The S.S. TRDFerguson: Captain’s Log

5150s are 15% off! Remember you saying you need a second; time to go spend some moolah

 

Ironman 4x4 Raid front bumper is officially installed. It took a lot longer than I had planned, because my wife decided that it was the week to do all the fucking things on our home project list. But I’m very happy with it. Ended up moving my SS3 Pros and SSC1 from my ditch brackets and into the bumper. I have the 32” Ironman bar in the middle, SS3 Pro with SAE lenses in the inward position, SS3 Pro with driving/combo lenses outside of those, and SSC1 with wide cornering lenses pointed outward for cornering light. I think with this and the 42” Stage bar in the hood bulge, I should have plenty of forward light with good coverage.


Teaser for the next project…

 

Looks great!

 

It’s confirmed, you’re a masochist.

Cant believe you’re going to attempt that brake light removal..

 

The joke's on you - I’ve already removed and resealed the stock housing more than I’d like to admit.

 

Bumper looks great. Any issues bolting it all up with the stock TRD pro skid plate? Their website is not so clear on what is involved there. Just longer bolts?

 

So I ended up stealing the bolts from the front sway bar frame mounts for that part. I started with the front side bolt on the Ironman tow hooks, then got the two bottom bolts from the hook to the bumper in, put in one of the bolts in the stock tow hook location, then tightened the tow hook to bumper bolts until I could get the other front side bolt into the tow hook. It works, but it’s a pain in the ass if you don’t know the order of operations. Maybe I’ll make a YouTube vid of how I did it.

 

Jake, could you weigh the stock front bumper? I'm curious what they actually weigh.

I've been close to buying the Ironman bumper a few times, but the only being able to use the 30" light bar, weight, and unsure about the skid plate situation always stops me.

 

I’ve got the stock one buried in the shed already, but it’s around 65-75 lbs I think. The 32” light bar that they included (right now anyway, not sure if it was a sale or not when I got all their lights for free) is actually pretty decent. I’ll eventually toss an onx6 in there, but it’ll do for a while. I was able to get the skid plate to work using the process above, and everything seems like it lined up well.

 

Oh, okay. So, I guess the weight difference is pretty considerable. I have the Valhalla skid, so not sure if that mounts any easier to it or not.

I've been curious about how well that Ironman light worked.
I still have a 40" BD for the bulge, and 42" DD I bought from Colton, during black Friday sale. So I've kinda been holding out for a bumper that can hold it. I can't find any, haha.

Your truck looks great. The front and rear bumpers look good together.

 

The TRD skid I have is pretty thick, at least at the tow hook locations. I’m guessing others would be a little thinner, especially if steel. But yeah, I think the bumper added about 50lbs and I’m planning on throwing a winch in there at some point. Heavier springs are definitely coming when I do that.

And thanks! I was really hoping the new front would play well with the LCS Fab one from @Squatting Pigeon, and it turned out great.

 

Mines the 1/4" aluminum, so probably much like the TRD skid.

One mod always leads to more changes, haha. I'm not touching my suspension again until I'm done with everything else. I think anyway.


They look like they were made for each other. And that one looks better than the Ironman rear, too.

 

well well look what showed up.

 

Tread lightly………… no puns intended……….

 

.. smoother than a fresh jar of skippy

 

I did it on my 08 DC several times. At last with the CM you can roll down the rear window to get above the headliner.

A MAGNETIC 10mm deep socket is your friend removing that housing

 

I’m sure the wife is going to be excited when she walks into the garage while I’m punching holes in the roof for the rivnuts

 

Thoughts on double stacking two ss30”s. Only like a0.5” difference and DD said they’d give you the cad files for a custom bracket..

 

Only if you charge your phone

 

Installed an Evil third brake light housing, thanks to a sweet deal from @texasrho83.


It was the non-NMO version, but a 5/8” hole and a

$30 Midland MXTA24 Low Profile Antenna Cable with NMO Connector – CB Antenna Cable Extension – 6 Meters (19 ft) with Removable UHF Connection

Midland MXTA24 fixed that.


New @Baja Designs S2 Sports from @memario1214 went in next


It was hot in the garage yesterday afternoon, so hydration was key


Luckily the riv-nut holes all lined up and the housing test fit went well


Finished running the chase light feeds and the antenna, then hooked up the cargo and brake lights. Those little dots throw some light


Then finished off the project (also due to moving all my forward lighting around with the new bumper) by reorganizing my Switch Pros buttons. Maybe now I can figure out what the hell I'm trying to push when trying to keep up with @BiggHertz or @KevinK

 

That antenna addition worked like gangbusters! Looks great like it came from Evil that way. Sweet job, bud.

I bet it was nice having that whole window roll down vs my little window in the DC.....

 

Haha I think I'd have given up if I didn't have the whole back window option. There's some tedious steps involved.

Thanks again

 

Looks sick! From my chat on chase lights with Baja designs they mentioned the flood was the best pattern to use.