[2012sr5]

Greetings from Tennessee! My signature is getting to be a little cramped, so I'm starting a thread.

Here's where I will write all of my experiences and impressions down about the endless flow of gear I buy for the 4Runner and for our family of 5 to go camping and exploring. This won't be a very drool-worthy build...my intentions are to best mod and outfit my truck to fit our family's needs on our adventure trips. I have plans for trips out West in the next year in addition to a couple more places to see in the East. Tennessee alone has proven to be an absolutely beautiful state with plenty of places to get away from humanity and enjoy God's green earth.

As she sits Oct 2018:





Suspension:
• OME 2883 up front
• Wheeler's T13 in rear
• Bilstein 5100s all around
• Airlift 60809 in the rear
• Poly sway bar bushings front and rear
This setup performs great for me, and I'm all in for less than $1k!

I also have JBA high caster UCAs up front. Took about an hour to install. I get great alignment with high caster (3.5° each side) and no shaking on the highway.

Tires/Wheels:
• SCS 17 x 8.5 F5 wheels
• LT Nitto Terra Grappler G2s. I have been extremely impressed with the G2s in all situations. Review thread with updates in sig.

Armor:
• MetalTech TE sliders. I wanted them high and tight, so I bought the Trail version and cut up my rocker panels even more to make them fit.
• RCI Aluminum skids

Other mods/additions:
• @Antman 's rocker panel trimming mod (to fit TE sliders)
• Chrome delete (it just blinds me too much, especially the handles and liftgate emblem)
• Replaced chrome handles with OEM black handles (followed @sp8ball 's writeup)
• Rear Differential breather (ARB kit)
• Husky Weatherbeater liners front, rear, and cargo. I went with these over all others because of the height of the lip all the way around. They do a good job keeping your dirt in the liner and not on your carpet.


Current adventure/camping setup Sept 2018:
Up top, I have a 42" all-weather Plano rifle case bolted to my LFD Crossbars. In it I keep the following:
• a full toolbag (basically the exact same shopping list in @Xtremluck 's post),
• tire repair kit
• tow strap
• impact driver with batteries and charger (Home Depot homeowner special)
• Walmart torque wrench
• ARB tire deflator


Next to the Plano are my Maxtrax (I bought these and the mounting pins on an eBay 20% off everything sale). I have yet to come across anything I couldn't get out of with ATRAC, but I still carry these because I'd rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them.




In the cargo area, I'm using three Plano 1719 trunks. They happen to fit perfectly between the wheel wells, and if I decide to carry any of them on the roof or in the hitch basket, they have a channel for weatherstripping all the way around the inside of the lid so I can keep the rain out. I really wanted to build my own drawers, but we use the 3rd row too much for me to yank it out. So, my setup needs to be flexible first.

L to R, we have a Marmot Halo 6 tent in the black trunk; our entire camp kitchen and lighting setup in the green trunk; and a tarp, extra tie downs, and sleeping pads in the gray trunk.


In our camp kitchen/lighting trunk, we have the following:
• Camp Chef Everest stove
• First Aid Kit
• Luminoodle Basecamp with battery
• 14" Fiskars hatchet
• Sven Saw (for heavier-duty jobs)
• Bear spray
• other tools (Gerber multi tool, a very sturdy SOG knife, LED lanterns and flashlights)
• a couple of LifeStraws from my bug out bag
• plates, cups, utensils, pots, skillet, small cutting board, bug spray, paracord, trash bags




Our cooler and 5gal water jug get strapped down on top of the Planos for easy access, and our camp table, sleeping gear, and chairs get thrown in around it.

Sometimes, we throw the hitch basket on as well to bring extra toys, bikes, etc. Here's a pic of our camp kitchen setup, and you can see the hitch carrier, too:


As you can see, I'm keeping it pretty simple.

COMING UP
Short term:
• @Plastics guy 's front end bump stops! I have them; just need the time to install them.
• @Raingler_Nets mil-spec upper half cargo net is on its way. I hopped on to the recent group buy. This will make me feel better about having several loose items stuffed into the cargo area.
• I have plans for adding an awning (leaning toward the ARB 2500), and some mounts for my Fiskars D Handle shovel up on the roof rack.
On the horizon:
• TE headlight conversion
• Low profile hybrid bumper
• TE rockers/fenders/bumpers conversion

[2012sr5]

LOG, not including
oil changes,
alignments,
tire rotations,
or greasing driveshaft, UCAs, or poly sway bar bushings

05/09/17 PURCHASED 73k miles
06/12/17 trimmed rocker panels, installed Nerf steps (GONE)
07/20/17 dipped the chrome
08/19/17 5100s, OME 883/Wheeler's T13
09/07/17 Nitto LT G2s mounted up
11/03/17 Takata passenger airbag replaced under recall
03/13/18 new battery
04/15/18 replace chrome ext handles with OEM black handles
05/03/18 relocated rear axle breather w/ ARB kit
05/13/18 trimmed rockers again, installed MetalTech sliders
05/23/18 Airlift bags installed in rear
06/30/18 install SCS F5s
07/16/18 replaced front brake rotors
07/19/18 install JBA UCAs, poly sway bar bushings
09/15/18 install plastics guy's front bump stops
12/21/18 transmission service (every 20k miles starting at 105k)
03/27/19 replace center console catch
07/04/19 front/rear axles, transfer case fluid changed
07/26/19 PAID IT OFF!!!
07/27/19 replaced lift gate weatherstripping
05/31/20 2014+ rocker panel install

[2012sr5]

Took the family camping and exploring this weekend. First thing we did was hit up Nemo's Tunnel in east Tennessee. We were the only 4Runner going through the tunnel. Actually, we were the only highway-legal vehicle. We followed a large group of UTVs through the tunnel twice. My wife filmed our second trip, but it's so bumpy, it'll make you nauseous if I post it.



If you sit in the middle of the tunnel and turn your truck off, you're in complete pitch darkness. Pretty eerie. The kids loved bouncing through the water and over the hills inside. I'd call it an easy trail with water at or just above hub depth. Your truck will get pretty dirty in there:



From there, we headed south to Cherokee National Forest, where we spent the weekend camping, hiking, skipping rocks in every creek and river we found, and checking out waterfalls. Here's Bald River Falls. It's right off the road, and there are some really nice moderate hiking trails in the area.



Travel specs:
Miles traveled: 500
Elevation change: 4,021 ft
MPG: 17.8 (dash readout which for me is always equal to or a tenth less than calculating at the pump)

I'm really impressed with our mileage this trip. I kept up with the 80-85mph crowd on the highway. I don't have steel bumpers or anything, but we were packed to the gills with gear up top, not to mention sliders, skids, and LT tires. With the highway speeds, all the time in 4wd, and all the elevation change, I expected 14-15 mpg for the trip.

I will take more and better pics next time!

[2012sr5]

I have noticed lately that my truck has a bit more rake than normal. So, I went out and measured the hub-to-fender height:

Front D 20 7/8"
Front P 21 1/8"
Rear D 23 3/8"
Rear P 23 1/2"

So, if the stock front height is around 19.75", it seems that my 2" lift from the OME 2883 has settled by quite a bit. I have no extra weight up front except an aluminum RCI skid plate, and I doubt that has really added any extra weight at all.

I've had these OME coils for about 14 months and close to 30k miles. That seems early to me to be sagging below their nominal height. Something to consider if you're looking at Old Man Emu springs!

Now I need to decide if I want to replace the OMEs up front with something more robust, or if I should drop the rear end an inch with lower rear coils. I like the way the T13s in the back ride, but it might be a good idea to bring the rear down a bit since I'm staying with stock tire size.

[2012sr5]

Here it is, in all its glory. I got the Raingler 4-point upper divider in mil-spec mesh and did the forward mount option, which was kind of a pain with pulling the wall panels out. I was surprised to get through the install without breaking any push-in clips since I used a long flathead screwdriver instead of a panel removal tool. After loading up the Plano trunks with all our camping gear, I basically just threw all our sleeping bags and pads on top of the trunks. This net kept everything in the cargo area. Very well made. I dig it.

[calcrc]

Originally Posted by 2012sr5

Here it is, in all its glory. I got the Raingler 4-point upper divider in mil-spec mesh and did the forward mount option, which was kind of a pain with pulling the wall panels out. I was surprised to get through the install without breaking any push-in clips since I used a long flathead screwdriver instead of a panel removal tool. After loading up the Plano trunks with all our camping gear, I basically just threw all our sleeping bags and pads on top of the trunks. This net kept everything in the cargo area. Very well made. I dig it.

Love the Plano trunks man. Great for the price. I have the same as you I keep for camping

But I always leave 1 in the back for all my gear and emergency stuff.

I even got 2 for my kids to put their toys and stuff hehe

[petron5000]

Sweet thread. Good to see TN action!

[bigair96]

Nice set up! Love those containers for the rear, fit perfect.

[2012sr5]

I finally had a day off today, so I took the family on a little adventure. The Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area consists of 17,000 acres straddling Tennessee and Kentucky and contains tons of mild to intermediate trails outside of the OHV area. We spent the day exploring some of these little trails and found a couple gems.

Hardly any service in the LBL, so we like to take our DeLorme:


Here's my oldest son helping a box turtle (we named him Eugene) across the road:


One of our first trails literally went into a vast meadow...there were very faint tracks. The grass was as high as the door handles, and we didn't want to get any ticks this early in the trip, so we stayed in the car and enjoyed the view:


Past the meadow, we were back into deep woods. Found a decent spot to get out and skip rocks:




From there, we found a bunch of muddy trails with very deep ruts to shoreline camping sites. The boys really enjoy hanging out the back window (again, these are not dangerous trails). Here's a pic before we got dirty:


The best part of our day was driving one of these little trails and finding its end at this beach:


We played here for a couple hours. We're parked in Tennessee, and the other shore is Kentucky:














We brought home way too many shells!


Miles traveled: 230.4
Trip MPG: 17.1
Pretty great for doing 80ish on the highway, spending so much time in crawling in 4Lo, and idling waiting on tires to air down before we hit the trails and back up after.

Great trip! Lots of fun stuff to see and do. And of course, my trusty old SR5 performed flawlessly on all terrains encountered today. I'm still running these LT Nittos, and they're still awesome. I'm somewhere over 30k miles now. I'll have to update my review thread as well. Cheers!

[bigguy02]

I drove right past LBL on my way to Colorado a few weeks back. Looked like it would be a fun place to explore. Not sure t would be worth the 12 hour drive though.

[Mutant138]

Love your style here and I'm going to steal some stuff.

Already got one plano to play around with (possibly ordering a second). I want to copy your roof rack setup as well, but I think I'll just drill into the stock cross bars, and utilize some washers metal/rubber to get everything sitting level. Really wish MaxTrax would come down in price (love the way they stack + bridge building).

[2012sr5]

Originally Posted by Mutant138

Love your style here and I'm going to steal some stuff.

Already got one plano to play around with (possibly ordering a second). I want to copy your roof rack setup as well, but I think I'll just drill into the stock cross bars, and utilize some washers metal/rubber to get everything sitting level. Really wish MaxTrax would come down in price (love the way they stack + bridge building).

Thanks! Drilling into the stock crossbars sounds like a good idea for lighter weight items. I'm sure all of my recovery gear and maxtrax weigh less than the load limit (130 lbs I believe). I do plan on putting my shovel up there, too. I bought the Fiskars D Handle shovel. It's a beast. That little rifle case has been a great purchase. I use washers on the bolts that it's mounted to the crossbars with, and so far I have kept all the water and rain out.

I wish I could suggest some other cheaper traction boards, but these are the only ones I have experience with. After reading WAY too much about traction boards, these just seemed like the ones to get. Also, I like that if I get *really* stuck, I have three shovels for myself, my wife, and my oldest son to dig out with.

[Mutant138]

Originally Posted by 2012sr5

Thanks! Drilling into the stock crossbars sounds like a good idea for lighter weight items. I'm sure all of my recovery gear and maxtrax weigh less than the load limit (130 lbs I believe). Also, I like that if I get *really* stuck, I have three shovels for myself, my wife, and my oldest son to dig out with.

No problameo.

Drilling them will reduce the overall load bearing capacity so it's something I go back and forth with. Wish I could just order two aftermarket crossbars instead of a whole kit.

Additionally Maxtrax are the only one you can bridge with (via stacking them). The others would likely snap. I would also trust (hopefully) Maxtrax to be more UV stable then the others. Plus they come in black, and we all know looking cool is really all that matters.

Why does the youngest get a free pass!?

[2012sr5]

Originally Posted by Mutant138

No problameo.

Wish I could just order two aftermarket crossbars instead of a whole kit.

Can't you? That's what I did.

Originally Posted by Mutant138

Additionally Maxtrax are the only one you can bridge with (via stacking them). The others would likely snap. I would also trust (hopefully) Maxtrax to be more UV stable then the others. Plus they come in black, and we all know looking cool is really all that matters.

That's ultimately why I went with them. They're worth the extra dough

Originally Posted by Mutant138

Why does the youngest get a free pass!?

Man, he'll see everyone else sweating away with shovels and get mad that he doesn't have one. They'll have to take turns for sure.

[Mutant138]

Originally Posted by 2012sr5

Can't you? That's what I did.

I guess then it's $80 per rail. It doesn't specify.
It says "crossbar" not crossbars.