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Everyone,
Sorry for the delay, I have been away from the internet working daylight to dark on another project. I did mange to get some of the basic things done in some spare time I had here and there. Tires have been swapped, all fluids have been changed, oil leak was fixed, front bumper replaced, side steps removed, roof rack removed, fender flares removed, mudflaps removed, etcetera. I have been driving it, but don’t have a baseline yet but I will by the end of the week.
Aerohead,
Thanks, those are good thoughts. I wrestle with the tradeoffs of lighter wheels (Factory alloys) versus more aero wheels (factory steel wheels with smooth hubcaps). I plan to rig up front and rear spats on each wheel out of conveyor belt. I want to try a belly pan on this project, versus another air dam. I would like to swap mirrors if I can find some better factory options or mirror bodies that I can adapt to my bases. I don’t want to go too custom-crazy on this project, unlike my Suburban.
Freebeard,
The hatch is all one piece, hinging on the top (with self-contained roll up/down glass). The hatch hinge line is below the bodywork, with a cavity beneath to allow it to open without binding, luckily the seam is fairly flush (1/8” down) and the slopes on the top part of the hatch are reasonable. I have some pictures that illustrate this. As long as I don’t add anything to the first two inches of the top of the hatch it won’t bind, which shouldn’t be a problem.
As for the kamm, I am planning on it just being a box cavity above the tail lights to the roof. I plan on attaching four brackets to the hatch to hold the sculpted foam fiberglass piece. I will add a third brake light to the kamm. I have started making aluminum brackets, the top two are using existing fastener locations and I plan to add two new rivet nuts or some good double-sided tape to the hatch to hold the bottom brackets securely. I want to be able to remove the kamm from the brackets relatively easily (i.e. 4-6 screws). I will block it out of foam oversized and sculpt it down to shape. I plan to go back about 23” at the top.
Kach22i,
Understood. Part of it is that I have done two project vehicles with conveyor belt air dams and I want to try something different. The 4Runner came factory with relatively thin steel skid plates, I will remove those to partially offset some of the weight gain. I do have some thinner aluminum I may use in some less demanding places. I also do not plan on lifting the vehicle (maybe 1” max) so the belly pan would serve as a skid plate for off road use, as opposed to lifting the vehicle further which would negatively affect handling. But I understand the sentiment of not increasing weight substantially and may source some additional thinner material if needed.
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