Builds Trail Tailor- Custom Armor Build plus a few things (2 Viewers)

[TRAIL TAILOR]

We're still good. I went to the shop for a bit today to try and get a handle on the schedule and see where to start back up. It's hard to start up again thinking it can still be taken away.

I had to turn the swamp cooler off to keep the smoke from coming in. I have another shop fan but it wouldn't keep up and quickly got 95F.

They started removing barricades in some areas today. The evac boundary by the shop and house were removed this morning. So hopefully I'll be back to business as usual in a few more days. Just need to combat the smoke and all should be good where we are now.

Fed Ex and UPS are running in my area again so orders will start going out again tomorrow.

Thanks again all,

Jason and Andrea

 

[Union]

Glad to hear it!! I remember I had smoke in every part of my house literally when we evacuated a couple times in the past.

 

[ranma21]

Hey Jason, glad to hear you are doing fine and not affected.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

@A10Driver getting going on yours buddy. Thanks for the patience with everything going on.

J

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Gen 2 rear base almost done.

J

 

[i4c4lo]

Hey Jason,

I hope all is well. Please let me know when I can come up and we can do some LX sliders. I PM'ed you too but not sure you got it. Thank you.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Got @DRCocaCola rear bumper, skids and shock guards on this morning.

J

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

I had a customer back out on a 200 rear (due to moving out of the country) so I have contacted my buyer to see if he will allow me to sell this rear. If not, if will be chopped up and scrapped. But, there may be one available in a few weeks for sale.

Jason

 

[Fooness]

Oh, I'm interested in the rear if it becomes available.

 

[I Eat Glue]

I had a customer back out on a 200 rear (due to moving out of the country) so I have contacted my buyer to see if he will allow me to sell this rear. If not, if will be chopped up and scrapped. But, there may be one available in a few weeks for sale.

Jason

Assuming that means pre 2016?

 

[gentimmy]

I had a customer back out on a 200 rear (due to moving out of the country) so I have contacted my buyer to see if he will allow me to sell this rear. If not, if will be chopped up and scrapped. But, there may be one available in a few weeks for sale.

Jason

Yea, I'd love some detail on this

 

[Cruiser Jimmy]

Polished valve cover and cleared.

J

That's an L2.8: obviously Turbo. I know that engine very well. Want some Fairlady Z emblems from Japan?

I ran an E88 head with 89mm pistons, 40mm Solex carbs and a Kakimoto exhaust back in the day on my S130 (NA).

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Gen 2 in the shop for bumpers, skids and OME shocks guard replacement.

J

 

[linuxgod]

About an inch on clearance, maybe a tad more is correct for this bumper. Sounds like they jacked it too high trying to meet a statement that has nothing to do with my design. Loosen all the bolts and let it down slightly and that should take care of this. In pic below you can see the tabs are about 1/8"-3/16" above the bumper. You'll be close on bumper to main body of the light as well. maybe the same gap as tabs.

Sensor (from PM)

I'd have to take a swing at it myself. The retainer and sensor have to be perfectly lined up. The sensor snaps into place when installed correctly. You can hear it "click" when engaged. I test this on every bumper before and after powdercoating. A 1/16" rotated the wrong direction and it won't "click" into position. It took me a few tries until I understood the mesh up to get it correct and it still takes me a time or two to get them right especially when you can't see the fit up. The sensor will go in regardless of clocking, but unless it is perfectly lined up it won't "click"

Thought I'd update on my setup.

• 5,000 miles on the bumper including trails in Telluride/Ouray, Hovenweep, and Big Bend and one winch recovery and it's working out well. A couple hundred miles of washboard roads as well as tons of hard highway bumps and the gussets and reinforced welds on the factory bumper frame mount are holding up nicely.
  • I know Jason wasn't worried but after hearing of a few issues with the VPR bumper as well as the original Toyota OEM bullbars in Australia I thought a second method of securing it would be additional peace of mind. I picked up a couple 8" long 5/8" grade 8 J-bolts and was hoping to run one through the frame and bumper, similar to what ARB/TJM/Ironman do, but the inside of the frame is too narrow for them to fit. Ah well. Maybe in the future I'll see if I can source or fab something similar to what they offer, but for now everything is holding up well so I'm not too concerned. If anyone has a use for these bolts and nuts let me know as they were expensive (for bolts)
• Parking sensors are in. I found I had to break off all the plastic clips from the retaining ring *except* the top one. Once I did that the sensor snapped in easily. The side/bottom tabs would get squeezed inwards and prevent the sensor from inserting fully. Sanded with some 120-grit, primed, and painted to match.
• I bought some inexpensive windshield washer from Amazon, drilled a couple 3/8" holes, and plugged them in. They work, though the shoot kinda low. I may look for some adjustable ones in the future, though to be fair I really don't use them.
• I think I mentioned this before but I had loosened the bumper bolts and attempted to adjust and then re-tighten them, but it didn't make a significant difference on clearance with the headlight... maybe 1/16" tops, probably closer to 1/32". So I took a dremel to the bumper and notched it a bit where the headlight juts down in close proximity to the bumper, then touched it up with some oil-based rustoleum. While I didn't have any issues in Telluride or Big Bend, it does look like there's some slight rubbing of the bumper against that lens "tab" as it was slightly "blemished". (Side note: I did look at @indycole's bumper in Telluride but the 2016+ lens is different and there's way more clearance). I don't have a photo of the notch but if anyone is interested I can remove the bulb trim and snap one. I tried to follow the line from the wing so there's only one off-angle cut and it almost looks "natural"
• 3/4" bulb-style trim installed around the bumper. It looks fine by the quarter panels but under the headlights I'm not entirely crazy about the look as it's not flat so I may just remove it. I'm open to other ideas if anyone has any.

Overall I'm happy with the result now. I know TonyP said he hadn't had any issues wheeling with it, but I still think the bumper should be notched for clearance. Granted I'm not a certified engineer, just a guy who is OCD about his truck.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Anther 200 Gen 2 (2018) front and rear installed.

J

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

more

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

I have the RLCA skids and the rear shock guards painted and waiting for them to dry. Will finish the install on those in the morning for the customer to pick up tomorrow at lunch.

J

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

LOST COAST TRAIL

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Assuming that means pre 2016?

Yea, I'd love some detail on this

Unfortunately, the spare rear bumper will be scrapped.

J

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

After further negotiation and bartering of misc files, it looks like I'll be able to start on a new rear bumper design in December and possibly an early release in January 2019.

J