User Tag List

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 01-07-2022, 03:41 PM #211
theoutbackdream's Avatar
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
theoutbackdream's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
July 2021 - Eastern Sierras Trip

Those that follow me already know that I love the Eastern Sierras, and since I've had a dry spell in going remote , I had to hit the Eastern Sierras. I did do some camping at established sites with some friends, but it's just not the same.

From the Bay, our major stops were Lone Pine, Reward Mine and Bishop.

First night, got there around 3am, so we just slept in the car




Alittle scouting around the area. Getting a little more into exploring mines.



Leaving Lone Pine in the rear view mirror, we headed towards reward mine on a back-road.


Inside reward mine. Absolutely amazing spot. We spent probably an hour just walking around the mine shafts before we headed back and left the tunnel.

Mandatory Shot...


And our last night before getting back to reality, we hit the hills of Bishop and set up camp. What a view...
__________________
2007 Limited V6 4WD Build Thread

Find me on Instagram @t4r_explorer

Last edited by theoutbackdream; 01-07-2022 at 03:52 PM.
theoutbackdream is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 01-07-2022, 04:04 PM #212
theoutbackdream's Avatar
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
theoutbackdream's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
Goodridge 2-21186 Braided Steel Brake Lines

Few weeks after my Eastern Sierras trip, I was on my way to the bike park to hit some jumps driving in rush hour traffic. Some d*ckhead cut me off while I was driving in the Carpool lane, and I slammed my brakes. Immediately, the pedal went to the floor and I had no braking power. Immediately hit the emergency brake while downshifting to the lowest gear and steering into the emergency lane. Luckily, I managed to swerve out of the way and avoid rear ending the guy... After getting home, I ordered some Goodridge 2-21186 Braided Steel Brake Lines.

Now... I will say, braking feel has improved significantly, but I am debating pulling the fronts off and replacing them with OEM lines, as the 2-21186's are 2" longer than OEM in both the front and back. The issue with having them 2" longer in the front is that the lines are rubbing on the frame so I might have issues wearing them down in the long run. That said, the rear's are good for LT.... (If I ever decide to go down that route).

First time in awhile seeing my 4runner being on a flat bed...


Installing the brake lines.
One comment I will make is that the included banjo bolt is a bit larger than the OEM one, so it will not fit in the notch that is on the OEM rear calipers. To get around this issue, I had the fitting pointing up, so that there wouldn't be a chance were a rock or branch could snag on it (if it were facing down).


Here, we see the OEM rear brake line going through the notch, pointing directly at the rotor...

Here is the Goodridge line mounted and pointed up since it was too large to fit in the notch.
__________________
2007 Limited V6 4WD Build Thread

Find me on Instagram @t4r_explorer
theoutbackdream is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 01-10-2022, 03:23 PM #213
theoutbackdream's Avatar
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
theoutbackdream's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
September 2021 - Hollister hills SVRA

Had a nice little sunday drive at hollister hills. Break in the buddies truck and push the limits of my buddies subaru. Was quite impressed. Outback did 90% of what the Taco did without the locker. Only struggles it had were it's open diff, and combination of approach/departure angles + ground clearance. Otherwise, with the right line, it would stay with the Taco



Little flex action
__________________
2007 Limited V6 4WD Build Thread

Find me on Instagram @t4r_explorer
theoutbackdream is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 01-10-2022, 04:05 PM #214
theoutbackdream's Avatar
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
theoutbackdream's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
December 2022 - Utah Baby!

Had an end of the year trip to the big 5 in Utah and made plenty of stops along the way. Trips like these make me fall in love with my 4runner again.

However, I had some issues along the way, which will be in the next post. Power Steering Pump failed, CV axle popped out and tore at the boot and Upper control arm nut some how sheered and stripped the threads????





__________________
2007 Limited V6 4WD Build Thread

Find me on Instagram @t4r_explorer
theoutbackdream is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 01-10-2022, 04:30 PM #215
theoutbackdream's Avatar
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
theoutbackdream's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
Utah Damages...

With 176.9k on the rig, I wasn't surprised things would break, but unfortunate that it had to happen on this trip. Lesson learned, expected the unexpected...

What broke is:
- UCA nut some how sheered and stripped the threads
- Power steering pump failed and started leaking
- CV axle popped out and tore the boot with it


For quite some time, I've been chasing a popping sound in my suspension but I could never figure out where it was coming from, I checked lower control arm bushings, inner/outer tie rods, ball joints… Greased the UCA, LBJ, and UBJ thinking it would help. I even brought her to an alignment 3 times for them to tighten up my suspension… and I finally figured out what it was on my way to Vegas...

Coming down i-5, I was about 30 minutes outside Bakersfield, where traffic just came to a sudden halt. Slammed my brakes, and heard a loud pop. Thinking it was normal, I continued to drive on, but once I got into Bakersfield, I immediately felt the front end feeling loose and getting an even louder pop when braking. Pulled into a parking lot for dinner. While waiting for food, I looked under the truck, to find that my drivers side UCA nut had backed off about 1cm and I could visually see stripped threads. Luckily, only a few blocks away was a Toyota dealer who had the nut and I just tightened a new nut on top of the existing stripped nut to at least hold on for the remainder of my trip. I have a new nut and bolt, but need to find more time to swap it.


Power Steering Pump
Ordered a Cardone 965363 Power Steering pump since it came with a gasket kit to replace my power steering pump. Something I questioned too was, do I have an OEM Steering pump? Anyways, I will say that the power steering pump was very easy to swap on our trucks.
Leaky Power Steering pump...

Pull the belt off...

Cardone unit next to the old unit.



CV Axle
Having the cheap-a$$ asian in me, I opted to take a chance on Cardone 665235 HD CV axles. I knew going in, I would possibly encounter 2 problems, but those issues would easily be remedied (in my mind). 1) the CV axle would bind at full droop and 2) CV axles would break wheeling. For issue 1, I figured I could just return them if the CV's bind at full droop. For issue 2, these CV's have lifetime warranty. If they break, well I could get another set... And surprisingly, (you'd figure I'd notice by now with all the rebooting I did), I had an aftermarket CV axle that I had been wheeling with all this time and it didn't fail. So I have my hopes up.
CV straight out of the box!

For anyone that wants to know why I went specifically with the Cardone 665235 HD CV's, is because after a ton of digging, I was reading how the Napa CV's back in the day were pretty decent replacements. Not OEM strong, but one of the better aftermarket options for our trucks. There were still a ton of mixed data points on the Napa CV's so I did quite a lot of digging, because the ones listed on their site were offered by a company called Surtrack, and I couldn't find any data points on them. After hours of research, I end up finding out that Napa had changed CV distributors over the years, and the ones that seemed to be consistently good were the Cardone 665235 HD's.


Tulip design...

Here's the f'd up axle that I used Gorilla tape as a make shift boot for the remainder of the trip. Also, it was interesting to me that it's a non-OEM CV, with a non-tulip design inner axle, and I didn't have binding issues or it breaking on me this whole time that I've wheeled it... Maybe I don't wheel it hard enough???


Sliders were also being neglected, so I took some time to sand them down and repaint them. Figured I'd be busy working on the power steering pump + CV's long enough to let the paint dry...
f'n rust...

Some of that rust removed...

What rust?
__________________
2007 Limited V6 4WD Build Thread

Find me on Instagram @t4r_explorer

Last edited by theoutbackdream; 06-14-2022 at 03:27 PM.
theoutbackdream is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 01-13-2022, 01:25 AM #216
theoutbackdream's Avatar
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
theoutbackdream's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
Trying to restore my Driver side headlight...

Ever since I've own this rig, the driver side headlight is the only one that seems to be having issues fading. I tried restoring it at an earlier time, and it did last for some time, but didn't hit it with a UV coat. One day, I happened to be looking through Amazon and came across Cerakote Headlight Restoration kit. The name "Cerakote" definitely got my attention, but with a solid amount of reviews and $17 shipped... What the hell. Had it primed next day.

Read instructions. Quite straight forward.
1. Use their oxidization remover
2. Hit it with their 2000 then 3000 2" sand paper
3. Seal it with the Ceramic coating

In the box... 2 pairs of gloves, 2x 2000 grit, 2x 3000 grit, 1 hand sander, 8x Oxidization remover pads, and 2x ceramic clear coat pads


How the headlight looked before I started. Pictures don't do it justice, but it was quite yellow and fogged up. You can see from my previous photos.

After 2 oxidation pads. Already made a huge difference. Still a bit foggy.


Hitting it with the 2000 and 3000 grit. My only complaints are that I wish they included a lower grit paper like 1000 and the hand sander block is too soft making it quite hard to use and put some elbow into. I fortunately had some 800 and 1000 laying around, so I started with that, moving onto the 2000 then 3000. Sanded for a solid 30minutes. After sanding and cleaning it down


...And after wiping the ceramic clear coat.
I must say, I'm quite impressed. It looks brand new! While it looks good now, only time will tell how it holds.
__________________
2007 Limited V6 4WD Build Thread

Find me on Instagram @t4r_explorer
theoutbackdream is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 01-16-2022, 10:29 PM #217
theoutbackdream's Avatar
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
theoutbackdream's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
Poor Man's DIY Tie down points - Less than $3

Every camp trip, I (generally) run into 2 issues:
1. The trunk's rear compartments suck at holding "things"
2. When the trunk isn't fully loaded, things shift... alot...

To combat this, I was thinking of ways to add more tie down points in the trunk. Went outside and took off a plastic tie down point and found out they go into thin gauge metal. So I went to Home depot with the plastic tie down point in hand and came out with probably the cheapest mod you can do.

FYI, I did also think about purchasing D-ring tie down points, but:
1. Home depot didn't have them in stock
2. I would need to buy more hardware, like a spacer to space it out away from the body panel
3. Being so far in the corner, I didn't think an eyelet that could fold flat against the panel would make that much difference. Maybe at a later time I could opt for the d-ring style tie down point

Price break down:
- 2x $0.84 - 5/16 x 3-1/4 inch Eyebolt with nut
- 2x $0.14 - 5/16 Hex nut
- 4x $0.16 - 1/4" flat zinc washers

A whooping $2.62 before taxes. $2.80~ after taxes... if you really cared.



1. Remove the factory plastic tie down points, by pulling on the corners of it. It will pull back and easily pop out.
Here's the tie down point "closed"


Tie down point open


2. Once you have the factory plastic tie down point out, remove the tail light access cover.

3. Tighten a nut all the way to the eyelet (or however much you want the eyelet to stick out. Put a washer behind it. And push it in through the factory plastic tie down point hole.

4. With access to the bolt from the tail light access hole, put a washer on the bolt, and then the 2nd nut on. Tighten it on, and you're done.

__________________
2007 Limited V6 4WD Build Thread

Find me on Instagram @t4r_explorer
theoutbackdream is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 01-20-2022, 01:21 AM #218
theoutbackdream's Avatar
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
theoutbackdream's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
New Pads and UCA bolt + Nut replacement

Finally got around to doing my brake pads and swapping out the UCA bolt + nut.

For my brake pads, I went from Bosch BOSCH BP976 (front) and CENTRIC 30006060 (Rear) to Wagner SX976 and Wagner SX606. I've only had this pad setup for over a year and started to dislike them so much that I looked for something else. They would have great initial bite, but fade pretty quickly.

The Wagner's are heavy/severe duty brake pads, so I'm hoping that they won't fade as easily. That said, I've broken them in pretty aggressively, and they have excellent initial bite and pretty consistent brake feedback. Haven't gone fast enough to get brake fade yet.



Now as far as my UCA bolt + Nut replacement goes, short story is that I was heading towards Vegas, slammed the brakes, heard/felt a loud pop and suddenly the suspension felt loose. Pulled in a parking lot for dinner and saw the nut backed out and could see the stripped threads. Put a nut on the back of it to hold for the remainder of the trip.

Also, if anyone's curious, it's a M14x1.5 nut! I was scavenging the forums to find a replacement nut locally, but ended up getting it from a nearby Toyota store (luckily). Put it behind the old nut, and held for the rest of the trip, some 1500+ miles.

Here's how the UCA bolt looked. Has the old nut backed by a new nut.


I attempted to cut the nut and try to split it with a BFH and a punch, but after using a dremel with a diamond cutting wheel for awhile, (which wasn't working), my neighbor came over, told me I couldn't get it off with that and came back with an angle grinder. I cut the end of the bolt off, and used a punch to hit the bolt in, so the nut would slide right off. It was difficult, but I had enough space to get a flat head behind the nut and pry it off.

Here we see the bolt completely stripped, and the end of the bolt cut off.


My attempt to cut it with the diamond cutting wheel


New bolt/nut next to old bolt/nut


Finally out with the bad bolt, in with the new
__________________
2007 Limited V6 4WD Build Thread

Find me on Instagram @t4r_explorer
theoutbackdream is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 01-20-2022, 02:02 AM #219
thegame7 thegame7 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 482
thegame7 is just really nice thegame7 is just really nice thegame7 is just really nice thegame7 is just really nice
thegame7 thegame7 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 482
thegame7 is just really nice thegame7 is just really nice thegame7 is just really nice thegame7 is just really nice
One thing you might look at for headlights when that ceramic coating wears off is buying 2k clear off Amazon or your local body shop supply place. Sand both headlights to 800 grit to remove all the small pits and scratches, clean and apply 3 coats of 2k clear coat. I did mine earlier this year and they still look brand new
__________________
2007 Sport Edition V8 4WD w/Nav, JBL and rear seat entertainment, Fox 2.5 R/R coilovers, FJC rear springs with Fox 2.0 Pro series shocks, Rear ARB locker, 305/70R17 Ridge Grapplers, DT short headers
thegame7 is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 01-24-2022, 12:01 AM #220
theoutbackdream's Avatar
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
theoutbackdream theoutbackdream is offline
Senior Member
theoutbackdream's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: California
Posts: 1,439
Real Name: Matt
theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about theoutbackdream has a spectacular aura about
Quote:
Originally Posted by thegame7 View Post
One thing you might look at for headlights when that ceramic coating wears off is buying 2k clear off Amazon or your local body shop supply place. Sand both headlights to 800 grit to remove all the small pits and scratches, clean and apply 3 coats of 2k clear coat. I did mine earlier this year and they still look brand new
Good call out. Didn't know about this 2k stuff. Might have to give this a shot, although the ceramic coat seems pretty promising.
__________________
2007 Limited V6 4WD Build Thread

Find me on Instagram @t4r_explorer
theoutbackdream is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Matt's build thread Matt123 5th gen T4Rs 65 02-07-2020 01:26 PM
Derek G's 2007 Limited V8 build Derek G 4th Gen T4Rs 27 12-04-2013 06:29 PM
Oem 2012 t4r carpeted floor matt and cargo Matt parnass New Members 0 08-19-2012 12:27 AM
Matt Sneider tr4 build thread MattsneiderTR4 3rd gen T4Rs 3 12-12-2011 01:13 PM

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.2

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:28 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
***This site is an unofficial Toyota site, and is not officially endorsed, supported, authorized by or affiliated with Toyota. All company, product, or service names references in this web site are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Toyota name, marks, designs and logos, as well as Toyota model names, are registered trademarks of Toyota Motor Corporation***Ad Management plugin by RedTyger
 
Copyright © 2020