Road rear full float kit for the last year and have loved it. The only down side is that I lost my rear ABS which is not a huge deal but several times this year I have had the rear end lock up in the rain (rare in AZ except this year) and it messes with my speedometer and the ABS light is on. Well each of these are no big deal but they collectively bug me. I have had a rear axle seal leaking and so I thought that while I have the rear end apart to fix the seal I might as well fix the ABS. I have been told that it is not possible but that is only a challenge. My neighbor who is a great mechanic and a former machinist offered to help me so first we had to decide how to get a tone ring on the axle. We decided to machine an interference fit collar that would hold the tone ring. So some 1-3/4" .250 wall DOM and we were off to the races. Cut some rings and then began by opening the inside to a .003" interference for the Axle shaft and then turned down the outside to be a .002" interference with the tone ring. Then we pressed the collar into the center of the tone ring then they went into the oven for 30 minutes and then we drove them onto the shafts. Tomorrow everything will go back together and hopefully all the ABS problems will be solved and I can move on to more fun things. :lookout:

 

[Rockdawg84]

So it is all back together and everything sealed up and so I took the Runner for a drive and I hadn't gotten even a whole block when the ABS light went off. Also my speedometer worked exactly how it should have. So happy to have this checked off the list. :lookout:

 

[Road Bull]

So it is all back together and everything sealed up and so I took the Runner for a drive and I hadn't gotten even a whole block when the ABS light went off. Also my speedometer worked exactly how it should have. So happy to have this checked off the list. :lookout:

Well done. Good thinking outside the box. Really dig this build.