Aaaahh snow wheelin! Haha. I always turn my speakers up when you post a vid. Man that thing sounds good.
me too!
I like watching them at home, on my tv. lets me hear the deep sounds.
I need to make a few more vids with it WORKING like that, it sound great.
heres another one, the content isn't great, but its from the back
I don't think I ever did get "caught up" in regards to my build(s), or wheeling even. but, without pics...who cares, amiright? anyway...
I used my 85 truck for many years both as my daily driver, and as a wheeler. it was mostly stock. I think it had 1-2" springs when I got it, I added a 3" BL, because I had plans to swap in the v8. so basically 4" and 33's. one day after driving to the hills, and wheeling all day, my knees were sore from sitting all day. right then I decided I needed something with a little more room, so I could slide the seat back just a bit more. I remembered an extended cab 85 that was parked for sale. so the next day I went to check it out. it wasn't there, must have been sold over the weekend.
but just down the street was a black 85 4runner. totally straight, and stock, complete with granny running boards. I went to the bank and got a loan. I got it for $3800. I was stoked.
immediately I removed the running boards, and cobbled together a "lift". enough to fit 33s. a bit later I added a light bar, with a pair of 6" round lights. then came nerfbars, a brush guard, and a smittybilt double tube rear bumper.
this is the best pic ive got on this computer..
that pic also shows the 4" procomp lift, with a 3" block, 2" shackles and 35's which I added later. im not sure if I got ANY pics of it before that.
that was my DD for many years while wheeling the truck. then... I got a family.
I needed more space. so I bought a 2006 4runner limited v8 as my DD(also no pics. but its blue, totally stock lol), and relegated the 85 for wheeling.
ive got big plans for the 85. 1ton running gear, full cage, and swapping the drivetrain out of my tuck. so v8, dual cases and auto trans. but, unfortunately my wallet cant keep up with my plans.
a few months ago I decided to use it. so I yanked the front 3rd out of my truck. its spooled with 5.29's. a perfect match for the 5.29s that were already in the 85 runner. I slapped it in the rear, and took it wheeling.
we went to an area, that due to the record low snow fall...we normally aren't able to get to that time of the year.
I don't have a CB in the 4runner, so I was running in the middle, following my buddy up a fairly steep, snow covered climb.
little did we know, that the snow was only 1/2" deep, on top of a layer of ice. it made for VERY slick conditions.
he struggled bit to get up the hill, hes locked front/rear. with him struggling, I knew I wasn't going to make it only being locked in the rear. I went up as far as I could. it was off-camber, and in between trees. kind of a sketchy place to stop...
he had made it to the top...then decided to back down the hill to hook up a strap, and help me up.
BAD IDEA. he came down a little ways then hit the ice. he started sliding backwards. instincts kicked in, and unfortunately he gunned it, only making him slide even faster.
I saw it happening, but there wasn't a lot I could do. I was parked at an angle, very close to a tree. I turned the wheel to the left and backed up a tiny bit, trying to get square with him, so he would hit the brush guard, and not the fender. but there wasn't enough space, or time. I didn't get over far enough.
sadly...I didn't have my gopro on.
i got a few pics from after tho.
it wasn't too bad, but remember, this was a completely STRAIGHT rig. it was a painful thing...
the headlight still worked...somehow. it was shining up into the trees, but it worked. lol
my brush guard did save me some, you can see where it dented in the back of his jeep.
also, his bumper barely missed popping my tire. the corner was up against it, but luckily there wasn't enough pressure to damage it.
we should have turned around right there(because of the ice, not the crash)...but it was early in the day, and decided to keep going.
the snow got deep on top, so no worry of ice up there. but me being open in the front, i was a huge liability, and relied on someone else to get me through the deepest/steepest stuff. it was slow going. we wheeled, and winched into the night.
some time around 10:00...i hit a tree. damnit!
i just barely hit it too. based on the rub marks, another 1/2" forward, or to the left, and it wouldn't have hit.
well...i guess its officially a wheeler now.
for those that don't know, that is a very expensive piece of glass. i was quoted $1200 just for the glass!!
luckily i found someone selling a complete top, with good glass for $40. score!
for those that don't know, that is a very expensive piece of glass. i was quoted $1200 just for the glass!!
luckily i found someone selling a complete top, with good glass for $40. score!
I was gonna say, around here you can't give those tops away. Maybe I should start grabbing every one I can and listing the glass on EBay!
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'My needle always settles between west and southwest. The future lies that way to me, and the earth seems more unexhausted and richer on that side.' - Thoreau, sort of.
if you don't already know, our frames aren't very strong right at the front. they don't really take well to heavy winch bumpers, without a bit of help.
I built a couple mounts. I just cut some square tubing at an angle, and welded a nut to the back side. there really isn't any access to hold the nut in place, so it needs to be welded.
now that we have the extra mount, we need to beef up the front of the frame using this frame plate.
I built this one out of some 3/16" steel I already had. Badlands does sell this plate prefabbed in 1/4" if you want to save the time.
I drilled some holes in the middle, to give me a place to weld, make sure they land in between the holes in the factory cross member.
all welded and ground flush.
the bumper is beefy, and well made, but there was one spot I felt it could use a bit more. under the inner edge of the top plate, there isn't any support, if for some reason I needed to stand on it, it wouldn't support my weight.
I had some 1/2" round stock, just right.
and welded in place.
nice and solid now, that top plate isn't going anywhere.
Nice goin' on the frame brace. That looks plenty stout.
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'My needle always settles between west and southwest. The future lies that way to me, and the earth seems more unexhausted and richer on that side.' - Thoreau, sort of.
Nice goin' on the frame brace. That looks plenty stout.
yes, I think it will do just fine. I considered using 1/4" like he sells, but I already had the 3/16". also, i didn't get a pic of it, but he supplies another pair of mounts from the bottom of the bumper over to the stock spring mount. i think it will be plenty strong.
Looks good Nevada. Should be able to make some good pulls on that bumper.
thanks.
i agree, its beefy.
previously in this thread, and in a few other threads on here ive talked about my Rugged Ridge winch. i just had an experience with Omix-ADA(they own rugged ridge) that i thought i should share.
when i got the 10.5, i mounted it on my truck, to replace the RR 8.5. when i did, i just reused all the connections/cables/control box from the 8500. since they are the same part number.
as seen above, i finally mounted the 8.5 on my 4runner. when i opened the box(months ago) the hardware bag was busted up, and the contents were scattered in the box. i didn't think too much of it at the time. it looked like everything was there.
as i went to wire it up, it turns out ALMOST everything was there.
the ground lug was missing. i had all the power connections, but the bolt for the ground wasn't there. this screws directly into the side of the motor.
i opened a repair ticket with Omix-ADA, and within 2 hours i had a response asking for my address so they could send me the bolt.
im very impressed. i realize its a very small thing, likely the shipping will cost more than the part itself. but no questions asked they are sending it.
that is good customer service. another plus for that company in my book.
last Saturday I got a call from my brother. he was stuck in the mud. both his truck, and small camp trailer. his truck is a 2006 dodge 3500 quad cab, long bed 4x4 with the cummins. a HEAVY truck.
sadly, as per my usual, I didn't get any pics of the stuck, or the extraction. but I got to put the new winch bumper, and RR 8500 winch to use. it all worked great. as expected.
while winching him out tho, I was reminded of something I had done to my 10500 on the truck, and still need to do to the 4runner.
upgrade the hook! they come with a 3/8" hook. I think that's fairly standard. but if you have to use a strap, and snatch block, you quickly run out of space in that hook.
in comes the 1/2" hook.
as you can see, its slightly bigger.
now there is plenty of room for straps, d-rings, snatch blocks, whatever.
along cleaning and re-greasing the winch, I think a 1/2" hook should be one of the first things done with a new winch.
im just going to leave this here. im just so impressed and happy this system works as designed.
I went to start my truck yesterday, no go. it was ****ing DEAD. not a click. buzz, pop. NOTHING. I had left my air compressor(ac compressor) switched ON for a couple days.
I flipped the switch for my dual batteries, hit the key and it fired right up like a champ! I love having that system on there, and its great to know it works as designed.
when I hooked the charger up to the dead battery, the charger kept cycling on and off. because it was too dead. no voltage. I had to hit the dual battery switch for a few minutes to bring the voltage up a bit, so it would actually charge. after 10 minutes or so it was able to charge the dead battery.
its a very generic dual battery system. I used a 12v continuous duty solenoid, and a toggle switch. nothing fancy. I have to remember to switch the system on occasionally to make sure the 2nd battery stays topped off.
it works WELL, and was super cheap.
its a very generic dual battery system. I used a 12v continuous duty solenoid, and a toggle switch. nothing fancy. I have to remember to switch the system on occasionally to make sure the 2nd battery stays topped off.
it works WELL, and was super cheap.
Tell me more about this, because I'd like to set up a dual battery system while my engine bay is torn apart and I'm dead broke. Just a 600 amp solenoid?
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'My needle always settles between west and southwest. The future lies that way to me, and the earth seems more unexhausted and richer on that side.' - Thoreau, sort of.