Not only is it azrain's mod, its his valence!

I had remembered that Mike had cut his valence after having the valence get caught and pulling his bumper while off-roading. Since installing 285's, I've noticed that I'd occasionally rub the bottom tip of the valence just while driving on the street, so I definitely wanted to change things before going off-road.

I talked to Mike about how he cut it, and he just up and offered to send me his. After some Fedex issues, the valence arrived on Monday, and I threw it on last night. This should eliminate any rubbing issues I had.

Thanks a million for sending this to me Mike!

Before:






After:



I've also trimmed the inner fender well plastic, but did that after the last pic.

 

FedEx... You would have thought I was trying to send ammo to my in-laws (they live in Iran).

Best cheap mod I did on my truck. Cost me a front bumper to learn, but oh well... Have fun!

Mike

 

Tom's rig get's the point with assists by Tom and Mike!!! Nice mod - I love to see teamwork in action!!!!

 

Hey I like it! Looks like its ready to catch some air at Pismo now.

 

Yep, and it came complete, autographed with some official Arizona dust and scratches! So even if I don't make it to AZ, at least a part of the 4R has been there...

This should tide me over well until I can get an ARB or TJM.

 

RE: Valance Mods by AZRain

These modifications were brought to you courtesy of Lower Raw Deal, a 3+ rated trail off Table Mesa Rd north of Phx.

 

Nope! Not there, went through without a scratch. It was the trailhead into Annihilator or Armageddon...

It went a little something like this;

Crawler976: Hey, you guys wanna go see a really nasty trail?
Bunch of stockers: Yeah, sure.
Crawler976: It's not too tough getting in.
One hour later...
Mike: Hey, ummmm, I'm stuck in a really big hole here.
Crawler976: That's what your hitch is good for, a strap point.
Mike: Uh, yeah, OK.
Thirty minutes later...
Mike: HAMMER TIME! [beating living daylights out of twisted front bumper to get clearance to not rub the MT/R the whole way home]
Crawler976: [Watching] A man after my own heart (referring to me beating the living daylights out of the twisted bumper with a BFH)
Back at the ranch...
Mike: Hi babe, we're back, oh, BTW, I'm gonna need a new front bumper.
Wife:
She never complained after that though.

Mike

 

Great story! Tom, any rubbing on the inner fender well? Fed-Ex called today, they've got a shipment of 4 rockcrawler rims with BFG MT's with my name on them, should be showing up tomorrow!

 

Hey David,

Nope, there is no rubbing of the fender wells to report. Great news about you new goodies, I bet you're anxious to get'em on!

 

MY BAD :pat:

yeah, that's the way it happened

 

Nice story!! The tires can actually see where they are going now.

I used to have a valence. Its only purpose, as far as I can tell, is to deflect water downward when you are hauling @$$ down the trail and through a nice tasty big mud puddle or small creek. Without it the water shoots straight up and ends up on the windshield. Turn on the wipers as you hit the water and you won't miss a beat.

 

I have a valance and I still get water shot up all over my windshield

 

How did you cut it??? I've been wanting to remove my valance but I dont like seeing the cross beam above the skid plate explosed, this looks like a promising solution.

 

I can take a close up pic for you if you'd like. It won't be hard for you to cut.

I had to cut out two sections myself, so I had spots for my factory fogs, and I just used a utility knife. If you have a dremel, that should do it too.

 

That would be awesome. I'm not sure how different our valances are but mine is preaty thick and hard to cut with a utility knife but I bet a dremel could do it.

 

I PM'ed you some links to pics, sorry it took a few days!

 

I'd love to see some more pictures too, if you still have them. I'm thinking about doing this on my 1997 4Runner too, but I was wanting to remove the whole thing instead of cuttig the sides off only. I don't have a brush guard, so I was hoping to do it to clear any rubbing wih larger tires and the approach anlge should be a lot better too. Thanks,

Chris

 

Hey Chris,

I just forwarded a PM to you that I sent to the other Chris, with links to pics. I kept the front part of the valence for two reasons: It helps to shield the bottom of the radiator from road debris and the factory fogs mount to the front of the valence.

I can take a side pic that's not so close up if you'd like too.

 

Yeah, I was sort of worried about what an actual side shot may look like. Also, what you say about the coverage of the radiator also makes sense. I'd love to see the side shot of the fender and front wheel if you've got it. Thanks for the help man!

Chris

 

Hey guys,

Just thought I'd fill you in on my first wheeling trip with the larger tires (285/75/16 MT's on 16X8 black rockcrawlers). I ended up pulling off the front and rear mudflaps, and on the rear wheel well, the piece of trim on the forward part of the wheel well. Otherwise, I was expecting rubbing on that piece that extends down about 5 inches from the wheel well. Overall, love the new tires, but I did get rubbing, primarily when the front wheels were turned. I got rubbing on the inner front wheel well, and may just cut out the offending piece of plastic.

Attached is a pic from the side, you can see the trim I removed: