[geofox784]

Intro:
About a year ago I moved from Denver to Grand County, CO. I found that my mini cooper was great and fun to drive in Denver, but didn't do so well deep in the rockies and limited my camping / hiking options quite a lot. I knew I wanted a vehicle I could so some decent off roading with, so I started looking at jeeps, but even more importantly I wanted a vehicle that would last me 10 years without problems, so that lead me to the 4runner. After a few months of searching I saw the perfect used vehicle show up within my budget that had a ton of features in my "want" as well as my "need" list. I plan on upgrading it to an overland vehicle I can camp out of and that can take me on 90% of the trails out there.

As it stands today:





Factory / off the lot features:

• 2015 Trail Premium w/ 50K miles
• KDSS
• Heated Seats
• Sunroof
• Clear protective film on hood and other forward facing body panels
• Leather seats with red stitching

Upgrades / mods currently installed:

Google sheets build list with links & planned upgrades

APPEARANCE:

• Black out kit on badging
• Window tint on front windows to match rear window tint
• American flag decal on rear side windows
• "4Runner Decal" on passenger side dash
• "TRD Offroad" Decals
• All cabin / assistance lights changed to white LED's
• ARC Lights LED's in map, center, and hatch lights
• AJT Design key fob swap
• Under hood lighting with LED Strip
• Rear hatch LED Strip
• Trd Pro grill trim

PROTECTION / ARMOR:

• ARB Diff Breather w/ Rear Diff + E-Locker Attached.
• Air injector upgraded filter
• Husky Floor Matts
• Block Heater
• RCI Engine, Transmission, and Transfer Skid
• RCI Lower Link Skids
• CBI Gas tank skid
• CBI Front Bumper Steel w/ full hoops
• Victory 4x4 Rear Bumper w/ Tire carrier and table
• SDHQ ABS guards
• RAD Rubber engine splash shields
• RSG Sliders
• RSG KDSS Skid
• ECGS CV Bushing replacement for needle bearing
• C4 Diff skid
• Dobinsons Snorkel
• Rago rear shock guards

TIRES + SUSPENSION:

• Falken Wildpeak AT3W tires - 285/70/R17
• Dobinsons UCAs
• Fox 2.5 DSC Remove Reservoir shocks (custom valved by Accutune)
• Icon Overland rear springs
• Toytec rear bump stop spacer
• Blackgate customs rear KDSS spacer
• Spidertrax 1.5" Spacers
  

COMS + NAV:

• ICOM ID-5100A HAM Radio
• Midland 75-822 CB Radio w/ Firestik II
• Expedition Essentials Dash Mount
• RAM Mounts for phone, Ham, and iPad
• Midland GXT1000 FRS Radio w/ 4 cheap FRS radios to hand out on the trail
• Weboost Drive Reach OTR LTE Booster
• iPad mini running Gaia GPS and some other apps
• V1 Radar detector w/ mirror mount
• Viofo A129 Dash Camera
• Garmin road GPS
• Garmin GLO GPS module for iPad
• Garmin Inreach mini sat messenger
• Tilt Smart 45 degree incolmeter / roll indicator
• Scangauge II with tire pressures programed in

STORAGE:

• Center console + glove box organizer
• Raingler Attic net
• Goose Gear drawers
• Goose Gear rear seat delete
• Dual Rago Storage Panels
• Prinsu roof rack
• Plano 52" Rifle Case for roof top storage
• Whynter FM-65G Fridge
• Easy Slide Es-150PLUS
• Eezi-Awn swift awning
  

EXTERNAL LIGHTING:

• Xenon Depot XTREME HID 5000k kit
• DDM Tuning High Beams
• Amber "raptor" lights
• 2019 OEM LED Fog lights
• CaliRaised roof light bar
• Baja Squadron Pro ditch lights
• Maxxima Scene lights (x6)
• Teralume Icon spot lights
  

ELECTRICAL:

• Carista adapter for changing settings
• Front fisheye camera
• Switch Pro 9100
• Pedal Commander
• Rear hatch inside window and lock controls
• Infinity REF3022CFX dash speakers
• Alpine PWE-S8 subwoofer
• Genesis Offroad Dual battery kit
• Odyssey 25-PC1400 batteries (X2)
• ArcLighLed Triple State Voltage Booster
• Custom made dash electrical panel
• Blue sea low voltage disconnect
• National Luna Dual Battery Display
• Custom made electronics tray in engine bay
• Smittybilt 2781 Compressor mounted in engine bay
  

RECOVERY / SUPPLIES:

• Tool bag
• 3 Recovery bags of various supplies
• First aid / trauma kit
• Recovery Straps, tree savers, snatch blocks, soft shackles
• Smittybilt 98510 10K synthetic winch
• Factor 55 Flatlink Expert with rope guard
• Fiskars X11 Splitting Axe
• Agawa Canyon Boreal21 Folding saw
• Generic Shovel
• Generic folding hand saw
• 2 rapid deflators
• Tire repair kit
• 5LB Fire extinguisher
• Hi-Lift X-TREME 60" Jack
• Hi-Lift Winch kit
• Hi-Lift Off-Road Base

Adventures:

• Rollins pass, CO
• Little Muddy Creek, CO
  ---
• Trip 'round Colorado 1000 mile road trip:
• - Colorado Springs (Garden of the gods, gold camp road)
• - Medano Pass Primitive Road
• - Great Sand Dunes National Park
• - Million Dollar Highway
• - Ouray, CO
• - Back Canyon National Park
• - Crested Butte, CO
• - Kebler Pass
• - Glenwood Springs, CO
• - Maroon Lake
• - Independence pass
• - Keyser Creek
  ---
• Jones Pass
• Georgetown Lake Ice Racing
  ---
• Moab Trip June 19'
• - Long Canyon
• - Shafer Trail
• - Potash Road
• - Fins and Things
• - Hell's Revenge
• - Top of the world
• - Salt Valley Road
• - Tower Arch
• - Eye of Whale
  ---
• Kingston Peak
• Jones Pass
  ---
• Ouray Trip Sep 19'
• - Engineer Pass
• - Cinnamon Pass
• - California Pass
• - Corkscrew Pass
• - Black Bear Pass
• - Imogene Pass
  ---
• Moab Trip Oct 19'
• - Fins n' Things Night Run
• - Seven Mile Rim
• - Hell's Revenge

[geofox784]

Right after I drove it home for the first time. First order of business was getting the brakes resurfaced as I could feel some steering wheel wobble at highway speeds. Once that was taken care of everything felt more stable.



Bumper vinyl wrap:
I was amazed how easy it was to remove the front bumper, on my mini cooper its a half day project to remove it.


Sanded and body filler on the bottom trim to smooth out the rock chips.




Black out kit on the badging:


Front and rear rhino shackles:
(Yes I know that the front are not to be used for recovery, but its the best I have for now.)



Rear hatch flood lights:



V1 Radar detector mounting and wiring:
(3 sets of 12V pins)



Phone mount:



Xenon Depot XTREME HID kit 5000K:
Stock left, HID right



Recovery bags:
Just strapped down for now while I wait for my goose gear drawers.


Bag 1: Tools


Bag 2: Recovery


Bag 3: Miscellaneous


Bag 4: Trauma

[geofox784]

I took it up to Rollins Pass yesterday. I definitely could not have pulled this off with my mini so I am very happy I was able to get up there with no problems. I noticed that the car handled large dips quite well, but the small rocks and stuff shock the car quite a bit. I'm hoping that once I get true off road tires (I have BFG K02's on order) and I am able to air down some it will help out with the ride quality some.

[Raingler_Nets]

Pretty epic on the organization in there! Looking forward to seeing how you get it all set up.

[geofox784]

Geofox's 15' Grey Trail Build / Adventure Thread - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum

Some more mods installed after stuff showed up in the mail:

The biggest of the all: BFG KO2 Tires 275/70/R17

Wow do these make a huge difference in the appearance of the rig. It finally is starting to really look like an off road worthy vehicle.

I chose the KO2's due to the huge following and numerous recommendations from others in the forums. I am also limited in my options, as I wanted to get the biggest tire I could get that would fit without a lift. I planned on doing a lift first, then get tires so I could get 285 tires, but the difference in size was so small it was worth just getting the 275's now. The limited options wasn't really a big deal though as I probably would have went with the KO2's anyway.

As for normal road driving I was worried that the ride would be too harsh, as others have reported that the LT (light truck) tires, especially those that have a load rating E, have a harsh ride. I had them at 40PSI (recommended as the "sweet spot" for the tires on this weight vehicle) and didn't feel that the ride was harsh at all, but that was on normal driving on paved roads. I will be taking them on rocky roads soon, but will air them down to 20PSI when I do that.

Time will tell how my MPG is affected. Before my MPG averaged 21 MPG on mostly highway use.



Raingler Cargo Net. I found that it was too big for stock and would be too loose unless these was a large object in the back. I am not worried though as once I have my Goose Gear drawers it should fit just fine. Update: After talking with Raingler I tried looping the straps through the rear seat hinge. Now it fits perfectly.


Rear window flag. Got them on both sides.


Inside passenger side decal:

[klk87]

Could you post a link to the rear hatch flood lights you installed? They look super bright!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[geofox784]

Originally Posted by klk87

Could you post a link to the rear hatch flood lights you installed? They look super bright!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Here ya go.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[geofox784]

Took it back up Rollins pass again to try out the new tires. Aired them down to 20 PSI from 40 PSI. MUCH better ride than the stock tires at 35 PSI. They absorbed the rocks and washboarding much better. I took it up a side path with about a 40 degree incline and was expecting to have to activate A-TRAC or the rear locker, but in 4L and these tires to took it like it was no problem at all.

I also took it much further down the trail, and I'm glad I didn't make the same attempt on the stock tires like I had planned but it was getting too dark before. The road got VERY rocky to the point of where it was made of 100% loose large rock. There was a number of times I was sure I was going to make contact with the stock skid plates but never did (with one exception). There was also a few spots with some serious pucker factor with high tilt angles next to a cliff face.

Average MPG 10.5! Hopefully that will almost double on road use.

Same spot as an earlier pic but with the new tires:


Climbing in 4L:


Parked at the end of the trail. Earlier the rocks were about 2X as big and completely covered the road.


Eating a rock at 20PSI:


Airing back up. Took about 3min per tire:


My first trail damage. Tis but a scratch.

[honda250xtitan]

285's fit stock

[geofox784]

Originally Posted by honda250xtitan

285's fit stock

From what I have read in multiple locations, that is not the case. Going Bigger - 5th Gen Tire Fitment Guide

[willo]

Nice.
I should be picking up my 16 trail later this week if all goes well.

I'm glad you had fun in my back yard. (I live south of Rollinsville)
Avoid using fix a flat like the plague. Many shops won't repair a tire that it's been used in.
--Get a patch kit

--Get a matching spare tire. (maybe you did, I didn't see anything about it)
If not, then you'll need to put the spare up front and avoid using 4wd while it's on there. I also have a telescoping 1/2" breaker bar. (Lesson learned from owning an old land rover)

One more for your gear list: Water. I find poorly put out or even unattended fires once a year or so. Last year it was a camp fire with 3 foot flames that was left unattended by idiots.

[honda250xtitan]

Originally Posted by geofox784

From what I have read in multiple locations, that is not the case. Going Bigger - 5th Gen Tire Fitment Guide

fender liner mod and mudflap delete

[cjdewese]

Much respect for the organization of your google sheet.

Over $20K in planned mods though... gonna be a very nice ride when all said and done.

[geofox784]

Originally Posted by cjdewese

Much respect for the organization of your google sheet.

Over $20K in planned mods though... gonna be a very nice ride when all said and done.

Yeah the 20K is everything I want. I doubt I will get everything I want. But who knows, I plan to have it for a very long time.

[geofox784]

Originally Posted by willo

Nice.
I should be picking up my 16 trail later this week if all goes well.

I'm glad you had fun in my back yard. (I live south of Rollinsville)
Avoid using fix a flat like the plague. Many shops won't repair a tire that it's been used in.
--Get a patch kit

--Get a matching spare tire. (maybe you did, I didn't see anything about it)
If not, then you'll need to put the spare up front and avoid using 4wd while it's on there. I also have a telescoping 1/2" breaker bar. (Lesson learned from owning an old land rover)

One more for your gear list: Water. I find poorly put out or even unattended fires once a year or so. Last year it was a camp fire with 3 foot flames that was left unattended by idiots.

Patch kit: Just recently added one.

Matching spare tire: In the mail.

Water: I plan on taking adding some kind of water tank / storage.