Builds Gerry's Build thread: "If it happens again I'm buying an Abrams" (2 Viewers)

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I looked at a LC for a friend and during the inspection found that it had crushed brake lines from the sliders, I notified the guy about it (have pictures as well) and he re-listed it without mentioning it.

I bet it's a common mistake.


MongooseGA said:
Little update.

I was set back last weekend after a stupid, stupid mistake while installing my sliders the day before a trail ride.

FYI, old hyrdaulic lines from the AHC run very close and look very similar to hard brake lines :doh: I learned the hard way.

After a week at trusty Greer Automotive, she's back in business.

A few current shots from her natural environment:

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My special surprise was also set back as I wasn't able to travel for the holiday due to the truck being down. Fun fact: there are no rental cars the day before Thanksgiving. So when I head to visit parents for Christmas, I'll have it taken care of then.

Planning to head to the mountains this Sunday to get the tires dirty finally.
Click to expand...
 
Having had the dark tint installed over the factory, backing up at night can be a real pain, and the reverse camera quality at night may as well be an 80s home video recorder. Went to install my new LED reverse lights yesterday, only to find that the parts I ordered don't work in the later model trucks.

FYI, reverse bulbs for 98-02 trucks are 7440 base, for the 03+ they're going to be the smaller 921 base.

I ordered a set of these and will install ASAP: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MUF1APW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also picked the Yota MD fob last week on the Black Friday sale. Nice and sturdy. This was mostly preventative as both of my fobs were still like new, but I've had them glued together for dear life before on other 100s.

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This weekend (assuming no more set-backs) I'll finally be able to take Gerry to do some more trails. Pics to follow.
 
Did you pick up those floor matts from Amazon?
 
MongooseGA said:
Having had the dark tint installed over the factory, backing up at night can be a real pain, and the reverse camera quality at night may as well be an 80s home video recorder. Went to install my new LED reverse lights yesterday, only to find that the parts I ordered don't work in the later model trucks.

FYI, reverse bulbs for 98-02 trucks are 7440 base, for the 03+ they're going to be the smaller 921 base.

I ordered a set of these and will install ASAP: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MUF1APW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Click to expand...

I haven’t personally tried the JDM LED, so I can’t speak from experience. However, I found this thread on TacomaWorld while searching for better reverse bulbs for our 2002 LC, as we aren’t super happy with the output from the pfran reverse bulbs. As you’ve mentioned we pre-2003ers have different bulbs than you so I unfortunately can’t give these other bulbs a test. FWIW this guy has some pretty techy and data driven lighting posts. The HIR landscape bulbs he recommends is around 3x brighter than OEM with a similar beam pattern (something most LED replacements struggle with). #ledsarentalwaysbetter

The 921 LED Reverse Light Bulb Study

Im definitely enjoying reading your thread. Sorry about your previous losses, but it seems like you are on a great trajectory on this one.
 
No big updates yet, but I was playing around with some ideas in my head and had some thoughts/questions.

If one were to put a heavy bumper in the front, causing the nose to come down a little, the remedy is to turn on the torsion bars, right? Given this, and my HD TBs and SPC UCAs, am I going to also be decreasing my suspension's droop capability by much? I've got tons of adjustment available at the bolt and about 3" droop with the current height at 21.5" (hub to fender).

I'm also wanting to level/lift the front out some more as I don't think I'm getting enough clearance over bumps on trails. It's not common, but on some of the bigger roots/rocks/whoopdedoos as some speed I've been scrubbing my wheel liner at the top. Was looking to set at 22". I've read sort of conflicting info about this, but with the new UCAs, I shouldn't have the usual concerns about keeping rake or steering loss. Is this accurate?

Should have new stuff to add by the end of the holiday week!
 
I think you should be fine. I had mine up to 22.5 without issue. It's anything above that where you'll find it starts driving bad. I have mine at 21.5 right now just because I keep playing with it and I prefer it at 22.5.
 
So Gerry got some pretty sweet presents this year.

One was supposed to be my super secret surprise mod to be installed during the Thanksgiving break, but unfortunately I was unable to travel to do it. The extra bling came this morning and will be all installed this week.

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Nice build man! I love it!

Do you have a picture of the "lower control arm skids"? Just looking at your sig and noticed you have that.
 
Thanks man! I appreciate it. It's been fun getting to put it together. There's always more though!

I don't have any pictures of the control arm skids. I thought I'd taken some but I guess not. Tomorrow I'll take a few. They're just thick steel plates made to wrap around the mounting point forward of the rear wheels and give some extra protection. Pretty cool product.
 
MongooseGA said:
Thanks man! I appreciate it. It's been fun getting to put it together. There's always more though!

I don't have any pictures of the control arm skids. I thought I'd taken some but I guess not. Tomorrow I'll take a few. They're just thick steel plates made to wrap around the mounting point forward of the rear wheels and give some extra protection. Pretty cool product.
Click to expand...
Nice man. Is that something you just made yourself or is it available to buy somewhere? I noticed my front lower control arms got scraped a good amount after a couple of trails.
 
MongooseGA said:
That's from Jason at @TRAIL TAILOR . Check em out!
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OMG I am an idiot. I actually ordered those from him a while back. For some reason I thought you had some on the FRONT lower control arms haha. I know the 4Runner guys have those but never seen then on a 100 series so I got curious.
 
Actually, I'd be interested in something similar for the front. A few weeks back, a 4Runner got hurt by lodging a branch between his tie rod and control arm. Had to get towed home. That guy might also be interested in a set :lol:
 
Got the winch completely mounted today. I found that my hardware pack was short one square nut for mounting, so I spent a lot of the day trying to track down another one. Got it set and finished up some wiring for my turn signals. I opted to wire both bulbs in the ARB turn signal housing to flash with the blinker. I just need to find a correct amber bulb for the clear lens portion.

Bumper got mounted up with a little drill bit finessing. No thanks at all to the supplied instructions. The pictures were largely useless. First impressions of the ARB bullbar: it's big. It's heavywith the winch, weighed my truck down about 3/4" in front. I need to crank on the bars tomorrow. I wish it were a thicker gauge steel and I think the build quality left something to be desired. I was a little underwhelmed, actually. But for $850 for a brand new bumper wrapped up in a box, I couldn't sneeze at it.

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Lights are in and bars are cranked. New fogs are supposed to arrive tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to get them in before leaving to go home to Atlanta on Saturday.

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Looking good GA!
 
A few little things since the other day.

I'd ordered a set of these $40 LED fogs from Amazon while I was still in VA and luckily they got there in time to install before heading back home last night. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I68J832/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They're not directly compatible with the ARB lighting inserts so we made some adjustments. I basically just cut one mounting tab off of each fog light and then notched one of the ARB tabs to accept the brackets from the fog light. Since there were no places to put a screw or bolt, and I didn't want any hardware exposed on the outside, I epoxied in a little plastic covered nut that I think was originally used to assemble a plastic dog kennel. In the pics I have the screw just positioned to hold it while the epoxy dried. Ultimately I ended up with lights that were centered in the ARB trim and looked like they should be there. I can still adjust the light pattern in or out via the one bolt I put in, and up or down via the original hardware the light came with.

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I still need to do some adjustment but they put out good light and have a very good cut off.

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I also installed a Yellow Box speedometer calibration thingy. I was reading almost 9% off with the 34" tires and it was really throwing me off. 5MPH off I can deal with, but 6.5 at 70 is a weird number.

Easy enough install. Took 30 minutes to get out of bed, put on PJs 'cuz it's Sunday and rainy, read the instructions, do the math, install, and road test. I didn't feel like removing the console or doing any cutting ('cuz it's Sunday and rainy) so I just wrapped the module in a baggy and sealed it up with waterproof duct tape. It's now zip tied under the truck above and behind the transfer case out of the way of anything. It's dialed in perfectly so I don't care about immediate access unless I change tire sizes in a few years.

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I also greased the driveshafts while I was under the truck. There was a pretty lengthy water-crossing since the last oil change.

Things to be done: I need to order a set of the trim that covers the front of the truck around the lights and between the bumper and grill. While I was installing the ARB, I learned that someone had epoxied these on my car and broke one of them. Actually, I just got fed up messing with it that I decided to break it. Then threw it on the driveway and broke it some more. I need to finish polishing my head light housings and once my engine cools today I'll finally replace the heater Tees. I've got a set of OEM and a metal set.. I guess I'll put in whichever is closer to me when I get started.

I think my 865 coils have settled in a bit and I'm about 1/2" shorter in the rear than I want to do. Not sure if I'll put in my spacers or install the Tough Dog springs I've had sitting here. The next mod might be drawers so maybe the new springs will be the move.


Side note: I'm really starting to appreciate the value in a 'seasoned' home garage. Meaning, my dad's been building his tool collection and collecting potentially useful things for 20+ years. It only ever takes a few minutes of looking around the place to find something you can use to complete whatever project it is. Scrap wood or metal, hardware, obscure tools, jigs, etc. I'm just building mine up now and realize I took a lot of that stuff for granted when wrenching at home years ago. I'm at the tail end of my 20s and will be building mine up for years still to match his.
 
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