TORCH's Build Thread

[TORCH]

It's about time I get going with a build thread. Time to dig out all the pictures from the last year and put something together.

I purchased the truck for a great deal in the Spring of 2014. The truck had some body damage which allowed me to drive the price down considerably from Blue book . I purchased a new fender and some matching paint on amazon and got it fairly close, good enough for me. From then I started fixing anything that was broken (which turned out to be a lot) and refinishing/refurbishing anything I could salvage. After a year of weekends spent in the garage the truck is safe, reliable, and looks exactly how I want it to. Most everything I've put on this truck aside from select parts has been purchased from craigslist or built custom for the truck.

2003 Limited V8

Suspension:
Camburg 2.5" extended travel coilovers
Camburg Uniball Upper Control Arms
Metal tech stage 2 rear long travel suspension kit:
-MT medium rate dual rate coils 2"
-Icon 2.0 shocks
-MT extended bump stop brackets
-extended rear stainless brake lines


Wheels/Tires:
Stealth Custom Series SR8 w/ TRD center caps
Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac 285/70/17
Sport brake upgrade
Stoptech slotted and drilled rotors

Armor:
Demello Hybrid Sliders
ASFIR front engine & tranny Skid plate

Exterior accessories:
Sport hood
Custom Rola rack & fairing (welded feet and brackets on rack to mount to stock location)
CBI ditch light brackets
Knock-off Rigid 2" LEDs
Hi-lift mount for roof rack w/ hi-lift extreme jack
Quick-fist custom Shovel and axe mount
06-09 LED taillight conversion
06-09 Headlight conversion (in progress)
LED headlights
Rear back-up camera
Wind deflectors
Full 30% Tint

Interior:
Stock navigation system
Husky Liners all around
Fire extinguisher
Gear box
LED interior lights

Engine/Performance:
Gibson catback exhaust
K&N Drop-in filter
HCF delete

 

[TORCH]

The first day I got the truck, followed by immediate CV replacement on the drivers side. In the next few months I installed Gibson exhaust, replaced the tie rods, changed all the fluids in the car and removed the stock XREAS with daystar spacer that came with the truck as it was leaking and worn out. I had no idea about the service history of the vehicle so I replaced things that looked worn and regular service items.


The truck originally came with: Sport hood, daystar spacer lift, 275/70 Goodyear Silent Armors, and MB wheels. Other than that it was pretty much stock.

First lift was 5100 all around with 885s up front and icon 2" rear springs.

Last picture is from when I got rear ended. Turned out to a good deal for me. Purchased a replacement unpainted bumper on ebay and put it on. Used the rest of the money for upgrades.

 

[TORCH]

Random wheeling pics over the last year:

 

[TORCH]

Camburg Coilovers and UCA. Installed at different times but before and after pics included. Had some trouble with the UCA on the passenger side but nothing a saw can't fix.

Also ditch light install and testing.

 

[TORCH]

Latest updates:

Steath Custom Series SR8s with TRD center hub caps on 285/70/17 Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs.

Could not be happier with this setup. I ended up removing my spidertrax as the offset from the SR8s was perfect with the new tires for the look I want. The tires stick out just a bit from the fenders but should still tuck nicely offroad. I was running 275/70/17 Goodyear Silent armors on FJ trail edition wheels. They worked great but I was tired of having the spacers on the truck and wanted to update the look of the truck.

Here are some more pictures:

 

[TORCH]

Went for a quick little photo shoot of the brand new wheels and tires.

 

[dakine_999]

Looks great man!

 

[TORCH]

Looks great man!

Thank you!

 

[TORCH]

Added some peg boards to the sides of the back end to mount stuff. Makes that space more usable for me at least. Also mounted a fire extinguisher just in case shit gets weirdddd.

 

[TORCH]

**THROWBACK** TO THE ROLA RACK BUILD: a quick explanation and some pictures of the build

-Removed stock rack
-Positioned rack on truck where it was as low as possible but would still allow the sunroof to tilt open if desired.
-measured angles between rack and stock mounting sites.
-cut flat-stock steel pieces to fit in channels of stock rack and drilled holes to mount them
-cut additional flat-stock pieces to go between the rack and the mounting channel pieces.
-positioned flat-stock in desired location, draped truck in fiberglass welding blanket and tack welded each bracket between the rack and the mounting pieces.
-carefully removed rack from truck and finished welding both sides of the brackets
-cleaned up with grinder
-welded extender sections together
-more grinding welds
-painted with spray on bedliner
-mounted rack.
-made fairing based on width of rack, sort of a trial-and-error process.

 

[TORCH]

**throwback** rola rack cont.

 

[originalg00kster]

Nice rig man!

 

[ffljingha]

They worked great but I was tired of having the spacers on the truck and wanted to update the look of the truck.

 

[TORCH]

Nice rig man!

Thanks!

 

[sabangzhi]

The first day I got the truck, followed by immediate CV replacement on the drivers side.

 

[wadle5]

Great looking truck. But I did spy some 8 hole fj wheels. Seeing them black is now giving me ideas. So what did you do with your old setup?

 

[TORCH]

Great looking truck. But I did spy some 8 hole fj wheels. Seeing them black is now giving me ideas. So what did you do with your old setup?

Thanks! The old wheel/tire combo went on craigslist and was bought by a guy with a 2010 4R who didn't like the stock 20" wheels on his truck. I got back what I paid for the wheels and some extra for the tires which had some life in them.

In AZ at least there are tons of people selling those wheels. I coated them twice with rustoleum flat black automotive paint from home depot, they held up nicely for just under a year and had no chips or anything in the paint.

 

[TORCH]

I really like what you did with the rola rack! I just ordered the ATO lowering brackets for mine.

Thanks! It turned out pretty good and it's strong enough now I can walk on it without any issues. The lowering brackets are nice though as you can take the rack out if need be fairly easily and it still looks good.

 

[TORCH]

Axe and shovel mount:
-Quick fist tube mounting bracket
-2 quick fist regular clamps
-Fiskars 28" chopping axe
-Generic digging shovel painted black

 

[TORCH]

Got some new parts in for my headlight upgrade:
Aftermarket 06+ blacked out projector headlights
06+ headlight trim pieces
LED bulbs

*Unfortunately one of the projector lenses is out of wack and I will have to wait until a replacement is sent out. Hopefully I'll have all the parts ready to install Friday. Until then I am going to paint the trim pieces with left-over mixed paint from my DIY fender replacement job. I also purchased some generic H11 harnesses from Oreilly to connect the new headight bulbs. I also am waiting on the DRL/turn signal harnesses I purchased off ebay ($8 for 4).