bleaches
New member
Ah. So the left right wires run independent from each other. Gotcha. I guess I will have to join them up front before running it into the engine bay.
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The Tinman build Thread
- Thread starter bleaches
- Start date
Ah. So the left right wires run independent from each other. Gotcha. I guess I will have to join them up front before running it into the engine bay.
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bleaches
New member
Have done a few mods since the last update. But most recently with the fiberglass version of the TRD pro styled grille I thought I would do a write up.
Been thinking about the original toyota one but just could not stomach close to $1k cad for it. Am really glad ss pro came out with the fiberglass version for much cheaper.
When I first received it, it came wrapped in clear wrap. This left weird tacky residue on it as you San see in the picture. I am sanding it down anyways so it's not a big deal
I saw some other people's post on mounting these and didn't quite like how round the letters on toyota is. So I proceeded to sand it flat. Of course with any fiberglass parts once you do you will run into air bubbles.
Seems like every time I take a pass with the sand paper more imperfections come up. So on with modeling puffy to fill those voids.
As you can see from all the light grey puttied areas there were quite a lot of imperfections. But nothing a few hours of tlc can't fix.
Primed it, painted it black the finished with a satin clear.
Wanting to be a little different I added two thick thin strips of red vinyl I had on hand just to give it a different touch.
I also purchased the amber led marker lights and followed rockcreekoverlands detailed directions regarding add a circuit instead of tapping into the parking lights (still not quite sure what those lights are referring to).
I found they cut a lot cleaner with a small fine toothed hand saw and if you notch it with a knife where you want the cut to happen it could reduce the chances of ****ing up.
Then heat shrink the ends and zap strap it in place on the upper grille piece.
I like to have my cables as clean and tidy as possible so I techflexed and shrink wrapped it so you don't see white and red through the grille.
I soldered the three cables together each and then shrieked wrapped it too
Compared to the stock part
Ripped off the vinyl on the cross piece so I get better adhesion. I then added black vinyl near the edges so when it's on you can't see the gap.
Tested the lights with a 9v to make sure everything works before grounding and connecting to fuse box. Then voila.
I slightly misaligned the cap but am too lazy to pull it off and remount it. Plus I am worried with the uber strong tape I might damage it. But overall it looks a lot nicer than stock.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Been thinking about the original toyota one but just could not stomach close to $1k cad for it. Am really glad ss pro came out with the fiberglass version for much cheaper.
When I first received it, it came wrapped in clear wrap. This left weird tacky residue on it as you San see in the picture. I am sanding it down anyways so it's not a big deal
I saw some other people's post on mounting these and didn't quite like how round the letters on toyota is. So I proceeded to sand it flat. Of course with any fiberglass parts once you do you will run into air bubbles.
Seems like every time I take a pass with the sand paper more imperfections come up. So on with modeling puffy to fill those voids.
As you can see from all the light grey puttied areas there were quite a lot of imperfections. But nothing a few hours of tlc can't fix.
Primed it, painted it black the finished with a satin clear.
Wanting to be a little different I added two thick thin strips of red vinyl I had on hand just to give it a different touch.
I also purchased the amber led marker lights and followed rockcreekoverlands detailed directions regarding add a circuit instead of tapping into the parking lights (still not quite sure what those lights are referring to).
I found they cut a lot cleaner with a small fine toothed hand saw and if you notch it with a knife where you want the cut to happen it could reduce the chances of ****ing up.
Then heat shrink the ends and zap strap it in place on the upper grille piece.
I like to have my cables as clean and tidy as possible so I techflexed and shrink wrapped it so you don't see white and red through the grille.
I soldered the three cables together each and then shrieked wrapped it too
Compared to the stock part
Ripped off the vinyl on the cross piece so I get better adhesion. I then added black vinyl near the edges so when it's on you can't see the gap.
Tested the lights with a 9v to make sure everything works before grounding and connecting to fuse box. Then voila.
I slightly misaligned the cap but am too lazy to pull it off and remount it. Plus I am worried with the uber strong tape I might damage it. But overall it looks a lot nicer than stock.
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bleaches
New member
Thanks! I followed Rock creek overland's guide here:
https://www.rockcreekoverland.com/single-post/2016/02/29/Mod-Corner-Amber-marker-lights-in-grille
got the lights from amazon as per his link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...TQNF6&linkId=dd03af5b7ed689b7957ccde5f861ef50
bleaches
New member
After much debate and consideration I decided to give up on waiting for the BFG KM3s and decided to go for the Falken Wildpeak MT01 in 285/70/r17.
I got it in preparation for snowmaggedon this year but also for the look of course.
These f***ers are heavy! The shipping weight says 68.5 lbs. Lifting it into the rack was a fun experience standing atop a ladder lol.
Finding someone to install these tires this week was a nightmare. Everyone is frantically trying to get their winter tires on before the snow hits. Oh Canada:canada:
These guys were good at getting them installed in record time at 1010tires. Can't praise them enough.
I watched them balance the tires and it seems like it was all over the place. Some were betweek 5-8 oz some were 1-3 oz. Not particularly odd i guess considering how heavy these tires were. Once mounted the staff and I all went Daaaammmnnn~ Rightfully so.
I haven't had a chance to drive it much on the highway yet since I only installed it yesterday. But compared to past Mud terrains I've had the pleasure of enduring on road trips. These are surprisingly quiet. Very very quiet low hum. In fact my roof rack with light bar wind whistle is much louder than the tires themselves lol.
I did the fender liner mod and pushed the mud flaps back a bit with a heat gun. Front does not rub at all and has a very very slight rub on the mud flaps still. I think a full forward caster alignment will take care of it.
Note: For those of you doing the fender liner mod. Instead of using snips to cut the bumper cover as per toyota's TRD Pro instructions. It is significantly easier to just use a brand new box cutter and just shave at it bit by bit. This creates a super clean and smooth cut compared to the snips with sand paper.
I got it in preparation for snowmaggedon this year but also for the look of course.
These f***ers are heavy! The shipping weight says 68.5 lbs. Lifting it into the rack was a fun experience standing atop a ladder lol.
Finding someone to install these tires this week was a nightmare. Everyone is frantically trying to get their winter tires on before the snow hits. Oh Canada:canada:
These guys were good at getting them installed in record time at 1010tires. Can't praise them enough.
I watched them balance the tires and it seems like it was all over the place. Some were betweek 5-8 oz some were 1-3 oz. Not particularly odd i guess considering how heavy these tires were. Once mounted the staff and I all went Daaaammmnnn~ Rightfully so.
I haven't had a chance to drive it much on the highway yet since I only installed it yesterday. But compared to past Mud terrains I've had the pleasure of enduring on road trips. These are surprisingly quiet. Very very quiet low hum. In fact my roof rack with light bar wind whistle is much louder than the tires themselves lol.
I did the fender liner mod and pushed the mud flaps back a bit with a heat gun. Front does not rub at all and has a very very slight rub on the mud flaps still. I think a full forward caster alignment will take care of it.
Note: For those of you doing the fender liner mod. Instead of using snips to cut the bumper cover as per toyota's TRD Pro instructions. It is significantly easier to just use a brand new box cutter and just shave at it bit by bit. This creates a super clean and smooth cut compared to the snips with sand paper.
bleaches
New member
Superbly. I only see some color differences under where some of the stickers were after they peeled off. But other than that it looks as good as day one. These textured wraps are tough as nails it seems.
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Nice Rig! Where did you source the upper grill for the SS Pro? Do I have to hit up the dealership?
I'm surprised I haven't seen your truck in person yet.
bleaches
New member
Thanks Grimace! I sourced it from one of those toyota parts stores online I believe through either florida or texas. The CDN dealers up here or I should say parts wholesaler price gouges like crazy so do not go that way.
I am generally around the Vancouver Richmond areas and occasionally venture out to north langley to the range. If you see me on the road please wave!
bleaches
New member
Thankfully we haven't seen real snow yet, but I am expecting this winter to be pretty bad for Vancouver standards so snow grippage review will be down the pipe soon. From what I have read in other reviews I have high hopes for these.
Thanks! I'm located in the Tri-Cities. There's a new Group on facebook. BC 5gen 4runners. There are a lot of there now. Maybe we'll see you there too.
Explore604
New member
That wrap is uber sweet! I don't really like wraps but that is the best I've seen.
Kinda lost me with the red accent stripes though. Takes away from the slick, clean, look IMO.
Very cool truck.
Kinda lost me with the red accent stripes though. Takes away from the slick, clean, look IMO.
Very cool truck.
bleaches
New member
Thanks for your kind words. I have a 50/50% of people that like/dislike the red accents haha.
bleaches
New member
Got the alignment done a couple of weeks ago and finally got rid of the rub on the flaps. Pushed it out on stock UCAs to 3.8.
Now is time to figure out what is the best tire pressure to run on the road and off road. For these aggressive mud terrain tires do ya'll like to make sure the contact patch goes all the way to the outer ledge like regular tires?
Now is time to figure out what is the best tire pressure to run on the road and off road. For these aggressive mud terrain tires do ya'll like to make sure the contact patch goes all the way to the outer ledge like regular tires?
