if yo uhave any surface rust, you etch the steel before priming. if you don't, then the primer won't adhere as well.

unless, of course, you use a rust-prohibitive primer that's self-etching. then you do both in one step.

i prefer self-etching primers myslef...

 

hah i did used rust-prohibitiver primer without even knowing that was better

im putting mine on tonight rain or no rain..

 

Anyone else with a 86-95 skid mounted? Have you cut an oil drain hole? If so, how about some pictures from the back of the skid and below, along with some measurements of where you put the hole and what size.

 

I was looking at it and decided not to cut the hole. It's a LONG way from the drain plug to the skid, and figured there would be oil everywhere anyways.

Of course, this winter when I have to have an oil change and it's cold, windy, and raining, I'll probably wish I had one so I could take it to Lube Stop and have the oil changed...

 

It looked a long way to me also! (As you can see in the above posting) It seemed that a 2" hole would be too small and possibly the wrong angle to get a socket w/extension on the drain plug. I think the diff is in the way for that anyway. It would probably take an end wrench and sticking your arm up through the hole to get the plug out.

I always keep enough room in my garage to work on my vehicles. When the wife broke the garage door 3-4 years ago, we replaced it with an insulated door. Helps a bunch. One space heater is plenty to work in the garage regardless of the weather.

 

Yeah, that's pretty much my conclusion, was the 1-1/2" or so hole that Bud does on the later ones (he said he sized them for a socket with extension plus a couple fingers) would be far too small, and it would have to be so big as to compromise the protection.

I think it may be far enough up that you could get a flexible funnel under it and still change the oil without removing the skid...

 

TC,

Do you have any pictures of your Bellypan/xmem installed? I saw the pictures of the clearance, but haven't really seen what it looks like in its entirety. I should be getting an email from FedEx soon that mine will be delivered.

Thanks!

[EDIT] Just realized that you got the crossmember/skid combo instead of the crossmember/bellypan combo. That's why you got yours so soon. I don't think Bud had any of the 1st Gen belly pans in stock.

 

Right - and with how things are covered between the front skid and the tranny crosmember skid, not sure if I'm gonna get the bellypan...

 

ok theyre on.

i have to get rid of that decal.. the stupid .com part came off. also need to touchup the parts that scraped during install.






doesnt look like oil changes will be easy or fun with these on

 

Nice Lee.

How long did it take you to get the plates bolted on and did you run into any problems. Is the steering rack mount needed for '01 4Runners? I haven't had a chance to bolt mine onto my '01 yet.

 

ran into some issues with the steering rack part... it took me and a buddy 1.5 hr total.

that was a lot of pushing and shoving and holding because these things are SO HEAVY.

we stared at the rack for a bit to figure out how to angle things, but overall it wasnt as bad as it couldve been.

 

Lee,

did you not order the skid with a hole for the drain plug?...that should make changing the oil easier?

-B

 

i did, but it still doesnt look easy!

 

Draining the actual oil probably won't make as much of a mess as removing the oil filter will...

 

That's what I was thinking, it's goning to be HUGE spill and splash every time. I think Toyota is going to be doing my oil changes alot more often now, I'll let them figure it out, LOL.


<--them ME-->

 

This is a well known and painful design of our motors. But I would rather do it than anyone else. I talked to a dealership mechanic once and he said that they just let it spill all over the place and then warn the owner that some smoking is normal as the oil burns off.

I rigged up a funnel attached to a piece of flexible tubing that I hold under the filter when I remove it. I would say it catches about 95% of the oil the spills when removing the filter. Definately better than the alternative.

 

Yeah, I don't think I'd want to depend on some tech to get my plates off and on and get the drain plug tightened to the right torque. But then I've been changing my oil almost every time it's been changed for the last 20 years.

 

Oh yeah by no means do i ever trust my truck to the Stealership, I do the oil change w/ them durring their toy drive ralley when it cost $10 and a toy, but never on a regular basis. I'm thinking it's time to invest in a filter relocation kit.

 

same here... any links to some?

 

I use a plastic bag around the filter to catch the overflow. That plus amsoil & long interval changes helps alot.