Topic: Steel City Racing & Marlin Crawler: KOH 2019 Toyota 4Runner IFS 4600 Build

[Rockcrawlintoy]

That bumper looks pretty heavy whats the weight? Watch that fairlead it is gonna get mashed

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

That bumper looks pretty heavy whats the weight? Watch that fairlead it is gonna get mashed

The Steel version of 4x4Labs new 4th Gen 4Runner (and Lexus GX) bumper weighs in well under 100 lbs.  My AR400 version weights slightly more at 108 lbs given the abuse we expect to see at KOH.

I'll ask for Luke's opinion on the fairlead.

[Rockcrawlintoy]

I'll ask for Luke's opinion on the fairlead.

In normal conditions I wouldnt say a word. I know hammer trails and undertsand you prolly wont be as careful under racing conditions as you would be just trail riding.

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

In normal conditions I wouldnt say a word. I know hammer trails and undertsand you prolly wont be as careful under racing conditions as you would be just trail riding.

Yeah, his advice is that we use a Factor55 Thimble and Hook.  As long as we protect the synthetic and avoid as many dead-center hits as we can, maybe that'll be sufficient...

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Update:
Armor is pretty much done.  Luke will be driving the 4Runner to BigMike on Friday.  All 4x4Labs has left is some finishing touches, final powder coating, and hooking up the Front AND Rear winches (yes, 2 winches)! 

Two weeks ago I got a call from Luke and HD saying they wanted to put a winch in the rear too - I love their passion! 

So I called our friends at Warn and was able to pick up a 9.0Rc that'll be perfect for the rear bumper - Warn is AWESOME!


I know we won't use it as much as the front Zeon 10K Platinum, but it'll be nice for rearward recoveries and to help other racers on the trail.

Last pics before powder coating below.

Huge sheet of AR400 being cut at 4x4Labs
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo2JIKuHCD-/?taken-by=4x4labs

Rear Bumper:








We'll be running Dual Exhaust above the frame rail and out of the wings in the rear bumpers:


Sliders:






Full Undercarriage IFS Skid-Plates:






More to come...

[Rockcrawlintoy]

Whats the thickness of the bumpers and sliders?

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Whats the thickness of the bumpers and sliders?

3/16" AR400 Plate.  See it here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo2JIKuHCD-/?taken-by=4x4labs

[Rockcrawlintoy]

is there a target weight you are shooting for? love to see a stock weight vs race ready

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

is there a target weight you are shooting for? love to see a stock weight vs race ready

Stock is 4,250-4500.  I'm sure we cut weight when we stripped the interior, removed the powered/heated seats, pulled the fuel tank, put on salvage doors, and put on fiberglass fenders.  The armor, fuel cell, cage, axles, and suspension will add weight back.

We've been cognizant of weight on everything we've done, but we haven't sacrificed strength/performance for weight savings.  It's a V8, so it's going to be heavy no matter what we do.

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

One more BIG Announcement.  And before I disclose, Special Thanks to BigMike at Marlin Crawler for making this one happen for us.  Without his support and sponsorship, this simply would not be possible. 

I've been holding this one back for a while now...so here goes.

It's both exciting and terrifying to say that our Steel City Racing 4th Gen V8 IFS 4Runner will not only be racing 4600 EMC on Wednesday, but will also be racing in the 4400 Ultra4 Unlimited Class Main Event on Friday!

How?

For 4600 EMC Class, I'll be Driving and a close friend of mine who is a local Fire Fighter in AL will be Co-Driving.

But on Friday, I'll be Co-Driving for Hobie Smith, an OG13, who will be Driving this car on Friday in the 4400 Unlimited Class.

Our goal for 4600 EMC is to Win our class.  Our goal for 4400 Unlimited Main Event is to Finish the race.  If we can finish both, that would be an amazing win for both our team and our sponsors!

Fortunately this year EMC got pushed back to Wed, so we have all day Thurs to make sure the car is prepped and ready for Friday's Main Event.

I had mentioned a while back that we'd have help testing and preparing for the race.  Well, Hobie has graciously agreed to help teach us everything he has learned over the many years he has raced KOH and will also be helping us with testing over the coming months.  He's already given us a ton of tips on the overall build, driving style to make sure we survive EMC, pit operations, winching techniques, navigation, etc.

Our sponsors and I are proud to announce Hobie Smith as part of the Steel City Racing team for KOH 2019!

[Rockcrawlintoy]

The runner will be racing in the 4400 class on friday? Hope you dont mind getting driven over because I know the big names wont hesitate to use the runner as traction.

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

The runner will be racing in the 4400 class on friday? Hope you dont mind getting driven over because I know the big names wont hesitate to use the runner as traction.

We're going to try to avoid this .  I think it's also means for DQ nowadays.  Used to happen much more in the old days.

Regardless, with Hobie at the wheel, we'll stay out of their way!

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

4x4Labs is mostly done with our Armor for KOH.  The car goes to Marlin Crawler starting tomorrow.  The pics below aren't quite Final Product, but they're the latest ones I have and are getting close.  4x4Labs creativity, fab skills, welding, in-house powder coating, and overall attention to detail is Top Notch! 

Everything you see below is made from AR400.  Can't wait to see them in final form with our F/R Warn winches installed!

Front Bumper:




Rear Bumper - will eventually have Dual Swing-Outs, but of course won't be installed for KOH:






2 of 3 Skid Plates:


Sliders:






Luke said they had the welder "Dialed In" for our AR400:


They're wrapping up all the final details today before the trip tomorrow.

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

On Friday morning the 4Runner left 4x4Labs Shop for good.  Luke and the 4x4Labs team were extremely kind to drive the car to Marlin Crawler for me while on their way to LA for the weekend.  Thank you again to Luke, HD, and the entire 4x4Labs team for all their hard work over the past month!



It arrived safe and sound at Marlin Crawler ready for the next Phase of work!





We'll get some better pics of the armor in final form in the coming weeks. 

I'm really excited about this next Phase!  Stay tuned...

[Rockcrawlintoy]

whats the plan at marlins?

[300k]

whats the plan at marlins?

Make magic

[Rockcrawlintoy]

Update? I am looking forward to this thing running. 

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Update? I am looking forward to this thing running. 

Great work happening at Marlin, as always!  Stay tuned for an update!

[4runner17]

She looks heavy..

[300k]

She looks heavy..

It's like that to punt Cherokees out of the way

[4runner17]

Lol touché

[Slabzilla]

Countin' the days to watch you rockin' the rocks of the Hammers.  Will be there wavin' as you scream by.   

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Countin' the days to watch you rockin' the rocks of the Hammers.  Will be there wavin' as you scream by.   

Thanks! 

My sincere apologies for the lack of consistent responses - you'll find out why I stopped giving updates on this phase of the build here soon.

Here are a few small ones:
1) I'm now almost 100% done purchasing things for KOH 2019! I'm now waiting for a few Black Friday things to arrive so I can include pics of the FINAL purchases. Wyatt's garage is packed full of all of the stuff we'll need for the pits that I had shipped straight to CA. Special thanks to Wyatt for allowing me to store tons of parts at your place!

2) KOH 2019 Registration Fees are PAID. It definitely hurt the bank account - fees, insurance, and trackers aren't cheap. I'm still waiting on confirmation for our race number that I requested.

3) Icon is almost done with the Front Coilovers, Rear Shocks, and Rear Coils. Wyatt has been orchestrating this part of the build and we are so thankful for Icon's support! More to come here.

As mentioned, we did get slowed down by a few shops that are doing specialty work for Marlin in CA having their timelines pushed out. BigMike and Wyatt (the final 2 shops working on this build) are in constant communication with each other on the build and timeline and both still feel really good about everything.

Once BigMike is done with his work in the next 2-weeks, the truck will go to RockSolidToys sometime right around Dec 7th. Wyatt and team can do the Atlas II, rear suspension, etc in their sleep. The cage will be the final big piece of the puzzle that'll also be done at Wyatt's shop by a specialty cage builder called Otwell Welding and Fabrication who Wyatt highly recommended. Unfortunately Wyatt's timeline has been compressed a little due to the delays, but he has promised to get it done.

I hope to still have a full month (Jan) left for tuning and testing. More updates and pics coming soon.

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

It's like that to punt Cherokees out of the way

Lol touché

Hilarious!

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

We knocked out a lot of finish work on the vehicle wrap last week.  Here is the latest.

Side:


Rear:


Hood:


Still doing a few final tweaks...

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

More good news!  Given prior racer comments about using ALL synthetic recovery gear on the rig to keep weight down, I reached out to Bubba Rope a few weeks ago and this morning they agreed to sponsor us.  So we're already adding another logo to the wrap as we speak!

We'll be using the Bubba Rope 20' or 30' Power Stretch recovery rope:
https://www.bubbarope.com/jeeps-and-trucks/bubba-rope-30-foot

And also the Bubba Rope Gator-Jay PRO Synthetic Shackles:
https://www.bubbarope.com/gator-jaws-synthetic-shackles/gator-jaw-pro-synthetic-shackle

Thanks again for Bubba Rope for being a part of this build!

[bigarms23]

Robert is the owner of otwell welding hes a stand up guy and does clean work and his Tacoma is badass

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Robert is the owner of otwell welding hes a stand up guy and does clean work and his Tacoma is badass

Awesome.  Wyatt highly recommended him - can't wait for him to work his magic on our 4Runner!  Given all the rules, the cage really ties a ton of components together!

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Our tires and wheels have arrived.  As mentioned, we're running 35" Cooper STT Pros on 17" KMC XD222 Enduro Beadlocks.  Can't wait to see how this combination performs at KOH.

Cooper STT Pros (Set 1 of 2):




KMC Beadlocks:

[bigarms23]

oooo shiney