jberry's Retarded Desert Penguin

Anyone need some gently used skids and front bumper?

 

The Countersteers are a fine wheel. I wouldn't have reservations about running them.
I chose @SCSPerformance for a few reasons that have pretty much already been identified.

• Weight. Unsprung weight is an important factor to take into account for getting the truck rolling. In addition, since I switched to SCS wheels, I have far less wheel weights to balance the tires out.
• Price point.
  
• Hub centric. This was a big one to me. Balancing lug centric wheels with IFS has always been a giant pain in the dick for me. Hub centric just makes everything easier...and almost idiot proof.
• Vin. I can't say enough good thing about Vin and his business practices. He is one of the most responsive and honest vendors I've done business with. It's no secret, I'm a SCS fanboy. Vin has my business as long as I have a Toyota. Now if I could just get him to make the SR8s in an 18 with 5x150 bolt pattern

That said...are my wheels perfect? Hell no. They have been dragged across all kinds of shit. I have rock rash on every wheel. You hit any frozen turkey at speed, it's going to destroy a wheel. Those that have been subscribed to this for a while know that I blew a pro-crap wheel into 3 pieces because of a desert ninja (or mahybe I misjudged the shrub I ran over when I pitched the truck sideways into...and there was a boulder behind it). I have yet to make that repeat that specific mistake, but i did hit a tree and sheered a leaf centering pin and put a softball sized bubble in the tire. The wheel is still fine. I have blown one bead off my F5's since I've owned them. But that was at 14 PSI and all the weight was on the front tire off camber and downhill. It's not a far stretch to say that pretty much any bead would have done the same thing. Nothing a little piss on the wheel and a quick squirt of CO2 didn't fix.

 

And without further adieu....the all new @RelentlessFab front bumper and skid for the RDP!
I gotta hand it to Eric. I gave him the most remedial requirements and left the rest of the design up to him. Without a doubt exceeded expectations. Not just a 1 trick plate bumper pony! Requirments:

• Must be a DOM tube bumper
• Frame horns are fine
• Skid must be 1/4" aluminum
• Ditch the HID's and throw in a light bar
  
• When in doubt...overbuild. It's the Retarded Desert Penguin after all...and an even more retarded driver.

Frame horns:



Inner plate gussets:



Outer gussets with dimples:



Gusset work on the inner part of the skid and welded ears on the outside (where I always seem to bash and lawn dart and turn into smashed shit):



Glamour shots:





For those with a keen eye, you'll notice the skid is ONE continuous piece. Once piece from the top of the bumper all the way down and back passed the steering rack and joined up to the belly pan.

Excuse me for a moment.

 

For the record. In sand and snow, I've been as low as 7 PSI with my F5s and did not blow a bead.

 

Nobody wants my bumper/skid. I was being sarcastic. Aside from requiring some less than marginal fabrication to make it fit...they are beat to shit.

The condenser has nothing to do with either. That was a mistake my dumb ass made when I was lowering my truck after putting the new engine in. The jack handle got wedged under the condenser as it came down. Early posts in this build outline the dipshit mistake.

Just tell @RelentlessFab you want the jberry treatment. Basically means you give him money and a couple discrete OTPHJ's and he beefs up the material and gussets.