[geofox784]

EDIT: I ended up changing my mount to something else.

I wanted to find a way to mount my iPad so I could have topo maps easily accessible. I went with RAM Mounts. When mounting to the side of the shifting column (is that what you call that?) I found that the bottom of the plastic had no support so the whole mount wobbled quite a lot. I fabricated an aluminum bracket that braces the mount from the inside and that helped. It's not quite as rock solid as I would prefer but when I took it on that last trip it saw some serious bumps without problems.

Parts used: (Total cost around $100)
RAM-HOL-UN8BCU
RAP-200-1U (X2)
RAP-276U (X2)
RAP-PP-1112 (cut down to size)
RAM-2461U

[geofox784]

Mods recently completed:
- ARB Diff breather. I have it mounted to the top of the firewall and have individual lines running down to the Diff and E-Locker.


- Added a tilt meter. Nice to see how much tilt there actually is compared to how much tilt it feels like.



- Custom LED underhood lights. Nice to have when attaching the compressor in the dark. Instead of spending $80 on some of the kits available online I made it myself using waterproof 5050 LED strip, a push switch, some wire, and an inline fuse holder for roughly $25 dollars.

[geofox784]

More info on the trail here

Little Muddy Creek was VERY muddy. It had been raining for the past few days and the surface was 100% loose wet clay. Took about an hour with a pressure washer to get most of the mud out that was forced into the undercarriage. Had I known how rough this trail was I would not have attempted it without getting a lift first. My biggest problem was lack of ground clearance at the front skid plate when the wheels were in deep ruts.

I went with a group of 3 other jeeps. There was a few times were we had to get pulled / winched after sliding almost off the trail and dangerously close to trees. The wheel direction seemed to be only a suggestion that was often ignored. I often heard and felt scrapping so I was expecting a fair amount of undercarriage damage but surprisingly the only damage was to the skid plates. The stock skid plates did surprisingly well. Only dented in a little but scratched up a ton. Some rattle can paint once I got home fixed that.

Overall the vehicle tackled many things that I would have thought to be impossible with my current configuration. The A-TRAC and crawl control were amazing. There were many spots where I got stuck even while in 4 low and with the rear locked. Threw it into crawl and it pulled me right out of it. The photos don't do this trail justice. All off the really "bad" areas I didn't get any pictures.



VERY Muddy. Took a lot of effort not to fall in the mud myself. I need some better floor matts.


Trail damage. Had to take it off anyway to get about and inch of mud out, but while out I sprayed it down with a rattle can.


I've read 30 degrees is close to rolling so that was a little daunting. Right tires in a rutt though so no risk of sliding somewhere.


The one picture I got of mine.


It was about 2X worse than this in spots.


One of the fairly deep ledges.

[geofox784]

First big road trip! 5 days total and over 1000 miles. Unfortunately I was about 1 week too late to avoid the winter weather. For the 5 days of the trip a cold front moved in and it snowed all over the west side of the state. A few places originally planned were canceled due to the weather (RMNP, Off roading around Ouray, Crystal Mill, and Transfer Trail). I'm planning on doing all of those next summer, especially a 3-5 day trip around Ouray.



Stats for nerds:

• Total miles: 1070
• Over 21 hours of driving
• Average MPG 17.9 (18.5 adjusted for tire size difference.)
• Total gallons of gas: 59.90
• Total $$ spent of gas: 179.32

Day 1: Home (Fraser, CO) > Black Forest, CO
Miles: 129

No photos or anything of interest here. Planned on swinging through Rocky Mountain National Park on the way down but the snow started and the pass closed the day we planned on leaving. Stayed at my Uncle's place.

Day 2: Black Forest, CO > Medano Pass
Miles: 173

More snow for most of the drive.

Garden of the Gods

Lower Gold Camp Road



Top of Medano Pass
Snow started sticking as we gained elevation. Trail got a little slick but nothing compared to little muddy. I was starting to get worried that if the trail was as curvey as the way up as on the way as the way down and if the snow continued overnight then I could be in trouble. Fortunately there was only about an inch of snow and the trail was much easier on the way down then up.


Camp location. Pretty much at the top of the pass. I was hoping to continue on and get a little lower but it was getting dark. While trying to sleep I started to realize I was making a risky move. I read that the valley below would be seeing a few inches of snow, but I had no idea how much I'd at the top of the pass. If I saw a lot of snow I could be stuck up there with no cell service many miles from civilization and a lack of heavy snow clothing.


Day 3: Top of Medano Pass > Ouray, CO
Miles: 251

Medano Pass
The way down was much smoother. Moved out of the thick forest and the snow wasn't much of a problem. Water passes were no problem, deepest was hub height. Glad I installed the ARB diff breather.


Sandy area at the bottom of the pass. No problem for the aired down KO2's.


Great Sand Dunes National Park

View of the Dunes


After hiking to (what I thought was) the top.


Ouray, CO
Drove through Wolf Creek Pass, but in heavy snow. Million Dollar Highway was incredible. Some of the sharpest drop offs and no guard rail. I would never have expected a well traveled public road to be this dangerous. I planned on staying a day in Ouray to do some off roading but with the weather decided against it. I don't feel bad though because there looks to be so much to do around the area it justifies its own dedicated trip. Absolutely incredible location. Planned on camping in the woods but all of the camping locations involved driving up some fairly steep roads and with possible heavy overnight snowfall so I gave in and booked a night in a motel. Worth the warm bed and shower though.



Day 4: Ouray, CO > Glenwood Springs, CO
Miles: 219

Black Canyon National Park
Once the clouds cleared this place is amazing. Sharp drop offs the size of skyscrapers.




Crested Butte & Kebler Pass




Planned on staying at windy point on Transfer Trail, but with the snow I didn't want to risk getting stuck up there. Stayed at a KOA.

Day 5: Glenwood Springs, CO > Home
Miles: 218

Maroon Lake


Took Independence pass and then Keyser Creek on the way back.

Sleeping arrangements.
The goose gear drawers and sleeping platform wasn't here in time (although I wasn't expecting it to) so I built a cheaply made plywood platform. Used an Exped MegaMat Duo 10 (Double) sleeping pad. Fit perfectly with the seats moved forward. No room to spare. Super comfy and warm. For sleeping bags I used two Wenzel Grande 0 Degree Sleeping Bags. Super warm and comfy, especially with the flannel interior. Both nights I slepts in the car it was about 30 outside and we were plenty warm even without the bags zipped together.


Folded down to make room for the seats moved back:

Sleeping bag without the top bag:

[geofox784]

Some better photos of my lighting upgrades

Hatch light bar:



Hatch light bar from inside:



Under hood lights:



LED high beam comparison to stock:

[geofox784]

Jones Pass

[geofox784]

Exciting things to come... Goose Gear drawers and full sleeping platform delivered today.

[geofox784]

Just finished writing this in depth review for trail4runner.com of the DDM Tuning Saber High Beams. They are incredibly bright!

Full review here

[Mtnman01]

Originally Posted by geofox784

Exciting things to come... Goose Gear drawers and full sleeping platform delivered today.

What height drawers did you go with? I'm looking at this and considering the 8 inch high. Is the correct size to fill the whole trunk the 36 inch depth ones? I cant measure as my 4runner is only just been built in Japan. Take delivery in April. Do you have any pics of the installed plates?

[geofox784]

Originally Posted by Mtnman01

What height drawers did you go with? I'm looking at this and considering the 8 inch high. Is the correct size to fill the whole trunk the 36 inch depth ones? I cant measure as my 4runner is only just been built in Japan. Take delivery in April. Do you have any pics of the installed plates?

I got the 10" high because it lines up with the top of the wheel well bumps. 36" drawers are correct. This allows for the mattress to slide over all the way to the wall. Working on an article for trail4runner that will include a ton of pics.

[Mtnman01]

Originally Posted by geofox784

I got the 10" high because it lines up with the top of the wheel well bumps. 36" drawers are correct. This allows for the mattress to slide over all the way to the wall. Working on an article for trail4runner that will include a ton of pics.

Awesome. I see so you can have a wider mattress. I'm thinking of going with 8" as eventually I want to mount a fridge on a slider on top for longer trips and sleep on a packed or RT tent. Someone also commented stating that if you get the higher drawers you are very close to the ceiling.

Cant wait to see the picks.

[geofox784]

Went ice racing on Georgetown Lake a week ago with Our Gang Ice Racing. Lots of fun, but without studded tires there is very little control. Ended up switching to 4L so that I could disable all of the electronic controls.

[geofox784]

Did an oil change + front and rear diffs + transfer case fluid + prop shaft lube. I found that at roughly 60K miles the transfer case and front diff fluid still looked clean, but the rear was definitely dirty.



My rear view camera shorted out after washing the car so I had to replace it. Instead of buying an OEM camera for $500+ I found a way to use an aftermarket camera with some modifications.


Added nytosc's "Ultimate Camping Mod" controls to the rear hatch. Instead of running the wires from the hatch to inside I opted to keep everything in the hatch. Much easier to install that way.


Added a chinese TRD Pro front bumper trim as well as "raptor" lights. I custom made the mounts for the lights using my 3D printer. I also "smoked" them with some vinyl tint. They are wired to my side marker parking light, so I can still have the car 100% blacked out with the engine running if I desire.



Note: A white bulb housing is shown here. I ended up going with amber bulb housings.


Also switched to a larger compressor, the Smittybilt 2781. My VIAIR 300P filled a tire from 20PSI to 40PSI in about 3 min. The new compressor fills it in about 2.25 min. I was expecting about 1.5min given the specs, so I am a little disappointed. Eventually I plan on mounting it inside the engine bay along with a system of tubing that runs air lines to each wheel.

[geofox784]

Added a block heater. I normally have it parked in a heated garage, but when I am working on night shift the outside temp where it is parked can reach -25F.




Added an RCI skid plate.


Added lower link RCI skid plates.


Added Rago storage panels.
On the left I have a shovel, axe, trauma kit, and LED road flares.

On the right I have a scraper / snow brush. The bottom is reserved for a future electrical project. (Battery status indicator, 12V outlets, USB outlets, 18650 battery charger, and inverter.)

[geofox784]

Installed a full Goose Gear Sleeping platform with drawers. EDIT: Full review now available here.




Many of the items in the left drawer have been moved up to the Rago Storage Panels.