mjotrainbrain

The other side is right in the recall area, but this side appears to be a little off to the side. I'm wary of going that route because I've heard of people having bad experiences with the recall repair. I don't doubt that your repair was done well at all, I'm just not sure I want to risk it with some of the things I've heard...going to have it looked at by the same guy who did my bumper hopefully on Friday, hope it's not too bad.

Only rear locker option is ARB and maybe TJM if they still make it, unless you change a lot of stuff on the axle (all bolt on/junkyard stuff). Hawairish has a write up on that.

His 2wd shaft is shorter, so it won't take nearly as much lift to put it at a wild angle, so his experience won't relate directly to you since you'll be using the same joints but with Michael more length in between, so significantly less angle.

The translation is not perfect, but I understand what you said. Thank you! I'm definitely planning to have patches repaired, not to have whole sections replaced. That would require way too much fabrication and time. I liked seeing your pictures. My rust isn't that bad, so it gives me hope!

Always sad to see somebody go, but glad you're having fun!

How hard are you going to wheel it? Either way, you'll want to take care of the rust; it's only going to get worse, and if you plan to use it hard you'll eventually have catastrophic failure.

That would be a good idea, especially for those who plan on winching a lot.

Oh, well what I was suggesting isn't bolt on without drilling and tapping new holes,nevermind then.

A little suggestion, on my bumper the parts that go into the unibody have a plate on the outside to distribute the load over a larger area. Not sure if that makes any sense. I'll see if I have a pic, if not, I can take one tomorrow if I remember. It gives me a lot of confidence in the strength of the mounting.

Well if you want to see what they look like wrapped in 32x11.50r15 BFG KO2's you can look at my build thread.

And in addition, how far is too far? Are you trying to keep within a legal requirement (if so, what is it?), or is a personal opinion, in which case would you like pics? But yeah, knowing rim width would be helpful.

Those sound like the same ones I have. I have part # PCW51-5883 which even fits over the bigger brakes on my 2002.

Mine's even a tad pokey when warm if it thinks I'm accelerating still and need the torque, but definitely normal when cold.

All the way from Illinois huh? What made you want to buy one from that far away? Also, it being from the north, have you had the chance to deal with any rust yet, or have you been lucky? Good luck with the build! Mine is a daily too so changes happen slowly, but if you want it enough it will happen!

Have you tried checking the VIN? If it was registered to somebody else the info should be on there.

Still haven't dealt with the rust, but I have talked to a few shops. They either wanted an outrageous amount of money or were sketchy as all get-out, that is if they even were willing to do the work. I'm just going to hold out until my guy is available, I know he'll do it right. In the meantime I haven't stopped having fun with it, including a snow-wheeling trip just this last Thursday. It wasn't anything too crazy, but it was still fun to get out and do donuts and all that fun stuff. If my friend with the Go-Pro ever makes a video I'll drop a link here. Obligatory pictures:

You say steering radius is not as good...is this noticeable on the open road, or only when making sharp turns (like at an intersection or in a parking lot)?

Ok, then I can't remember who it was, but somebody who's pretty iconic on here published their rear bumper design at one point. I guess that's not exactly helpful...lol

I seem to remember seeing that xplorx4 posted plans for his rear bumper at one point.

If you try to flex the suspension really far eventually you'll just have the two tires with the least pressure on the ground spinning and you'll stop going forward, same reason as this situation is happening.

Sometimes Tapatalk and other ways to view forums mess up and it doesn't look like you're posting the thread, but you arr, hence why new people often post the same thread many times. Anyway, as others have said that sounds exactly like what happens with open differentials. I don't you have anything broken, that's just how it works when the going gets really tough.

I didn't realize the Nissan hitch has a step, that's neat! Doesn't seem necessary though given how good of a step the bumper is.

Local junkyard got a 2002 Pathy in so I decided to go take a peek. This thing was mint, I really wish I could have gotten it before the junkyard did! It was almost perfect inside and out; it only had minimal strut tower rust (so little that I'm considering cutting them out) and it even still ran. Best my dad and I could figure was that the tranny must have given out, there's not other reason for it to have been there, it was so nice! It was also meticulously maintained, including front suspension that can't have been more than 2 or 3 years old and rear suspension that can't have been more than 2 or 3 months old!! I've been wanting longer rear shocks, but for $5.50 each I'll take 2 brand new stock shocks (pictures below). Heck, even the engine air filter was so new I decided to grab it, just to have a spare! Also grabbed the MAF sensor since mine is dirty from when I flooded the engine, the battery tray and strap since mine was missing the tray and my previous battery corroded the strap away, and a tool kit from some sedan next to it that included lots of goodies, including a "tow eye" (or whatever it's called) so I can rescue stranded cars without crushing the bumper. It was a really good day. It had tons more stuff that I wanted, like the HVAC controls and cruise control stuff, but it's different from mine so I need to figure out if it's compatible.

If they were brand new springs they should settle some.

If a heated steering wheel was an option I'm going to have to find one! It'll make my dad jealous, it's the one feature he wishes his '16 Tacoma had.