Builds Layonnn's 100 series build

[Fireguy]

Nice looking rear bumper Layton! I especially like the minimum overhang. My aux tank butts up against and attaches to the rear cross-member which precludes me from using a 4x4 Labs type bumper or any that require removal of the rear most crossmember. However it looks like Mike's would work on mine as it only involves notching the crossmember. Does any portion of Mike's bumper protrude past the inner wall of the cross member?

I do s****e the outer lower edge of the spare tire on occasion...coming off steep ledges...wonder if he'd extend the vertical upright to allow the spare to sit a little higher? Maybe this is a non issue with the less overhang design of the bumper?

I didn't have a need for a ladder until recently getting my Columbus RTT. Now I have a use for a rear mounted ladder. Although having one centered would be the best...still trying to resolve that one.

Now if Mike would offer a bumper for the 1" body lift crowd

Get all your wheel'n buds converted to HAM and bag the CB

Anyway...your rig is coming along nicely!

My new to me 100 has the 4x4 labs rear bumper with an aux tank. What brand aux tank do you have?

 

[spressomon]

^ custom 25 gallon.


Aside: Wonder why "scrape" is ****'d by Woody/vBulletin?

 

[Nottajeep]

Great looking bumper! I bet you are glad you got the safety chain brackets... also you could take that factory recovery hook off now since your bumper has built in recovery points.

edit: scrape scrape scrape - just for spresso

 

[spressomon]

Great looking bumper! I bet you are glad you got the safety chain brackets... also you could take that factory recovery hook off now since your bumper has built in recovery points.

edit: s****e s****e s****e - just for spresso

He wrote he couldn't find shorter bolts...

 

[pcut]

Here's my solution to the safety chain problem on the Slee rear bumpers. I think they are off of a stock LC bumper, but am not sure. Just went down to the hardware store for some bolts and washers and bolted them to the existing holes in the frame.

 

[Layonnn]

I like that everything is high and tight in the back. Not all cantilevered, hanging way off the back end with a huge gap between the hatch and spare.
Looks very good!
I like the color too! My wife and I have the same color for both of ours, albeit she'd perfer white.

Thanks r2m. The bumper definitely fits well with the lines of the vehicle. Personally, i'd prefer white as well, ha. Just a great classic color and stays cool. Its gets hot down here in the bayou!

Nice looking rear bumper Layton! I especially like the minimum overhang. My aux tank butts up against and attaches to the rear cross-member which precludes me from using a 4x4 Labs type bumper or any that require removal of the rear most crossmember. However it looks like Mike's would work on mine as it only involves notching the crossmember. Does any portion of Mike's bumper protrude past the inner wall of the cross member?

I do scrape the outer lower edge of the spare tire on occasion...coming off steep ledges...wonder if he'd extend the vertical upright to allow the spare to sit a little higher? Maybe this is a non issue with the less overhang design of the bumper?

I didn't have a need for a ladder until recently getting my Columbus RTT. Now I have a use for a rear mounted ladder. Although having one centered would be the best...still trying to resolve that one.

Now if Mike would offer a bumper for the 1" body lift crowd

Get all your wheel'n buds converted to HAM and bag the CB

Anyway...your rig is coming along nicely!

Thanks spressomon.
The hitch does protrude behind the crossmember slightly. However, if you talked to Mike at BIOR, i am sure he could figure out something to accomodate. He told me he could weld the hitch below the bumper so that cutting the crossmember wouldn't be necessary but then you would reduce the clearance almost 3inches due to the hitch sitting so low (also, unless you braced it like crazy, it wouldn't be as strong of a design as his normal one, IMO). He could make it to where it sticks out just a little further so that it doesn't sit behind the crossmember, possibly?

A RTT that had access from the rear would make good use of a ladder, i hadn't thought about that.

There is no doubt that HAM is superior to CB in every single way possible, from a technical standpoint. But its already hard enough to make sure that everyone has CBs, and all that takes is buying a cheapo hand held CB, and even that is too much for some people on the trails. So getting everyone to get licensed and install the more expensive HAM gear would be quite difficult, haha. One of the other main reasons most folks around here don't have HAM is that there are few places to wheel as expanse as the places out west. You can reach someone most anywhere at the parks here with a decent CB.

Great looking bumper! I bet you are glad you got the safety chain brackets... also you could take that factory recovery hook off now since your bumper has built in recovery points.

Thanks Jason. Seeing your Slee rear at the Jamboree definitely gave me the push to start looking at rear bumpers
And yes as mentioned below, no where stocks a 14mmx1.5mm, not even in 8.8, much less 10.9. So i need to place an order to boltdepot.com. In retrospect, i would have asked Mike to add 2 14mmx1.5mm bolts to my order since he has them available (he includes 4 to mount the wing supports)

He wrote he couldn't find shorter bolts...

Here's my solution to the safety chain problem on the Slee rear bumpers. I think they are off of a stock LC bumper, but am not sure. Just went down to the hardware store for some bolts and washers and bolted them to the existing holes in the frame.

That is definitely a good option for those with the Slee and would work pretty well. However, i can see those getting bent/drug along the ground on obstacles where the bumper will drag. Those are the factory tie down points from the looks of them.

 

[Chris Sandstorm FJ]

Dude...bumper looks perfect!!

I have 860s also, super plush. Don't forget you can drop in airbags in the springs to stiffen them up just a touch when you load it with all your stuff. Seems to be the magic bullet for me.

This way I get a plush city ride and then when full of gear for a trip I just pump up the airbags to 20-25 psi.

Also, I know some folks are wondering about the rear cross member strength from the cut, but remember that you just mounted a super stiff steel bumper on either side of the cut. It has to be stornger with the bumper bolted on to it than it was all by itself, even before you cut it, imo.

Hope the arm heals up quick!

 

[Layonnn]

Thanks Chris. When i get a boat i will probably add airbags to account for the weight. Over the weekend i had 6 people in the truck and the rear didn't sag by much at all.

The bumper definitely gave the OME860s and the Radflo 2.5s a little more smoothed out ride in the rear. It felt a little too bouncy before.

 

[Layonnn]

5 - 315/75r16 Goodyear MTRs ordered.

I have some sheets of black HDPE in 1/2". I plan to do a 1/2" body lift, if needed, 1".
Plan to adjust turn stops a little, trim plastic, use hammer, cut off and weld little section at the rear of the front wheel wells if needed.

Oh, and arm is doing a lot better. Still some pain in my wrist from where the wakeboard handle hit it, but mostly good.

 

[chadiln]

Great looking rear bumper!

 

[spressomon]

Layton,

Based upon my experience with 1/2" and 1" body lifts I recommend you do the 1" body lift and be done with it. You can either extend your existing radiator brackets by 3/4" or just redrill the bracket mounting holes by the same measure. You'll be glad you did the 1"...especially with the big meats you just ordered.

Dan

 

[Layonnn]

Layton,

Based upon my experience with 1/2" and 1" body lifts I recommend you do the 1" body lift and be done with it. You can either extend your existing radiator brackets by 3/4" or just redrill the bracket mounting holes by the same measure. You'll be glad you did the 1"...especially with the big meats you just ordered.

Dan

Hey Dan,
Thats what i was thinking, i have enough HDPE to make 1inch blocks.
I did want to avoid trimming the shroud. Have you looked into re-drilling radiator mount holes? Any issues to watch out for?

 

[spressomon]

I looked at drilling new holes, 3/4" lower, apart of the 1" Body Lift kit I sent to Jon to try to save him a few $$ (IIRC this is how wildsmith did his originally). If you keep new holes to 3/4" lower and not more it looks doable. May or may not need to remove the radiator...remove the grill unless attached to the hood like later LC/LX, automatic type center punch and use a long drill bit to get at the hole locations though.

Or if you have access to a hacksaw, vise and welder then modding the radiator brackets is a simple affair.

 

[Layonnn]

Will do. I do have access to all of that and a welder.

I need to go re-read the body lift threads and see what new bolts i need to order and all of the misc stuff besides the pucks.

 

[Layonnn]

Out at hidden falls i dented in a lower link mount. So, i decided to strengthen the mount after popping it back out by MIG welding a piece of 3/16" plate to the face of it. The weak point of the mount seems to be the weld seem on the front face. Hopefully this will strengthen it enough to take hits a little easier.

I also replaced all of the rear link bolts with grade 8-9/16" bolts, washer, and nylock nuts. On extreme articulation in the rear i would occasionally get some popping noise from the rear links as the hole size for the links are actually 9/16", not the toyota bolt size. These fit in the link mounts without redrilling. I find that it helps tremendously to place a jack on the frame of the opposites side you are working on and lift up/down slightly to get the holes to align. It is an extremely tight fit for the bolt. I would say have a die or some jewelers files ready incase you damage the threads on the bolt slightly.

Also welded up an exhaust tip on a friends FJ Cruiser for him. Getting a little bit better at welding exhaust.

 

[Chris Sandstorm FJ]

Great idea Layton, I had a pair of All Pro covers for my FJC and they fit the 4runner but not the LC..

This is a good compromise, I am going to copy.

I dropped in here looking for what LCAs you choose, I have a bent OEM one and need to fix that before a November Baja run.

 

[jonharis]

Great idea Layton, I had a pair of All Pro covers for my FJC and they fit the 4runner but not the LC..

This is a good compromise, I am going to copy.

I dropped in here looking for what LCAs you choose, I have a bent OEM one and need to fix that before a November Baja run.

They are from HFS.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/556192-hfs-uzj100-upper-lower-links.html

Great build quality, super strong, unsurpassed warranty. Just make sure that you use the 9/16 hardware that Layton refers too. The OEM stuff makes a lot of noise off road. Bluecruiser has them as well. Other than the hardware size requirements I am 100% happy with them.


Has anyone approached All-Pro about creating a set of these for the 100? I think there would be enough interest on here to get it going? I may start a feeler thread as this is something that I have not yet tackled and my mounts are trashed.
https://www.allprooffroad.com/fjtrailarmor/fjskidplates/fjlowerlinkskid

 

[Layonnn]

I would be interested in them if i hadn't made my own. Thankfully, mine weren't bent too bad on the DS. It is definitely a snag/low point and if you ever wheel in rocks, you will eventually hit and smash the face of the mount. Time will tell if adding the plate to the front is enough reinforcement.

I ordered my bolts last night for my 1" body lift. I am still debating on the radiator/fan shroud. Lowering the radiator is the better solution than trimming the shroud. For the upper mount you should be able to just drill a hole about an inch lower and remount. The bottom is much more difficult. The bottom has this L shaped bracket that attaches from the body. There is not enough room on the bracket to extend it upwards. So, i would probably have to figure out a solution.

After staring at it, i wonder how folks who didn't lower their radiator dealt with the lower bracket. It looks as though the bracket is connected to the frame and the body. Hmm

 

[mechanixhorseman]

I'm a little late, but awesome bumper install write up! I'll be referencing this early next month when I do my BIOR rear install as well.

Did you find that a sawzall was absolutely necessary or just a nicety? I've got a pneumatic cutoff tool and I was contemplating taking a trip to HF to pick up a $20 sawzall but it didn't seem like it would be necessary just by looking at it. I probably won't get as fancy as you with the box in the cross member, solely because of my lack of confidence in my welding skills and resources, but it does look like a very nice touch.

Is the supplied hardware really so weak that it was easy to snap, or were you guys torquing down on it pretty hard?

Great looking bumper overall. Makes me even more excited about mine on the way.

 

[Layonnn]

I'm a little late, but awesome bumper install write up! I'll be referencing this early next month when I do my BIOR rear install as well.

Did you find that a sawzall was absolutely necessary or just a nicety? I've got a pneumatic cutoff tool and I was contemplating taking a trip to HF to pick up a $20 sawzall but it didn't seem like it would be necessary just by looking at it. I probably won't get as fancy as you with the box in the cross member, solely because of my lack of confidence in my welding skills and resources, but it does look like a very nice touch.

Is the supplied hardware really so weak that it was easy to snap, or were you guys torquing down on it pretty hard?

Great looking bumper overall. Makes me even more excited about mine on the way.

Thanks mechanixhorseman.
The hardware is grade 5 for the latches (or 8.8, i think its SAE though). My buddy just over torqued the bolt on accident as we were trying to hurry up.
Grade 5 is good enough for the latches. The other bolts he included to attach to the frame are all 10.9 metric (akin to grade 8)

One thing i would do, unless you want to keep your low hanging rear OEM hook, is ask for Mike to include 2 more 14mm shorter bolts to replace the OEM bolts. You cannot use the OEM bolts without the hook as they are too long. This will save you time from having to more than likely order these as they are not common for being so big.

It is doable with a cutoff wheel. Might be a little tricky to do but still doable. I found a sawzall a little bit easier though, but we did use both. For instance, there is no easy way to cut the top section without a cutoff wheel. Unless you drill a large enough hole to get the sawzall blade in, you can't just start on an inside corner.

My welding skills are not too great. But practice does make perfect. So i need lots and lots of practice