# SykoraA4's ultimate family fun haver



## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

I think it's time for a build thread. 

My wife and I picked up our Atlas a few months back. Its a 3.6 SE w/tech and 4motion, and we've been loving it since the drive home. 










I had a rough old set of LM rep's taking up space in my garage, so I cleaned them up a bit and gave them a few coats of bedliner. I didn't have high hopes, but was pretty happy with the results. I picked up a set of 265/65/18 Goodyear Wranglers for a steal locally, and the beefy black on white look was a wrap. 










Speaking of wraps, we also pulled the grill and wrapped the chrome bits in gloss black vinyl. Added some hashmarks to the fender and debaged along the way too. 










we covered the faux wood with faux dry CF as well. 










I haven't been thrilled with the factory light output, so some Aux lighting was in order. I wired up a wireless relay to avoid running wires into the cabin, and picked up a set of clamp on ditch light brackets. While these brackets work pretty well, they aren't the best so I might see how I can replace them in the future. 










all wired up, and I'm really happy with them.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Things were pretty quiet for a while, minus the occasional gravel road in the woods.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Last week I picked up a Teramont spoiler and mounted it up. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and color match. My only gripe, it does leave a bit of a gap on either side, but maybe that was intentional. It does look pretty good, so I can look past it. 











and today... we got our new wheels on. 

These are Revolve Wheels 0119's, in 18x9.5, et 22, and I'm stoked on them.


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## Veedubin02 (Mar 26, 2002)

Looks great! What did you do for the fogs?


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## knedrgr (Jun 6, 2011)

really digging the mods. New wheels looks great. 

Did you have any close up of the old wheels with the bedliner spray? Trying to decide on what to do with my factory 18s that are being used as winter wheels.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Thanks guys!



Veedubin02 said:


> Looks great! What did you do for the fogs?


I had a set of yellow LED H11's sitting around, so I threw them in. I think they were an Amazon special. 




knedrgr said:


> really digging the mods. New wheels looks great.
> 
> Did you have any close up of the old wheels with the bedliner spray? Trying to decide on what to do with my factory 18s that are being used as winter wheels.


I'll look, if not I can take some. I would not recommend using bedliner on your stock ones, even if using them for winters. I think plastidip is the way you'd want to go there. The bedliner is really really textured, which was great for covering up some imperfections on a kinda junky set of wheels, but probably not the finish most are after.


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## RCDheliracer (Jan 7, 2012)

Nice setup! Love all the little touches especially the aux lights. Do you have a write up on how you did them? I'm curious about what it would take to install a set.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

I don't, but I'll do a writeup. It was pretty easy all things considered.


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## shijmus (Oct 8, 2018)

The spoiler looks great, I was considering it for a while, too bad my atlas is plantinum gray. They do sell unpainted spoiler so you can paint it yourself, but I’m worried about color match so I doubt I will buy it in the end



SykoraA4 said:


> Last week I picked up a Teramont spoiler and mounted it up. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and color match. My only gripe, it does leave a bit of a gap on either side, but maybe that was intentional. It does look pretty good, so I can look past it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## knedrgr (Jun 6, 2011)

SykoraA4 said:


> I'll look, if not I can take some. I would not recommend using bedliner on your stock ones, even if using them for winters. I think plastidip is the way you'd want to go there. The bedliner is really really textured, which was great for covering up some imperfections on a kinda junky set of wheels, but probably not the finish most are after.


Thanks. 

I'm very curious on how they look. Saw someone with a Honda Element that had done their whole car in bedliner, and it ended up looking sort of Apocalyptic. But I would imagine that texture would be too rough and good surface for snow to grab on = unbalance wheels.

And if you can also grab a close up of the grill too? Mine's currently dipped in matte black. But I'm thinking of stripping it and just just doing the chrome strips in gloss black vinyl.


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## RCDheliracer (Jan 7, 2012)

SykoraA4 said:


> I don't, but I'll do a writeup. It was pretty easy all things considered.


Awesome! Thank you


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## blade004 (Jul 24, 2019)

*Faux wood covering*

Did you remove the faux wood to cover it? or just cover it in place? Thanks!


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## *DesertFox* (Sep 26, 2017)

Above the picture..."we covered the faux wood with faux dry CF as well."


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

blade004 said:


> Did you remove the faux wood to cover it? or just cover it in place? Thanks!


just covered it in place.


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## blade004 (Jul 24, 2019)

SykoraA4 said:


> just covered it in place.


Thanks! Just picked up a black over black SEL Premium and thinking I'd like to do something similar.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

knedrgr said:


> Thanks.
> 
> I'm very curious on how they look. Saw someone with a Honda Element that had done their whole car in bedliner, and it ended up looking sort of Apocalyptic. But I would imagine that texture would be too rough and good surface for snow to grab on = unbalance wheels.
> 
> And if you can also grab a close up of the grill too? Mine's currently dipped in matte black. But I'm thinking of stripping it and just just doing the chrome strips in gloss black vinyl.


Still need to grab a shot of the grill, so I'll come back and edit this when I do. For now, here's a close up of the bedliner finish. 

Good(ish)...but not great.


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## knedrgr (Jun 6, 2011)

SykoraA4 said:


> Still need to grab a shot of the grill, so I'll come back and edit this when I do. For now, here's a close up of the bedliner finish.
> 
> Good(ish)...but not great.


thanks!


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## ebTDI (Dec 2, 2013)

Still on stock suspension? Do the tires rub at all?


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

ebTDI said:


> Still on stock suspension? Do the tires rub at all?


still on stock suspension. It actually rubbed more with the 18x9's than the 18x9.5s, largely due to the different offsets. With the new wheels, it barely ever rubs. 

Here's a more practical look at the stance with the 265/65's in a 9.5 width, et 22. 



















and a few other shots 

















in the works: a full-length extrusion/plate-based roof rack. Something like this, but using the factory rails:


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## Tim K (Jan 31, 2001)

Did you just buy vinyl "faux carbon fiber" and cut to fit or did you order it from somewhere specifically for the Atlas?

If you cut it, what was your installation technique?

Either way, where did you get the vinyl?


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## Tim K (Jan 31, 2001)

blade004 said:


> Thanks! Just picked up a black over black SEL Premium and thinking I'd like to do something similar.


I've got the same....was just thinking how I don't like the faux wood and was thinking maybe someone makes an overlay that could cover it up. Not sure what I would cover it with. I don't love CF. Maybe a piano gloss black? I dunno.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

The vinyl I had on hand for a few years. I think I picked it up on Amazon? Maybe ebay. It is just a sheet. I cut a rectangle just a bit bigger than the area I wanted to cover, pulled the back off, applied it, used a credit card to trace around the fake wood to get the edges nice and crisp, then used a razor blade to carefully trim it. Pulled off the extra, and was good to go.


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## knedrgr (Jun 6, 2011)

SykoraA4 said:


> in the works: a full-length extrusion/plate-based roof rack. Something like this, but using the factory rails:


Love those wheels/tire combo. 

On the rail project, aluminum or steel with power coating? Will it look similar to the Basecamp concept, where it replaces the factory rails?


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

knedrgr said:


> Love those wheels/tire combo.
> 
> On the rail project, aluminum or steel with power coating? Will it look similar to the Basecamp concept, where it replaces the factory rails?


The rack will be aluminum with powder coat. It won't replace the factory rails. Instead, the first iteration will use these Reese Explore crossbar mounts with custom length aluminum rod crossbars. The ends of these custom crossbars will mount to the side plates. If those mount's work - awesome. If not (either because it sits too high or they aren't heavy-duty enough), I have a few options that might work as a backup.


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## Geebus (Oct 6, 2013)

Killing the game, Will! I've been looking at doing some mods that the wife won't hate lol. I've been meaning to put the VMR's from the avant onto the Atlas since they don't fit the Cornflower car, but I have no idea what tire size to go with. Plus, I'm broke bahahahahahaha


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Geebus said:


> Killing the game, Will! I've been looking at doing some mods that the wife won't hate lol. I've been meaning to put the VMR's from the avant onto the Atlas since they don't fit the Cornflower car, but I have no idea what tire size to go with. Plus, I'm broke bahahahahahaha


Dude! Do it!! What are the specs on the VMR's again?


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Just received my set of H&R Lift springs, but it will be a while before I get them on. These will have to do as 'before' photos


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## vbrad26 (Oct 18, 2009)

Oh hey lol


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

vbrad26 said:


> Oh hey lol


hey dude!


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## Geebus (Oct 6, 2013)

SykoraA4 said:


> Dude! Do it!! What are the specs on the VMR's again?


couldn't remember my damn password to get back into vortex lol

the VMR's are 19x9.5 et35


My wife just told me she wants 21's :banghead:


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## MonkeyMD (Apr 27, 2016)

Geebus said:


> SykoraA4 said:
> 
> 
> > Dude! Do it!! What are the specs on the VMR's again?
> ...


From what I've read, anything beyond a 9" wide wheel, you need closer to a 25 offset. Not sure if anyone with experience can chime in.

Sucks about the 21's. I guess if she's willing to pay for them, why not


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

MonkeyMD said:


> From what I've read, anything beyond a 9" wide wheel, you need closer to a 25 offset. Not sure if anyone with experience can chime in.


yep. 9.5 sits flush with an et of 22.


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## foofighter28 (Aug 4, 2000)

nice progress on the build. with the more offroad tires what was the difference in overall diameter vs stock? Just curious if it's thrown off your speedo.

The roof rack idea is cool, the thing about most of these cars w/ the factory rails it's a PITA to remove as they're usually bolted from the inside and getting to those bolts require you mess w/ the headliner. Is it the same with this Atlas?


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

foofighter28 said:


> nice progress on the build. with the more offroad tires what was the difference in overall diameter vs stock? Just curious if it's thrown off your speedo.
> 
> The roof rack idea is cool, the thing about most of these cars w/ the factory rails it's a PITA to remove as they're usually bolted from the inside and getting to those bolts require you mess w/ the headliner. Is it the same with this Atlas?


I don't know the exact difference, but the speedo does read a bit lower at higher speeds. 

And yeah, to pull the factory rails you'd need to drop the headliner. For now, I'm hoping I won't have to do that. 


Got the box squared away for our fam vacation coming up.


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## foofighter28 (Aug 4, 2000)

SykoraA4 said:


> I don't know the exact difference, but the speedo does read a bit lower at higher speeds.
> 
> And yeah, to pull the factory rails you'd need to drop the headliner. For now, I'm hoping I won't have to do that.
> 
> ...


I currently have the rhino rack pioneer platform rack that came off my 4runner. I'm waiting for them to come up with an application for the atlas so I can throw it on


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)




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## foofighter28 (Aug 4, 2000)

Saw your teaser part on IG for your rack system, looks good


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

foofighter28 said:


> Saw your teaser part on IG for your rack system, looks good


you mean... 
















this one?


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## foofighter28 (Aug 4, 2000)

SykoraA4 said:


> you mean...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes that  man that looks great


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## foofighter28 (Aug 4, 2000)

So I'm going to bump this and check in on your spring install


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Springs haven't gone in just yet... But I hope to have them in before the middle of October. We're headed down to Overland Expo East, so getting them done before that is our goal. We did just get our lightbar, so getting that mounted and a fairing sorted out should finish up the roofrack for now.


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## foofighter28 (Aug 4, 2000)

SykoraA4 said:


> Springs haven't gone in just yet... But I hope to have them in before the middle of October. We're headed down to Overland Expo East, so getting them done before that is our goal. We did just get our lightbar, so getting that mounted and a fairing sorted out should finish up the roofrack for now.


Nice, i'm really leaning towards doing a spring lift vs a spacer lift as the pricing seems to almost be the same.


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## V DUBBN (Dec 11, 2012)

Been following on IG for a while, loving the way this is turning out. You have been part of the reason i'm leaning to white again over PGM or Silver.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

not much progress, but we're headed down to Overland Expo East tomorrow. Element LED lightbar still needs to be wired up, but it's mounted at least.


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## gbayle (Aug 13, 2015)

Nice work!


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Took advantage of the great weather and fall colors yesterday. 

Roof rack is going to come off for the time being - we average about 18mpg with it on


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## Watchie (Oct 13, 2019)

*More scans of the CF Interior Please?*

Would love to see more scans of the CF you overlaid in the interior.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Watchie said:


> Would love to see more scans of the CF you overlaid in the interior.


Super late to see this, but I'll get some shots once the wife gets home. 

Things have been pretty quiet lately, but I did pick up a wookie pipe around Thanksgiving and installed it after Christmas. I love that there is no drone, and it adds just a bit of that VR rumble while still being very mild-mannered (ie. wife approved). Having spent a little time under the car during the install, I wish they had eliminated the resonator from the factory and used the extra real estate for a bigger gas tank... Oh well. 

I just ordered the silicone bends needed for a DIY intake. I'll share some photos once I have that pieced together, but it should be pretty slick. The plan is to use a 90º 3.25" to 3.5" elbow to go from the throttle body to the MAF, and then a 45º 3.5" to 4" elbow to the cone filter. If I'm feeling fancy I might swap the cone out for one from S&B Filters. Any of these should work. Once that is sorted, I'll see if some kind of heat shield or enclosure is needed and take it from there.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Intake is in, but some things will be tweaked a bit. 










and I am very happy to get my basecamp flares installed in the near future. They arrived this week, and they look pretty fantastic.


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## bcatlas (Nov 4, 2019)

Looking awesome!

Would you mind to let me know what size elbows and reducers you bought for the intake?


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## vbrad26 (Oct 18, 2009)

FTWLTBDWICT Fender flairs.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

vbrad26 said:


> FTWLTBDWICT Fender flairs.


heck yeah! 



bcatlas said:


> Looking awesome!
> 
> Would you mind to let me know what size elbows and reducers you bought for the intake?


I used: 
(1) Silicone 90° Reducing Elbow 3.5" to 3.25" ID Gloss Black
(1) Silicone 45° Reducing Elbow 4" to 3.5" ID Gloss back
and 
(1) Aluminum Intake Tubing 4" OD X 4" Long 
Plus clamps

However, if I were to do it again, I wouldn't use the 3.5" to 3.25" 90° reducing elbow. Instead, I'd use a silicone 3.5 to 3.25 reducer attached with some 3.5 aluminum tube to a 3.5 silicone 90° elbow. 
The same thing Savvv did here: 









I'd do it Savvvs way 1, because the 3.25 leg of the 90° reducer wasn't long enough to reach to the throttle body without extending it, and 2, the throttle body is just slightly larger than 3.25" od. I thought it would be slick to do all the transitions with the elbows, but going down to 3.25 creates a very minor bottleneck that's avoided with the silicone reducer right off the throttle body. 

I don't know if there is a benefit of doing a 4 to 3.5 45° reducer from filter to Maf vs Savvv's 3.5 45° elbow with velocity stack filter combo, so maybe I'll run some longs and see what my MAF readings are. It's easy enough to swap the stock intake back in to compare, so I might figure out a baseline for science.


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## -->Gforce (Mar 17, 2020)

Awesome car. I think my wife and are will be buying a '21 when available.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Not much to report in on yet - lift springs and flares are still in their boxes - but depending on how the rest of the week goes, I might get the flares on if I can a good wash in this week. 

I did swap out the perforated leather steering wheel cover I installed a while back. The first time around, I didn't remove the wheel from the car and things went "ok". But as time went on, I could feel the wrap separating from the wheel in a few places, and I wasn't overly impressed with the quality. (That kit came from Amazon). This second attempt I opted for a different kit from AliExpress. While it was a good deal cheaper, the leather and thread both feel a little thicker and higher quality. Time will tell though. 

Here's what goes into pulling off the wheel (Typical disclaimer, do at your own risk, I take no responsibility, etc): 

1) Pull the steering wheel out and down as far as it will go. With the car on, turn the wheel 90°. Looking behind the wheel you'll see a little access hole. This will give you access to one of the clips holding the airbag onto the steering wheel. With a flat head screwdriver, carefully pry the clip down, and the airbag will loosen. Carefully turn the wheel 180° back around to get the other side - but pop the hood and unplug the battery and let it sit for a bit before you attempt to unclip the second side. Once your second side is unclipped, the airbag will be free. 

2) Unplug the yellow airbag connector by pulling the white retainer piece out a bit. Then pull the airbag plug. Also unplug the wheel controls - It's a little hidden but it unclips pretty easy. 

3) Unscrew the steering wheel bolt - I've seen people use a T55 Torx but I had the right triple square so I used that instead. Be careful to note the angle of your steering wheel because the alignment pin assembly will spin freely once the wheel is removed and your reinstall might be crooked if you aren't careful. 

That's pretty much it. The wheel comes right off after that. Here are a few pictures from along the way. 

Screwdriver is pointing to the airbag mount. This is what you're sliding the clip off of. 









This is the airbag clip you slide towards the center of the airbag to undo. 









White retaining piece you pull out a bit to unlock the airbag plug:









Steering wheel control plug, kind of hidden at first, but easy to unplug: 









When installing the wrap, wedging it down with the backside folded over protects the leather from marring or tearing - I screwed this up in a few places when I did my first install, so I was extra careful this time and it paid off. 









This shows how my on car install went the first time. It was much more difficult to get a nice finish on the back side of the wheel, and you can see how loose things look. 









Much better this time. 









The finished result. 










Final thoughts, I don't know if it's better to sew it up before tucking the various edges or if tucking the edges first is better. Both times I tucked first, sewed second. I also loosely stitched each section up before going through a couple of times and pulling the slack out to get everything nice and tight. A crocheting hook would have made tightening everything up a good bit easier, but I just used the provided needle. Where the quality of this kit lacks is the pre-sewn stitching you loop into as you close it up - both sides of the wheel didn't always match, with some stitches being shorter or longer in places. I also noticed a different number of stitches front to back which made things a bit interesting towards the ends. Ultimately it's not going to look 100% factory, but if you take your time with it, it's easy to do a good job.


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## -->Gforce (Mar 17, 2020)

Looks awesome. I wish the R-line's came with red stitching like that from the factory.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Basecamp flares are on! 




























I also scooped up another rooftop box yesterday. It's Exodus 470, and it's got all the right angles. I think it complements the Atlas pretty well.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

This past weekend I finally finished up my spring install (thanks everyone who helped me figure out our axles!) and headed back over to the church parking lot next door for obligatory 'After' pics. 



















I'm glad it's wrapped up. In retrospect I probably wouldn't have gone the diy route, but it did feel good to tackle a bigger job.


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## Faheygf87 (Dec 19, 2015)

SykoraA4 said:


> all wired up, and I'm really happy with them.


Where did you get those ditch light brackets?


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Brackets came from Amazon, but will be swapped out for CaliRaised brackets at some point. 

Things have been a bit quite for the past few months, and the Atlas hasn't been driven too much. Enjoyed it in the snow though!


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## Prattagain (Dec 2, 2020)

SykoraA4 said:


> Brackets came from Amazon, but will be swapped out for CaliRaised brackets at some point.
> 
> Things have been a bit quite for the past few months, and the Atlas hasn't been driven too much. Enjoyed it in the snow though!


They are great in the snow! This is a great thread. Thanks for creating and all the great content.


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## Prattagain (Dec 2, 2020)

@SykoraA4 how did you wire the ditch lights? Do you have a switch inside and how did you mount it? I am having some LP6’s being wired in on the front mount and am moving the cubes to the hood. The ditch lights will be hot and have a small switch inside to mount. The LP6’s will have a low beam switch wired inside and usable with the ignition on and the high beam function will be wired to the car’s high beam trigger. Now I have 2 switches to mount inside and not sure where.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

@Prattagain I used a wireless relay to avoid running wires into the cabin. I toggle them with a fob on my keys, but I can also program one of the homelink buttons to the relay also. It's nice because they aren't ignition dependant and if needed I can toggle them from outside the car. Something like that might be an option.


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## Prattagain (Dec 2, 2020)

@SykoraA4 are you happy with the h&r springs? I am thinking about adding them but wanting to get your take. How do they change the day to day driving and then on the dirt roads? We load up when we travel as a family, how have they helped eliminate rear sag? Thanks for your feedback.


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## SykoraA4 (Jul 22, 2007)

Yep, very happy with them. Honestly, the change to the ride was minimal. They might be a little stiffer, but I noticed a bigger difference in ride going down from 20in to 18in wheels. The springs might have nudged things slighty back to how it felt with the 20's, but both my wife and I found any change to be minimal. Dirt roads are still very comfortable as well. I haven't had it loaded up too heavy this past year (thanks pandemic...) so I can't specifically speak to any sag or lack-there-of, but I can only imagine the slightly firmer springs will help out a bit.


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## Eetxsp (Sep 20, 2021)

That roof rack looks awesome! Any write-up or pointers? You kept the original rails and mounted to them?


SykoraA4 said:


> you mean...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## stp28 (Dec 20, 2021)

Why did you remove the Basecamp fender flares? Just curious. New 2022 owner here, trying to decide what I want to do with it.

Bought the Traverse MX wheels for a good deal, trying to decide what rubber to go with (255 vs 265).


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## chrisccarrero (5 mo ago)

*SykoraA4 any recent additions to your build?*


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