2003 4Runner Limited 4wd V8 FJ tcased overlanding rockcrawling do-it-all build

Yeah, might do something like that once I have the rack.

 

Now that I recall, you were in front of all of us.

You didn't have to deal with dirt being kicked up at you

Should get a snorkel like @eon_blue so I can go underwater too

 

IF I do a snorkel, I'll get one from a LC100 that is low profile. Like this one.

 

Ooh that looks good.

Yeah we'll see how wheeling is later this year where I'll be moving.

Granted Stephanie would love to make trips out to AZ and stuff, I may need a snorkel when I come visit your ass.

 

With the front bumper done, I started working on the rear bumper design. I'm liking what I have so far. Now I just need to get a couple sheets of 3/16" steel plate and start cutting.

 

More work on the rear bumper today. I was finally cleared to go back to work and my first day back was a Friday, of course.

Went to my local IMS (Industrial Metal Supply) and found an approximately 4'x4' sheet of 3/16" steel in the remnants section. 125 lbs of sheet steel, came out to $103 and change. Not too bad and it should be plenty for what I need. And it actually fit in the back of the 4Runner with the rear seats down.



Set the sheet onto a folding plastic table I have so I can lay things out and be better able to cut it. This worked out well as I ended up using it as a cutting and welding table for the next part.



So both passenger and driver sides should be pretty much a mirror image of each other. I verified this by taking the same cardboard templates I cut a couple days ago and fitting them to the drivers side. Works out pretty good. Sorry, no pics of that. As a reminder, this is what the passenger side should end up looking like, roughly.



And all those templates laid out, ready to trace to steel. I'll double check fitment and recut the templates as needed. I have a ton of cardboard for this.



First I need to get the main bumper tube ready. That means cutting off and smoothing out the previous mount attempts that you can see in the fitted template pic. I also need to cut the angles into the main tube and cap the ends off. So that was all of todays work.

Old mount points cut off and cleaned up. Passenger side angles cut into the main tube. Bottom plate cut and fitted, ready to be welding in place. Using 1/4" plate for the end caps, the main tube is 3/16".



I HIGHLY recommend this cold cut circular saw. It cut the 1/4" plate like it was butter.



Cut and fit the final end plate. Drilled a 1/2" hole and welded a M10 nut to the inside. The plan is to make the bumper wings a bolt on affair to allow any service/work needing done to the body or body mount area easier. The wings will be completely bolted to the frame only with 7 bolts on each side, with at least 3 of them being M10 grade 10.9. Reminds me, I need to order more bolts for this.



Cleaned up and made to look purdy.



Had to run to Harbor Freight to get more primer and paint since I used up all I had on the front bumper. Unfortunately, they were out of the spray on bedliner that I normally get so I settled on Chassis Black for now.



I'll get the driver side done tomorrow and then I can start cutting and fitting the sheet to make the wings.

Fedex delivered the wiring harness that I needed so I could use the SmartTap flasher relay and stop the fast flash due to the front LEDs. So I got that installed before running the HF. SmartTap is a pretty cool relay that has a bunch of functions you can set and access to make the flasher do a lot more that just flash. For example, I can turn on the hazards and make the turn signals strobe, much like you see trucks at constructions sites. It also keeps the turn signals lit for 20 seconds when I either lock or unlock the truck with the fob.

 

Bunch of work done on the rear bumper build.

Finished cutting and plating the driver side of the center section last week.



I screwed up while doing it and forgot to cover the glass on the rear window. Had the hatch open this time around, thinking it would give me more room to work, which it did. Cover the opening with a movers blanket but forgot that the glass was exposed and started cutting and grinding. That was dumb. So now I have steel dust imbedded in the rear window. Scrapped off what I could but most of it is burned in there now.



Yesterday and today, I started cutting steel and fabbed up the frame mounts, bumper cross bar mounts and got the passenger side, which the swing out will mount to, almost completely done.





















And that's where it sits for now. Still need to add some bracing, cut and fit the rear angle plate under the hinge and add the front flats which will also add some further bracing.







Lots of work left before it's done!

 

Didn't feel like doing too much on the Runner today. I've had a rattle when driving coming from the sunroof so I cleaned and re-lubed that as best I could. Hopefully that helps with the rattle

Only fab work today was cutting and welding in the rear corner piece by the body mount.



I need to reweld it since it looks like shit on the outside, weld the inside of it and grind it all smooth still. I really need to find a different body mount puck or relocate the frame mount higher so that I can fully cover the mount. Right now, with the stock mount in place and the 1" body lift, the thing sticks out past the bumper wing about even with the bottom of the frame. It would be nice to have the whole area plated.

 

Looks really clean dude! I always disliked how a lot of the 4th gen off-the-shelf kits had the big square diaper shape, but I like how yours is high and tight with the body with no diaper effect! The 03-05 bumper fogs are nice how you get the rolled edge on the bumper cut, I like that too. Good work!

 

Thanks!

Pretty much all of the bolt on bumpers look great but retain the stock cross bar/tow hitch. Which is part of the frame and most people don't want to cut the frame apart! I want the clearance and the only way to do that is to cut and relocate that rear crossbar/tow hitch. So it makes it a lot cleaner and tighter to the body.

I wish I had a water jet to cut all the shapes out. Had to do them all by hand and I know that they could be done WAY better with a CNC water jet. But this will get the job done and look mostly decent. Good enough for what I need!

 

Come make me a custom bumper. Cool k thanks

 

Be there in an hour.

 

awesome. i need a front and rear for the corolla. i'll give ya $3.50

 

Throw in a lap dance and you've got a deal!

 

best i can do is offer dallas as tribute

 

Well, he does have curves....

 

he's great for you.


i only offer my services to women. sorry.

 

Did some more cutting and gluing of steel bits today. Got the majority of the work done on the rear driver side bumper wing.

 

Cut and glued the final corner piece for the driver side bumperette. Got all the outside welds cleaned up and reinstalled in on the 4runner. Pulled the passenger side off, finished welding the inside and then cleaned up the welds on that side too. Then painted the outsides and the center section so they look better. Now I need to find time to start figuring out the swing out and tire carrier and weld in the wheel well plates to actually finish the bumperettes. Life stuff came up so that might have to be put on hold for a bit.

The top, left over plastic parts of the original bumper are completely removeable without having to pull the bumperettes. Made painting easier and will be handy if/when I need to work on the corners.





Also painted what's left of the center plastic cover that bolts below the hatch.



One problem that I want to eventually address is moving the rear body mounts up higher so that I can fully plate the corners and not worry about potentially dragging the bottom of the body mounts on anything.





I also weighed each bumperette when I was done cleaning up the welds.

Passenger side came out at 32.4 lbs.

Driver side is 29.7 lbs.

Not too bad I don't think. Should be a lot lighter than most bolt-on rear bumpers out there. It'd be interesting to make these out of 1/4" plate aluminum and see how much less they weigh. Now if I only knew how to weld aluminum....