AWSOME!! One word describes everything,the thread,build mods and mad mad skills. 34 pages into it to see the tire rack I wanted. Only 1 week to late Just recieved my Iron Pig spindle and latch. Guess we'll see what Scotty can do w/it. And to add insult to injury just sold my 89 Turbo!Dammit! Maybe i'll get lucky and he won't come up w/the rest of the money and i'll get it back. Hope to see his one at CO4RunnerJamboree.

 

Thanks Man!

Trust me, the list never gets any shorter. For everything I check off my list I add one or two more things. The details are the killer but it's just part of it!

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the build! I was able to salvage the Thule rack (after I caught it on a tree branch and it got ripped off the truck) and it will be used for transporting my Tent-Cot to the campsite. The bars suck at catching tree branches so they will be removed once I set up camp.

I still have a plan for a snowboard / bike carrier, I was given an old Thule bike rack that used to attach to a spare tire. I'm going to weld some 2" square steel that will slide into the receiver I built into the spare tire carrier (that's why I added it ), in the winter I will attach some Yakima Powderhound ski / snowboard holders to the arms of the bike rack. I'm also going to build a removable cargo tray that holds my camping gear, along with a couple gas cans, that slides into the receiver.

 

Thanks!

I'm sure Scotty will come up with something great for you! A swing out tire carrier is going to be easier to get into the back than a fold down, but I like how much body protection the fold down carrier adds.

I'll be at the Jambo so swing by and say Hi!

 

It seems like I'm always working on the 4Runner, but here's a couple of the smaller things I've been wanting to take care of.

The factory graffics were driving me crazy, they were beat to crap and had peeled in several places. I thought about installing a new set but the same thing would happen and the tree branches would tear them up. I also thought about removing them, but the paint would not match and plain red seemed a little boring.

I decided to mask off the lines and use bedliner over them. I used the same bedliner I used on the top (Duplicolor). After some light sanding and carefull masking I had the following.

 

I also found a place to mount my Hi-Lift.



And I made some panels to hold my 6x9 speakers, along with some stops to keep the cooler in place.

 

I like that, a lot. Where do you get those mounts? They are so expensive wherever i go to get them!

 

I'm guessing your talking about the Hi-Lift mount? I made my own and welded them to the stock roll bar, it does the job and it's a LOT cheaper than the fancy ones.

 

My favorite 4Runner ever. You are an inspiration to the rest of us!

 

Haha, yeah I was. Man I wish I had a way to learn how to weld, then have a place to weld, because that would save so much money and leave me so much room to customize.

 

as for the graphics, did you use just one coat? i have been looking for a way to either liven the graphics on mine, or get rid of them, but, like you said, it would leave 2 different colors of green, and i would have to do a full paint job. the bed liner idea is a great idea as i am trying to clean up the appearance of my rig by removing chrome trim and random frills etc...

 

I put one heavy coat on, then 5 or 10 minutes later I added a lighter coat to get the shade of color and texture I wanted. The stuff drys faster than paint and is pretty easy to work with. Just be carefull when you pull the tape off.

 

It's been a while, but I've been busy. I had a whole list of stuff I wanted to get done before the CO4RJ but not as much time as I wanted. Maintenance was the most important but I also wanted to do something about the rear fenders. Rust was really starting to eat them alive thanks to the chrome trim that used to around the edge of the fender. I also wanted to trim them enough that no matter how flexed out I am the 35's will have plenty of room, and if I ever step up to 37's there will be minimal rubbing if any. But, I wanted them to look stock and follow the body lines as much as possible.

Here's the before pictures.

 

I think that'll look just fine man. Stupid chrome crap trim rings...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, just took mine off and guess what I found...

 

Then it was time to start cutting and welding. I added 1/4" round rod for extra strength.

 

Next was the front and the the rear of the fenders. I also cut down the rear bumper and exhaust pipe (which has been cut and smoothed out even more than the pictures show).

 

And here it is with paint! I'm still debating whether or not to clean it up with Bondo, it looks pretty clean without it. If you hit the fender on a rock with Bondo it's going to chip, crack and fall out. It also makes repairing that damage even harder. With it being all metal I think repairs should be a little easier, I guess we'll see?

 

Looks real nice man!!

 

As usual the CO4RJ was a blast! Here's a couple pictures in French Creek on Holy Cross, the rest of the pictures from the event can be found here https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f100...2010-a-217299/

 

I hate those things, not the smartest idea Toyota came up with.

Thanks!