Crow's 2021 ORP Super White

I wanted a taco since forever and went to the dealer to test drive one and the seating position was terrible so got a 4runner...best decision ever.

I'd like to share things I learned, how I went about doing some things and give my experience with products and vendors. Hope this provides some value as I found tremendous value in this community while doing the build, so thank you to everyone who's posted anything on here (it helps others) as well as to those who have replied back helping me directly when I've had questions. I appreciate it.

285/70/17 KO2, load range E
Method MR701 wheels 17x8.5 0 offset
Front Icon Coilovers 2.5" + 700lbs, extended length with reservoirs
Rear Icon 3" Overlanding springs
ADS rear shocks 2.5" w/ resevoirs
Icon Billet UCA
Icon Billet trailing arms
Ironman 4x4 Panhard Bar
Panhard Correction kit
C4 Fab steel full skid plates and gas tank skid
C4 Fab lo pro bumper with full bar + Baja S8 30” white
Warn Zeon Platinum 12-S with sidewinder hook
Baja Squadron Pro Fogs
ARB Diff Breather
Gobi Rack
Durabumps Bump Stops
BAMF Rock Sliders
Remote Start - Added at dealer
Pedal Comander
Smoked white raptor lights
Various Black Overlays and Black Rear Valance
Custom fuse / relay box and switch setup

Audio / Video - work in progress
Kenwood Excelon Reference DMX1057XR
Kenwood CMOS-740HD back and front cameras
Audiofrog GS25 x2
Audiofrog GS62 x4
Audiofrog GS690 x2
JL Audio Stealthbox with 10TW3-D4 x1
JL Audio VX600/6i x1
JL Audio VX1000/5i x1
JL Audio DRC-205 x2
JL Audio VXi-HUB x1
JL Audio VXi-BTC x1





How she sits right now:






At the dealer lot the day we bought her


Doing paperwork for the purchase


2nd day of ownership. Went out to the desert to shoot. Scratched up the rear plastics with a bunch of crap back there. Pissed off the wife.

 

Armor - Skids, Lo Pro, Sliders, Winch(armor?)

I went C4 skids because C4 seemed like a good brand and I was already getting the bumper from them. And I figured the skids would match up with the bumper well which they do. Went with steel because I figured it would protect better. I highly recommend not doing that and going with aluminum. All that weight really adds up and negatively impacts an already slow vehicle. Definitely go aluminum. It was a bit of a dash getting the skids on as there were a lot of catalytic converters getting stolen int he Bay Area at the time.

Pictures from before putting the bumper on



Had to cut the ends off the skid brace as it would not fit with my sliders




The Lo Pro was interesting. Firstly, if you get C4 you need to powder coat it yourself. That's good and bad. Good for example because the RCI sliders on my buddy's Tacoma is losing the powder coat and it's only been 6 months. Pretty shitty. We plan to fix with bed liner. Bad because while I thought I found a good place who told me they were putting on their most rugged power coat suitable for bumpers, the coat is really soft and scratched super easily. I'm very not happy and wish I had something more rugged. So do your homework. Ask to see examples.


I fabbed a mount on wheels to give me a lot of time to figure out how I was going to wire the winch and light bar which turned out to be one of the better ideas I've had. That allowed me to move the bumper in and out and all over the garage while I worked on other things and just made it much easier to work on which was necessary because.

On thge C4 website it said that they don't guarantee any light bar fit without modifications except the Baja S8 they sell with the bumper, so I got it. Well that shit didn't fit well. The light was far too low and to fit some what flush on one side (but not really) and was waaaaaay to far away on the other side. I had to use washers for spacers and do a lot of grinding on the bracket to get the light flush. I emailed them about it and they really didn't care at all.

Too low


Bracket hit the bumper welds


check how far away the welds pushed it on the left side


But at least the light worked


Also I had a lot of help


All that sorted it was time to put the bumper on so it was time to cut. I drank a couple glasses of scotch before doing that as I was a little nervous. Looks like I didn't take any post cut pictures. I think I cut slightly less that what the C4 video says. I wish I cut a lot less and left more of the stock bumper there. Would give a better look and fill in space. I would then recommend if you do that to put a liner on the plastic so it doesn't scratch of the bumper and eventually cause it to rust.

Also purchased some black out plastics and raptor lights which replaced part of the upper grill. The black overlay is from 4runnerlifestle and don't really fit. One side pops up even with a comical amount of mounting tape. But you can't tell unless you know.

More info here
https://www.4runners.com/threads/black-overlay-not-sticking.27237/

Put the Bajas in at this point. The instructions I think said to unpin / repin new connectors but I said fuck that and just soldered them in to the harness that's attached to the bumper.






The bumper on the stand allowed me to place it near the car and see how it would fit and if I'd have to do anything outside of the instructions


You have to bend this AC line a little


and if you have a winch, the power steering cooler will probably be in the way. I would have known about this had I sufficiently googled or searched this forum


I figured the cleanest look would be to move the cooler by using one from 4x4 Labs and mounting it elsewhere




Also had to cut the bracket right above the new cooler as that was hitting the winch

He refused to help that day


and it all turned out pretty cool


Sliders are BAMF. And I love them. What ever powder coat they use seems to be indestructible. Metal runs the entire length against the frame of the 4runner and there's something like 17 bolts on each side. These things aren't going anywhere, they aren't corroding. I trust them to hold weight. Again, RCI powder coat on my buddy's taco is coming off and there's rust on the metal. This tells me RCI didn't do good enough prep work. Pretty half assed.

The Warn Zeon Platinum 12-S. Don't get a Zeon Platinum. The Platinums come with a blue tooth remote that eats it's batteries like candy even while "off". If you get the non-Platinum you can buy a blue tooth module for there the remote table plugs in and then you use your phone as a remote. Way better. Especially since your phone probably isn't dead.

I bought several small batteries off Amazon and found one that fits which makes the remote last much longer but I intend to add a switch to the remote. This battery lasts maybe a month where the stock battery lasted maybe a week. Just always carry a charging cable.


Got around to putting in a physical switch so it will be for realz off and no parasitic drain.

Ground down interior plastics so the switch would fit,

Wired the switch as an interrupt for the negative wire because there's 3 wires. I don't know WTF the third wire is, so I figured negative would be a safe option. And it worked.

removed a bit of plastic on the back side to fit the new wires.


And success



Don't get the platinum.

EDIT: after a couple months with this physical button installed the remote still has battery. Very happy with it.

 

Suspension, Wheels, Tires - lessons learned, criticisms

I'd like to call out Headstrong Offroad as a wonderful vendor to work with. I've bought 3 sets of coilovers off them as well as a lot of suspension components for a couple vehicles. They've always been very quick to get information and worked with me quickly per my timelines. Just downright pleasant overall.

Out with the old



Wheels and Tires
I went with 285/70/17 KO2's because the spare fits and as a small 33" tire you have to cut less. so things don't rub. I personally did not want a viper cut so i removed the mudflaps and did a BMC, then minimally cut the bumper and pushed back the fender by drilling a new mounting point in the bumper and also did a little melting with a heat gun. They looks slightly small IMO and I kinda wish I had 34's but I did not want to have to regear. With the 33's - any trails so far in California have been very easy. Almost too easy, but I have not done any crazy rock crawling or anything.

The Method 701's have 0 offset which were chosen for less bumper cutting but I wish I had maybe -20 offset as I feel the wheels/tires are a little too far inward.

Body Mount Chop
For the most stock bumper look possible and no viper cut, and to not push the wheels forward, I did a BMC. With articulation the tires would have hit the body mount a lot. Full turn backing up, the mud flaps were rubbing a lot. Bumper was also rubbing with now articulation. I drank a few glasses of scotch before doing this. I was a little nervous.







Coilovers
Biggest lesson learned was that you need to plan your build. You can't just throw shit together. I did suspension first and did go with heavier duty springs, but when I added particularly the bumper and winch, the front end drooped way down. It looked comical and was probably a bit dangerous to drive. The rear tires would squeal around like turns or braking because there was drastically reduced weight back there due to the droop.

This also meant I had to remove the shocks to lift the front higher to offset the weight. More work. I didn't realize you have to remove the coilovers to adjust them, so probably do one side first to figure out the height then base the other side off that.

Also the first spring compressor I bought was too large. This one, the second one, works very well.

MOSTPLUS Macpherson Strut Spring Compressor Interchangeable Fork Coil Extractor Dump Tool Set

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CV6L57D?ie=UTF8

The other very significant thing was adjusting the reservoir lines so the UCA's would not hit them on droop. I had thought I had adjusted them well but noticed some damage, and then leakage. These do not come adjusted for your vehicle at all. You have to adjust them.

Sorry for the blurry image but you can see damage to the line here on the initial ADS front Coils


This caused the line to leak at the coupling. You can see the dirt sticks to where oil was leaking onto the hose.


Wanted to have least amount of downtime because this is my wife's daily, so bought icons and threw them on. I wasn't able to get extended shocks due to lead times previously so it kind worked out getting that on the icons.


I made extra care to get the lines out of the way. when doing this, loosen the lines VERY slowly and adjust, loosen more as needed. I had to take a plastic dead blow hammer to hit the lines past the spring as it was hitting the spring. That actually worked pretty well. No damage. Lines clear well on full droop.





Rear Coils
The rear coils are a bit of a PITA IMO if you're doing a 3 inch lift. I've got Icon Overland springs. The heaviest I've had my car for camping it sat level with no rake. Makes me want to get heavier OME springs.

PITA because you have to really drop the rear axle to wedge in the spring so you need to disconnect the brake lines from the frame and axle to they don't bend or brake. And as you start to disconnect other things the axle will move or rotate and you're not going to be able to get it back where it's supposed to be with your hands.

Do one side at a time. Do not do both because your axle will really wander.

Ir's best to use ratchet straps. one on each side really gives you the ability to hold the axle in place or adjust it as needed. A second jack will help you twist the axle if needed. or jack the other side up t help droop the opposite side.





Panhard Bar
I went with the Eim Keith Panhard Correction Kit. I think ti works well. Initially had an icon adjustable bar. The rear end felt off which has been reported on a lot of forums but I think also my alignment was pretty off. Switched the the the Ironman 4x4 and also found a place that can align the rear and that really fixed in. Lot of shops said "yes" when asked if they could align the rear and then when pressed or asked later they then say "yeah we don't align the rear". it was really hard to find a good shop for this. I recommend a lot of googling with the term "forums."






pro tip. Put two wrenches together like this for more leverage.


UCA, Trailing Arms / adjustable components

In short, don't get Icon adjustable stuff with heim joints. More on this below...

I got Icon Billet UCA's and trailing arms specifically becausr my wife did not want the 4Runner modified. In the past I had really messed with one of my cars and it would be undrivable for long periods of time. She's also pretty short. So the first mod was BAMF sliders which gave the car a cool look and was to give her a step to be able to get in it once lifted. She liked the step and got some compliments.

The second mod was the lift with wheels and tires, but specifically with the Billet UCA's and Billet trailing arms. The choice for billet components was made so she'd get ore compliments. And she did. This worked so well she began to ask when I was going to get around to putting the bumper on which previously would have been a nonstarter because of the cutting. So while those Billet parts helped get me the buy off on all future mods I highly recommenced not getting them.

The Icon Billet UCA's are difficult to adjust. If you check out the below, you need to loosen them by two bolts, the ends can then twist to adjust length. You can't twist while it's on the car. So not a lot of shops are going to know how to do that or it's going to take a long time and be more expensive if they do.




Finally the heim joints. They squeak. People say this online. I bought them anyway. Well it's annoying AF. Now my wife says people on the road look at her because the 4runner squeaks. It annoys me when I drive it. So long term I'll be replacing the UCA's and trailing arms with something else that's easier to adjust and service.

Oh yeah also...you can't grease the lower trailing arms while they are attached to the axle. So I put ratchet straps on the axle so it doesn't move when I disconnect them. Pretty shitty design Icon.

 

Electrical / Switches

First off, I used to solder connections. after seeing some reddit posts about crimping I mostly switched over to crimping unless I need the wire to be thin and a crimp is too large. Heat shrink crimp terminals and connectors are amazing. Sometimes you want a removable connection to come back later and augment work or add things. Well now you've got that option.

So now there's a lot of these in the garage.

$20 haisstronica 220PCS Heat Shrink Bullet Connectors AWG22-10 Male and Female Wire Bullet Terminals Blue Red Yellow Bullet Butt Terminals Kit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FT2JX32?ie=UTF8

$35 TICONN 600 PCS Heat Shrink Butt Connectors Kit, AWG 24 – 10 4 Sizes Butt Splice, Insulated Waterproof Electrical Marine Automotive Wire Crimp Terminals

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J7JC49F?ie=UTF8


Winch Solenoid (from Warn)
Wanted to put the winch on a solenoid to be able to have an in cabin switch. I also wanted to mount the solenoid as close to the battery positive as possible to have the shortest hot cable as can be for safety.

Decided to mount the solenoid to the battery hold down bracket thingy. Had what I think is electrical box cover.


This guy was tired but still wanted to go to the hardware store to buy a couple bolts

Test fit perfect

Painted and good to go. Now have a very short hot cable and can turn this baby on from inside the 4R.


Cabin Switches
Deciding on switches was difficult. I wanted the most stock look possible so all the different switch pods weren't really doing it for me. Took a lot of searching and scrolling to find switches

Raptor Lights and Winch Power switch from air on board. look in the switch section for 5th gen 4runners and then you might need to look through a lot of switches.
www.aironboard.com

dual light bar switch is caliraised
https://caliraisedled.com/products/...oVaBzRsrIQMgQvhFHZCrBQKQnTk20C40aAvHSEALw_wcB

But that got the stock look


Had to figure out a good fuse and relay box setup
Got this bracket which fit a fused switch

$70 Auxiliary Power Fuse Block Bracket Compatible with 2003-2019 Toyota 4Runner FJ Cruiser 2020-2022 with Modification

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0792GN2DF
and cut it to fit this relay box kit

$30 True Mods 12V DC Auto Waterproof Fuse 5-Pin Relay Box Block Kit [6 Bosch Style Relay Holder] [6 ATC/ATO Fusible Holder] [Relays & Fuses Included] Universal Relay for Vehicles Cars Marine Boat Jeep

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KHVHLL5?ie=UTF8




It's got the 100amp switch which is nice because you can just kill power to the unit to work on it and then I also added an in-line 100A fuse right off the battery because a non-fused hot is dangerous. F that.

The fused relay box requires assembly which is fun because it makes you feel like you did something. You get to choose your wire color. I think typically the yellow would be white, but for me this made more sense for
Red - hot
Black - ground
Yellow - switched power / relay trigger
Blue - relay'd power to accessory




Cut the bracket for the relay box


also cut a slot to fit a ratcheting spanner to bolt it to the 4runner


One huge problem came to mind. When this is installed you really can't access underneath it where the wires are. it's a difficult thing to service. especially since I was going to only use 3 of the relays and then come back later and use more. So I bought these connectors with pigtails to make the relay box very easy to remove to service / add more shit


put a nice sleeve on it to make it look good. The yellow is switched power which turns the first relay on. That in turns on the switches in the cab which then can turn on the rest of the relays.

That's a good example where I'll still solder as that many crimps gets too fat and then the sleeve wont fit



Used my old fog light to test and retest to make sure all wires were correct. Here's where those heat shrink connectors come into play well. I can unplug power and ground to these switches and simply add more in at a later date. They are expandable as I might add lights to the roof rack later.


Here's a key for the wires of anyone has to do this. where I've noted "wire together" you just wire those together. They both get power. I'm not sure a scenario were you would not want them wired together. I'm curious about that....maybe gives the option to pull power from elsewhere or something.


And then this bottom switch port gave me issues. I had to file it down a bit for the switch to fit. Looks like a lot of other people have had this issue as well.


pulled switched power / ignition on from this guy in the cab


The light bar, the amber back lights on the light bar, and raptor lights are all on switches. Don't like raptor lights? no problem. Turn them off. Car is now safe to drive and you don't need to think less of yourself.

 

Glamping



M18 air pump works really well. It's fast and battery lasts forever.


My dog wont leave the house unless he can get on social media so here we go with the Starlink

 

Did you regear?

 

No I didn't. I think I'd regear if I went 34's or get a super charger. I do want 34's. I like the spare fitting under the car bcause I don't like any of the aftermarket rear bumpers. I think with some modifications I can fit a 34" spare underneath.

 

My buddy and I just finished his build this last weekend on his 2nd gen Taco

Icon front coil overs
Head Strong add a leaf
Bilstein with resevoirs
Raggo Hammer Hanger - fuck me those were a pain
SPC UCA
RCI Rock sliders
285/70/17 KO2's
BMC + bumper trim + pinch weld trim + fender liner melting and relocating
Needle Bearing ECGS replacement

 

Put together some drone footage from doing the CA BDR
https://youtu.be/zd5E_KI7-Wc?si=J1sQ3_wiMUU5lvd5

 

Sweet build man!

 

Hey thanks!

 

Been working on installing a new stereo last weekend and this. Also trying to do a new inverter.

For the stereo system I'm going with -

Audiofrog GS25, GS62 and GS690's. Keeping speaking in the hatch. I ran all new wire to the front, thats easy. New wire to the hatch - that's a little more tricky. There's a channel on the driver side of the hatch you need to run wires through to get to the rubber bridge thing between the hatch and car. Little tricky but not terrible.

Metra Dash Kit - thing came scratched. WTF Metra?

iDatalink Maestro RR2 - So I bought a kit from Crutchfield that was supposed to have all cables and adaptors. Well it was missing a GPS cable adaptor. Granted I could use the one that comes with the deck but there's already to many wires and too much stuff I wanted to use factory. So I find the one on crutchfield that says it works for the 5th gen and I order from Amazon because I'm upset their kit dind't have one. Well that didn't fit the 5th gen 4runner but this one does in case anyone needs one.

$29 Maestro Acc-SAT-TO2 Sat Radio and GPS Antenna adaptors for TO2 Vehicles

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K03PORU?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Kenwood Excelon Reference DMX1057XR

JL Audio Stealthbox

JL Audio VX1000/5i - powering the rear passenger door and hatch speakers as well as the sub / stealthbox

JL Audio VX600/6i - 6 channels to power the front. Right now I only have 4 speakers on the front in the factory locations but this gives me options in the future.

To get some complaints out off the bat: this Metra dash kit that came scratched. Very frustrating. They scratched it at factory, packaged it up and sent it out, unless Crutchfield took a return or something




I already complained about Crutchfield's lack of GPS adapter and also wrong adapter the have listed on their site...

Taco Tunes! I have pretty mixed feelings on these guys. I replaced the speakers months ago up front and ordered adapters and some adapters from them but they initially sent me someone else's order. I got in touch with them and sent them back the wrong order which they did not offer to pay shipping on, then sent me my correct order but only partial. I reached out again saying it was missing some stuff and the guys said, oh I meant for you to keep the stuff from the other person's order but forgot to mention that. Dude I don't know which nuts, bolts, and wires are correct or not, first time seeing this stuff. But what ever.

Their seat mounts....those are ok at best I would say. Let's just get into those. One comes bent, no big deal I can bend it back but still. It came bent. Then these don't really fit the 5th gen. It's like they were made for the taco and they fit ok enough so they just sell them for the 4runner. You have to either trim your carpet or the bracket so I opted to trim the bracket. So I marked off where these hit the carpet, trimmed them and painted.

The other thing I'll say about these while criticizing is, they could have had these drop lower. I almost cut them and lowered the entire middle of the brackets where everything mounts up to better clear the seats. I think there's a huge opportunity here to alter one of their brackets and sent to china to have a lot made. Anyway, just super half-assed by taco tunes. On the other hand though on Thursday I called these guys but they were closed. Friday morning they text me to see if i need anything. I text back I need a bracket over night delivered for Saturday. Within 15 minutes they confirmed it could be done and sent me a payment link and I got it Saturday, so good on them for that. That was very cool. I'll happily buy from them in the future.

 

Getting all the interior out was easy enough. The biggest trouble was the headliner. This was be difficult by yourself. Luckily I had a couple people helping last weekend which made that much easier. Took the time to vacume and clean her out before the dynamat went in. Did my best to keep screws and bolts in labeled bags and then taped those to their respective trim pieces.

 

Dynamat here, there, everywhere. Really only took the headliner off for sound deadening. You don't need to remove it all for wiring. Front speakers I did months back and did a lot of deadening inside the doors as well as the door trim (don't know if that will do anything). The front and hatch speakers got all new wire. The read speakers however are different. There's a connector plug thing int he way of the rubber tube thing that connects to the door. You could probably drill a hole in this however I opted instead to use the stock wire at the plug, and on either side of the plug i crimped larger speaker wire.



I just learned the passenger door taco tunes brackets work for the hatch so those just got ordered.




Also replaced the backup camera. Ran some wire behind some dynamat to clear the rear window when it gets rolled down

 

The JL Audio Stealthbox is such a perfect fit it kinda didn't seem like it was going to. You really need to tilt it in just right. But fit perfectly.




Fortified with foam all around it

 

Wiring was tedious. Going into this I had an idea of what I needed but found out I'm missing this or that or what ever. Also this is a complicated system for me and I've only ever installed a couple super basic stereos before with 2 way speakers so this is the first time doing component.

Lot of wire...


test fitting the brackets and realized they had to be cut. This passenger side amp controls the front 4 speakers


Passenger side controls all front speakers. ...test fitting making sure this stuff fits on the bracket


realized I'm missing some wires, adding more...


This driver side amp controls the rear 4 speakers and the sub



And it looks like it clears but I plan to add some thick washers for another 1/8 inch of lift / clearance.

 

Extremely impressive skills. Huge undertaking. May I ask a stupid question of you, or anyone- What happens, if God forbid, your vehicle gets wrecked, totaled, or somehow stolen? How will your insurance company cover your vehicle, given all those upgrades must cost in the thousands?

Will they cover the costs of all those mods? Are you supposed to report expensive add ons or mods to your vehicle to your insurance company? Or do you have to cough up extra for premium payments on your policy, or like pay gap insurance, or what? I once had a very nice 2002 Chevy Silverado Z71 4WD, to which I had just added custom wheels, upgraded new tires, a fiberglass cap. Within two months of those additions, I got rammed broadside by a fucking drunk who ran his red light and they totaled my truck. The drunk had insurance, and I had my State Farm insurance, but neither company covered me for my costs on my extra add-ons. “Like a good neighbor State Farm is there” my ass. They just went by the value of my truck at the time with no consideration for my add ons. I took a royal fucking on that deal.

So how does that all work these days insurance-wise with some of these expensively modified vehicles? And on top of that it seems that the insurance companies are charging more on their premiums but wanting to cover less these days! Bastards.

 

@Rick G. I've thought about this a lot. I know on my motorcycles they insure 6k of aftermarket stuff as standard so there's likely something like that on cars but I have not looked into it. If my car got totalled and I got another one I would probably have them both at home swapping from one to the other and doing it better the second time.

I know you really have to go after insurance companies to get your aftermarket value. So if it was the other party's fault AND they had enough insurance to cover my car + mods (I did allt he labor, this would be stupid expensive) I would probably have to sue and provide the judge all receipts and pictures after getting an estimate from a shop to do all the work.

If the person was under insured which I think almost everyone would be as the min. insurance here in CA is an insane 5k, I would have to sue the person, then figure out how to collect. I've thought about this a lot lol. But luckily with the rock sliders I'm pretty protected for low speed T-bones.

Also - what if it gets stolen? I think about that too especially posting stuff online. So.....various tracking devices I wont list what or where they are.

 

how hard is it to get that headliner off? i need to access an area right above the drivers side 2nd row to find a bracket that dropped when taking off the OEM roof rail.

 

I think it helps a lot with 2 or more people so that you can support it and it doesn't fold and create a crease.

The hand holds were a slight pain. As were the visors but just have some patience and it's not that bad.

When you put the hand holds back in, orient pastic lockers so that the hand holds can swing, if they hit the plastic lockers and can't swing, you have those on wrong.

The little circles just pop right off (or down).

 

I found this post while searching for ideas for mounting a aux fuse block...
I had decided on this setup
https://overlandequipped.com/collec...-for-5th-generation-toyota-4runners-2010-2019

but yours is better, all the relays and fuses in one place...

I have a 3rd gen 4runner I wired with lights, but didn't really think it out ahead of time...
started with $70 Hellas on the front, and over the years evolved to 2 sets rigids in back, one set on roof rack, and a light bar...its a mess of wires and relays

following your suggestion, before I installed underwood lights or anything...I thought out what/where I want to put them and a power source

thanks for the suggestion...

I know this is your build thread, do you mind answering questions here?

Im gonna order the bracket and relay box you suggested...
this breaker

$66 Blue Sea Systems 7044 187-Series Circuit Breaker, Panel Mount, 100A

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Systems-Circuit-Breakers/dp/B000MMFJJI
this bus bar

$18 Aienxn 150A 12V Bus Bar Marine, 1/4" Power Distribution Block, Battery Buss Bar, Automotive Busbar Terminal Block for Car and Boat, 2 x 1/4" Posts, 8 x #8 Screws Terminals (Black+Red)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B6BK3ZWM/
and this wire

$33 NAOEVO 12 Gauge Wire 60ft, 12 AWG Silicone Wire 10ft Each Spool, 6 Colors Flexible Tinned Copper Wire Electrical Wire 12 Gauge, Hookup Wire Kit for Breadboard/Automotive/DIY/Battery, 200℃ 600V

https://www.amazon.com/NAOEVO-Silicone-Electrical-Breadboard-Automotive/dp/B0CMLBVGT7

you like these OK?

How/where did you move the relay box that sits right where you mounted this panel?

I know this post is over a year old, but I found it...maybe someone in the future can benefit from our conversation

 

The post may be a year old but I haven't given up on life damnit! Yeah man ask away.

The small fuse box can move over. There's enough slack in the harness and it can mount to a hole like so with the bolt and bracket it already uses.

And then for your aluminum fuse box bracket there. Maybe already saw how I cut mine so I could get a ratcheting spanner in there.

I see you linked some busses. What about a relay box?

 

Im buying the same relay box you posted

$30 True Mods 12V DC Auto Waterproof Fuse 5-Pin Relay Box Block Kit [6 Bosch Style Relay Holder] [6 ATC/ATO Fusible Holder] [Relays & Fuses Included] Universal Relay for Vehicles Cars Marine Boat Jeep

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KHVHLL5/

Did you change yours out?
Or just put a cover over it?

I was worried about moving the factory relay box after reviewing the overland equipped description, nice to hear it can just be moved over

I'm buying every thing now, hope to get it assembled by end of August...then start buying lights, and hopefully get project done by Christmas

 

At the time I bought it I didn't see any options for pre-assembled so would just be worth to see if you can get one already assembled. Last time i check there were a lot on Amazon. Save ya a lot of time.

 

oh, you mean like this one?

$29 12V Relay Fuse Box Prewired Relay Box 12v Automotive with 5pcs 5pin relays 1pcs 4pin Relay 6 ATC/ATO Blade Fuse, Universal Waterproof Fuse Relay Box for Automotive Car Truck Marine Boat

https://www.amazon.com/12V-Relay-Fuse-Box-Automotive/dp/B0BCJGTWCD

I may buy both, I like easy...

But I also agreed with your point about putting it together yourself gives you a feeling of doing something...
and assembling the relay box is something I could do on my kitchen table over a few days...

I also like your idea of using one relay to run a yellow wire to the IGN fuse so that relay turns the other switches on...
gonna have to get the pieces here and get hands on to figure out how that actually works

 

Yeah exactly like something like that. if you haven't messed with relays much it could help to get some of these to temporarily put stuff together like a switch and a relay to turn on some light or something. You can use a little 9v battery in place of a car battery on your kitchen table. I like to do that so it's easier to visualize how stuff works and also draw it out. And then you're ready to do it for real and be less worried about it actually working.

You'll also see I put connectors on the wires coming off the relay box. I think you have to do this or how else would you be able to wire it up. Also lets you completely remove it if ever you have to.

$7 WGGE WG-026 10 Pieces and 5 Colors Test Lead Set & Alligator Clips,20.5"es / 22 AWG Copper Wire. The Clips soldered and Stamping to The Wires. (1 Pack)

https://www.amazon.com/WGGE-WG-026-...efix=wire+aligator+lead,industrial,111&sr=1-3

 

Thanks, I have test leads...but only one set of red and black. I ordered these so I could actually run it thru the relays

I've also used the 9V battery trick, I have an old dented fog light I bought many years ago from Western Auto as a test lamp

and I saw you put leads on yours, I figured I'd get the box and other stuff in...get it put together, then circle back to attaching connectors to the box when I get closer to start installing

buying everything makes me feel like Im making progress

 

Man, you have some talent. And I'm complaining because I have to mount a bathroom cabinet and vanity mirror for my wife!

 

hey thanks man! It's fun doing and learning, planning and building. I haven't hung cabinets yet and that's on the list of things to learn to do for me!

 

hahah that's funny, I feel like I'm doing something as well ordering stuff and waiting for it to come in