Mike's Mountain Build

Ok, I was gonna wait until I had some more stuff done that I felt was worthy of creating a thread over, but I'm bored and said screw it, and if I do anything extreme in the future then I'll have a documented progression. So here goes.

This is how she sits as of 3/8/13.


I had $5k or so to play, and was looing for a nice used truck. I soon realized that $5k, nice, and used don't really fit into the same sentence after almost getting screwed on a '97 T100 that had been wrecked. So I looked at the car lots and found this baby. Didn't get a deal, but didn't get screwed either.



She went about 8 months before I did anything. I fell in love with the billet grille and there was a group buy on KC lights.



Owning a house sucks sometimes when you want extra money for toys. Luckily I travel sometimes, and I get OT when I do. So exactly one year after I bought the truck I always wanted, I rewarded my hardwork with this stuff



With the help of another board member who luckily enjoys helping other members work on their trucks, I got it all installed.





The tires are Dick Cepek 285/75-16, got them used from a coworker for $200, two of them need replaced soon so I put them on the back, the other two have at least 60% life or better so it was a decent deal that got me rolling for the time being.

The back is sitting a little lower than I want, I'm going to get shackles soon as a temporary fix. Ultimately I'll be contacting Thurston Spring service locally here to modify my stock spring pack to get what I want out of it and put the back about an inch higher than the front.

Also got this from the same coworker, he traded in his Jeep so he no longer had use for it. $65 never been used, excellent deal


Next on the list for 2013.... I just ordered a TG front bumper along with the light hoop on 11/26/12, I'll be putting that on in the spring when the weather will support painting it first. Hopefully by that time I'll be ready to buy a winch, I've picked the Engo 9000, then I'll be getting TG sliders shortly after.

I play around with welding a little, just a weekend warrior with it. I'll be fabbing my own rear bumper at some point next year.


Stay tuned if you like it so far. There's a lot of inspiration on this board to keep me motivated. Hopefully I can get this baby looking as good and as functional as some other members' trucks in due time.

Thanks for looking .... Mike

After bumper install

 

Almost forgot my little helper. He's been a great mod too , and the whole reason I ended up buying a doublecab .

 

Nice clean rig. Nice score on the Hi-lift! Now you need to get some rock sliders to take full advantage of that, it's a shame hangin in your office I love the first gens, I fell in love with the 1st gen DC as well and with kids it was a no-brainer, I only wish the DCs came in manual but oh well you can't have everything but the 1st gen DCs are close to perfect!

Love the green color as well, awesome purchase..enjoy!!!

 

Agreed, I've fallen in love with my DC more and more since I've had it... Sliders are a definite plan in the future, along with a winch, then on to other things..... After I bought the Hi-Lift I thought "damn, how can I use this thing now", but it was a good investment for future use... I reeeeeally wanted a manual myself, but I settled for what I found and I'm pretty happy with it overall. Thanks for taking a look.... I'll probably snap some pics of the TG bumper when it arrives, but I probably won't get it installed until the weather warms up in the spring unless somebody offers up their garage for me to paint it in.

 

Front bumper arrived yesterday .... The plan is to weld the light bar on, then coat it with some POR 15, then put a coat of black paint over that if needed.

 

That thang ante on yet?

 

Hahahaha.... Dude, you have no idea how much I caught from the wifey when I told her I bought that thing... I have to tread lightly on my time spent on prep work to it for the next few weeks.

My other dilemma, I want to coat it with black POR-15.... Me has no garage

 

Rattle can that bish right quick, slap it on, tell her you just took off the bumpa, and that is what's underneath

 

Hahaha... I like the way you think

 

Just got back from the paint store .... Hoping to have some time this weekend to get this stuff put on.... In the few days that I've had the bumper it has developed some skim rust, so I'll probably do a little light sanding and cleaning before I put this on.

 

Here's a little progress shot of the bumper... I don't have a garage yet, so I have to do this in my packed little shed ... This is a shot of the first coat of POR-15 applied.... If you're wondering what POR-15 is, basically it's like Linex in a paint form in a can, but better because it has rust inhibitive properties. You could also say it's like Rustoleum on steroids. Pretty awesome stuff, but not cheap. I'm going to do two coats, then a coat of paint.

 

Looks good! Like the bumper, really want one myself.

 

Thanks man !!!! I really love the low profile looking plate bumpers like a few shops make, but I couldn't justify the price. These TG tube bumpers are the best bang for the buck I think, can't wait to see how it looks when mounted.

 

Same here! I can't decide between making a bumper or getting that.. I made a rear one but I don't even know where to begin with a front one.

 

I hear ya man... I can weld some, but I never would've been able to make something this nice, so i bit the bullet... I'll be fabbing the rear myself using some C-channel, I think I'll be able to manage making that look decent, the front I felt was more critical though, at least for the sake of it looking good.

 

Yep that's pretty much where I'm at. Don't have the tools to make stuff this pretty. Good luck on the rear bumper! It feels great finally seeing it on the truck after you've spent all weekend slaving over it

 

I like some of the detail you've added to your truck... Nice work... Once I get my armor the way I want I'll redirect my attention to some of the details you've worked on. Might have to hit you up for some tips.

 

Any update on the tg bumper?

 

Not yet... I picked up some orange LED lights today to use for turn signals... I have to flip the bumper over to do the underside yet, and do the mounting plate.

 

Well,

I got the bumper installed today, finally !!!

It put up a little fight, nothing major..... Obviously I still need to put the light bar on, and I still have to put tabs on for my KC lights, and when the weather gets warm again I'm going to put a layer of paint over the POR-15. I also have to do some trimming on the inner fender wells and stuff like that, I'll get there eventually, slow progression

I did however put tabs on for my LED turn signals... You can't see them well in the pic, I'll take a close up later.