Builds 2001 LX470 build LEGUSY

[Odyseuss]

I cut some tube that fit my Hi-lift at an angle that matches the bumper in the appropriate location. I also used some gussets for reinforcement, and I think this will be plenty strong.

I also added a few other gussets and finishing touches to mount the winch solenoid and the hot/cold water fittings.

 

[SmoothLC]

You do some nice work @odtseuss - and got same mad skillz.

Love your attention to detail.

Very professional.

 

[Odyseuss]

Thanks.

It will look much better once I get it coated. I can't wait.

 

[Odyseuss]

Cutting and resealing the LED light bar.

I decided that the light bar was just too long to fit the way I wanted it. I took it apart, and found a short Led panel that was easily removed with cutting a few connections. This gave me approx 10" of length that I could remove from the assembly this resulted in the removal of 20 LEDs. I then reassembled the light for cutting to get a nice clean cut. I decided to start the cut by hand with a hacksaw to get as accurate a cut as possible. I was ready and willing to move on to the sawzall, but the hacksaw cut like a charm and in no time I had a clean cut through the housing and lens assembly. Next, I masked and painted the end of the housing. I disassembled the unit again and cleaned out any and all debris from the cutting process as I reassembled the light. While finishing the assembly, I sealed the entire unit with waterproof clear silicone. After final assembly, the light tested good so far. Now, the LED light bar is as long as I can possibly fit without extending off the edge of the bumper . There is a bit of obstruction with the bottom of the DRL High beam lens. I am not too concerned about it though because I dont think it's that significant, and the benefits of this light should very well make up for any loss of light when it is needed. I checked and adjusted the clearances for the winch controller and the hood release. Since the factory hood release lever is a bit inconvenient to access with the light, I welded another small tab to the release rod a bit further up in the grill by the L and It works as good or better than the original.

A couple notes about some LED light bars.

I have some limited experience with LED lights but I am a fan of their efficiency.

Light assemblies like the one that I am using seem to have a common construction that lends itself to being adapted to various lengths which probably aids in mass production.

I had read that these lights could benefit from a bit better sealing, and though mine seemed to be sealed pretty well, I felt like I was able to add a bit more sealant on the final assembly that may help for the future. This unit has an IP 67 rating and I hope that should be good enough for my needs.

There are a lot of screws, and though I was careful, I was pleased that none of them stripped on me after assembling the unit 2 times. It also looked like this is a decent quality type of construction.

Now, after the final test fit, the front bumper is ready to go out for powder coating with the rear bumper.

 

[TheForger]

Wow that looks really good! Did you ever consider going with a curved bar? I might use that light bar hack and make a few for myself!

 

[Odyseuss]

Thanks.
I considered a curved bar and it would probably work but I didn't know if I would like the look, so I figured that I would stick with a straight light bar.

 

[bamabrock]

Did you consider going with a smaller 20" bar with a single row of the larger 5w leds?

 

[Odyseuss]

I didn't really look at too many lights of that design. I selected this light based on its specifications and it's reputation. It is a very powerful light with 4.5 stars and nearly 500 reviews.
I don't want to go with a smaller light. Im sure It would work though.

 

[LX5708]

like how it turned out!! good job

 

[Odyseuss]

I don't have a lot of photos to cover the prep before the install, but I did a bit of behind the scenes work to cover those hidden areas.

I pulled the trucks out of the garage to clean up my work space, then I cleaned up the undercarriage yet again to expose the surface for inspection for any rust spots.

I cleaned up any rust that I could find and prepped the areas behind and below the bumpers for primer and black paint. The idea is to help hide the gap or transition space behind the bumpers by paining it so that the original body color doesn't show past the bumpers and to stop and prevent rust.

I also took the opportunity to paint the radiator support so that it is all black instead of the partial color change that comes from the factory. I masked and saved all the decals.

I removed the clear carbon vinyl that I had installed on the hood. This product was starting to fail after 6 months. It was a good learning experience with vinyl and a good indicator as to the differences in product quality and my abilities. I have had other vinyl products produce much better results.

So, with that in mind, while I had the grill off, I decided to try out the Plasti Dip and spray the front grill to cover some surface damage and see how well it holds up.

After several coats of paint, I started to plan out all the wiring and get ready for reassembly. More photos to follow soon.

 

[Odyseuss]

Bumpers are on!

I needed to make some brackets in order to fit the ARB led turn signals in and they fit really well. I also installed 100w bulbs in the IPF fog lights.

The winch solenoid box gets turned around so that the connector for the controller easily clears the light bar. all the wiring fits as desired.

Recovery brackets are installed at the frame mounts with plenty of grease/anti seize on the bolts. If you don't coat the bolts, there is a possibility of corrosion between the aluminum brackets and the bolts. Ask me how I know.

Maybe I will try and take another photo from this angle with the lights on?

 

[Lowbudgetlc100]

nice.

 

[Odyseuss]

Front bumper is done!

This front bumper, originally saw many years of service on a friends, very nice well built Land Cruiser. It has been nice to restore and modify this bumper so that I can use it some more. During the reconstruction, my son called it Batman for some reason. Here is a photo of him and the bumper on the previous vehicle camping in the Sawtooths. That cruiser has been some motivating inspiration.

The LED bar is BRIGHT********! It's on a whole different level than all the other lights.

 

[Odyseuss]

Now on to the rear bumper.


I started planning this build late last year and I was set on a swing rear bumper. I had a swing rear bumper on my old 4runner and I really liked the convenience of having the Trasharoo with the spare tire on the rear. I plan on rotating all 5 tires to keep them even and get the most out of them. Having the spare tire on the swing adds convenience to this and it gives me space under the truck for other things. I had a long range tank before, but I am not sure if or when I'll go that route on this truck. I have been thinking of adding an air tank down there. For the time being, I like the versatility of a can carrier that allows me to carry up to 3 jerry cans. I also really appreciate having easy access to water on the back bumper. Of course, the convenience of opening the back is a factor, so I wanted a setup that was fairly easy to open and keep the swings open, yet simple to close securely.

I decided to go with a 4x4 Labs rear bumper. I had limited time to build this setup, but I did want to be able to customize it so that it fit all of my needs as much as possible. So, I ordered the main bumper assembly as a welded unit without powder coating and I ordered the tire and 3 can carriers as kits with some extra parts for a possible bike rack.

When I set out to build this bumper I welcomed any and all ideas, and instructions that I could find. Thanks to MUD, I found most of the information and ideas here on this site. Since I am dong a build thread, I might as well try and contribute with some information and ideas that worked for me. Forgive me if this is a bit too detailed for those not interested in building one of these bumpers.

Basic features for my version of this rear bumper:

High clearance strong rear bumper to protect the overhang of this 100.

Hitch receiver and anchor points

Tire carrier

3 Jerry can carrier will carry whatever else fits, fire wood, trash, etc. especially nice for things that I don't want in the truck and easier to get to than on the roof.

Bike attachment

Reverse lights to improve on the factory lighting and to make up for the obstruction of the factory reverse lights.

simple secure single latching system with no pins to pull to release the swing arms.

Hi Lift mount

Retains a version of the OE mudflaps

7pin/4pin trailer connector

Powder coat to match

 

[Odyseuss]

After unloading the pallet with my bumper, I placed it on a few dollys to help make this project much more manageable.

I removed the rear bumper and aggressively cleaned the rear underbody. I also removed the tire carrier assembly and the trailer hitch.

I then used a combination of sawzall and plasma cutter to cleanly remove the rear crossmember.

 

[Odyseuss]

The previous post shows the portion of the rear frame that must be cut off.

I tried to install the main bumper shell with the OE resonator in place, but I could tell that the resonator was going to be in the way and was eventually destined to be removed. So I cut the resonator off and would later evaluate other exhaust options.

This bumper is pretty heavy, but with the use of an ATV jack, it was not to difficult for 2 people to position the bumper. It helps that the top surface of the bumper will rest on the ends of the frame while positioning the bolts.

I was able to use 8 14x 1.5 bolts on the bottom, and 6 8x 1.25 bolts in the spare tire carrier location. I used the 8mm bolts to center the bumper side to side and then I finished securing the 14mm bolts. I did need to clearance a couple of these holes a bit for the final assembly.

At this point, it is important to note the clearance between the corners of the rear body and the bumper. I needed to take a little material off on the right side so that the bumper would clear the body the same on both sides. If you have an LX, then this is a good time to check your clearance between the tailgate and the latch stop with the tailgate folded down.


The swing arms came installed on my bumper, so after checking the latch operation I was ready to start building the carriers. I draped a welding blanket over the back of my truck so that I could protect it from any welding or grinding debris.

I built the tire carrier first. After tack welding the upright in place, I checked the position of the tire with the flange installed. The tire mounting stem can be installed 2 ways, one way puts the tire straight up and down, and the other end is cut to match the angle of the rear hatch. With the tire straight up and down, I noted that the tire sits much further away from the vehicle, and there is much less room for the adjustment of the stem where it clamps into the upright. With the tire angled in at the top, it sits closer to the vehicle and has more room for adjustment. I think it also lessens the leverage of the weight on the swing spindle (not that it matters much) and it looks better. I also set my Hi-Lift to lean at the same angle as the tire and it worked out well. I also welded a few gussets between the wheel mounting flange and the stem.

I found it somewhat difficult to compress the struts for installation on the swing arms. They are charged with some significant pressure. I originally made a tool for this application but later realized that a stout ratchet strap wrapped around the strut worked even better. I used extreme caution cause I did not want that strut shooting out and hitting something.

I noticed that the latch assembly works best when the latch is spaced up from the handle, so I used some 1" tubing to make a small spacer. Now 100% of the time it works every time.

I want to have the versatility to pull a variety of trailers and have decent access to the trailer wiring connectors that are also out of harms way. I mounted a 7 pin/ 4 pin combination trailer wiring connector in a recessed area on the bottom of the bumper.

 

[Odyseuss]

Getting the can carrier tacked together by myself was a bit tricky. The top tube is a bit bigger than the bottom for good reasons. The tubes need to be perfectly parallel, cause I have a limited amount of time to build it but much longer to find fault with it. I used wooden blocks to space the tubes apart, and screwed some more boards together to hold the tubes on the same plane while I measured and tacked them in place.

The upright for the can carrier is a smaller version of the tire carrier, so it and the associated gussets were pretty easy to figure out.

When mounting the Hi-Lift, I placed it as high as possible to allow access for the latch assembly. It was hard to tell from the pictures in other build threads, but the mounting bracket is attached to the side plate of the carrier with some tube that though not supplied, I had plenty lying around.

The jack felt pretty secure on the can carrier, but I wanted some extra assurance that it was secure because if its weight and the leverage that can come from its length. I decided to add an additional support that I would also use as a retainer to keep the jack handle in place, and to help support a mount for a mountain bike fork skewer.

I also welded a couple cut chain links to the sides of the can carrier for strap attachments. I used a silicone adhesive to hold a plastic liner to the plate at the bottom of the can carrier.

 

[Odyseuss]

It was really important that I incorporate mudflaps into this bumper for a variety of reasons. I like the OE mudflap design cause it isn't to bulky and I don't think that I need to worry about backing over them and ripping them off. I think they fit well, keeping mud out of the nether regions of my bumper and the undercarriage to some extent, and they look decent. I modified the OE mudflaps by cutting them into 2 pieces and trimming them to fit the edge of the bumper. Then I made support mounting brackets to weld to the frame in 2 places. After that, I drilled and tapped holes in the bumper to help attach the mud flaps. These things are on good.

After removing the resonator, the exhaust noise was noticeably louder. Enough so, that I wanted to try and decrease the noise if there was a reasonable way to do so. However the size of the OE resonator was not reasonable for this application to me. I visited my friends at the local Master Muffler to look into some options. They ordered in a variety of smaller resonators and a resonator exhaust tip so that we could evaluate them. I quickly vetoed the exhaust tip because the ID looked way too restrictive. We tried each of the other resonators on and evaluated the sound. In the end, there was not a significant enough difference in the noise level to make it worth running a resonator in my opinion. I decided to run the tailpipe out the side in an area that should be out of the way. This alone, has helped with the noise more than I thought and It doesn't seem to bother me, so far.

 

[Odyseuss]

Now that my long winded rear bumper build write up is finished, here are a few more photos of the completed product.

Now its loaded and ready for Cruise Moab.

 

[Vitesse_6]

Looks great Scott!
Have fun at CM!