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mjotrainbrain's Build Thread


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That looks pretty good!!!

 

Are you going to mount a winch or lights on it?

 

Blueprints???

 

Yup, winch and lights are in the plans. Winch will either be a rebuilt Warn (rebuilt by the same guy who did the bumper) or a Smittybilt. I'm planning to put some LED cubes about where the turn signals are. (I intend to relocate the turn signals to the stock marker light location once I get a new passenger side headlight housing.) As for blueprints, I don't have any; it was made by hand with some parts being done over half a dozen times to get the bend that looks best. He put a lot of time into it. When I take it off to paint, I can take lots of pictures of all the mounting stuff (it's 100% bolt on) and any measurements you would like, just let me know.

 

Oh, and thanks, I think it looks pretty good too!

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Love the way your truck is coming out. Dont let too much time go by before you paint the bumper! Looks like the welds are already pretty oxidized.

 

Yeah, it's definitely getting some rust already. I'm planning to do it next weekend since I'll be camping this weekend. I'll probably be doing the hubs and CV shaft as well as studying for exams in between coats, so it'll be a busy weekend.

 

Edit: Oh, and thanks, 'preciate it!

Edited by mjotrainbrain
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Looks pretty good!!!

 

 

Dude! Looking awesome!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Gorgeous!

 

Thanks guys! Just need to 'massage' the inner fenders a little and it'll be able to park in less than 5 maneuvers, haha.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow! I'm not typically a fan of tube style bumpers, but that one looks really good! Can't wait for more detailed pics of the mounting points. Could you please clarify what suspension setup you're running? I know you've changed it up a few times, I lost track. I'm really digging the look with the 32's, I'm thinking I can get away with adding Steve's 1" spacers all around to my MD springs. Keep up the awesome work!

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Wow! I'm not typically a fan of tube style bumpers, but that one looks really good! Can't wait for more detailed pics of the mounting points. Could you please clarify what suspension setup you're running? I know you've changed it up a few times, I lost track. I'm really digging the look with the 32's, I'm thinking I can get away with adding Steve's 1" spacers all around to my MD springs. Keep up the awesome work!

 

Thanks very much! I had it off this last weekend to put some paint on it and I took some pictures of the mounting points. I'll put those up later. If you'd like other pictures, I will have it off again this weekend to finish painting. My current suspension setup is: Rear: OME medium duty coils with 2 sets of 1" spacers from sfcreation.com, Front: 2 sets of 1" spacers from sfcreation.com. My front end is starting to sag pretty heavily, so I intend to remove one set of spacers from the front and add OME heavy duty coils. Hopefully that setup will give me 1" of rake and the carrying capacity that I will need when I get a winch on that bumper. If you have 1" spacers and OME stuff, you should be able to fit 32's relatively fine. Since I don't have the stock bumper they fit really well for me, I just need to trim at the back of the fenders a bit. If you have the stock bumper still you may have to trim that a bit. I haven't flex-tested it yet, but it doesn't look like I'll have to remove my flares, which is nice because on the Infiniti's the body line from the flares continues all along the truck with big plastic panels, and I don't want to know what damage 15 salty Michigan winters has done under there, hahaha.

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Thanks! I'm mainly looking for the extra width of the tires, for better flotation, as I spend a lot of time on the beach from April thru October. I'm currently running the metric equivalent to 31's and it does well, but I know first hand how much difference even an inch makes (insert the old "that's what she said" joke). When I went from 285/70's to 295/70's on my Titan, I rarely even needed to engage the 4wd on the beach, after airing down. Looking forward to seeing pics of the mounting points of your bumper. Only thing that I'd change on your rig, I'd get rid of the factory crossbars and mount the roof basket right to the tracks (Food for thought).

Edited by 01Pathmaker
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Only thing that I'd change on your rig, I'd get rid of the factory crossbars and mount the roof basket right to the tracks (Food for thought).

 

Well then, wait until you see what I did yesterday! :happy: Looks so much better, and now it's sturdy enough that I feel comfortable putting my spare up there, haha. Still need to upload those pics, got busy with school/exams. I'll find time this weekend.

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  • 2 months later...

Once again, it's been a long time since I last updated this thread. :blush02: I'll try to keep on top of it better in the future (I hope).

 

On with the update:

 

There's been two major changes since the last update; a winch has been added to the bumper and lots of new front-end stuff has been added. The winch was won in a raffle at the 2nd Annual West Michigan Jeep and 4x4 Fest. If you can, come out next year, it was an amazing event supporting a great cause (veterans)! The winch is a 9500# Rough Country model with steel cable. I would have preferred a Warn with synthetic cable, but I can't complain when it only cost a few tickets! My front suspension was already suffering pretty bad, and this extra weight pretty much put it out of its misery. I promptly threw away three weeks worth of pay (the joys of having no expenses other than my truck coupled with a low-paying fast food job :laugh: , I'll enjoy it while I can) to buy KYB struts (and associated components), OME HD coils, wheel bearings, and a pair of new CV axles. No update is complete without pictures, so here ya go!

 

Pile of parts:

 

IMG_20170708_015543.jpg

 

All disassembled (more than I've ever seen it before)!

 

IMG_20170706_202819.jpg

 

Funny how my dad and I have gotten so used to (and quick at) tearing the front end of this thing apart. Hopefully this is the last time for a while though! This was the first job we did with a new tool, a cordless impact. Why didn't we buy one of these things years ago?!? :excl: ADVICE :excl: If you don't have an impact, go buy one!! Honestly a lifesaver, especially when it's 90 degrees and you'd rather not be laying in the dirt fighting bolts.

 

All back together!

 

 

IMG_20170708_165627.jpg

 

And the one we've all been waiting for, the finished product! :wub: Can't wait to go get it all dirty.

 

IMG_20170708_175006.jpg

 

Over the last few days I've noticed a huge improvement in ride quality. This probably goes without saying, but ARB/OME really knows their stuff! So what's next for the rig? I'm not really sure yet. There's a couple of smaller things I'd like to solve like figure out my evap leak (going to start by replacing the gas cap) and bleed the coolant in the hopes that it will solve my heat issue. After that I'd like to finally get around to putting some skidplates and rock sliders on this thing. On another note, while I had the front end apart I noticed two small holes (one on each side) through the wheel well into the engine bay. It did not looks like the hazardous strut tower rust issue, just a result of 15 years in Michigan. Is it possible to buy replacement wells? Even if it is it's probably far outside my price range to have the work done so I'll probably be forced to ignore it, but I'd feel a lot better if I at least looked into it a bit.

 

Thanks for reading, more stuff coming soon! (Like pics from a recent trail ride with another NPORA member.)

Edited by mjotrainbrain
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Oh yeah, and I've been beginning to plan/take measurements for a set of drawers on the floor of the trunk (eventual goal is to go overlanding once a couple of my friends get going on their rigs), so if anybody has pics of their setup I'd love to see it!

 

Also, for anybody who's interested, my current suspension setup is:

Front: OME HD coils and 1" spacer from sfcreation.

Rear: OME MD coils and 2" spacer from sfcreation.

Current rake is just under 2 inches; a little more than I like, but it's fine considering how often I use it to haul stuff around.

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