Clean bodied 1985 Toyota 4Runner

[PhatFJ]

Really nice work!! Just curious, are you using Bend Tech software? I just got a Rogue bender, notcher and the Bend Tech software and am finding the learning curve to be pretty steep. Your A pillars are a work of art. Hopefully I can put together something close to this with some practice.


Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing your skills!!

 

[Brucker]

Really nice work!! Just curious, are you using Bend Tech software? I just got a Rogue bender, notcher and the Bend Tech software and am finding the learning curve to be pretty steep. Your A pillars are a work of art. Hopefully I can put together something close to this with some practice.


Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing your skills!!

Thanks for the kind words. If you like those A pillars, check out this lower tube from a recent build. One continuous tube, just over 16' in length, with 11 different bends, and of course they are all in different planes.

All the photos from that build here: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMr_NfqoeN5YGOITQc3ZuTSHpK31pdvQikbhLQpE9sOEc6m3OPYnV8V2X6AY2rSsQ?key=RFZZRUg1S3BWYzBscVhJQkJBYVJJcDhEM2U2MkZ3

I am a little "old school". I do not use Bend Tech or really any other software for most of my custom work. Everything is done on the fly with at most an angle finder and a calculator. Usually it's just me, a marker, and a tape, and I just wing it. But I do have over 17 years of experience bending tube. If a program is used (like for our upcoming products line), it's Solidworks.

 

[Brucker]

Added a little finishing touch to the D ring holders/bottom gussets. Before:

After a little work:

Then move on to add some weld washers onto the winch mounting holes. This will add significant strength without much weight.

 

[Brucker]

One of the last items to be done is to finish off the backbone. To do this we add a couple wire gussets to each side.

Last steps will be to tie it into the shock hoops and then paint.

 

[aprosise]

Dead links!

 

[PhatFJ]

Thanks for the kind words. If you like those A pillars, check out this lower tube from a recent build. One continuous tube, just over 16' in length, with 11 different bends, and of course they are all in different planes.

All the photos from that build here: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMr_NfqoeN5YGOITQc3ZuTSHpK31pdvQikbhLQpE9sOEc6m3OPYnV8V2X6AY2rSsQ?key=RFZZRUg1S3BWYzBscVhJQkJBYVJJcDhEM2U2MkZ3

I am a little "old school". I do not use Bend Tech or really any other software for most of my custom work. Everything is done on the fly with at most an angle finder and a calculator. Usually it's just me, a marker, and a tape, and I just wing it. But I do have over 17 years of experience bending tube. If a program is used (like for our upcoming products line), it's Solidworks.

Wow, really impressive! Thanks again for sharing!!!

 

[AxleIke]

Also having trouble seeing the last few posts pictures.

 

[Brucker]

Dead links!

Also having trouble seeing the last few posts pictures.

I am not seeing any dead links. Works from both my computer and phone....

Which are you having problems with?

 

[aprosise]

All of them after "After a little work"

 

[Brucker]

All of them after "After a little work"

Ok, will repost

 

[Brucker]

Ok, will repost

Better? I redid the last two posts...

 

[Squishy!]

I see it all. Looks killer man.

 

[AxleIke]

Yup better now. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Brucker]

Slow on the updates as I am still experiences some computer issues and don’t feel like trying to update from a phone.

Works continues as we focus on the front shock hoops. The hoops themselves will be tied into the front bumper and the A pillar body mount, as well as to the frame like normal. They will also be tied into the A pillar cage mount. This will not only add strength to the frame, but add more to the bumper and the entire front half of the chassis.

A look at the factory shock mounts:

Cut the stock mounts off and cleaned up the frame rails:

Before we cut the inner fenders to make room for the hoops, we clean up the Trail Gear shock hoops. As the arrived:

Cleaned up a little:

***photos missing***

Cut the inner fenders to clear the shock hoops, then tack welded them into position using mock up shocks.

 

[Brucker]

The A pillar body mount sits directly over the front spring shackle mount. The new longer shackles can come into contact under great articulation, and are known to get snagged against rocks when wheeling, so we remove a couple inches off the lower part of the mount.

As they looked stock:

Cut and cleaned up:

Then cut the front inner fenders to make room to tie the hoops into the front bumper:

Added a tube to tie the hoops into the body mounts

And another to tie into the front bumper

 

[Brucker]

Layout the bolt on mounts for the bumper to keep it removable.

Removed the bumper to drill and tap the bumper

Finish the layout on the bumper and center punch the holes to be drilled and tapped. Clean up the welds for the mounts to sit flat. Then drill and tap the holes and fasten the mounting plates to the bumper.

 

[Brucker]

Mounted the bumper once again and tack welded the tubes to the mounting plates:

We modify the center tube gussets that came with the hoops. They are angle cut on the ends to opposing 45* angles. But neither end is correctly notched for round tubing. So we notch on end of each of the gussets and tack them into position

 

[Brucker]

Even with as clean of a body as this 4Runner has, it still has some issues with rust. Same old spots, the rear fenders. Now is the best time to get after them and make this truly a clean rig. Here is a look at the rear fenders. Driver's side:

Passenger side:

We start by taking the paint off the areas in question to get an idea of how much we will actually need to cut out and replace. As you will see the rust was a lot worse than it looked. As usual the paint actual hide a lot of the problem areas.

 

[Brucker]

Removed about an inch from the rear fenders. This removed the majority of the rust in question, except for the bad areas in the lower corners. We will deal with those in a bit.

Then we prepped the area more in order to cut and fold the fenders in order to enlarge the wheel openings a bit.

Then made a series of vertical cuts to start the cut and fold process.

And start the folding process:

Once finished, not only will all the rust be removed, the wheel well will get a bit more clearance from the tries. About an inch and a half extra to be exact. Here is a measurement from a stock 4Runner rear fender:

And with the folded fender now: