its 18 gauge steel, overkill. If I did it again i'd probably go with 20 or 22. This stuff is thick enough you cannot bend it with your hands. It's twice as thick as the stock sheetmetal. No bracing needed for sure and the caps of the bed arent even a full C, just L along most of the length but its 100% welded along the outer edge.

 

Looking good man im tryin to stay inside with the heat index at 113 already haha

 

it's gonna be 100+ outside every day this week, maybe by this weekend it'll be cool enough that I'll work on it some more and roll it back out for a final full length side pic if you want one.

 

yeah and i can bring over the power washer so we can do your gnarly driveway hahaha oh and i cut off a shock mount on one of my lower A arms and it works perfectly as a mount for the stabalizer.

 

I'd like to see the profile... get a better idea of how it turned out... and how to do mine one day soon.

What do you think about the integrity of the cab now that you have chopped it? Did you have to remove or loose a lot of structural support? Will you be adding a cage, exo or other?

I think it would be cool to leave the back open, and maybe add some tube doors. That might be the direction I end up going.

 

In a slow roll it would be fine IMO, but in a highway speed crash I'm concerned if I had a back passenger. I'll be doing a mild internal cage just to help support the roof incase of the worst, and since I'm planning to make the top half of the exo removable.

the very back pillar behind the rear doors isn't going to be as strong as it once was because its only a single steel layer now, instead of the multiple layers it previously was. I may try to add some support to the inside of the rear pillar at some point, but the partial internal cage will probably be sufficient.

 

Wonder is a roll bar out of a 1st Gen 4Runner could be used? Probably be to far back in the bed, might have fuel cell clearance issues I suppose. Could be slick though.

Would be sweet to do an internal cage for the cab, then go EXO for the back and even front half off the body. Looks like you have already made room for the cage with your dash mods.

 

Anything new?

 

yup. will post soon

 

definitely interested in seeing how it looks with glass in! Freakin sweet man!

 

Probably not going to mess with a "hard" rear window this year, maybe a soft fabric/plastic snap on deal just to keep the cold out a little better in the winter. It's garage stored 99% of the time so rain isn't an issue for now.


Here's the updates since a month or two ago. Been very budget limited since i got my new toys. Miller DVI2 MIG, and Miller Spectrum 375 plasma torch. Both work amazingly well. Very happy with the purchases.





They are almost paid off, then I can spend money on my next project . . . tubing and coil-over/4linking the rear end.


But . . . some low budget mod's I HAVE completed . . .


Finished the dash . . .

before




after





Specs on the dash: 3/4 inch steel square tube frame, aluminum panels. All Autometer gauges ( Tach, boost, water temp, oil pressure) haven't installed the A/F gauge yet, still trying to decide on the best spot for it. I'm likely going to make a panel below the existing switches for the air compressor and air locker switches, and whatever doesn't go onto the upper switch panel. The switch panel shown is from 12-volt guy, he does SUPER clean switch panels.

http://www.12voltguy.com/superswitchfusestart.htm

 

Also replaced the oil feed line from the oil pump to the block while I had the oil pan down. The factory tube is crush bent with 90degree bends and uses banjo bolts which aren't ideal for maximum flow. It's hard to see from the picture but the cross section of the tube is reduced quite a bit at the bends.


Factory tube



My replacement




-8 hose with full flow fittings

 

what a/f gauge do you run? Innovate?

I had excellent luck with the LM1 and LC1 stuff.

Nice on the plasma. That thing is sweet

I need to pick up a good mig unit myself here eventually, something that can do 1/4"......that a 220v machine?

 

For the rear 4link I plan to go with a blue-torch fab rear diff cover and truss to mount the axle end of the uppers, as well as the coilover mounts to the axle tube, and the frame end of both sets of links. They make super nice stuff, I could cut them myself with the plasma and save quite a bit of money, but I really like the clean designs they make, and I'm a bit of a sucker for cool looking stuff.










The plan for now is to go with 1.75" x .375" wall DOM lowers threaded for 1inch heims, and 1.5" x .250" wall DOM for the uppers, both made by K.O.R.E, that should be plenty of beef.

An example link (2 x 1/2 wall pictured, talk about overkill)




For coilovers going either Fox or SAW 16 inch remote resevoirs. No idea for spring-rates yet. Going to get the vehicle weighed and research it more.

 

I have an innovative LC1, very nice unit. It's already functioning, I just had the gauge zip tied to the dash before. Both the welder and plasma are 220V. My gauge is the one on the back right.

 

My inspiration for the BTF stuff, a buggy that we passed on the last tellico trip.



His is just triangulated on the uppers and is using air shocks, I want to dual-triangulate the links and do coilovers, but you get the idea.

 

Wow, what a beautiful machine ! Very nice.

 

Cranked it again today after it had been silent for over two months. It's nice when things just plain WORK the first time. Even after everything I had been fiddling with it fired on the first hit of the starter. All the gauges work, and all the switches function as they should. Right now I'm using the switches to activate the fuel pump, gauge power, gauge lights, and electric radiator fan. I might take it on a fun-run to uwharrie this weekend just to play on the bunny slopes.

One thing i forgot to add, I need to make a mount for the new power steering pump from trail-gear, it REALLY sucks driving this thing with no P/S. The new pump is made for a 22RE so i have to modify the mount to work on a 7M, and I have to swap the pulley off the 7M pump to the TG one (fingers crossed the input shaft size is identical).

 

got some time over the weekend to do some other smaller things i've been wanting to do. Got a chance to really break in the welder putting on my sliders and front diff armor. The welding aficionados can feel free to grade my welds It's pretty tough getting in tight spaces to do horizontal position welds like that on the frame.

 

I just registered to tell you how sick your runner is man lol.
I love the way you did the chop, im looking to do the same thing to my second gen soon.