What amperage alternator are you running? I hear that winches really drag down the battery....

 

Stock. No alternator could directly power a winch under heavy load. It draws off the battery so you need a good battery before you need a good alternator.

I have a high output Mean Green on order but not for the winch, for lighting at idle speed.

Lamm

 

I always wanted a goor rear bumper for my 4x4. The 2nd Gen. market has little to offer however. I came upon Big Country Customs rear bumpers for second gens due to a post by Rocket. I liked the looks and it seemed tough so I started saving my pennies. About 9000 pennies later I ordered one.

It took about 3 months to get, the builder was very hard to get a hold of and even worse at communicating. He did know his stuff though and offered a unique product. I had to pay in 2 USPS international money orders as BCC cannot take a credit card.

I ordered a rear bumper with a hitch, shackle tabs, reverse lights and no tire carrier. I also ordered it bare metal and painted it myself.

When it arrived it was well wraped and undamaged. I promptly unwraped it, used a wire brush to remove mill scale, blasted it with brake parts cleaner and primed it with Duplicolor self-etching primer. After that was a coat of POR-15 and then several top coats of Duplicolor heavy duty medium black.

The install was pretty rough. Several of the stock hitch and bumper bolts had to be cut off and there was caked up mud in places I never knew existed.

Once it was off I painted my rear lower quarters with black Herculiner as part of them were exposed and the paint would not match the rest of the truck. There is also some funky lines down there.

The BCC brackets were easy to put in and strong but the bumper itself was very hard to line up with all the holes. 4 of them are actually "boltless" as it was impossible for the bolts to thread into them without having the bumper in a terrible position.

I also ahd to trim my Bushwhacker flares to fit the new bumper. this was accomplished with a pair of trauma sheares. They look pretty good now I think.

When it was on It looked good. It is very slightly crooked left to right and somewhat crooked front to back (this may be my frames fault). One wing also sticks out further than the other. It is tough and what I wanted but for nearly $1000 it needs to be better quality and fit. I know it is hard to build off of the truck but my TJM fits fine...

Overall I give the product a 7 out of 10 and the company a 6 out of 10.

Here are the pics,


Ready to work.


Wheels off, more room to work.


The old bumper, gone!


The BCC with the POR-15 treatment.


All ready for Herculiner.


The 1st coat of herculiner.


The 2nd coat of Herculiner


The frame mounts getting painted.


The BCC frame mounts.


The LOW hanging spare tire.


The Hella lights and internal structure.


A ¼ shot.


From the rear.


The side wings meet with the flares good after some trimming.


From the side, notice it is not level?


A side angle shot.


BCC from the rear.

Lamm

 

After a new rear bumper and a winch my 4Runner took on a sweet new look.

Here are some pics for you to enjoy,


The rear ¼.


I like this pic a lot.


From the side.


The sun looks kinda neat in this one.


Again from the side.


The front ¼.

Lamm

 

Coming up next:

-Why I bought ANOTHER roof rack.
-New warning light setup.
-New exhaust system.
-Massive interior mods!

Lamm

 

I need to be a part of this. Wow.

 

I always liked your 4Runner too.

I have some BIG stuff yet to come also. ARB lockers, snorkel, lighting, etc.

Lamm

 

Yeah that was a good deal. Looks great!

 

Is it near the same departure angle than the original bumper? Better or worse?

 

my 95 has 31's and helped the look, but amazing how much better a little lift makes our 2nd gens..how much was your kit? good lookin truck :fireman:

 

Wow, you've really brought it a long way! Looks great with the new bumpers.
How long are the rear two legs on your sliders? I haven't mounted mine yet and am playing around with different lengths. Once again, the runner is looking sweet.

 

Looks great! i had a terrible time stripping paint off my ARB 3.5 years ago. Time to do it again and will try your methods. I sandblasted wtih DIY from sears. doesn't work too well in hot humid weather. chemical will be the way next time.

 

I'd like to know that too.

 

He did a little writeup on the install and choosing to have them mounted "east coast" style...

 

Thanks guys,

I will measure the legs for you guys. The back and middle are the same, the front is longer than the ones provided by Marlin Crawler.

The rear departure angle is slightly better, about the same as if you removed the hitch.

Lift was Downey rear spring kit, OME shocks ans SAW t-bars plus install for a total of about $750.


Lamm

 

The rear slider legs are 9 and 1/4" for those interested. The scab plate is less than 1/4" on top of that.

Lamm

 

Thanks Lamm.

 

You are welcome.

The long legs give the sliders more leverage on your frame and flex for sure. I came down on the driver side REAL hard once and it flexed up enought to bend the pichweld a little bit. Better that than 2 smashed doors though!

BTW- I can't believe nobody has commented on my nifty headwear while painting.

Lamm

 

How much gap did you have between the pinch weld? Any gussets?

 

No gussets, the gap was pretty small, less than 1/2". The sliders only deflected up enough to deform the pinch weld, they didn't crinkle them to death or anything like that.

Lamm