Finally Getting Around To It Build

Also, does anyone have a good suggestion on which order I should be going about with parts? I mainly want to focus on protection, so I was thinking rock sliders and and skid plates first and then maybe a bumper?

 

Had a pretty good day off to get some random thing done! Started the day by helping my buddy put a new lift and tires on his Dodge Ram. His trucks a beast! While we were installing the lift, mail man stopped by and dropped off my extended diff breather for the rear diff! Ended up routing it up near the gas door. Pretty easy to install and it turned out great! Definitely recommend Low Range Off-road! I ordered the diff breather on Wednesday and it was here Saturday! After all that I finally cleaned up the camper shell, took off the old weather stripping and put the camper shell back on. Going to rewire the dome light and third brake light tomorrow. Here's some pics from today's work!

Ran the new diff breather, don't mind the mud, haven't cleaned it in a while!


Routed through the gas tank


Finished product



Finished the lift install on buddy's truck!


Put the camper shell back on

 

Looking good man!

 

Frame reinforcement plates came in today! Dropped the truck off to get them welded onto the frame. While it's at the shop, i'm having them make some changed to the rear tire swing out.

1. Reinforce, gusset, and redo some of the welds
2. Bring the tire in closer to the truck and tilt the tire inward a little
3. Add a hi-lift jack mount

Should be done by the end of the week. I'll have some before and after pics later when I get the truck back. On another note, I sold my spare engine I had just laying around and have a guy picking up my old skid plates tomorrow. My new skids should be here sometime this week or next. Also, if everything comes together like I think it should, i'm planning on taking the truck up to the Great Smoky MT Nat. Park this weekend!

 

Skid plates came in the mail today! Man! These things are BEEFY! Got them primered and painted. The truck should be out of the shop tomorrow. I'll slap these bad boys on and take her up to Smoky Mountain National Park this weekend!

Got home and saw these laying on the porch


Prepped them for primer and paint



Got them painted. I'll be honest, definetly not the best paint job but I mainly just wanted to get some sort of paint on them before throwing them on.

 

Looks good. I had to file out one of the rear bolt holes on the front skid because it was off a tad. No biggie. Also had to get longer bolts for the rear trans skid holes. The provided ones were too short to reach through the cross member. Again, no biggie, but something to consider before the hardware store closes. All in all, an awesome value for skids.

 

Thanks for the heads up! Good thing I have a good hardware store right around the corner from me!

 

Nothing but a thing.

Truck's looking great!

 

Truck is back from the shop and they did a great job! Frame reinforcement plates were welded on. Tire carrier was pretty much all redone, all welds redone, all new bearings put in the hinge, and hi lift mount added! Bumper looks and feels so much better and stronger! Super happy how it turned out! Anyways here's some before and after pics!

Side view, brought in a little closer and hi lift mount added.
Before


After


Before


After


They redid the tire carrier part also. Before it had some bad welds and some caulk holding it in place after we started picking at it...
Before


After


Pretty much the same attach point, just rewelded and cleaned up a little
Before


After


Welds redone on the swing out hinge. New bearings put in, old ones were HORRIBLE! It's sooooo smooth now! Also, they put a stop on the hinge so when you open it, the hi lift won't swing to far and hit the tail light.
Before


After


Anddddddd now for the pics with the hi lift! Hi lift is held on by some nuts.






Oh yeah, the frame reinforcement plates!




I was going to install the skid plates today but I ended up picking the truck up a little later than I thought. I'll put them on sometime next week most likely. Taking the truck up to the smokies this weekend if the weather doesn't look crappy!

 

Wow! That work on the bumper really made a huge difference. Your truck is looking pretty capable

 

Dumb question but I'm going to ask. What's the point of he frame reinforcement plates? Like obviously they make the frame stronger, but is there a common issue with it cracking in certain locations or something like that?

 

From what I have read, our frames are rather weak in the area of the frame. Obviously adding a ton of weight to the rear doesn't help, so frame reinforcement plates help with that issue of strengthening the frame in that area.

 

SOOOO.... I had a three day weekend and decided not to waste it! I ended up going to the Smoky Mountain National Park! While I in the middle of the park, I noticed my radiator was leaking. Luckily, I made it to an auto parts store without overheating! Ended up changing the radiator in the parking lot outside the parts store. After that, everything was smooth sailing! It was beautiful as always up there! Anyways, here's some pics!

The spot where I noticed my leaking radiator.


Had the old radiator out in 20 mins. Not to bad for my first time ever changing one!


It started leaking at the lip at the bottom of the radiator and only started getting worse the farther I went. There was a damn puddle by the time I got the new radiator out of the store.


Old one out


New one in


Picked up some Toyota coolant and filled her up. Good to go!


Got to actually use my my lights


My camping spot for the night


Going back into the park from gatlinburg! That's towns a damn tourist trap!


Hiked 8 miles of the Appalachian Trail to Charlie's Bunion!


Still have tomorrow off, so I'm going to try to install the new skid plates!

 

Got the skid plates installed! Install wasn't too bad. Just put the skid plate on a floor jack and pumper it up. @rngr was right about the bolts being too short in the rear. Went to the hardware store, got some longer bolts, and good to go! Pics as always.

IFS Skid


Trans skid

 

Looks good. Going to get to bash on mine this weekend. Definitely feels better
Knowing they're there.

 

100% agree!

 

Loving this build. What brand skids are those?

 

They are from All Pro Off-road. They match the All Pro front bumper I have.

 

Oh okay. I've heard that they only really work with the All Pro bumper. Is that true? I'm planning on going a different route when I get a bumper.

 

Yeah I think that's true. I know it says that on their website. That's the reason why I went with them because I know they would work with the bumper.