Builds Union's Atlas Build Thread (1 Viewer)

[Tex68w]

Lot's of guys in the Tacoma and 4Runner world use the 1700/1720/1750 rifle cases and they bolt them through to the rack.This allows for the case to be locked on the exterior and bolted to the rack from the inside, it is then not easily removable from the outside. The drawbacks of course are that it is no longer 100% waterproof, it is much more difficult to remove the case from the rack should you need/want to and of course you now have irreversible holes in a $200-400 case lol.

For my larger 1650 cases I simply run a ratchet strap north to south through the handles and over the top which holds it 98% of the way. I also run a simple bungee east to west which isolates any side forces and adds further down pressure, it also acts as an emergency backup hold in the case that one of the ratchet straps fails. I don't leave my cases on the roof unattended overnight so if I am to do an overnight in the city or at a hotel I simply remove them. This works for me especially when we are removed from society (the main goal) but it might be one step too many for some that never need to access the contents while on their trip (recovery gear and emergency gear). You can of course lock the cases themselves and it would be extremely easy to run a bike lock cable through the handles of the cases and the rack for further security.

I use one case for recovery gear and tools and the other for cooking utensils, dry goods/food and the skottle. Should I take more than two I can put clothing in one and the fourth can be used for bedding and miscellaneous items. Essentially I access all of the cases at some point in time during the course of my trips. I think those that permanently attach them via drilling method place items in them that they rarely need access to.

 

[grinchy]

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[slowride]

Looking good!!!

Just an FYI for "Pelican" folks on a budget...

Harbor Freight has a line called the Apache that is a pretty good substitute... Gaskets, Pressure valves & All...

Harbor Freight is our "good enough", tools go to place...

I don't make my living with those tools so they are good enough for two or three uses a year...

Drilling holes in an Apache case might not be as painful as drilling out a pretty Pelican...

But your Land Cruiser Guys, money is no object... just ask my wife , LOL...

Jeff

 

[Tex68w]

Looking good!!!

Just an FYI for "Pelican" folks on a budget...

Harbor Freight has a line called the Apache that is a pretty good substitute... Gaskets, Pressure valves & All...

Harbor Freight is our "good enough", tools go to place...

I don't make my living with those tools so they are good enough for two or three uses a year...

Drilling holes in an Apache case might not be as painful as drilling out a pretty Pelican...

But your Land Cruiser Guys, money is no object... just ask my wife , LOL...

Jeff

For sure they are a nice budget option, but beware that the hinge is easily defeated with a small screw driver. A buddy had one mounted as a top case on his 690 and he stupidly locked his keys in it lol, we had them out in no time thanks to the shoddy hinge.

 

[Union]

Used a couple tie downs for the front and rear of the pelican case. Used a third over the top from side to side to control lateral movement. I'll throw on a bike lock and a couple masterlocks for overnight stuff.

Unrelated: Went and did some night driving and thought I'd share a photo of the light bar and hood reflection. The bar produces 36,680 lumens in a spot beam. I have found that this is more than enough light in front and to the sides at both low and high speed. I would only add a couple more rock lights on the sides of the vehicle but that's it. The hood glare is present but does not distract at all. The bar is mounted about 2'' above the roof and 4'' back from the windshield.

 

[mcgaskins]

Used a couple tie downs for the front and rear of the pelican case. Used a third over the top from side to side to control lateral movement. I'll throw on a bike lock and a couple masterlocks for overnight stuff.

Unrelated: Went and did some night driving and thought I'd share a photo of the light bar and hood reflection. The bar produces 36,680 lumens in a spot beam. I have found that this is more than enough light in front and to the sides at both low and high speed. I would only add a couple more rock lights on the sides of the vehicle but that's it. The hood glare is present but does not distract at all. The bar is mounted about 2'' above the roof and 4'' back from the windshield.

Looks good. I like the long throw of the light since most LED light bars I've had or seen usually are blinding up to about 50' and then don't have much lumens hitting beyond that. I personally really like the job the OEM 16+ headlights and fog lights do for most stuff, but having a high positioned long throw light bar would be really handy at times.

 

[Union]

Looks good. I like the long throw of the light since most LED light bars I've had or seen usually are blinding up to about 50' and then don't have much lumens hitting beyond that. I personally really like the job the OEM 16+ headlights and fog lights do for most stuff, but having a high positioned long throw light bar would be really handy at times.

Thanks man. It's super useful for some of the desert stuff out here. I agree though, the OEM lights do a good job at slow speeds and if I'm behind someone I have no issues. At night though I usually take point so i can light up everything.

 

[Union]

Alright,

Some of you may remember that I totally messed up my wheel lock and had Toyota cut it off. No problem there. I ended up putting on the .75'' BORA spacers until I could source another 1.25''. I contacted the owner of BORA and he was kind enough to send me another 1.25'' spacer for free including shipping. What an awesome guy. I installed the 1.25'' spacers again last night so we're back to the stance and limited rub that they provide which makes me happy.

Next up is me still trying figure out a mounting solution that locks for the maxtrax on this gamiviti rack. I may just use some straps for LCDC.

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Alright,

Some of you may remember that I totally messed up my wheel lock and had Toyota cut it off. No problem there. I ended up putting on the .75'' BORA spacers until I could source another 1.25''. I contacted the owner of BORA and he was kind enough to send me another 1.25'' spacer for free including shipping. What an awesome guy. I installed the 1.25'' spacers again last night so we're back to the stance and limited rub that they provide which makes me happy.

Next up is me still trying figure out a mounting solution that locks for the maxtrax on this gamiviti rack. I may just use some straps for LCDC.

Let me know if you want to sell those .75” spacers.

 

[RumDoodle]

Alright,

Some of you may remember that I totally messed up my wheel lock and had Toyota cut it off. No problem there. I ended up putting on the .75'' BORA spacers until I could source another 1.25''. I contacted the owner of BORA and he was kind enough to send me another 1.25'' spacer for free including shipping. What an awesome guy. I installed the 1.25'' spacers again last night so we're back to the stance and limited rub that they provide which makes me happy.

Next up is me still trying figure out a mounting solution that locks for the maxtrax on this gamiviti rack. I may just use some straps for LCDC.

Are we gonna get photos of your 1.25 spacers setup? You have an earlier one showing the .75 which seems to have your tires exactly flush. I'm running SpiderTraxx 1.25 but with a wider 305 tire on a 25mm offset icon (KO2 305/65/17), and they stick out about an inch and a half. Some days I love it, and some days I see 3/4 tons spaced out obnoxiously and then I lean toward wanting a tighter stance...
Then there's the extra debris they toss up. I had a 2 inch swath of expel wrapped around the fenders to mitigate most of the hits but so far have less than 5K miles on the meter so will see how it wears. I may down the road either go to a 285 or just remove the spacers and keep the 305s. (I have the KDSS relocation so don't think i need the spacers functionally)

 

[Union]

@RumDoodle the second pic is a little misleading due lack of fender flare at the bottom.

 

[Union]

Mounted my measley 2x 2 gallon rotopax to the gamiviti roof rack and replaced all the hardware with stainless steel. Since I'm the oddball here and mounted my rack up instead of down, I have these larger crossbars that increase standoff. It worked out fine, the spinner lock was backed out almost all of the way and then tightened down. If I needed a longer handle, I could just replace the bolt inside. These will only be on here during planned off road trips.

The pelican case goes on the drivers side, and the maxtrax will be mounted laterally in front of both. Additionally, I'll be relocating these to the ladder when I install my rear bumper.

 

[Union]

I finally got my truck weighed empty at a CAT scale. I will be fully loaded next week and will weigh it again at the same location.

Assumptions: No persons in the vehicle. 4 gallons of gas in the tank. No expedition gear.

Front Axle: 3440 (3595)
Rear Axle: 2920 (4300)

Total: 6360 (7385)

The front axle rating is at 3595 with stock tires. With that being said, I'm glad I went with synthetic rope on the winch. I'll be curious to see what the fully loaded weight is at. I know the suspension and tires change the characteristics of the vehicle but if I stay within OEM limits, I feel that is the most conservative, and safest route.

 

[Union]

I got the truck weighed with what I would consider a reasonable amount for a multi-day trip.

Assumptions: 2 People in the vehicle, 100% full fuel tank, 2 Pelican cases with gear along with additional gear in the back.

Front Axle: 3700 (3595)
Rear Axle: 3380 (4300)

Total: 7080 (7385)

During my ~1000 mile road trip, I didn't notice any adverse driving conditions related to the extra weight. I didn't expect to with the upgraded suspension. It's nice to see that with gear, I still have an ample amount of allowable weight(over stock suspension) to install the rear steel bumper.

 

[Union]

It's been all quiet here in the heartland of America...until my drivers side shock started leaking. You can read more about that here.. Icon Shock Leaking
So far, Icon has been fairly decent to work with. They are covering all of the shipping and the repair (warrantied). While I was under the truck checking out other things, I came across the inevitable slow destruction of my rear lower shock bolts.

Looks like it's time to grab some guards and give a little TLC to the shocks themselves. The Nebraska winter road grime isn't kind.

 

[Tex68w]

It's been all quiet here in the heartland of America...until my drivers side shock started leaking. You can read more about that here.. Icon Shock Leaking
So far, Icon has been fairly decent to work with. They are covering all of the shipping and the repair (warrantied). While I was under the truck checking out other things, I came across the inevitable slow destruction of my rear lower shock bolts.

Looks like it's time to grab some guards and give a little TLC to the shocks themselves. The Nebraska winter road grime isn't kind.

How long/how many miles since they were installed new or last rebuilt? I swore off Icon years back because of this very reason, I was rebuilding shocks sometimes two or more times within a year. Regardless, I am glad to hear that they are taking care of you on this.

 

[Union]

How long/how many miles since they were installed new or last rebuilt? I swore off Icon years back because of this very reason, I was rebuilding shocks sometimes two or more times within a year. Regardless, I am glad to hear that they are taking care of you on this.

~14k miles with a fairly decent amount offroad.

 

[Union]

Added a robust advanced FAK from mymedic.com. Managed to fit a CAT TQ and a roll splint in there as well. Pretty amazing little kit. Bonus points for the velcro backing.