2013 SR5 4x4 Update

[Ron4RNevada]

Thanksgiving Eve

Headed across the ridges to daughters house in El Dorado Hills CA this morning. Then tomorrow (Thanksgiving) to brother -in laws place near Nevada City.

Good weather and new camera. should have some shots come Friday...of Donner Summit, Echo Summit, etc...

 

[Ron4RNevada]

Nov 23 and 24

A picture from brother-in-laws back porch Thanksgiving evening; a couple coming up the highway (US-50) next day, and a traffic jam of horses as I crossed back into Lyon County from Carson City.

 

[Ron4RNevada]

TREK 349 - Coyote Canyon - 1 December 2017

TREK 349 - 1 Dec 2017 - Sage Hen Wash, Nightingale, Coyote Canyon

Left I-80 at Brady’s/Nightingale and ran north towards the lava capped diatomite butte. Thde butte has been mined for about 20 years and is about gone now. I crossed the ridge to the south and dropped down and headed NW up Sage Hen Wash.. Nothing was burned to the north beyond the gas line road.

I continued on to the north-west up towards the tungsten mines at Nightingale. Just south of Nache Peak I crossed the pass and then headed down Coyote Canyon towards Winnemucca (dry) Lake. I took a side trail towards an old settlement at the head of the lake. This settlement was abandoned after the east branch of the Truckee River was blocked in the 1930s cutting off the water to the lake.

From the lake I drove south through Nixon and the the highway back to Fernley.

 

[Ron4RNevada]

BTW-gas mileage Trek 349

Total run for the day = 88 miles
of that 22 miles was on interstate (getting 21.0)
21 miles was on paved 2 lane
43 miles was in dirt and rocks in 4 wheel drive
about 15 of those 43 was in low range = steep and rocky

Gas mileage for the 88 miles was 17.2mpg

environmental details:
Air Temperature = 26 to 44 degrees F
Relative Humidity = 15%
Altitude = 4200 to 6400 feet

Speed on interstate = 65 mph
Speed on 2 lane paved = 55 mph
Speed in 4HI = 5 to 25 mph
Speed in 4Lo = 1 to 5 mph

For those people who spend a lot of time complaining about their 4Runners:

*I think that the fuel mileage for this rig is VERY GOOD (see above).
*The reason these trucks dip a little bit on rapid braking is that they have pretty descent articulation.
*Most people do a lot of mods for "a manly look". The stock sized tires are actually several sizes larger than what came on my previous 4x4s.
*Unless you are into competetitive rockcrawling or desert racing the stock suspension is perfect.
*Ride quality is way superior to my LR Discovery with its 4 wheel solid axles - Also on a good day I usually got from 8 to 16 mpg on the above condition - and it required premium fuel octane.
*As far as being a "dinosaur" - Toyota should have stopped making silly changes in 2013.

If you want a good off-roader just put some good off-road tires (265s) on it and leave everything else alone.

 

[Ron4RNevada]

My brothers new 2018 sr5 premium

He was visiting me here for the weekend; We went off-road for a bit Saturday morning in my 2013 SR5 Saturday morning.
In the afternoon he wanted to go into Reno to look at some BMW and Mercedes SUV's. I told him he was nuts to buy either one of them.

Anyway, we went into Reno but I stopped at Dolan Toyota first to let him see what the competition had. We were being escorted around by a salesman for a bit. Then my brother said"Where are the 4Runners?" I also mention the fellow who sold me mine in 2014; so the salesman went and got him - He is now a sales manager.

So between the two of them we drove several SR5. My brother told them what he would really like -> color, extra equipment etc. So they brought up a 2018 SR5 Premium in Super white - he also wanted the stock steps. They had them in stock but wouldn't be able to put them on on a Sunday. I said we would just take them and we would install them at my house.

Anyway - He bought it? Running gear wise it is exactly like mine. Exceptions -> grill and front bumper different (I think they've made it cleaner looking than 2014-2017). Rear bumper different, Tillights now leds. Dasboard completely different.

anyway we brought it home; intsalled the steps (took about 45 minutes) and then took it out on some mild trails so I could get him familiar on how to shift it (2HI-4HI-4LO A-Track-HDC-etc) and got it real dirty.

Pictures attached

 

[Cymon]

Awesome story Ron! Way to hook another one on the 4Runner :fishing:

and show him how to use it in its natural environment :lookout:

 

[Ron4RNevada]

Some of my likes and dislikes comparing 2013-2018

I like the chrome vs white on rear hatch on 2013.
I like the bulb lites instead of LEDs on 2013.
I like rear bumper on 2013 - he gets maybe 1 inch of dep angle.
They,ve made 2018 front grill and bumper good looking again.
The big screen on the nave is OK.
I have no use for all the stuff that displays on the nav or the nav itself.
I like the simple MPG - Clock - temp on the above the dash 2013.
The 2018 has too much stuff to look at on dash.
The 2018 has too much stuff on steering wheel.
The stuff that counts: 2013-2018 SR5 engine, axle, shifters, drive train identical.

His steps look like they hang low but believe it or not they are exact same height as fuel tank skid!

The 2018 will serve him well once he learns what all that extra stuff on dash does.

I'll keep my 2013 -> It works fine for me.

 

[Ron4RNevada]

Trek 351 - 30 Dec 2017

I guess the next one will be in 2018

This was all just north of Black Butte, then up towards Mule Team Mine, Desert Queen Mine, etc. Explored a couple new ravines and a couple small valleys I hadn't bee in before. Eventually wound up near I-80 and a trails West marker.

 

[Ron4RNevada]

Still 351

BTW: The truck now sits at 83500 miles (53000 on the tires) going strong

 

[Ron4RNevada]

TREK 352 - 06 Jan 2018

180106-Trek 352 Wonder 06 January 2018

Armed with a Nevada Bureau of Mines geological map of the Wonder quadrangle 1997 edition I decided to do some investigating alone. In the past I had contracted to lead customers of new Land Rovers from Niello Rocklin (CA) Land Rover. This time I wasn’t showing newbies how to shift their transfer cases and what gears to select. Also didn’t have to be spotting anyone. That was Trek 101 May 2007.

Weather was great; a bit of wind, some overcast, temps 40 to 50, expecting some rain late.First outing of the new year. Left the highway at Dixie Valley Wash and headed generally NNE along the West side of Chalk mountain. Chalk Mountain was primarily mined for Zinc, Lead and Silver.

Once past the north end of Chalk Mountain I’m climbing up Wonder Wash into Badger Flat between the Louderback Mountains (west) and Clan Alpine Mountains (east). It’s pretty easy going; I only used Low Range in a couple places to keep speed down crawling through some deep ruts.

Near Twin Peaks I stopped for a bit to take pictures of a small herd of wild horses grazing on the west slope of the Clan Alpines. A bit further north I took a side track to a ravine where the geologists had done some sampling.

I didn’t wander around too much once I got to the site of Wonder on the south side of Wonder Mountain. There are quite a few Gold/Silver mines in the area.

 

[Ron4RNevada]

A few more from 352

This is 86th trek in the TR4

 

[Ron4RNevada]

Just for Grins Land Rover Trek 101

LR Trek 101
06 May 2007
Land Rover Rocklin Trek to Wonder Mountain and Hercules,
With side trip to Project Shoal and Little Yosemite

Ron Cunningham - 2004 Discovery S Trail-boss

The adventurers met up at Harmon Junction, east of Fallon, Nevada at 8:30am raring to be off:
Three Land Rover Discovery 2s
Three Land Rover LR3s
Two Land Rover Range Rover Sports
One Land Rover LR2
One Mitsubishi Montero Sport (our token non-rover, and assistant trail boss)
After a half hour of instructions on trail etiquette and some technical pointers, we were promptly underway heading east on US50.

The first 30-some miles are on the pavement. We passed the archaeological site at Grimes Point, the old defunct bordello at Salt Wells, the salt flats at Eight Mile Flat, the mile long and 700 foot high Sand Mountain, over Sand Springs Pass, across Labou Flat and the Dixie Valley Naval Bombing Range; and eventually arrived at our turn off into the dirt at Chalk Mountain.

The first brief stop in the dirt was to mildly air down our tires. The second stop was at some easily accessible Silver and Lead mines on the east flank of Chalk Mountain. It immediately became apparent to me that this was going to be a great day; these are some really friendly guys! After a few minutes of picture taking it was north up the Stingaree Valley towards Wonder Mountain.

At a small, narrow wash, at the north tip of Chalk Mountain I demonstrated crossing to minimize damage to the rear bumper. There was an optional ‘go-around’, but several vehicles decided to cross it anyway. The LR3s had just a bit of scraping on the bottom of the rear bumper; the dealer kitted LR3s dug in the front bumper mounted winch about halfway; the LR2 crossed with no scraping at all and the RR Sports went around.

As we approached the site of the town of Wonder, we spotted a herd of about thirty wild horses. Arriving at Wonder Mountain, we drove through the remains of the mills which crushed the ore to extract gold and silver. We then stopped for twenty minutes or so for folks to wander around looking at the mined areas.

After the break I showed everyone the hill climb that we would do next. This is an ascent of about 700 feet over a distance of perhaps 1500 feet with the final 100 feet at almost a forty five degree angle. I made this an option, but everyone elected to try it. I was really impressed at how easily the new LR2 made it to the top; being as it was the only truck that didn’t have a low range transfer case. From the top it was back down the same hill, which is even harrier going down from a driver’s perspective.
From Wonder we drove down an un-named canyon to Hercules Canyon. The canyon is rather steep and the road crawls along a narrow shelf on the north wall of the canyon. Having just conquered the long hill climb, everyone was pretty confident of their trucks abilities and traversed it with ease. We turned off of the Hercules Canyon road and up a side trail stopping at the only remaining cabin at Hercules. Then it was on up the trail to the top of the ridge overlooking Hercules about 500 vertical feet below.

On the ridge, we broke for lunch; overlooking Dixie Valley which is about three miles to the west and 2200 feet lower. That part of the valley is a restricted naval bombing range. After lunch we returned south towards US50 taking a parallel route to that one that we came in on.

Returning to US50, we traveled about 5 miles west and then turned south onto state route 839 for five miles passing the bombing range on our left and dozens of mothballed planes, tanks, armored personnel carriers, trucks, etc. Turning again west we wound up GZ Canyon (ground zero) to the site of Project Shoal, a 1963 underground nuclear test. The test was 12 kiloton explosion done at a depth of 1211 feet below us. To this day there has been no sign of any leaked radioactive materials at any of the myriad test wells surrounding the area.

From Project Shoal, we ventured about three miles to granite outcropping that we call “Little Yosemite”. Here we took turns posing the various vehicles on a thirty foot long granite slab that rests at an angle of about forty degrees from horizontal. Thus ended a day spent with some of the nicest people that I’ve had the pleasure of leading out into some of my favorite spots.

FYI: I couldn't locate the photos I took that day on my computer -> I'll keep looking.
Getting paid to teach newbies how to off-road in their BRAND NEW Land Rovers is a lot of fun - Quite a responsibility too: One guy called me several times to ask about paint damage to his month old Range Rover Sport. I just told him to wax it twice up to the door handles as the pin striping from Sagebrush and Rabbit brush is pretty forgiving. By the end of the day he was crashing through most everything.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

I'm jealous, Ron! Barring anything short of a miracle, I won't get back to Nevada again until July.
I don't know even know when I can get out to our local desert again. I'm getting antsy!

 

[Ron4RNevada]

I'm jealous, Ron! Barring anything short of a miracle, I won't get back to Nevada again until July.
I don't know even know when I can get out to our local desert again. I'm getting antsy!

Well come July, how would you you like to meet somewhere near Fernley?
I think your Drone would be the cats meow in the "Lava Beds" , "Elephant Head Rock" area of granite formations. just south of the Black Rock.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Well come July, how would you you like to meet somewhere near Fernley?
I think your Drone would be the cats meow in the "Lava Beds" , "Elephant Head Rock" area of granite formations. just south of the Black Rock.

Cool place, and yes that would be a great spot for the drone! I'd love to meet up but that tends to be hard for me to arrange, since I never know how much time I'll need to spend at sites along the way. But we'll see. July's still a long ways off.

 

[Ron4RNevada]

Cool place, and yes that would be a great spot for the drone! I'd love to meet up but that tends to be hard for me to arrange, since I never know how much time I'll need to spend at sites along the way. But we'll see. July's still a long ways off.

Whatever you come up with - My neighbor has a 4th gen 4Runner and would like to see the area too.

 

[Ron4RNevada]

All about the air

Hmm - This past couple weeks my gas mileage on the highway has been down a bit - The run between Fernley and Fallon (30 miles of flat with never any traffic and I can just set the cruise to 65mpg) has been about 19.5 where usually I can hit about 21.5. Also the tires have been a bit noisier than usual.

This morning I checked the air pressure in them = all four at exactly 33 psig!
So ran them back up to 40 psig where I generally have them. Should be better this week.

Must have been the tech at Dolan Toyota thinking he was doing me a favor last month.

Otherwise the tires are doing good; about 7/32 tread depth left after 54,000 miles. When new they were 16/32. Probably replace them around June at 60,000 miles. Also going to put the best one on the spare wheel and toss that p-metric that has never been on the ground.

 

[Ron4RNevada]

At 40 psig yesterday got 21.6 mpg on 60 mile round trip to Fallon.

:lookout:

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Holy cow, I've never gotten even close to that mileage. What's your typical cruising speed?

 

[Ron4RNevada]

I cruise along on the highway at 65 (speed limit). We have some 80mph zones between here and Lovelock on I-80 - on that I do 70 - even the semis that have any brains do 70. I get 100 yards behind one of them and just stay there.

Lots of people with out of state plates wizz by at better than 90.

It's amazing what a difference it makes when there is a headwind or tailwind:

Level freeway at 65
No wind = 21 to 22
Strong headwind = maybe 19
Strong tailwind = up to 24

Mind you I have nothing modified on this wagon except for the tires which I keep at 40 psig.

No lift. no roof rack, no heavy bumpers, no body mods. Heaviest loads generally about 650 pounds (me, the wife, off-road gear<tow strap, d-rings, hitch without ball, fire extinguisher, a couple blocks of wood, first aid, 6 gallons water, shovel, hand winch, axe, tire pump, small box of tools - includes multimeter - , a few towels/rags, box of topo maps, OBD2 scanner and list of codes, rope, gloves, extra coats, extra hats, t-paper, gallon of washer fluid> up front gps,small camera, lunch and two thermoses of coffee) Nothing is carried externally.

Rarely on a really long trek I'll add 10 gallons of fuel (in two old fashioned steel gerry cans), sleeping bags, food, etc.

A couple other thoughts: I do on very rare occasions air down tires (can't remember last time I did it. I have never owned a mounted winch, sand ladders, extra armour, external lights (what came on the car is more than sufficiant), nothing dangling from back bumper.