bigwapitijohnny

Well I am back again with some new pics of the rig. I have waited until my tires wore out, then I pulled the trigger. I decided to go with Sonoran Steel's system #1.2 lift; due to the meticulous R&D, as well as Steve's patience throughout this whole process. He was gracious enough to answer my questions repeatedly throughout the past 1 1/2 years regarding wheelin' and getting my rig to perform optimally in the field. BIG PROPS OUT TO STEVE!

Anyway, here is where I left the 'obsessive progression'. Sliders got welded to the frame, and took the fender flares off and sprayed Ameraguard in their place...



I took my rig back to the shop in Paola, Kansas (TechtaFab). Duane started the process at 8:00 am, and I was on my way to the tire shop by 12:15 am. BIG THANKS GOES OUT TO DUANE! Fortunately, my rig 'wintered' in NM with my parents for the first 10 years of it's life, and the dismantling process was not as bad as I had anticipated. I sprayed PBblaster on all of the visible bolts, all except the rear shock nuts...Here are a couple of shots of the install...



I paid Steve to assemble the front struts for me. He offers this for a VERY nominal fee. It was well worth it to do this...



Duane modding my front skid plate...



All in all, the directions were very well laid out, and easy to follow. Again, PAY STEVE TO ASSEMBLE THE STRUTS! This was a Huge time saver...Did I mention that Duane's shop has all of the goodies to do any job you need? Seriously, if you are needing ANY work done, Duane will get it done and get it done right...

I did not want to go with an M/T tire due to this being my daily driver. In addition, I did not want to increase my tire size due to mileage/power concerns. Since my rig is armored, I figure the rake will even out quickly as the rear cruiser coils settle. The tires I decided on was the 32" Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revos. I chose these over the Firestone Destination ATs, BF Goodrich All terrain T/A KOs, and the Nitto Terra Grapplers. This was a tough choice, but I got a sweetheart deal for these at the local Firestone dealer that I could not refuse. Anyway, onto the pics...



CV angle looking good...

As a comparison to my wife's 2004 Sequoia...



~ BEFORE ~



~ AFTER ~

I also got my grille and rear 'wing' coated with the Ameraguard coating...



Next 'mod' will be an expedition style rear cabinet drawer system...YIKES!

Regards,

BWJ

02_Limited

Man for a DD your rig is pretty decked out! It looks real nice. You are gonna love the Revos. They are stupid good in the rain for some reason.

Isn't the purpose of the 1.2 lift to have it sitting a little higher in the back?

bigwapitijohnny

Thanks for the kind words...

There will be a rake for sure, but when I get my cabinet drawers with all my tools, I'm hoping the rake will even out...

Regards,

BWJ

BajaRunner

Looks great.... I like the look of nice clean suspension components

CRafferty

Shweet rig.

MillerPKA

I've been waiting for this rig to get up off the ground since you first put the bumpers on. Congrats on following through with your endeavors looks great

Elton

looks good someday id love a lift and nice bumpers

Bandit Runner

Lift looks great! I'm jealous.

Ron Helmuth

good before and after shots.

Good looking lift. I have yet to hear bad comments about any Sonoran lift.


Didn't you just get extend a fender Bushwackers about a year back? Did you sell those off? I was picturing your ride in red... perhaps I am mixing you up with someone else.

bigwapitijohnny

Ron,

Thanks for the kind words. I did take the flares off of my rig. They are sitting in my garage right now collecting dust...I would like to sell these off if anyone wants to buy them...Not sure about the red color, these are black...

Regards,

BWJ

MillerPKA

Interested, how much. Everything included? Are they the extend a fenders?

Ron Helmuth

please let MillerPKA have firsts.

I just ponied up for some myself last week. I was able to find them at a price I could justify.

thanks for the confirm- I meant I thought your ride was a red Runner. Obviously I was picturing some one else.

emptypockets

Sweet looking rig! Looks like you did everything right the first time, which will save you money in the long term.

hector200sx

lookin good

Roland4x4

bigwapitijohnny, a question, what exactly measure of tire did you have????

Looks fine your 4R.

TC4RNR

johnny,

i have to tell you the rake will be there for a long while, first, steve's kit comes with brand new coils, it takes years for them to soften up. secondly, while you got your custom rear bumper, you lost the weight of the stock tow hitch, that's about 80 lbs of weight, so you're pretty even on the weight in the rear.

oh, btw, did you say you got SS1.2?? oh, yeah...

bigwapitijohnny

Roland4x4,

I went from a 265/70/r16 Goodyear Forteras to 265/75/r16 Bridgestone dueler A/T revos...



TC4RNR,

Yeah, I know that the rake will be there for quite sometime, however, I am about to get a drawer system in the back with all the tools...Hopefully, this will level the rake out some...

Regards,

BWJ