T Rex update

[garyahouse]

I finally got around to buying and installing a set of T Rex no-cut frame sliders on my 05 FJR. I've studied the forum posts on this item, and it appears that the company still ships the same exact size bolts with the kit in April of 2011 as they did back in 08 when FJRBluesman initiated his "how to" thread on these sliders. However, I am happy to report that though I received the same 70 and 80mm bolts in the kit, they seemed to fit fine in my Gen 1. I installed everything just like Bluesman recommended on this thread: clicky . After torquing the four engine mount bolts supplied by T Rex to 40 ft.lbs (according to FJR service manual), I replaced the plastic side panels. The last item that needed to be done was to actually bolt the sliders into the newly installed brackets. However as I was torquing them down, the ratchet was going round and round, but the bolts didn't seem to be getting any tighter, which indicated that the plastic was compressing under the bolt head. Taking them apart again, I measured the cavity (with my handy dandy dial caliper) in the slider: it was a depth of 430 thousands or so. Then I measured the nut that was to fit in that cavity: 300 thousandths thick. That meant that their was a 125-130 thousandths gap between the metal sleeve and the nut (welded to the bracket) down inside the slider. To take up this much gap, I would have to compress the puck when tightening the bolt for the slider. So I took one of the washers from the factory bolts... trimmed about 30 thousandths off its diameter (so it would drop it in the pocket) and bingo it worked. This washer was just under 120 thousandths thick, and enabed me to torque down the pucks to about 30 ft.lbs. without having to compress the snot out of the plastic slider puck (to take up that internal gap). After my tinkering, I had about 10 thousandths gap inside the puck, which was taken up rather quickly once I started cranking down the bolt that attaches the puck to the bracket. In retrospect, it would have been nice if the sleeves inside the pucks provided by T Rex were just a little longer.

Gary

darksider #44