dropzone

iTrader: (6)

So my bumper is sorta like yours, in a distant sorta way but going through the turbo build and seeing the reference pic I think I am gonna follow your example and mount 4 HID's like your down the road.
Hopefully I'll be able to find 2 floods/fogs and a couple of pencil beams. Not even sure if you have a choice with HID's just getting to the research stage.
But for me the big attraction is tons of light output with low amp draw.

Ardent

I knew I saw it in the Springs! Saw it going NB on Powers the other day. Glad to hear it stayed in CO!

Congrats Seven! You've got an amazing rig there.

Dirt- Looking forward to seeing the new one in action. Won't be at the Jambo this year though...

DIRTCO

I'm not sure what style HID's I had, but I think they were the Euro style. Pencil beams would be cool, but they might be overkill. Unless your driving super fast there's no way your going to out drive the lights I had. No matter what you get, your going to be happy!

DIRTCO

Thanks! Sucks that you can't make it to the Jambo. If your ever up in Summit let me know, I'm always down for some wheeling (once I have a rig).

DIRTCO

I got the body lift installed. I hate body lifts, but with a 3rd Gen you don't have a whole lot of choices. I want this rig to set as low as possible without creating a bunch of work, but I couldn't talk myself into ordering a 1.5" or 2.0". So I ordered a 1" kit from Toytec, it should give me a little more clearace without being noticeable.

I didn't bother taking any pictures during the process, I'm sure there are plenty out there and it's a straight forward install.

Here's a couple after pictures. The tires are 275/70R16 (which the Red Rock calculator measures at 31.2x10.8x16), they are pretty much a 32" tire.

DIRTCO

I would love to get some input on this

On 3rd gen 4Runners and Tacomas you need to install a spacer at the steering rag joint. The spacer has holes drilled in it for the longer bolts, and some voids machined for the studs coming off the steering rack side. The voids do not go all the way through the spacer. I installed it with the wheels straight ahead, and it looked like this (but at a lower angle).



I took it for a drive and the steering felt like it had a little more resistance to it. I brought it back to the shop and loosened the slip shaft to release any tension that might be stored. I also looked at the spacer from another angle and it looks like this.



The studs are bottoming out in the machined voids and stressing the rag joint. So... I'm sure it costs more to machine a void, than to drill a hole. Does anyone know why they are constructed this way? Is this done on purpose? In stock form there is no pressure on the studs. I'm not complaining about the product, it just seems odd to me. I plan on calling them Monday to see what they say.

DIRTCO

While I was working on the body lift Santa showed up in his sweet brown truck!

DIRTCO

My Budbuilt skidplate also came in, but I'm missing the belly skid.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

thanks for the info on the Euro beams...gonna do some research on beam patterns..been awhile
you are right, my truck will never go fast enough for pencil beams

DIRTCO

Here's a picture with just the headlights (IPF housings, PIAA bulbs)



And the HIDs



They are super bright! (almost too bright) I'm sure you will be happy them

ToyoTech559

dont know anything bout the spacer but the new goodies look fun. 1inch bl will clear 35s?

wakkjobb

This has to be the first washer/dryer I've seen in any shop... you are quite the clean-freak, eh? That is a pretty unique color, are you going to keep it 2-tone?
We met the new owner of your turbo Runner yesterday at the dog park; might be working a deal to buy his friend's bobbed 87 4Runner... which will get 3.4 goodness later.

>>Dan

DIRTCO

No, not really Sonoran Steel's website says you need a 1.5" BL to run 35's, most people run a 2" BL. The problem is I hate bodylifts. I thought about running a 2" BL, but the only way I could talk myself into it was to also raise the entire drivetrain/gastank 1"-2". It would be really cool because I could have close to a flat belly, but it was also going to be an incredible amount of work and there were a few issues that I didn't have answers for (until I tore into it).

After looking through hundreds of pages of built 3rd gens I found that all of my favorites rigs were on 35's with no body lifts. But... running 35's with no BL takes a lot of cutting and being that mine is a Limited w/ the flares it adds even more work. Heres a couple of examples.











I went back and forth for days, but I decided that I would take the middle road and I bought the 1" BL. I will still have to trim a lot and I might have to tub the firewall but it's only 1/2" difference from what the Sonoran Steel site says.

I can see why most people run 33's, and if I did the normal Summer wheeling thing that's what I would run. The problem is I do a TON of snow wheeling (it’s my favorite!) and where I live the Summer wheeling season is only 3 months long (A-Basin still has a 80" base). A 285 is not going to offer me the flotation and clearance I need.

ToyoTech559

im sure youll make it work. .5 inch doesnt seem to much and im sure you might get away with it.... im not a fan of BL as well but if thats what it takes for the 35s, it must be done. anyways i love snow wheeling too. wish it was snow all year or similar to yours, only have summer 3 mounts of the year lol

DIRTCO

We wash our own rags, it's kind of a pain but it's nice to have the washer and dryer for super dirty stuff.

I wasn't a huge fan of the color when I first bought it, but now I love it. On a sunny day the metallic paint looks like copper, you really need to see it in person but this picture is a good example.



The two tone is going to stay, but I might paint the fender flares and cladding. I want to color match the bumpers and sliders to the fender flares but it's an odd dark silver and I have not found anything that's close in color. I need to touch up the bumpers and sliders when they get chipped/scratched, so I might have to repaint the flares/cladding in a lighter silver that matches the bumpers. This would also let me touch up the flares when they get scratched (being that they stick out a couple inches they will get more abuse than the rest of the paint).

It seems like Ryan really likes the 4Runner! Theres several people that have spotted it out and about in the Colorado Springs area. It really makes me happy that it stayed in Colorado and is being used the way it should!

Good luck buying the 87'!

DIRTCO

Thanks, I'll make it work one way or another!

The snow gets old after a while, but the wheeling is fun and those three months of summer are AWESOME!

DIRTCO

I got my fuel tank skid plate installed today!

The old green 4Runner only had the stock skid plate, and it would run out of gas at a 1/4 tank!

On the Turbo 4Runner I welded steel strap to the stock skid plate, it worked but it still deformed a little and there were a couple places where the stock skid was starting to crack. It did it's job, and worked well for what it was but there was room for improvement.

While researching 3rd gens I came across the Lil' Skips' fuel tank skidplate.

http://lilskipsoffroad.wordpress.com/

I thought about building my own, but time is money and I can see that there was a lot of time put into this skid plate. It's not cheap, but after you see it in person you understand why.

Here's the stock skid plate, just stamped sheet metal





And here is the new one











Overall I'm very happy with it. The directions were great, the customer service was awesome and the skid should do it's job. I really love how flat and smooth it is!

wakkjobb

No kidding; that puppy is sweet! It'll prove its worth after the first rock slides under it. Do you know the paint code for your truck? I could whip up some touch-up paint if you want it... then the hard part would be getting it to you.

It must've been asked a million times before, but where do you work? Summit County or C-DOT maintenance? I completely forget.

>>Dan

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

That new skid plate looks awesome
When I had my '05 Taco the salesman was telling me about how great the tank skid was due how it retained Toyotas off road heritage.
The stuPid skid was plastic

ColoradoToy91

He works for Colorado Mountain Express if I recall correctly