SurferJoe's Build Thread

Under construction

Suspension

Front- Icon extended travel Coilovers
Icon Tubular UCA's
Rear- Icon 2.5 remote reservoir shocks
OME 2895e springs
Metaltech Lower links

Body/Protection

Front bumper- Relentless LoPro Bumper with smittybilt x20 10k wireless winch
Rear bumper- Expedition One with single swingout
Sliders- Custom by BajaDent at expeditionportal
Skid plate- RCI Aluminum skid plate
Shocks- Custom shin guards similar to ICON
Prinsu full length roof rack
ARB 2000 awning

Interior

Vehicle OCD Organizer
Custom ipad mount
Blue ridge overland sun visor
Blue ridge overland seat back storage
Custom aluminum storage unit
Front Runner Fridge Slide
Dometic cfx50
Tire Table

Electrical

Custom Battery Tray
Duracell group 31 agm
Battery Doctor isolator
Blue sea fuse boxes front and rear
hella relay holder
Mictuning switches
Icom 2730a vhf/uhf radio
Awning led light
Baja Designs Squadron Sport Amber fog lights
Mictuning flush mount work lights

Mods

Relocated backup camera
Always on rear camera mod
Always on rear cigarette lighter
Switchable front/rear camera
Front grill charging/solar plug

Ok well Im new here but not new to the expedition world. I had a 96 tacoma that I have since retired. However I learned a lot from having that truck. Over the last few years I have had new additions to the family, wife and child. I drove around a BMW 325i and left the expeditioning behind.
Recently my wife decided that she missed all the fun things we used to do so she decided I should retire the car and get a some type of offroad vehicle. I have never owned a car less than 10 years old or had anything with less than 70k miles.
I have a house now and a stable job and we decided I deserved a nice vehicle. Well of course I chose the vehicle I was always jealous of when I had my tacoma.
Approximately 1 year ago I very excitedly purchased a 2014 SR5 4x4 with a 3rd row. 32k miles with a new car smell (i never knew what that was like)
Here she is brand new in the driveway.

I went offroading a week later with a friend who picked up a 2016 jeep rubicon to test out the 4x4 and atrac. Whilst driving down a gravel road not 1 mile into it I managed to pick up a 4 inch long Center Punch in my right front tire.
Most people might be upset but I took the opportunity to pick up a new set of tires , wife was not happy about this but it worked out. Americas Tire set me up with 255 75 r17s. I have been extremely happy with the tire but now that I have the lift on I wish i had gone up to 285 70's. Oh well.

Fast forward a few months later I sold some musical equipment and picked up a set of bilstein 5100's 2884 front springs, and 2885e rear springs. After the install I got approximately 2.5inches of lift out of the front and about the same out of the rear. It settled at about 2 in both front and back which makes it almost level only slightly lower in the front.

I was very happy with the ride characteristics, I would compare it to stock with only slightly stiffer handling in a good way. The nose didnt dive as much. I didnt lean as much in turns.
I went on my first offroad trip with her and the suspension was good but not great. It felt very soft and had no rebound to speak of. It liked to buck over any significant bump at speed. I decided at some point I would upgrade the suspension but it would be ok for a while.

The next thing I wanted was a dual battery setup. I had done one before in my tacoma. I robbed the optima out of the tacoma and had a friend fabricate a battery tray for it. It was a group 34 with 55ah. While we were at it he made me a tray for my fusebox, circuit breaker, isolator and relay box.
I like electrical work and took a lot of time figuring out the cleanest way to do it.

I also picked up a whynter 65qt fridge "Edgestar" equivelant on craiglist for $120. Initially I attached it to the factory tie down straps in the back and plugged it into the cigarette lighter. Obviously with the ignition off it was useless so I had to fix that. I ran a wire to the back of the 4runner to the inverter spot. I placed another fuse box in the back cargo box area and added a powercon connector, voltmeter and constant hot cigarette lighter. I also added a larger gauge wire for the fridge with the powercon connector as well.

The wood you see in the picture was the first cargo box I built to house gear and the fridge. It was a disaster. It was heavy, ugly, and the fridge with a fridge slide would not open all the way. Due to the design of the whynter fridge it opens from the side instead of the front. I relocated the hinges and got it to open a few more inches but in the long run it just wasnt worth the hastle. Unfortunately I do not have pictures of that mistake.

Another thing that I learned was about batteries. My optima while leaving my fridge on all night would be flat in the morning. I attempted every optima recharge trick that I could find and determined 2 things. After going through 3 different optimas on 3 different cars over the last few years that I would no longer buy them. And 2 that I needed more AH. I did the math and 55ah with a fridge is just barely enough.
I did some research and determined that I would go away from AGM and stick with a Lead acid Deep Cycle battery. Duracell batteries are made in East Penn and have a good reputation. I purchased a group 31 and figured I could make it fit.
It did fit but just barely. My friend saved me and modified my original box to now house a group 31. I left my fridge running for 4 straight days And my battery was still at 11.7. Lightyears better than the Optima that was dead overnight.

I also changed my solar plug, I no longer liked having to pop my hood to plug in the solar so I added a 4 pin marine type connector. This allowed me to run 2 smaller gauge wires for both positive and negative so that they could still handle the current.

I also wanted some protection after a few of the offroad trips I took the bilsteins were allowing me to scrape often and I didnt like that. I purchased RCI's Aluminum skid plate package and installed it.

My Prinsu rack also decided to show up which I promptly installed with a headlamp on at midnight . Here it is the next day.

I added the rotopax mounts for 2 3 gallon rotopax.

My brother and I got together and started working on a fix for my fridge and cargo storage. He tig welds every day for a profession so naturally I supplied him with aluminum and beer and he got to work. Here is what he came up with.

I again hired my friend to begin working on some rocksliders while I traded him some electrical work on his jeep. I gave him a general idea of what I wanted and let him run free with his interpretation.