mjotrainbrain

I prefer that style grill, looks good! Here's a video of one way to clean up the headlights:

Have fun!

How handy are you? Timing belt isn't a particularly challenging job, just takes some time. If you do it yourslef you could save a ton of money. Motor swap would be cool, but heaps more expensive, so keep that in mind if the money is concerning you. Same deal with the SAS, if you have to pay somebody else to do it it'll probably cost quite a bit to get it done well.

That's incredible! Great job taking the basic SFD to the next level, that's something that's needed to happen for a long time, glad you guys were the ones to do it. Any fun stories about stumbling points in R&D?

I really like the subtle look, good job! I had to cut the same as @Bax03SE to fit 32's.

I could make a really long post, but I'll say this simply; CV's, ball joints, and tie rods will be at a steeper angle than stock. Other than those parts, everything else shouldn't be affected in any really significant way. Sure things will wear quicker overall, but the off-road use you'll put it through when lifted will probably be more of a factor on most components than the lift itself. In my opinion biggest struggle you'll run into will be alignment, as far as parts wearing out I wouldn't worry about it. Your mechanic is right to be concerned, but he's definitely making you freak out more than necessary. Unless you're wheeling really hard you'll probably only have to replace anything once since it's really old anyways, and after that the parts will last quite a while as long as you get quality parts.

My QX4 had a button on the side of the shifter lever to turn overdrive on/off, perhaps you have something similar and damaged it?

Those two different ones will be different load ranges; C and E. E is more heavy duty (thicker slidewalls, etc.) but much heavier (so worse fuel economy, braking, etc.). The Duratracs are made by Goodyear, it's the most gnarly version of the Wrangler tires they make.

This couldn't be more true, those OME springs ride unbelievably well. With them I could fly down trails that I previously had to tiptoe along with stock coils. Just to clarify, you're running a 3" SFD and OME HD coils up front with 2" spacers and OME MD coils in the rear right?

Good to know now, however I did not have that. This means with the 1" spacer and HD OME coils I had up front I should have had a 1.5" front lift, and with the 2" spacer and MD OME coils (also advertised as a 0.5" lift) I had out back I should have had a 2.5" rear lift. This is a 1" difference, which is certainly not what I had observed in my suspension. Either the rear coils are underrated or the fronts are overrated. I would still say you're probably best off going with AC coils, as they're extremely well proven. If I build an R50 again that's what I'll use. This is just my experience. Btw, not the best angle, but evidence pic:

Yeah, I've now realized that...I guess I got the lift I was supposed to from the front coils, but more than I was supposed to from the rear (by a considerable amount). I was just confused because I know I've heard some people say they're good for 1.75" of lift...maybe their stock suspension was just trashed? In any case, I think it's fair to say if you want to match a rear 2" lift OME front coils are not the way to go.

According to AC's site the OME HD cols are rated for 110-220 lbs. The winch alone weighed 87 lbs and I'm guessing the bumper was around 100 lbs so (maybe more, not really sure; can't have been a ton because my scrawny self could move it around). I guess I was near the maximum load, however you would think if they're rated for it they wouldn't be struggling with it. It is certainly odd, I know you and @hawairish in particular have had fantastic results with your OME coils. Perhaps my situation is an anomaly. I guess in re-checking the specs the coils aren't supposed to provide nearly as much lift as I thought they were. Even so, why would there be such a huge difference between the front and rear? With the tools and heavy spare tire I carried over the back end, the front and rear coils should have been loaded in a manner which is similarly taxing on them, so I'm still perplexed as to why the rear coils proved so much more stout. Perhaps I just had bad luck or something, but the amount of rake I had certainly seems off.

I had OME HD up front, which should be rated for more weight than my bumper and winch since the tube bumper really wasn't terribly heavy, and the rear was OME MD. I had a 1" front spacer and 2" rear. Despite this, I had about 3 inches of rake. From how the vehicle sat, it seemed to me that the OME coils weren't capable of supporting nearly the weight they're supposed to. Honestly it was probably an inch better than stock but nowhere near the lift the rear offered. If you were stock weight I'm sure they'd be much better, but I'm not convinced as to how they hold up long term (rear was fantastic though).

Stock suspension is exceptionally soft, even with a smoother bumpstop you'll still have the issue of bottoming out all the time. If you're open to the idea, I'd highly suggest lifting it with some aftermarket/firmer springs.

That's what I thought I remembered, you may have some to work with, don't really remember how much. If you were to relocate the turn signals into the headlights (in place of marker lights; I do seem to recall having seen it before) and ditch the fog lights, you could get a pretty high cut in there. Not sure how it would look though.

Here's some more inspiration. The cut in the 3rd reply seems the most possible to replicate on a QX4 bumper without totally trashing it IMO. https://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/183205-pics-trimmed-front-bumpers.html

Those old commercials and that retro review are great! This is my personal favorite:

That looks great! A little narrow, but not bad. Although I am a little biased towards tube bumpers. ? Got any plans to widen it at all?

Gotta put that on your resume ?

Yeah man I'd love to have even a portion of those cool Japanese accessories. Maybe someday when I've made it big I'll have to import a JDM Pathy with those options and a diesel haha

That is very cool. They had a ladder on the back too, didn't they?

Woah, that is super cool! Was that a part of the Japanese off-road package?

Can't wait to see this build thread progress! I've seen what your rig looks like now on Facebook, so I look forward to seeing the story of how it got where it is.

Sounds pretty awesome man

Word.