Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT Roboto's Garage

[Mr. Roboto]

@zmotorsports thanks so much for the advice! And for taking the time to put together that helpful response. The 2 times I’ve had to use the press so far, I’ve been able to get by with drivers from my ball joint set, or using an old socket. I’m going to start shopping around for a driver set to have on hand.

The replacement bumper arrived from JCR. The fog lights fit into the mounting locations at least this time around. I installed the bumper and the led pods, but haven’t wired them yet.

I’m hoping they forget to ask for the old bumper back haha.

 

[zmotorsports]

Happy to be of help.

Last night I did shoot a better shot of my shop made drivers and receivers that sit on a shop made shelf next to my press.



Most came from small drops of various projects over the years and occasionally I'll have to chuck one up in the lathe to machine a small recess or step but I've obtained a pretty decent size collection over the years.

A couple that are harder to see on the lower shelf, are made from a couple pieces of 1" and 1.5" thick walled threaded pipe ******* that have a flange screwed onto one end and a cap on the other. I made these about 20 years ago from components at a plumbing store and worked great for pressing on inner pinion bearings and other items that needed to be pressed over a shaft. A few years ago I tried to make them more "purdy" so I chucked them up in the lathe and machined the threaded cap flat on the end as well as machined the flange to a slightly smaller OD but those are something that can be easily sourced and then screwed together. They don't show up well in the pictures as they're in the shadow, sorry.

 

[mike528]

the air/hydraulic bottle jack is the best upgrade I've found for my HF press. just need to finish putting a longer hose on it and put it on the foot pedal instead of the air wand valve.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Happy to be of help.

Last night I did shoot a better shot of my shop made drivers and receivers that sit on a shop made shelf next to my press.



Most came from small drops of various projects over the years and occasionally I'll have to chuck one up in the lathe to machine a small recess or step but I've obtained a pretty decent size collection over the years.

A couple that are harder to see on the lower shelf, are made from a couple pieces of 1" and 1.5" thick walled threaded pipe ******* that have a flange screwed onto one end and a cap on the other. I made these about 20 years ago from components at a plumbing store and worked great for pressing on inner pinion bearings and other items that needed to be pressed over a shaft. A few years ago I tried to make them more "purdy" so I chucked them up in the lathe and machined the threaded cap flat on the end as well as machined the flange to a slightly smaller OD but those are something that can be easily sourced and then screwed together. They don't show up well in the pictures as they're in the shadow, sorry.

Thanks again for the photos and info! I would sure love to have some machines at my disposal. It must be infinitely useful to just be able to build and modify whatever you need. A milling machine and a lathe would be spectacular, but I don’t really have the space or could justify buying them at this point. I spent a solid 6 months straight in a machine shop for one of my first internships. I learned a ton from the old school machinist there. I know enough to be dangerous, but I have a lot of respect for machinists. It’s a dying breed unfortunately. Sorry, got a little side tracked there haha.

the air/hydraulic bottle jack is the best upgrade I've found for my HF press. just need to finish putting a longer hose on it and put it on the foot pedal instead of the air wand valve.

Thanks I will look into that!

So the XJ is finally heading back to the body shop next week. He’s replacing the rear quarters/wheel arches and fixing the roof. It has a bunch of surface rust started after the clear coat failed. He will also be plugging the holes left behind from the factory roof rails that I removed. I decided to pull the headliner for him, and I had also been wanting to apply the sound deadening to the roof anyways.

My partner in crime came out to help. She puts her hearing protection and safety glass on for whatever we do together in the garage regardless of if they’re needed haha. Also her “work boots”

Down came the headliner:



And up with the sound deadening:




This should finally be the last time I have to pull that thing!

 

[68400BIRD]

Don’t you have welding to do on the roof? Just asking because you just put up sound deadening material. I miss my daughter coming out in the garage and helping. Enjoy it for as long as you can.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Don’t you have welding to do on the roof? Just asking because you just put up sound deadening material. I miss my daughter coming out in the garage and helping. Enjoy it for as long as you can.

He said he's just going to fill the roof rack mounting holes with fiberglass filler instead of welding them. The holes are also on the edges of the roof where that structure runs down each side, so I think (hope) it will be ok. There’s no sound deadening applied there. I thought about waiting until after he was done, but the roof is so thin, and you have to push up pretty hard with the roller to apply the sound drafting properly (you have to collapse the little bubbles in it). My luck, I was afraid I’d push too hard and jack up the “new” roof haha.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Well, I did a thing today. I don’t really post about it much but I have a 2008 Toyota Tundra double cab. It’s been a fantastic truck. Lately, with the 2 kids, we’ve found ourselves taking it for longer getaways due to how much cargo it can hold vs my rav4 or my wife’s Subaru. These kids and my wife bring a lot of stuff! The backseat is just on the small side, which makes car seats and storing stuff inside the cab with us challenge. And it’s a base model, so it doesn’t really have any options at all aside from the 5.7L V8 and 4x4 (which was all I really cared about at the time)

This is a random photo I have of my old truck:



After weeks of looking, I bought this used 2016 Tundra Limited Crewmax to replace it. I’ve never really had a “fancy” truck before, but here it is:



I just snapped that one pic when I got home with it, but here are a few from the listing of the inside





I’ve had my old truck for 6+ years, and have put 50k miles on it, and due to this crazy truck market, I can still sell it for what I paid for it. Can’t really beat that. I’ll be sad to see it go though. I took both of my girls home from the hospital after they were born in that truck, it’s hauled material for a ton of my projects, and has gotten me through the worst of snow storms any time I’ve needed. I’ve taken it all over New England hiking, mountain biking, snowboarding and climbing. I’m definitely one of those people who gets attached to their vehicles, and we’ve been through a lot together. A co-worker of mine is in the process of getting prepared to buy it from me, which I’m kind of on the fence about (I like to sell vehicles and never have to see/hear about them again) but we shall see what happens!

 

[bigsteve2011]

Nice upgrade on the truck! Good work on the jeep too!
I did the same thing last year with having the 2 kids and tons of "****" that my wife deems needed to take places.
I bought it new in 2012. Was very nice FX4 F-150, but like yours it was only the extended cab and couldn't fit car seats easily.
Both my son and daughter came home in hospital in that truck and my wife and I meet like 9 days after I bought it so lots of memories with it.
I miss having it (mostly the truck part) but it was the right thing to do due to age and our needs, got a lot back for selling it to cover new SUV.
You get to keep the memories but not always the things.

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice. Looks like it was well cared for from the pictures. Congrats on the new ride.

 

[Denwood]

Great shop, and awesome job on both your project Jeep, and the ones you've passed along. I have two girls as well, although I'm about 14 years ahead of you. Your thread reminded me exactly of what I was doing when they were born...doing an engine swap into a 1990 VW Westfalia so the four of us could go camping! I've since sold both that vehicle and my autocross/race 84 Scirocco.

Like you, I was pretty stoked to get a MIG back in the day and it has been a great addition to the shop for over 20 years now. Your 26x34 with 10 foot ceilings is about perfect in my book

In any case, keep that energy level pumping. The kids will keep you busy in a very good way.

 

[nicholam77]

The new truck looks really nice, congrats! That will definitely be nice for road trips. I feel you on toddler baggage, we usually fill my wife's CX-5 to the brim. My Golf is out of the question .

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Nice upgrade on the truck! Good work on the jeep too!
I did the same thing last year with having the 2 kids and tons of "****" that my wife deems needed to take places.
I bought it new in 2012. Was very nice FX4 F-150, but like yours it was only the extended cab and couldn't fit car seats easily.
Both my son and daughter came home in hospital in that truck and my wife and I meet like 9 days after I bought it so lots of memories with it.
I miss having it (mostly the truck part) but it was the right thing to do due to age and our needs, got a lot back for selling it to cover new SUV.
You get to keep the memories but not always the things.

Thank you! Sounds like we've had some similar experiences. Family needs sure does seem to be the deciding factor when it comes to new vehicle purchases. You're right, the memories will always remain!

Nice. Looks like it was well cared for from the pictures. Congrats on the new ride.

Thank you! It's in very good shape. I don't really want to park it outside.... time for a 3rd bay?!

Great shop, and awesome job on both your project Jeep, and the ones you've passed along. I have two girls as well, although I'm about 14 years ahead of you. Your thread reminded me exactly of what I was doing when they were born...doing an engine swap into a 1990 VW Westfalia so the four of us could go camping! I've since sold both that vehicle and my autocross/race 84 Scirocco.

Like you, I was pretty stoked to get a MIG back in the day and it has been a great addition to the shop for over 20 years now. Your 26x34 with 10 foot ceilings is about perfect in my book

In any case, keep that energy level pumping. The kids will keep you busy in a very good way.

Thanks a lot for the comments! I appreciate that. I have a hard time sitting still, and leaving well enough alone. I am already starting to look at some mods for the new truck hahaha.

The new truck looks really nice, congrats! That will definitely be nice for road trips. I feel you on toddler baggage, we usually fill my wife's CX-5 to the brim. My Golf is out of the question .

Thanks Nick! The only thing that really ***** about this truck (and all Tundras) for road trips is the fuel economy. 13-17mpg is about all they are good for. Toyotas solution for this was to just add a larger fuel tank after a few years haha. My old truck had a 26 gallon tank. This one has a 38 gallon tank. So, the range is still decent, but man, it's costly to fill!

 

[Denwood]

That is a very nice truck I don't get why the maker of some of the most efficient cars around with very mature tech (Prius) has not extended some of that to the truck. This is a major truck town so I hear about the Tundra vs fuel mileage thing often: "Awesome truck...not so easy on fuel..." Fuel is about $1.50 litre currently, which equates to $4.24 USD per gallon.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

That is a very nice truck I don't get why the maker of some of the most efficient cars around with very mature tech (Prius) has not extended some of that to the truck. This is a major truck town so I hear about the Tundra vs fuel mileage thing often: "Awesome truck...not so easy on fuel..." Fuel is about $1.50 litre currently, which equates to $4.24 USD per gallon.

So they actually finally redesigned the Tundra for 2022. It now comes with either a Turbo V6 or a hybrid option available. But they both get the same max highway MPG of about 24 - nothing too spectacular. I briefly considered a new one, but it would be over 60K for a crewmax limited like the 2016 I bought. Definitely out of my budget!

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Started making a few small additions to the new truck. Front and rear full coverage husky mats. Really been liking these over weather tech lately.




Also a phone magnetic mount/qi charger. If anyone is in the market, a company called course Motorsports make some really slick ones that hard mount to your vehicle in some very clever ways. This one required the removal of the hvac panel, mount gets attached inside the dash, and then re-assembled. I have never been a fan of window mounts, ac vent mints, screwing into the dash etc. plus it holds the phone in what I think is the perfect location.



Also did the full interior led conversion:



Also cargo light led conversion. It came with a nice hard folding bed cover, but it was missing the gasket for the front so water was getting in. I was able to buy a replacement gasket. Pulled the cover, installed it and re-aligned it (it was crooked and driving me nuts)



Looking at the roof for the first time while doing this, the drip molding cover things are missing ugh. A few dents too, but oh well. It’s somewhat common for those things to get loose and fly off, so I’ll have to order some replacements.

We had a “warm” 50 degree day yesterday, so I took the opportunity to wash the old truck it get it ready for sale. Still looks great for a 2008!








Next up for the new truck will be a 2019+ factory led headlight swap, I also really don’t like the chrome tubular side steps. My old truck had them too, but I never got around to changing them. I’m thinking about this set from GoRhino:

RB20 Running Boards with Mounting Brackets Kit - Crew Max Only

RB20 Running Boards offer off road styling while also helping to protect vehicle finish while providing a wide, full-length step platform for easy entry to vehicle. Built from 16-gauge zinc coated steel and coated for corrosion resistance.

www.gorhino.com

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice additions.

I recently added a small magnet style of phone mount to our Camaro. A vendor made one that fit behind the radio mount so no drilling or modifying anything which appealed to me. I generally don't keep my phone on the dash on any of my vehicles but our Camaro doesn't have factory navigation and I don't want to spend the $1600 to add it so I figured I would just use my phone and add a small inconspicuous mount. So far so good but don't use navigation that much anyways.

 

[nicholam77]

The new truck looks great and so do the upgrades! I like the Rhino running boards, you always have good taste in modifications.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Nice additions.

I recently added a small magnet style of phone mount to our Camaro. A vendor made one that fit behind the radio mount so no drilling or modifying anything which appealed to me. I generally don't keep my phone on the dash on any of my vehicles but our Camaro doesn't have factory navigation and I don't want to spend the $1600 to add it so I figured I would just use my phone and add a small inconspicuous mount. So far so good but don't use navigation that much anyways.

Awesome, sounds like a great addition to the Camaro!

The new truck looks great and so do the upgrades! I like the Rhino running boards, you always have good taste in modifications.

Thanks a lot! I like to stick to oem+ style subtle changes for the most part. Nothing too over the top. Maybe the Jeep is a little over the top…. But that ok lol.

I did make one more modification to the truck. When I took it 3+ hours round trip to go snowboarding I noticed my legs got tired. I attributed this to the fact that I couldn’t raise the front of the seat up high enough. After some googling, this is a common complaint. A company called desert does it makes a set of front seat risers, that add an inch of height. I had my doubts that small change would be noticeable, but man, it sure was. Easy 10 minute install too. Basically a set of CNC cut blocks of aluminum that bolt to the floor, and then the seat bolts to those. Seat feels much better now. Simple idea but very effective.







Also, i finished up the sale of my old truck Thursday. One last shot of the 2 side by side. Officially sold for the exact price I bought it for 6 years ago, so I can’t complain about that!




Temps dipped to -12 here last night. Tucked all the kids into the garage last night. Made possible due to the fact that the Jeep is back at the body shop getting the rear quarters done.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

The new truck upgrade I’ve been most excited to do arrived today: the headlights. 2014-2018 tundras did not come with led headlights as an option (I might be a tad off on that year range) regardless, my truck came with halogen headlights and fog lights. They’re pathetically dim, too. Installing the OEM black housing led headlights and fog lights from a 2019+ TRD sport is a popular mod, so I jumped right in on that one. A company called Headlight Revolution makes a harness that’s mostly plug and play to enable all of this. It does require you to re-pin one of the connectors in the factory harness, but it’s super easy.

Before:



After:


Before:



After:



DRLs on:



Headlights on:



I didn’t have a chance to swap the fog lights yet, but I really love how this came out. Since they’re OEM, it also maintains the factory headlight leveling motors.

 

[Finallygotit]

Leveling motors?? Wow!

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Leveling motors?? Wow!

Haha yeah, kind of a neat feature. If you have a heavy load in the back of the truck and the rear end is squatting, you can adjust the aim of the headlights to avoid blinding oncoming traffic.

I got the matching fog lights installed yesterday:





Did an oil change:



And installed these door sill protectors:



Random shot in my driveway because I thought the truck looked cool with the DRLs on:




And that's probably it on the truck for a wile. I want to have a spray in bed liner done, and get the underside oil undercoated, but I won't be doing either of those myself. Going to eventually change out the side steps as well, but going to wait a bit on those.

 

[Purist]

Hey buddy, congrats on the truck!! Glad to see things going well for you. See you around, bud!

 

[nicholam77]

The new headlights look great and really modernize it. I love a good OEM upgrade.

 

[nmk_61802]

Where did you source the OEM headlights? I have the same issues with my 2015. Been looking at aftermarket for awhile, but have concerns with the quality.

With the truck market I too had considered an upgrade, but cannot see purchasing anything other than a Tundra. Hope they bring back an updated V8 with a small electric motor for local drive next year. I am not a fan of the turbo 6 for towing, especially due to the fairly small gains in mileage for day to day driving.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Hey buddy, congrats on the truck!! Glad to see things going well for you. See you around, bud!

Thanks my friend!

The new headlights look great and really modernize it. I love a good OEM upgrade.

Thank you! I agree

Where did you source the OEM headlights? I have the same issues with my 2015. Been looking at aftermarket for awhile, but have concerns with the quality.

With the truck market I too had considered an upgrade, but cannot see purchasing anything other than a Tundra. Hope they bring back an updated V8 with a small electric motor for local drive next year. I am not a fan of the turbo 6 for towing, especially due to the fairly small gains in mileage for day to day driving.

I got all of the lights from https://www.sparksparts.com/ and the harness from www.headlightrevolution.com

I struggled for a bit with the decision myself. The Tundra is largely the same truck from 2007-2021. But after some thought, that's some of the appeal to me. It's a simple proven drivetrain that I should get a long life out of. The refresh in 2014 made it feel like enough of an update from my old one, and the backseat is still among one of the largest you can get with the Crewmax. It was a good compromise for me for my budget, and I still think it's a beautiful truck.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I removed the drop in bed liner in the Tundra in preparation to have a Line-X spray in bed liner done. Unfortunately, I was greeted with a crappy spot of rust in the front passenger corner. This spot sits right over the front bed crossmember. There was a good size pile of dirt trapped in between the bed liner and the bed, which caused this mess.



I called around to a few body shops to see if they could fix it for me professionally, and they all said they don’t do this type of work. So, I’m stuck half-assing it myself.

Cut out the rot and ground it down the best I could:



I treated it with the POR-15 degreaser, followed by metal prep.



Have to let it dry thoroughly, and then I’ll paint the area with POR-15. Hopefully this will kill the rust.

I then cut and test fit my replacement panel.



I bought some 3M panel bond, and an applicator gun to set the patch in.



I’ll hit the patch itself with some primer and paint the bottom side. The top side I’ll just leave in primer, and then have the bed liner applied right over it. I picked up a rubber bed mat too, so the patch won’t even be visible when it’s all said and done. Hoping this does the trick.

 

[slik560]

I've found that most body shops won't touch anything that they can't over-bill an insurance company for. ***** about rust in a truck that new - your fix is likely equal to or greater than what a body shop would have done.

 

[MadeByMiller]

I have had the same experience locally. I must have called every body shop in town to see if they could repair the rust over the passenger rear wheel arch on our Expedition. Only one single shop said they would be willing to take on the repair, but only if I replaced the entire quarter panel! It seems rust repair is a DIY job now.

 

[zmotorsports]

I have had the same experience locally. I must have called every body shop in town to see if they could repair the rust over the passenger rear wheel arch on our Expedition. Only one single shop said they would be willing to take on the repair, but only if I replaced the entire quarter panel! It seems rust repair is a DIY job now.

Trust me Austin, you want it to be a DIY repair if you saw how ****** some shops actually performed rust repair. They won't guarantee the work and they make sure to drive that home to the owner so when it comes back because of their poor workmanship then the owner isn't surprised nor hold them accountable.

Rust can be remedied but takes more effort than a normal body shop is willing to perform. For that reason alone I feel the owner in many cases can do a much better job of the repair because they are personally vested in the outcome and will spend the time to ensure a better result.

 

[68400BIRD]

I take it you do not have a welder. It looks like about 1-2 hours to weld and grind down.

 

[MadeByMiller]

Trust me Austin, you want it to be a DIY repair if you saw how ****** some shops actually performed rust repair. They won't guarantee the work and they make sure to drive that home to the owner so when it comes back because of their poor workmanship then the owner isn't surprised nor hold them accountable.

Rust can be remedied but takes more effort than a normal body shop is willing to perform. For that reason alone I feel the owner in many cases can do a much better job of the repair because they are personally vested in the outcome and will spend the time to ensure a better result.

I know you're right, Mike. I think the same reasoning applies to pretty much all work we hire out, pride in workmanship is far down on the priority list of most.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I've found that most body shops won't touch anything that they can't over-bill an insurance company for. ***** about rust in a truck that new - your fix is likely equal to or greater than what a body shop would have done.

You're right on there. They can't be bothered with much more. Thanks for the reassurance at least!

I have had the same experience locally. I must have called every body shop in town to see if they could repair the rust over the passenger rear wheel arch on our Expedition. Only one single shop said they would be willing to take on the repair, but only if I replaced the entire quarter panel! It seems rust repair is a DIY job now.

My Jeep has been at a body shop for the last 3 weeks to have it's rusted rear quarters replaced. The guy is so backed up with insurance work that he's just working on it as time allows. He gave me fair warning that it would take him a long time, so I knew it going in at least, but nobody else would even tough it. He keeps reminding me when I call to check in that this will be the last "side job" he's ever taking in.

I take it you do not have a welder. It looks like about 1-2 hours to weld and grind down.

I do have a welder, though I am not very good with it yet. I liked the idea of the panel bond though because 1) it's easier for me and 2) I can fully encapsulate the rusty areas with it underneath the patch.

 

[racer-john]

I know you're right, Mike. I think the same reasoning applies to pretty much all work we hire out, pride in workmanship is far down on the priority list of most.

You're right on there. They can't be bothered with much more. Thanks for the reassurance at least!



My Jeep has been at a body shop for the last 3 weeks to have it's rusted rear quarters replaced. The guy is so backed up with insurance work that he's just working on it as time allows. He gave me fair warning that it would take him a long time, so I knew it going in at least, but nobody else would even tough it. He keeps reminding me when I call to check in that this will be the last "side job" he's ever taking in.



I do have a welder, though I am not very good with it yet. I liked the idea of the panel bond though because 1) it's easier for me and 2) I can fully encapsulate the rusty areas with it underneath the patch.

Have you not heard of "Rust Restorer"?

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I’m using POR-15. Put the first coat on just now, actually. I’m not quite sure what you’re referring to, though.

 

[racer-john]

I’m using POR-15. Put the first coat on just now, actually. I’m not quite sure what you’re referring to, though.

Should have been "Rust Reformer", it turns rust into a dormant state that will not re-rust.
I use Por-15 also, even over "R/R".

 

[slik560]

Long ago I got two products from Eastwood: Rust Converter and Rust Encapsulator. I used both on an old Mercedes in an area that was tough area - where the fan blower sits under the cowling/firewall. The converter brushed on first and after a few coats and drying time, the black goo encapsulator went over that. It was a long process, but it's holding up - the new owner in Denmark says zero rust coming back. I like the idea of that POR-15 - I just hope I never have to use it.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Should have been "Rust Reformer", it turns rust into a dormant state that will not re-rust.
I use Por-15 also, even over "R/R".

Ah, yes, I have and use rust reformer often. I’m my opinion it does the job for surface rust but anything behind that and it’s not quite up to the task. This rust was beyond what rust reformer could work well on.

Long ago I got two products from Eastwood: Rust Converter and Rust Encapsulator. I used both on an old Mercedes in an area that was tough area - where the fan blower sits under the cowling/firewall. The converter brushed on first and after a few coats and drying time, the black goo encapsulator went over that. It was a long process, but it's holding up - the new owner in Denmark says zero rust coming back. I like the idea of that POR-15 - I just hope I never have to use it.

Haha I hear ya! I get sad every time I have to use por-15 too, but have had good luck thus far with it.

Finished up the patch on the Tundra. Dropping jt off at the bed liner place tonight to be done tomorrow.





Next up, another XJ to work on. This one belongs to a friend of a friend. Another dreaded leaf spring replacement, shocks all the way around, and a valve cover gasket. Ever since replacing my 60 gallon compressor with the smaller portable one, my air impact just hasn’t had the balls it used to. I modified the manifold to add an external regulator but the pressure still drops off when I use the impact gun. All my other air tools are no issue…. But my IR is really air hungry. So I decided to just buy an M18 impact to have for when I need the extra power. It didn’t disappoint! It’s just much bigger and heavier compared to the air gun.





Up it goes:



Mapp torch and the new impact gun, and the bolts came out like butter. Much easier than when I did my XJ, which had the bolts seized into the leaf spring busing sleeves.



Leafs out!



Barely started to remove the shock and it burst in my face pretty violently. Thankfully I had safety glasses on. Here it is ******* out the rest of the fluid after the explosion. That’s a new one for me.



That’s the rust belt for ya:




New leafs, shackles, u bolts and shocks in:



On to the valve cover gasket. Out and in without too much trouble.



And that’s a wrap!



He was super happy with everything. The old leaf springs were shot and it rode like ****. He already wants me to do a bunch of other work for him, just have to find the time.

Years ago after I sold my first XJ and was just starting to build my garage, I always had a goal of building my dream XJ, buying and selling XJs to pay for it, and fixing/modifying other peoples Jeeps. That goal is finally starting to become a reality, and I’m pretty happy about it! I’m starting to research “legitimizing” this as a side business from an LLC and insurance perspective. Right now I really only work on friends and acquaintances cars through word of mouth for liability reasons. But there are always people posting on our town FB page looking to have easy work done that I’d love to cash in on. Happy to hear advice from anyone who may have gone down this path as well.

Thanks for reading along!

 

[slik560]

I wonder what made that shock grenade like that? Did you have to heat the bolts to get them out first? Thats....extraordinary.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I wonder what made that shock grenade like that? Did you have to heat the bolts to get them out first? Thats....extraordinary.

The shock body was so thin and crusty from the rust, that as soon as I put a pry bar behind it to slip it off the axle stud, it just let go!

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Picked up the truck from the Line-X shop last night. I’m happy with the results! I went with the “premium” option, which basically just adds a clear coat over the bed liner to help with fading, staining etc. makes it a little smoother and easier to clean as well.



The patch blended in pretty well!