seanpistol's 01 Tundra
- Thread starter seanpistol
- Start date
seanpistol
Explorer
I had a bunch of stuff in the bed- snowmobile, spare tire, hitch, bumper... Probably would stand out pretty good!
seanpistol
Explorer
Cutoff wheel on 4.5" angle grinder, super happy with the edge. One tip I can give is to pull the cutting wheel at a reasonably fast, steady speed. I slowed down at one point on the first side and the excessive heat bubbled the paint a bit.
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jsnow
Adventurer
I told my wife "I've been following that guys build on Expo". She wasn't as excited as I was.
seanpistol
Explorer
Haha, that's cool!!
seanpistol
Explorer
Thank you, sir!
Should have my expensive snowmobile sold today, so I'm about ready to pull the trigger on a front bumper and a winch. Relentless makes the best looking plate bumper so far, but it's still not as high and tight as it could be and I think the DIY kit is overpriced. At this point I'd get the Addicted bumper and add some fill plate to the top so I can stand on it- and just in front of the winch to keep the road salt off it. I want to see photos of that new Brute Force fab bumper!
Top fill plate on a CBI bumper-
Fill plate in front of the winch on an Addicted bumper, he added lights in it, also added headlight protection that I think looks pretty good! (so does his solid axle Taco on Tundra wheels...)
And, I really want a cheapo curved 20-ish-inch LED light bar to stick on it
Should have my expensive snowmobile sold today, so I'm about ready to pull the trigger on a front bumper and a winch. Relentless makes the best looking plate bumper so far, but it's still not as high and tight as it could be and I think the DIY kit is overpriced. At this point I'd get the Addicted bumper and add some fill plate to the top so I can stand on it- and just in front of the winch to keep the road salt off it. I want to see photos of that new Brute Force fab bumper!
Top fill plate on a CBI bumper-
Fill plate in front of the winch on an Addicted bumper, he added lights in it, also added headlight protection that I think looks pretty good! (so does his solid axle Taco on Tundra wheels...)
And, I really want a cheapo curved 20-ish-inch LED light bar to stick on it
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utroda
Observer
It will be interesting to see which way you go. I agree with you on Relentless; its still the nicest looking one currently for 1st gens, but the price and wait times tho makes it hard to pull the trigger I have been waiting for a few months now. There was a thread either here or on TS where someone took a 100 series ARB bumper and made new mounting brackets for the 1gen tundra which looked pretty good. If you decided to plate the Addicted bumper take lots of pics 
seanpistol
Explorer
Everything I do is budget minded. This winch is so damn cheap... http://www.4wheelparts.com/Winches-...V45dgV8JLd_gU1ptS-9I7tginpIuL7AyA0aAgZo8P8HAQ
The Smittybuilt name still kind of worries me, but they have a mechanical lifetime warranty and 3 year electrical warranty. Warn is lifetime mechanical 1 year electrical. Thing is, I want reliability because I'm only going to use it when I need it and want it to work!
There is an M8000 listed locally for $300 that needs a new line and I could add a synthetic one, but I think that we need closer to 10k. Anyone have input on if a used Warn would be more reliable? I'm surely not going to spend $1000 on a winch. Anyone here have input on Superwinch over Smittybuilt?
The Smittybuilt name still kind of worries me, but they have a mechanical lifetime warranty and 3 year electrical warranty. Warn is lifetime mechanical 1 year electrical. Thing is, I want reliability because I'm only going to use it when I need it and want it to work!
There is an M8000 listed locally for $300 that needs a new line and I could add a synthetic one, but I think that we need closer to 10k. Anyone have input on if a used Warn would be more reliable? I'm surely not going to spend $1000 on a winch. Anyone here have input on Superwinch over Smittybuilt?
Climbermac
Observer
They are getting pretty hard to find but I run a Warn M10000 that I found on CL several years ago for 200 bucks. I had to replace the solenoids and I spooled it with amsteel but the price was right and a 10k for my rig fully loaded is as low as I would like to have. It's a shame they don't make that unit any more, if mine ever dies I'm gonna be bummed.
sixstringsteve
Explorer
both superwinch and smitty are built in china, but the superwinch is supposed to be the best built chinese winch.
I had a smitty x20 with synthetic and it worked the two times I needed it to. Their winches have really gotten a lot better through the years, especially the waterproof ones. I believe the TG winch is a rebranded smitty. If you're on a budget, and you'll keep your winch in good shape, I don't see why a smitty wouldn't do the trick for you. Is a warn more reliable? Probably, but even warns aren't 100% reliable all the time, they need love too. I'd pick something that's rated for submersion underwater and is completely sealed. That should keep salt, mud, and snow out of it, which should keep it running reliable for a long time.
When (if) it ever comes time to tub, I'd be happy to come over and help for a bit. I've never tubbed a tundra, but I've done 3 tacomas, a 3rd gen 4runner, and a '79 pickup. I don't imagine a tundra would be much different. It's a bit of a pain, (especially if you're not very good at welding sheet metal) but the results are well worth it. Here's my taco on 35s with 2" lift (though the 35s fit with zero lift).
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I had a smitty x20 with synthetic and it worked the two times I needed it to. Their winches have really gotten a lot better through the years, especially the waterproof ones. I believe the TG winch is a rebranded smitty. If you're on a budget, and you'll keep your winch in good shape, I don't see why a smitty wouldn't do the trick for you. Is a warn more reliable? Probably, but even warns aren't 100% reliable all the time, they need love too. I'd pick something that's rated for submersion underwater and is completely sealed. That should keep salt, mud, and snow out of it, which should keep it running reliable for a long time.
When (if) it ever comes time to tub, I'd be happy to come over and help for a bit. I've never tubbed a tundra, but I've done 3 tacomas, a 3rd gen 4runner, and a '79 pickup. I don't imagine a tundra would be much different. It's a bit of a pain, (especially if you're not very good at welding sheet metal) but the results are well worth it. Here's my taco on 35s with 2" lift (though the 35s fit with zero lift).
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trailscape
Explorer
One thing that I really like about Superwinch is that you can order replacement parts through their website. That's a really rare deal in the cheap winch market.
