Nate's build

I like it a lot. The Coyote Tan with the Pyrite is the way to go, IMHO. Pretty much where I am headed with mine eventually, except I'll be going with the 255/85-16 route. Good feedback on the UCA bolt issue, BTW. Thx for that! Look forward to watching your progress.

Brad

 

Update:
Floor liners still doing their job


Went to a few places to get prices for powdercoating armor when it all comes in. Prices ranged from ridiculously high to reasonable to good deal. I'm looking to go with a textured matte black similar to these samples


Getting some tracing done to cut the rear flares. Using factory ones to trace the contours and corners to ensure the cut pieces mate up when I try and stick them back together.


A few days later I went out and cut one side. Dremmel was used to cut flare.


Here are more photos of the fronts.


How the cut pieces overlap and are glued together.


I mentioned earlier how I did one side of the front. You can see where the flap was cut (on the left side) then folded over to fill the gap. It will be shaped to fit at a later time.


So I have the clearance issue with rear tires rubbing the shock bodies. I found some loading docks at work and flexed out a bit to try and figure out what size spacer I'd need to run based on clearence.










There was more drop left but it was rubbing pretty bad so I didn't go any further.


My options are either get a 3/4" hubcentric spacer and grind down wheel studs to fit or put longer wheel studs with a sandwich type spacer. I ordered a few things from Wheelers off-road and got a set of the cheap 1/4" spacers they offer to see what that puts me at. I'm trying to avoid making the rear any wider than it needs to be so I'm not so willing to get the bolt on spacers. I know it's only slightly wider but it wouldn't look right to me since I don't like when the wheels stick out too much past the flares/body. The parts should be in soon so I'll see how things turn out.

Nate

 

We teen BSers talk about your build all the time!! I love it man! Great work!

 

A few small things came in that I went a head and put on.
Wheeler's Offroad Super Bumps with spacers and 1/4" wheel spacers for the rear


Stock vs Super Bump




With Super Bump spacer


Since the Super Bumps compress much more than the stock bumps I put a 3/8 spacer after trying them without. The tire rubbed pretty crazy on the top of the wheel well with 35's. More than I felt like beating with a hammer at the time.


Fully Compressed






Hub Rings from Amazon for a few bucks. 106 to 108. They helped with some low speed vibrations I was having.




ARP Wheels Studs from a Lexus IS300 Part#

$43 100-7715 ARP 1007715 Wheel Stud Kit for Lexus

100-7715 for the rear. After seeing a few members post about wheels sheering off at the studs I decided to go for it. Also, I am not comfortable with the amount of thread engagement my lug nuts have with the 1/4" spacers.


Removed rear drum to test fit stud


Banged out one stud with hammer. ARP stud was too long to fit in. It'll need to be trimmed to fit.


I used one stud to see how much needed to be trimmed to be able fit through the drum brake backing plate. Took off a little at a time till it fit. Once it fit, I went ahead and trimmed the rest the same length.

I didn't want to damage the integrity of the stud by over heating it while cutting so I took it really slow. I would trim a little bit at a time only till it was warm to the touch then let it cool. Used my lug nuts and washers to desired length then trimmed off excess.


Regular, trimmed, OEM


Used large nut and lug nut to pull studs back through



The front got some extended brake lines from All-Pro


Boot slide with hose clamp to prevent boot fins from rubbing


Bora 3/4" hubcentric spacers made with 106mm to 108mm for my wheels. Had to trim a little bit of OEM wheel studs to fit since they protruded past the spacer. Some wheels have a recessed portion to clear the studs but didn't so trimming it was. Bora wheel studs are longer as well.





Over a few days I decided to wash, clay bar, then wax the truck. It definitely needed it. There was so much crap embedded in the paint front not washing it for a long time, lots of dirt roads and the worst was from all the metal grinding I did to the truck. The metal shavings and sparks were burned into the paint and turning an orange rust color. It was a lot of work but it turned out looking really good.

That's about when I took a few camping trips. One to Mammoth Ca. on one week, then came back for a few days to rest and refit. Next week was to Big Sur Ca. Both places were amazing!

Mammoth


Sorry for the crappy photos




Slept inside the Softopper.


Pulled off the road to take some nice photos on the way out on the last day.




I'll post up some pictures from the Big Sur trip later.

Nate

 

A few from the Big Sur trip





Saw a bunch of paw prints on my truck one morning. Coons payed me a visit over night trying to steal some chow. They have the softest hands.




When exploring on South Coast Ridge Road. There are tons of trails up there that lead to more camp sites(primitive) and amazing views.


quick adjustment of the ORI's






Overall it was a great time spent in Big Sur. Our camp ground was Kirk Creek. Lots of things to do, hiking, kayak, sightsee, beach, mountains and much more. I'll for sure being going back but maybe camp up in the mountains.

Nate

 

since when was there a build thread for this truck!?!?!?!?!

 

I've been behind on the build thread but it's been here for about 2 months. I don't post much Still haven't caught up to where it's at today. I've finally got a computer so I'll try and get it updated as soon as I can. It was a pain to do it all through my phone. Plus, I've been busy busy busting my ass trying to get the ball rolling on the laundry list of things I need to do to this thing. Never enough time to get everything done, especially with these short and dark days.

Nate

 

i saw you post pics forever ago on the 3inch lift and 35s thread and your truck was the wallpaper on my phone for a little bit lol. great looking rig and I'm pretty jealous of the ORIs. i can't wait to see whats to come.

 

Same hahaha

 

yeah we were fan boying over your rig for awhile lol

 

Thanks! I appreciate it guys. There's quite a bit to catch up on for where it's at now. I'm currently trying to figure out a bunch of wiring/electrical that I have planned. Going dual battery to cover some items that get used while camping on these trips as well as lights, comms and air compressor.

Nate

 

*cries*

 

Haha good sir, can you convince me to get ORIs? I'm a bit of a newb on them... I'm going with all pro 2" LT soon and I was going to run the dsc adjuster fox coilovers... ORIs are the same price, maybe actually a bit cheaper...

If you pump them up to around 2.5-3" does it still feel soft. I don't want a really stiff spring rate that hinders flex... My current set up is like that (as well as no down travel haha)

 

This truck

 

They have their pros and cons. But I'd like to break it down a little bit as far as pricing goes. The Fox DSC from AP go for $1,895. BAMF ORI 8" IFS shocks with remote reservoirs are $1570(-200 without resi. Also not counting TW discount). I happened to get them when they were on the deal of the day for $1,370 WITH reservoirs.

With the ORI's, they are not like coilovers in that you also need a few other things along with them. Or at least know someone who has these things. You will need a Nitrogen tank and regulator. A 60 cu ft tank is what I keep with me in the truck and will last a while. I also have a 110 cu ft tank(I think). Price on the tanks can vary depending if you buy form welding store or find a good deal on Craigslist. Plan for around $150 for the tank.

Now comes the regulator. The thing with ORI's is that they take pressures upwards of 700, 800, 900+ PSI depending on settings. A normal inert gas regulator is good for around 550 PSI and costs under $100. 550PSI won't even lift the truck off the ground(ask me how I know). Luckily I was able to find a used high pressure inert gas regulator on Craigslist for $85 rated at 1500 PSI delivery. Well, in the middle of working on my truck one day my Nitrogen cylinder got knocked over and damaged the regulator leaving me with no way to fill my ORI's. If you were to try and find a high pressure regulator and buy it new, be prepared to spend 250-550 for it!!

Then you will need a way to fill the struts. ORI has a single fill kit for around $190 and a double fill kit for $330. Add that to the list as well. As you can see, things start to add up quickly and can easily pass the price of going with coilovers.

If I hadn't gone with ORI I was leaning towards the FOX DSC or ICON CDC coilovers. Both of those seem like a solid setup. I didn't like that the fox's came with 600LB springs and would require lots of preload with my plate bumper, winch and skids. With the FOX you can set one adjuster stiffer for high speed ninja stuff and the other adjuster softer for the low speed crawling to allow better articulation. I went with ORI because I saw how adjustable they are. Guys were doing high speed stuff as well as low speed crawling. It all depends on how you set them up. It also seemed like there was a little bit of overall wheel travel to be gained.

As for the stiffness, my shocks ride pretty smooth around town and even on the back dirt roads at speed. I removed my sway bar and just adjusted shocks to prevent body roll. Stiffness also depends on how much down travel you leave in the shock. I try and keep around 6 1/2 to 6 3/4 of shaft showing leaving me around 3" of wheel down travel which seems to be a good setting.

I do like the adjustability of the struts but take some time to get used to. Constantly adjusting and finding the right settings for different conditions. That's why I keep the bottle, regulator and fill kit with me in case I feel the need to change them on the spot. One thing that does bother me is that the ride height changes based on the atmospherics for me. From what I understand Nitrogen should be pretty stable but if it's cold, they seem to drop a bit giving the truck a stinkbug look. If it gets hotter, they rise up a bit limiting down travel. Not really a big deal for daily driving, I just have to sometimes adjust a little when I go off road. That would be my only complaint so far, is the lack of steady ride height in different temperatures and altitudes.

Sorry for the life story. I hope I answered your questions somewhere in all that.

Nate

 

If you ever find yourself in Southern California and are still considering the ORI's, I'd let you check them out for yourself and give them a spin

Nate

 

I'm going with ORIs in the very near future and it's cool to hear your personal take on it. I still want them for sure lol. Did you have to strap them? I've heard that because of there being so much down travel that the Main limiting factor is our CVs so people strap them to prevent breaking. Any personal truth to this?

 

I will be in a couple months lol