[ginger_qc]

Nice build!

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

[NoLight]

Welcome!!

[williamteichroeb]

A lot has happened in the last few months. In July I traveled with my girlfriend from Fernie to Vancouver to do a bit of an off-road trip with my buddy. The trail is called Molybdenite ridge and we did it over 2 days. We spent a wonderful night near the summit. In Vancouver, I ended up selling my 255/75R17 KO2's for the larger diameter 255/80R17 KM2's. I got a killer deal on them for 1000.00 CAD installed, and sold the KO2's for $750.00 so I didn't lose out on too much. I had never had a mud terrain tire before and man they are loud. Definitely compared to the KO2, not sure how loud they are compared to other MT's. They fit with zero rubbing. No rubbing on full lock forwards, or reverse, and they stuff nicely. Very pleased with the fit. They also performed very well off-road. They 4runner did incredible and we were all very impressed with how it performed. Never got held up once on anything and there were some pretty knarly moments.

[williamteichroeb]

some photos from the trip. The trail is near Lilloet, British Columbia

[williamteichroeb]

After coming back from the trip, I decided to do a bunch of maintenance, to keep my vehicle in tip top shape.

Oil change with pennzoil platinum ulta, then 500 kms later drained and filled with Amsoil signature series synthetic. I ran this for 5000kms then sent off to blackstone labs for an oil analysis, and drained and refilled with Amsoil. Short oil change intervals I know, but I don't mind spending the extra 50 CAD on the oil and do it myself, and it's my money, so stuff it!

09 4RUNNER-170814.pdf

Rear diff/front diff/and xfer case oil drain and fills. I did the rear diff a few months prior, but wanted to see how the quality was, so drained and filled again. The front diff, and xfer case had been done by toyota a year prior, but I wanted to put amsoil severe gear 75-90 in all the gear cases so decided to do it again. I ended up stripping the front diff drain plug so took to toyota to get the drain plug out. I bought all new drain/fill plugs and crush washers for everything and a new rear diff breather.

In September as part of my "get ready for winter" list I had toyota do a coolant flush on the rig. I also installed the block heater from toyota, and also installed a battery blanket heater. I bought a 2 to 1 electrical connector and neatly routed the wires to the Demello bumper.

Changed out the air filter. Old one wasn't too dirty but I got 3 for 20 dollars from a neighbour who ordered the wrong one, so why not?

I also took the time to change my cabin air filter. I had a charcoal filter in there from last year and decided to just go with the normal particulate filter this time. Don't do like me. the regular filter is super cheap, thin, and crappy compared to the charcoal one. I just ordered 2 charcoal ones and will swap this out when they come in.



I also upgraded my winter tires from Hakkapeliitta 8's in a 265/70R16 size to the Hakkapeliitta LT2's in 235/80R17 size with 5th gen toyota 4runner spare tire steel wheels. Sold my old setup for 900 CAD and bought the new setup for 1350 CAD all in. Loving the pizza cutters. Excited to see how they perform in the winter.





PS attached the blackstone labs oil analysis for your viewing pleasure. Good report and nice to read the 4runner's engine is doing super well and perfectly healthy (not that I would expect anything less).

[williamteichroeb]

So a few things I recently did include:

Bought 2 sets of chains....

1st set: Is a diamond pattern chain, unsure the brand, but they look pretty decent. Got them for 5 loonies, so can't really complain. They were never used.



2nd set: I bought these on a off-road club group buy for 125 bucks or so. They are a crazy heavy duty v-bar chain with tensioning cams. They weight about 3x as much as the diamond chains.



I'll run the diamonds on the front and the v bar on the rear. I still need to angle grind the excess chain on the v-bars and I want to get a few bungees for the chains as well, but I test fit them all and they look great.

Another thing I thought I would do is mount a fire extinguisher to the rig somehow. I looked up what others have done and wasn't impressed. Most mount it to the spare jack and tool compartment cover, but I feel this is unsafe as that cover isn't really held in there by much. I decided to mount it to the large plast panel just in front of that cover. I test mounted and marked where the 4 holes would be, then pilot drilled with a small bit. I then drilled with one size smaller than the bolts I would be using. Then I reached my hand in behind (very tight space and difficult to do), and fastened washers and nuts on all 4 bolts. honestly without the nuts it was still very tight in there and probably wouldn't have come out, but I wanted to do it right. I did however, lose a small washer that fell down in a crevice. So far it hasn't rattled around. If it does I will have to use a magnet on an extension to get it out.


Attachment 276849


I also bought 2 gear bags from amazon. They are awesome. One holds all my tools and some recovery gear. The other bag holds my chains and snow shovel and gloves. They fit nicely on either side of my crate back there. I may actually pick up 2 more to stack on top of each other.

Future plans at some points:

I want to do an oil change by Nov 10th or so to put in Amsoil sig series 0W30. I definitely am not even over 2000kms since my last oil change but the zero weight oil will be better for our very cold winter.

At some point I need to do my tie rod ends, CV axle, and LBJ's. None of it compromises safety but the grease boots all look like they're slightly torn (pass. CV outer boot, L LBJ boot, and both outer tie rod end boots.) Might wait until spring to do that stuff, but we'll see. I also have decided I want to go with CVJ axles with their heavy duty boots, and prob OEM for the TRE's, and not sure about the LBJ's. Toyota doesn't offer any so I'd have to replace the whole LCA. decisions....

My dream list for mods next year, or if some crazy sale comes on, is:

Roof rack, and RTT (prob won't happen for a long time)
Rear steel bumper and swing outs
Because of above, upgrading my springs in rear to HD
VHF radio
Front and transmission skid plates (prob RCI).
bolt on sliders.
kinetic snatch rope.

[SAvoltage]

Sweet Build. Looks tough!

[wadle5]

Hitting hard in the tires department, got me thinking about getting a 2nd set for summer or winter. Great looking 4runner!

[LordAbdullah]

I think i saw a picture of your rig on Toyota Canadas' official page!!

[williamteichroeb]

Originally Posted by LordAbdullah

I think i saw a picture of your rig on Toyota Canadas' official page!!

HAHA you sure did! I was super stoked when they asked me if they could share my photo. That was cool to see lol

[williamteichroeb]

Originally Posted by wadle5

Hitting hard in the tires department, got me thinking about getting a 2nd set for summer or winter. Great looking 4runner!

Originally Posted by SAvoltage

Sweet Build. Looks tough!

Thanks guys! It's a been a fun journey. More updates coming very soon ;)

[williamteichroeb]

Well it's been a busy few weeks here in Fernie.

Just after my last update, I drove over some logs and branches, and unluckily they swung up and hit my transfer case actuator. I initially thought this might be an easy fix..... Let me tell you, it isn't. It is extremely expensive and labour-intensive. The part alone is 2500 CAD! Labour is estimated at 11.5hrs. This would put the bill to 4200 CAD.

I also had a bit of cosmetic damage to the body/skidplates. I ended up going through my insurance company as I have paid for and not used collision for 10 years of driving and decided I may as well put it to work for me.

I took a payout for the cosmetic damages which were around 1600 CAD and had them repair the transfer case. One thing that was nice, was they said it was cheaper to just put in a brand new transfer case because it would save on labour, so now I have a brand new tranfer case with AMSOIL synthetic oil in it.



I tested it out thoroughly and it shifts beautifully between 2WD/4HI/4LO/center locker. I'm happy

Also happy because I used that money (plus a bit of my own) to place an order for Demello sliders, and Shrockworks skid plates (engine/tranny/xfer case).

Learn from me folks......buy skid plates....it will save you very expensive repairs


On another happy note.....snow has fallen in Fernie. Got to test out the tires....they perform awesome in the 235/80R17 size

[williamteichroeb]

Well, a week after I got my vehicle back from the transmission shop, I accepted an invite to meet up with the YYC offroad club. These guys are awesome. What was also cool was the day I showed up 7 other rigs did as well, and all of them are toyotas. I did swap over to my MT's for the run as the guys said it would be really sloppy out there and not too icy.



I was, however, the only 4runner that day although they have a few in the group.




I was very, very wary to not damage any of my undercarriage and took it pretty cautiously. The only damage I incurred was to the OEM side steps. I don't really care anyways as I should be getting the sliders any day now.




Afterwards, I spent like 20 dollars at the carwash cleaning every little nook underneath and vehicle and did a very thorough inspection and maintenance check.




Maintenance items I took care of:
Current kms.......72,800kms

Amsoil oil change with 0W30
greased all 6 points on driveshaft with Lucas red and tacky lube
greased JBA UCA balljoints (also cool is this company sends me reminders to grease them lol)
changed air filter with OEM filter
changed cabin filter with OEM charcoal filter

[williamteichroeb]

Happy happy day! Demello sliders arrived a few days ago to my address in the USA and I finally had a day off where I could drive down and pick them up.

First off I really wanna give a shout out to @jdemello @jdemello , he makes a great product. It was between demello sliders and C4 sliders, and I was on the fence between the 2.

I still think the C4's are very nice and super stout. I also really like their top plate and the angle of their sliders. I am, however, very happy with the demello's and think they are probably some of the stoutest in the industry.

Reason's I went with them:

-4 legs with a solid 1/4" plate attaching to the frame! (most only have 3)
-4 cross braces on the sliders themselves
-come standard with DOM tubing (most you have to pay extra for upgrade)
-hardware is super crazy tough!
-There are about 12 fasteners on each side!
-customer service is on point!
-price was amazing with very reasonable shipping. (I did get their black friday sale price)


Here they are upon opening the packaging



Installed 1/2 the bolts on each side (the M8's that use the factory pre-drilled holes) in about 40 minutes alone, using 2 jackstands and a couple 8" 2x4's to hold it up

Here you can see the holes for the 1/2" bolts, that I would later install


Here are the sliders after I had installed some of the additional bolts. I need to attach 2 more on the drivers side, and one more on the passenger side, but these 3 will require a bit of work. Namely taking off the gas tank skid, and drilling one small hole on each side. These are optional, and honestly I highly doubt I really need to do it, but I want it done right and buttoned off properly.

[williamteichroeb]

Picked up my KC lights as well and began the process of installing them. I already had the AOB "sasquatch lights" switch in the center console that I want to use.

The KC lights came with a pre-wired harness so this install should be pretty easy. I'm just hoping that the switch can handle whatever "current/amps/voltage or whatever it's called) that the harness is sending to it. I believe there's a 3A fuse in line to the switch so hopefully the harness and swtich work well together. These lights have 130watt bulbs, so they take lots of power.

If you can't tell, I don't know much about electrical or lighting lol

I started by physically mounting the lights to my demello bumper. This was pretty easy. I just measured the center line of the bumper and measured out 8" on either side of that line so the lights are spaced 16" apart. I may have gone 14" apart (7" on either side) because I think they looked better that way.



I drilled the holes 1" in from the outside of the bumper so my hood can open and close without interfering with the lights. I started by drilling a pilot hole with a 1/16" drill bit and went up in incremental sizes until a 1/2" hole was drilled.




I then test fitted the lights and tightened them up. I just left the wire tails hanging down and plan on finishing the wiring tomorrow. I did however, test to make sure the lights worked by hooking them up directly to the battery with the switch provided. I also ran the 2 wires through the firewall to the center console. Excited to continue this project tomorrow.