*Rickashay's 04' Tundra* - A build of Compromises

[rickashay]

Are you keeping stock front fenders because even with 285's I can stuff my tires so they are touching the very top of the wheel well


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From the limited number of people who have done 35's on the Tundra without a bro-lift it doesn't seem to have been a major issue. Or at least, not mentioned... so in all honesty it isnt something I've considered. I will have to see though as I know the DC and AC fenders vary in design slightly. Could also be a combination of that and wheel offsets. Thanks for bringing the issue to light thought, I'll know soon enough. I would be willing to run a .5-1" bodylift if I ABSOLUTELY had to. If I'm going to BL, now would be the time, before the armour comes online.

shame I don't have room in my shop, I wanted to try out my punch/ flange tool. lol

Tsk Tsk Matt. Just bring it up here next weekend? You've got a place to stay and unlimited beers if your bored. haha Tank and Suri would like to say hi anyway.

 

[Derek24]

I remember on my tundra with my icon extended travel coilovers with sway bar removed I could get my 285 firestone destination MTs to rub the top of the fender. It also rubbed everywhere on the inner fender by the pinch weld, even after I cut everything out and off. Not as much as you plan, but I was planning on tubbing it. I'm excited to see what you do!

 

[seanpistol]

Pretty sure Benc said he was able to avoid all rubbing at the top with 35's by removing the inner fender liner.

 

[rickashay]

Finally, some real progress.

I pulled the truck back into my rental garage yesterday evening in preparation for the "tub party" today to get the old Tundra ready for the new 35's when they land. It was as good excuse as any to get my little Lincoln welder setup, so this week I have been running around prepping to make this weekend run smooth.

Friday night I pulled the passenger fender, removed the strut (to allow the suspension to cycle fully), pulled the fender liner, and was ready to roll come nightfall. I forgot to take an initial photo of the passenger side, but here is the driver side before cutting for reference:

20131107-IMG_3938.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

After removing the fender I threw on my old spare 315/75/16 MT/R Kevlar on a 3.5" BS SCS F5 (same wheels I'll be running on the Tundra), to see how bad it would need to be cut:

20131107-IMG_3917.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

This morning all I needed to do was removing the kick panel and pull all the wiring and 4WD computer modules away from the firewall. I then removed the carpet and insolation to expose the bare-inner fender. My buddy Tanner had brought his templates of cardboard form when he tubbed the firewall on his 03' Tacoma. We used those as a base to trace the opening we would cut, and then trim from there. He actually said the Tundra needed less trimming than his Tacoma. I soaked some rags in water and placed them on the inside area to be cut. It helped to keep the sparks down and away from the wiring.

Traced and removed using a grinder and cutting disk:

20131107-IMG_3926.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr


20131107-IMG_3928.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

Debris starting to pile up:

20131107-IMG_3927.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

After several test fits, some hammering, and tin snipping, we came up with this:

20131107-IMG_3933.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

The small holes were drilled to use as tack points once we started to weld.

All welded back up:

20131107-IMG_3934.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr


20131107-IMG_3935.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

And the money shot - sitting on the bump stops @ full lock:

20131107-IMG_3936.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

Threw the strut back in and started to prep the other side for tomorrow.

20131107-IMG_3940.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

Hoping it goes a lot faster/smoother as the temperature will be dropping drastically tonight with snow in the forcast. Still need to seam seal and prep/paint everything up once both sides are done. I'll also need to trim the washer fluid reservoir, fender flares, and front bumper. Still hoping i can keep the flares but it will get interesting. Stay tuned.

 

[Derek24]

Awesome! Great work! Can't wait till you get your tires! And here's some more !!!!!!!!!,!,!,!

 

[FJR Colorado]

Amazing surgery. This will be bad azzzzz.

 

[BrianTN]

Looking good. Take as many pictures as you can!

 

[rickashay]

Too cold and too much snow today... looks like I'll be post-poning the other side until next weekend so I can get a propane heater setup in the garage. Might swing by there today and work on seam sealing it though.

FWIW, I had to pull the inner fender liner so we could get in there and weld. When the truck was sitting on the bumpstops, the tire still had a solid 1-2" of room below the top of the wheel well. I have not `tested anything with the fenders on yet but it looks like I'll be able to keep my fender flares and still run the fender liners (trimmed) when it all gets put back together.

 

[rickashay]

I decided to battle through the cold for a few hours and get the passenger side primed and sealed. A messy process for sure and it sure didn't come out as clean as I'd hoped but not that big of a deal...once it's fully dried I'll be rocker guarding over top of everything underneath. I'm hoping at that point the "tub job" will only be noticed by the trained eye!

I masked off the area around the parameter.

20131108-IMG_3941.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

Then went to town on the seam sealer:

20131108-IMG_3948.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

While I was waiting for the paint to dry (literally) I decided to open the box of Powerstop drilled/slotted rotors and ceramic pads I had sitting on my shelf. I did the front brakes as the primer/seam sealer was drying.

20131108-IMG_3943.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

 

[seanpistol]

And the money shot - sitting on the bump stops @ full lock:

20131107-IMG_3936.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

:victory:

 

[tyv12]

Nicely done!


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[4Running Daily]

I made an account here only to watch this build.

 

[Adventurous]

************! Well done my man!

 

[rickashay]

Nicely done!


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I made an account here only to watch this build.

************! Well done my man!

Thanks gents, excited to get it done this weekend and start trimming the flares. Hoping to drive down to my Montana mailbox next week sometime and grab my new wheels and everything else that is waiting down there.

Connor, glad you signed up over here man, lots of inspiration for adventures and a ton of ingenuity in the builds here. Your rig fits right in with the cool in-the-family story to match.

 

[seanpistol]

Shoulda tubbed for 37s on a long travel front end... Recently saw someone let a brand new Camburg LT kit with axles go for $2000 in the socaltundras classifieds. :drool: