Mike's Garage
 

Icon shock protectors

My high-speed desert adventures have sand blasted the bottom of the shafts on both rear shocks, as well as the shock knuckle where it bolts to the axle.  To stop this from getting worse I installed these shin guards.  I painted them and sprayed some truck bed liner on to add a wear layer to them. 

Shrockworks front bumper

I finally got around to installing my old bumper from my wrecked 2004.  It was smooth sailing, until the very end when I tried to close the hood and forgot about the grill changes Toyota made starting in 2006.  2 "heavy metal" saw blades later I had a very rough cut that let the hood close, and a notch for my hand to reach the hood release.  I'll take a grinder to it and finish it off, but for now I slapped some paint on it and it's good enough.  The PIAA 510s replace the stock fog lights, and the 580s are pencil beams for long distance illumination.  The old turn signals in the bumper are non-operational currently, but I'll probably wire them in with the parking lights.  I had the lower Shrockworks skid powder coated black in the off-time and now you don't even notice it.

 

Fog lights

 

Project Front End Reinforcement

I was tired of having to get an alignment after every off-road trip.  After blowing out both lower ball joints and putting a dimple in my passenger fender last spring I beefed up the front end with some Total Chaos goodies.

Spindle Gussets

Every FJ Cruiser/Tacoma/4Runner should gusset their spindles (you need aftermarket UCAs to clear it). There's probably as much metal in the gussets as in the spindles themselves.

 

 

Alignment Cam Tabs

Hopefully I won't need an alignment after every off-road trip now.

 
Upper Coil Bucket Gussets
 
TC's website says these bucket gussets only work with their arms, but that is not the case. Anyone who knows enough to weld these on can do a little tweaking and make them work with about any aftermarket UCA. With the suspension back in it's tough to get a good picture of them, but I'm happy to know they're there.
 

Low-Profile Differential Drain Plug

Lower Control Arm Bracket Skids

  

 

All-Pro Rear Differential Armor

Demello Off-Road Sliders

Front, Transmission, and Transfer Case Skid Plates

The rest of the BudBuilt skid plates from the wrecked '04.

 

Gas Tank Skid Plate

BudBuilt skid plates from the wrecked '04 going back on.  Here's the gas tank skid.

   

Clearance at the drive shaft.

    

Skid Lift

I purchased a cheap ATV/motorcycle/transmission lift that fit my floor jack to aid with skid plate installation and removal.