violation's 4[theDog]Runner Build and Gear Review Thread

4-Ripcord said:

A very valuable lesson to learn!


I wanna see pics of this! I have seen this advertised and was curious how they work at camp.

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i took some potato-quality pictures last night as i was working on some other things around the rig. this is the only one that came out that might be marginally helpful. remember, this is about 3 feet of luminoodle left, so you'd be looking at having 3x the light.



that's where i usually have it at camp now.

IIRC, with 10 feet, it was bright enough to cook with. now, it's a nice ambient light but not much else. it's not bright enough to use for reading, for example.

Just got back from a week-long trip to see the eclipse, central Oregon, coastal southern Oregon and the California Redwoods. I'll be posting up in due time.

Picked up a few new toys too.

ToyTec Lift; Total Chaos UCA

The suspension consisted of the following parts:

• Panhard Drop Kit
• OME-861 Front Coils [for rears]
• Toytec Rear BOSS Shocks (75109)
• Toytec Adjustable Front Coilover Shocks (TTFCS9604 Red)
• Brake Proportioning Valve Bracket
• Toytec 3” Bump Stop Drop Spacers
• Total Chaos Upper Control Arms
• Tri-Flow Superior Dry Lubricant

The Toytec lift was installed at the same time as the Tundra brake upgrade. One of those “since we’re down there...” type of items. The items listed above is not an out-of-the-box kit from Toytec and isn’t available on their website. It was pieced together for me by one of the helpful folks at Toytec, who patiently discussed plans and ideas with me on the phone for the few days leading up to my actual purchasing the parts.

At this point, the rig is clearly destined for lots of wheeling and camping. The folks at Toytec put together this kit for me since the rig would receive a lot of additional weight in the form of steel bumpers, either a sleeping platform or a roof top tent, and a bunch of camping gear.

The OME-861 coils are originally for the Land Cruiser but many 4Runners have used them on our rears since they are a bit more heavy duty. The Toytec Rear BOSS Shocks are made for the 4th gen 4Runner but are a direct fit onto the 3rd Gens; however, they are made with more weight in mind. Note that these do not sit in the coil seat perfectly, but they'll stay put.



During the install, we ran into a few problems due to rust. The rig was originally a New York truck so it’s seen some real winters and road salt. Luckily it was limited to the old OEM shocks. The nut had rusted to the point that we just broke it off, which actually made the work easier and quicker.



Once on the truck, the rear was sky high even with the front shocks on their highest level. Some settling would occur, but the rig would really level off once the armor and other gear is installed. The lift suddenly makes the tires look a bit dinky.

On the road, the rig behaves well. As with any lift kit, there is some squeaking occurring. However, it has handled well both on and off-road with no complaints.

Finally, I should also mention this was the easiest suspension install I've ever taken part in. 100% because [MENTION=109205]mwray8909[/MENTION] did all of the work :wave: Shout out to my dude!! Send him a PM if you need help or if you are just lazy and save a bunch of money.

Finished product:

Toyota Tundra 231mm Brake Upgrade

Done at the same time as the Toytec suspension installation, also by [MENTION=109205]mwray8909[/MENTION], because why wouldn't you do it at the same time, right?

Even before the armor was put on, the brakes has always felt a bit soft and underpowered for the truck. I knew that adding weight meant that I absolutely had to have a better braking system, whether it was an upgrade to the Tundra brakes, going aftermarket, or just doing more aggressive brake pads.

I ended up going with the Tundra brakes in large part because we are able to use Toyota OEM parts. Therefore, not only are the parts well engineered, but since so many other 4Runners have already done this mod, it's most likely going to be problem-free. It has proven to be that way so far.

These are your brakes, so don't cheap out on the parts. You may not necessarily need to go to the dealership and get the expensive Toyota parts, but don't get the super cheap ones either. Check out this thread, which I carefully read when I was figuring out what parts to buy for this brake upgrade. I'm no engineer, but what he says about the NAPA rotors makes sense to me. A little bit of extra cost meant a lot of extra peace of mind.

The new brakes feel significantly better, though I wouldn't mind even more braking power!

Band-Aid Sticker

Rig got a bit of a gash down the side. Much more than just a scratch and it required some fixing.

So, now it's fixed! Found on eBay.

Warn M8000 Winch


My research indicates you should purchase a winch that is at least can pull 1.5x the weight of your own rig. Assuming a 4,000 lb stock weight, then add a few hundred pounds in gear, people and additional parts, a winch rated at 8,000 seemed to be more than enough.

Due to the nature of the winch, I wanted to pick a well-known, proven manufacturer. This is one item you certainly do not want to fail on you when you need it - and so I went with WARN. Another factor to consider is the size; the 4xInnovations steel front bumper limits the choices (the top of the line Zeon winches are too large). One item that I did not fully consider was the placement of the power unit. For now it is placed right on the front of the bumper. This is not the best place for it so I need to figure out a new place for it soon.

I've not yet used the winch, so there's not much to say about that.



In addition to budgeting for the winch, you also have to think about all of the recovery gear that goes along with it. Shackles, straps, gloves, etc. One other item to consider is taking a class. Though lots of people are experienced with winches and can teach you how to use it, it's probably safer and you'll be sure to get a fuller amount of information in a structured class. I've considered taking this class and have been told their other classes have been very instructive.

Videos of winching gone wrong are scary as hell!

violation said:

Warn M8000 Winch


My research indicates you should purchase a winch that is at least can pull 1.5x the weight of your own rig. Assuming a 4,000 lb stock weight, then add a few hundred pounds in gear, people and additional parts, a winch rated at 8,000 seemed to be more than enough.

Due to the nature of the winch, I wanted to pick a well-known, proven manufacturer. This is one item you certainly do not want to fail on you when you need it - and so I went with WARN. Another factor to consider is the size; the 4xInnovations steel front bumper limits the choices (the top of the line Zeon winches are too large). One item that I did not fully consider was the placement of the power unit. For now it is placed right on the front of the bumper. This is not the best place for it so I need to figure out a new place for it soon.

I've not yet used the winch, so there's not much to say about that.

In addition to budgeting for the winch, you also have to think about all of the recovery gear that goes along with it. Shackles, straps, gloves, etc. One other item to consider is taking a class. Though lots of people are experienced with winches and can teach you how to use it, it's probably safer and you'll be sure to get a fuller amount of information in a structured class. I've considered taking this class and have been told their other classes have been very instructive.

Videos of winching gone wrong are scary as hell!

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I have the M8000. Definitely a proven winch. When I called Warn, one of the guys said it's one of the few winches they produce thats still made in the USA.

There are a lot of options for armor these days, and it seems like every few months, a new option pops up (though the newer 4Runners have even more options). The main reason I wanted armor was for the rear tire swing-out, which limits the choices some more. Other than that, the extra clearance angles are nice and it makes the rig look so much more aggressive, but I'm not certain it's really all that necessary. I'm not bashing into rock very often.

Out of the several options, I went with 4xInnovations because they and their design has been around for several years. In the course of my research, I also found a thread regarding an accident involving a 4xInnovations bumper, which the company used to learn from and improve their product. Not all bumpers have been on the market long enough to work out their teething issues or be improved upon based on real world use. I shopped for hybrid bumpers, but the weight differences were surprisingly minimal.

A few notes on these pieces:

Skid Plate: Awesome, cannot complain about this piece. Heavy duty protection and oil changes are still easy as pie.

Front bumper: Also awesome, but a few minor issues: (1) no place for winch control box; (2) ugly license plate placement; and (3) 4" round fog light holes don't allow room for mounting so actual 4" round lights do not fit. My lights face a bit too downward to be of any actual use. 4xInnovations website shows this space used for the small LED pods, which fits nicely but doesn't have the same look.

Rear bumper: Another awesome, solid piece. I ordered nearly every option: (1) tire swing-out; (2) double jerry can mounts; (3) folding camp table; (4) hi-lift mount; and (5) custom ordered camp light.
The folding camp table is perfect for a Coleman-type two-burner stove. This simple addition is one of the pieces that impresses others the most. Due to having double jerry cans, the license plate is supposed to be mounted on the spare tire. There are two problems with this design: (a) since we have to light up the license plate in California, wiring would be difficult and actually using the spare tire would be difficult as well; and (b) you can't use a trasharoo since that'll cover up your plate. Initially I zip-tied the license plate to the hi-lift. This was still problematic since it wasn't lit up and if I needed the hi-lift, then off comes the plate. I ended up drilling holes into the bumper as far to the driver's side as possible under the jerry cans to mount the license plate with LED lights. The benefit of this location is that it is not on any moving part (meaning the swinging tire arm) and wiring would be simple.

Front bumper: with odd license plate placement. Note it sticks up above the bumper itself. Winch control box also sticks out the front since it won't fit on top of the bumper without cutting the grille.




Camping table (ignore the dangling handle; installation wasn't complete at this point)


Rear bumper: See that square tube in the center of the spare wheel? There's a steel plate mount that is provided for the license plate. For the reasons stated above, I don't like that position.


As you can see, here, with a trasharoo, you can't have the license plate on the spare tire. So I drilled a new permanent location for the license plate. 4xInnovations provided LED lights too.

76 Ball

A touch of the old school.

Trasharoo

The trasharoo is so simple and amazing. It is a bit of a bother to put on, but so worth the effort. I use a normal kitchen trash bag in it. At the beginning of a trip, I'll put firewood in the trasharoo and often it'll do double duty of carrying both fire wood and trash. I typically carry one-gallon plastic jugs of water, and once empty, I will crush them and slip them inside the trasharoo as well (outside of the trash bag though for recycling later). This thing carries it all.

Side pockets are used to carry extra newspapers (to help start a campfire) as well as the gas can spout (so that there are no fumes or smells inside the cabin). The gas can spout is also in a large ziploc bag, for an abundance of caution.

Before getting the Trasharoo, I would hang a grocery bag on the antenna or rearview mirror for trash. This was never ideal because sometimes there was too much trash and sometimes it was be hard to throw trash away one-handed. With the trasharoo, neither of those problems arise anymore. The biggest bonus, though, is that doggie poop bags no longer need to be in the rig while I wait to find a trash can to throw them in. Now they go straight into the trasharoo.

This is one of the most useful pieces of gear I've bought so far and would strongly recommend this to everyone, whether you are crawling or camping, and especially if you have a doggie copilot.

Here you can see the gas can spout in a zip loc bag peeking out of the side. This is definitely a must-have piece of gear.


[Updated 2018] I no longer put the gas spout in the side pouch after losing a gas spout to the desert on a particularly bumpy washboard ride. At least, that's where I think I lost it. Only newspapers are stuffed in those side pockets now.

LED Load Resistors

I bought these LED Load Resistors to be used for the new turn signals that came on the 4xInnovations front bumper. Because the OEM lights are not LEDs, once the new lights were plugged up they became the annoying "hyper-blinkers". To remedy this situation, you just simply wire up this resistor and ba-da-boom you're done. These are easy to tuck up inside the front bumper, with tiny holes drilled into the supports, keeping them out of sight. The instructions did mention to keep these clear of any wires and in a well-ventilated area as they do get hot.

I may not fully understand the science behind it, but I know it works. Hooray for normal speed blinkers!

4xInnovations Spare Tire Carrier & Jerry Can Mounts

The front and rear bumpers were installed before the spare tire carrier. The bumpers (and rock sliders) were sprayed with Rust-Oleum black bedliner spray for easy touch-up. Since the tire carrier is up above the rear bumper, I had that powder coated.

With a spare tire and two full cans of gas, the arm does appear to dip a bit, and it takes a little bit of effort to lift it up to the locked position.

Once the rear tire carrier was in place, I found myself very rarely using the rear hatch. Even though it's just one extra step, 99% of what I need to carry can be put in the rear seats or front passenger seat instead (i.e., groceries, gym/work bag, etc.) and it's just easier opening a passenger door than it is to unlatch and open the tire carrier then open the hatch door.

Good stuff. Very well documented and informative. Gives me some ideas on my rig.

Hi-Lift and Handle Keeper

Getting a Hi-Lift is a no-brainer. The truck is simply too tall to use the OEM bottle jack, which now sits idly by in the garage. Figuring out a way to carry it with you is just as important. While it would've been nice to be able to carry it inside the cab, that's one big heavy item that can become a deadly projectile in the case of an accident or roll-over. I got the hi-lift mount option for my 4xInnovations rear bumper, which seems to make for a better mounting point than the roof since the lift itself is quite heavy.

The Handle Keeper helps keep the handle in place so it isn't jiggling all over the place as you drive. It helps to keep down the rattling from the hi-lift, though other pieces of the hi-lift continues to rattle around as you drive down smooth pavement.



Additionally, I highly recommend getting a rock slider adapter. These make the hi-lift very secure, as you can see below, with help from Whisky, Easton and [MENTION=109205]mwray8909[/MENTION].

Wavian Jerry Cans

The benefits of carrying jerry cans should be pretty self-evident. Lots of extra gas. Our rigs guzzle gas. One plus One is Two.

Through my research, there seemed to be a few basic questions each person needs to answer to figure out what the right kind of jerry can is for him/her.

1. Plastic or Metal?

Plastic is nice because it is cheaper. But metal theoretically holds up better against the elements. Plus it looks nicer. I went with metal. Don't forget to open your jerry cans every day you are out to equalize the pressure. Not only do you need to be careful about elevation change, but also temperature fluctuation.

2. Rotopax-style or Jerry Cans

Rotopax-style has a lot of advantages, including ingenious ways to mount them. Their space-saving design is quite nice too. But I went with Jerry Cans because I like the old-school style.

One item to warn about on the NATO-style jerry cans (with the opening like the pic below): don't forget that cam-lever used to lock the lid shut.



I've forgotten about it so my cam-lever is a little bit bent now from me trying to slam the lid shut with the lever in the way. lol



Two jerry cans sitting on my rear bumper.

violation said:

Wavian Jerry Cans

The benefits of carrying jerry cans should be pretty self-evident. Lots of extra gas. Our rigs guzzle gas. One plus One is Two.
...

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good info. I'll be getting some soon enough. I hope to get a Jerry Can holder on my rear bumper. Bumpers are a ***** on these vehicles. To do a front and rear quality bumper can easily approach $8000+! (Bumpers, Fogs, LED Bar, Winch, Fairlead, etc)

LaidBack Pad Sleeping Pad

For a while I have been shopping for a better sleeping pad. When camping, I slept on a sleeping platform made from a large piece of wood. It makes for a nice, flat surface but a bit too hard for comfort.

There were two main types of sleeping pads: foam and air. Since the dog is more likely than not to puncture an air filled sleeping pad rather quickly, I figured a foam pad would be the way to go.

My initial solution was a cheap military-style foam sleeping pad. Military-style foam pads appeared to come in either 1/4" or 3/8" thickness. I opted for the thicker version since weight was not too much of an issue. Unfortunately it still did not make for a very nice sleeping surface.

The next solution was the Laidback Pad Sleeping Pad.



Certainly a pretty penny, but it came highly recommended from another friend so I thought I'd try it out too - and I must say it's worth every penny. This thing makes sleeping in the truck as comfortable as sleeping at home on my own bed. Unlike an air mattress, there's no deflation during the night. The foam is dense, like memory foam. Sizing is perfect for a sleeping bag - absolutely no complaints and I would highly recommend this piece for any overlander. It's a bit bulky for a hiker or bikepacker though.

Nice comfy thickness


Rolled up

Blue Sea Fuse Box

In the course of researching solutions for the addition of auxiliary switches for new doo-dads, there were three main contenders:
1. S-Pod
2. Switch-Pros
3. Blue Sea Fuse Box and a custom set-up.

Both the S-Pod and the Switch-Pros units would mean a great initial investment, but truth be told, at the end of the day, my Blue Sea unit and all of the wiring, switches, fuses, etc. ended up costing me just as much, if not more, than if I had went with one of the two pre-built systems. However, going pre-built also means you don't get that clean, OEM-ish look and instead have a little pod of switches or buttons that don't quite look like they belong on your dash. The beauty of the custom set-up is that you can make it look as close to factory as possible.

Ingredients:
Blue Sea Fuse Box
Ancor Marine Grade Wiring. Get a variety of thick gauge for battery connection as well as 12, 16 or 18 gauge to run to your fuse box. I would further recommend getting lots of colors so you don't lose track of which wire is connected where.
For switches, pick your style and color. I went with blue switches to try to match the ARB ones, which didn't work out too well but the switches are easy to swap out. Make sure you pick the right kind (i.e., ON/OFF; ON/OFF/ON; backlit or no; etc.).
Other more mundane ingredients are the wire connections which you can get anywhere.

I used this handy wire gauge chart to determine how thick of wires I needed to run:



I also drew myself a nifty little picture using PowerPoint so I don't get lost in the details as I put things together:



Then it is a matter of finding out where you can fit the fuse box. For most third gen owners, the fuse box can fit under the hood. It is commonly placed on the driver's side toward the rear of the engine compartment in order to keep the fuse box relatively close to the battery itself. Unfortunately, my ARB compressor and its accessories took up all of the available space under hood, so I had to move the fuse box all the way to the rear side storage compartment. The benefit of running the fuse box inside the cabin is the ease of running wires (you only need to go through the firewall once, instead of for every single wire going to your switches). However, the down side is a lot more wiring.

First, you run a thick wire from the battery at the front of the truck to the fuse box at the back of the truck. Then, you run wires from the fuse box at the back of the truck to the switches on your dash at the front of the truck. You also have to run wires to whatever it is you are powering, which in my case much of it was toward the front of the truck.

Installation is labor intensive. The interior had to be pulled to hide all of the wiring. That means the side plastic, the step trim along the doors, the carpets, and even the trim around the rear hatch in order to hook up some rear lights.



Once installed, everything is hidden from view.



The only place you can see I've got something extra installed:



For those of you without any electrical experience, prior to this project, I essentially had none either. The forum is a wealth of information and hopefully this post will help you get it done too.

Voltmeter & USB Chargers

Along with the fuse box, I installed a voltmeter and extra USB plugs where the factory included extra cigarette plugs. This allows for faster electronics charging as well as a cleaner look. I chose the voltmeter in order to be able to watch the status of the battery in case I'm using auxiliary lights or the charger for an extended period of time. As I've mentioned a ton of time before in this thread, you gotta get the Panel and Trim Removal Tools to make installation a cinch.



The Powerwerx units I bought work well and I have no complaints. To install, you will need to dremel the factory cigarette lighter holes to make them a bit wider. Easy to do - this was one of my first projects using a dremel.

Here is the kit you receive from Powerwerx:



The square-ish piece is unnecessary for mounting at this location. As you can see, the unit itself has grooves on the backside. You screw on the backing plate (the round item) basically screws onto the unit from behind your dash panel. Since the lip on the front of the unit is pretty thick, you don't have to worry about being too exact with the dremel.

Thanks for all the great info and comprehensive list. I look forward to reviewing the many threads once I begin my build!