BMThiker
SE Expedition Society
It's been something I've been thinking about for a long while. And after busting out the same window twice, I figured I'd go ahead and armor-up my bad driving skills.
I saw the tube work ACC (ACC Toyota Land Cruiser & Trucks :: Maintenance, Expedition Builds, Restorations) did for a friend's 80 series and thought we could sit down and sketch up some ideas for exactly how this was going to play out.
The plan was pull off the plastic fender flares and replace them with steel. Harder than it sounds, because of the complex curves of the front fender. Also a much easier task if you have steel bumpers front and back and sliders. Once I got my Metal Tech sliders last year, I knew that part would be a piece of cake (I told you I had been thinking of this for a while). Then I got the Demello rear bumper and thought there's enough flat space to connect there too. The front bumper is an All Pro and it is not as structurally sound as the other elements we were going to tie into. It's a great high clearance winch bumper, but the outer wings are pretty thin.
This meant that we were going to have to tie into the frame rail in some fashion. ACC's tube bender went to task last Saturday and got the rough shapes bent for each fender. It's damn near impossible to bend it exactly into place because of the extra material on each end needed for final tie-in. The bends looked great as we held them up to the side of the FJC.
Michael spent some quality time with the bent tubes and had to cut and turn as he went to get them lined up exactly as I wanted. My major criteria were that they protect my fenders and my rear lights. I wanted a finger width between the tubes and the body panels to allow some flex room and to allow enough room for mud to fall out easily.
I think they did a fine job. They aren't a bolt-on solution, but they learned a lot with this first gen. They can duplicate the end result on my vehicle a lot easier now that they are in place and can be quantitatively measured for length and angles.
The scars on my door and rear fender are from Guardrail at the last Tellico event I attended.
I saw the tube work ACC (ACC Toyota Land Cruiser & Trucks :: Maintenance, Expedition Builds, Restorations) did for a friend's 80 series and thought we could sit down and sketch up some ideas for exactly how this was going to play out.The plan was pull off the plastic fender flares and replace them with steel. Harder than it sounds, because of the complex curves of the front fender. Also a much easier task if you have steel bumpers front and back and sliders. Once I got my Metal Tech sliders last year, I knew that part would be a piece of cake (I told you I had been thinking of this for a while). Then I got the Demello rear bumper and thought there's enough flat space to connect there too. The front bumper is an All Pro and it is not as structurally sound as the other elements we were going to tie into. It's a great high clearance winch bumper, but the outer wings are pretty thin.
This meant that we were going to have to tie into the frame rail in some fashion. ACC's tube bender went to task last Saturday and got the rough shapes bent for each fender. It's damn near impossible to bend it exactly into place because of the extra material on each end needed for final tie-in. The bends looked great as we held them up to the side of the FJC.
Michael spent some quality time with the bent tubes and had to cut and turn as he went to get them lined up exactly as I wanted. My major criteria were that they protect my fenders and my rear lights. I wanted a finger width between the tubes and the body panels to allow some flex room and to allow enough room for mud to fall out easily.
I think they did a fine job. They aren't a bolt-on solution, but they learned a lot with this first gen. They can duplicate the end result on my vehicle a lot easier now that they are in place and can be quantitatively measured for length and angles.
The scars on my door and rear fender are from Guardrail at the last Tellico event I attended.
