A.Wilson013's Build Thread

[the great him]

We'll be doing all of it. There is a group on TacomaWorld that we'll be meeting up with on August 15th near Packwood, I believe. They're just doing the weekend thing.

what end are you starting at? going north or headed south?

 

[A.Wilson013]

what end are you starting at? going north or headed south?

We're going north. We'll be starting on the 14th, meeting the TW fellows on the 14th, and continuing north.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Storage Box / Sleeping Platform

Alright, so the construction phase is basically complete... Now all I need is my drawer hardware to come in for the passenger side drawer, and to make it purdy! The passenger drawer is a full 36" drawer.

It's not perfect, as it was my first real carpentry project. I think that once it's carpeted and what not that most of the imperfections will be covered.

BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG Thank you to [MENTION=64995]Patio Burrito[/MENTION] - It's really just a cheap Chinese knockoff of his masterpiece. And my father who let me use his garage and tools.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Also, my tire carrier for my CBI Bumper has arrived. OME 861's are ordered.

 

[Hepar]

Thanks, Jared.

In August we're still planning on doing the WABDR... When will you be out at the coast? I'll be out of school so can PROBABLY do both...

Not sure how I missed this. We'll be out there the 13th to the 20th.

Also, my tire carrier for my CBI Bumper has arrived. OME 861's are ordered.

Good. Now I can look at yours before I buy.

 

[SCRunner12]

What size sliders did you get for your drawers? Also the truck is looking amazing and one of the cleaner builds on this site.

 

[MTD]

Looks awesome man!! Reminds me a lot of mine. I like your drawer setup a lot more though, a lot less wasted space lol. I used all reclaimed wood though so I didn't really have much of a choice for the drawer setup. Because of my aux battery and if I had more time I would do a split drawer next time.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Finally got around to having my tire carrier welded on. Painted it up, and slapped it on. I think it's prettttty neat.

Leaving for Vegas in a couple hours, so when I get home I will be installing my 861's, and continuing my search for a matching spare....

 

[farmerjon]

VERY nice cargo box/platform! I'm impressed, you have it really square and nailed down - I wish mine was that thought out... I especially like the side covers on the piano hinges, that's pretty cool!

Keep it up! :yo:

 

[A.Wilson013]

VERY nice cargo box/platform! I'm impressed, you have it really square and nailed down - I wish mine was that thought out... I especially like the side covers on the piano hinges, that's pretty cool!

Keep it up! :yo:

I appreciate it!

Again I have to throw all design credit to [MENTION=64995]Patio Burrito[/MENTION] . I literally looked at his pictures and tried to make it as similar as possible. I think it's genius. The pegboard on the bottom saves a TON of weight and the loss of structural strength is minimal.

One change that I want to make from my setup is to take the sleeping platform section off of the hinge and have it connect with some sectional sofa connectors kinda like this...

With that I'd be able to save on a bit of weigh/space for everyday driving, and even extend the sleeping platform another 4-6 inches, since it won't have to clear the ceiling when folding out, as it currently does.

It will work GREAT for just me an my dog on our upcoming trip, but I think once my wife enters into the equation the space will be much appreciated.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Sleeping platform tested, and a few updates.

So the past couple of weeks I have been kinda busy...

I got the tire carrier welded on (already posted about that) an was running my old spare on it for a few days while searching for a matching wheel/tire to replace it. Well, I found a gentleman on craigslist (he's an FJ cruiser type. Nice guy.) who had a brand new duratrac in the size needed at a great price, so I bought it. Oh, and he threw in a 17x8" FJ steel wheel. Got the tire mounted/balanced, and am running that on the carrier for the next week or so until my matching wheel gets here from Las Vegas (thanks [MENTION=69000]Bon[/MENTION]ehead1987 ).

On top of that, with the tire carrier and sleeping platform installed, my OME 890's were hating me. To remedy this I followed the lead of many others and installed a set of OME 861 coils purchased locally from Mule Expedition Outfitters. By doing this I was able to get [MENTION=19769]justinh[/MENTION] the 890's he was looking for.

After installing my 861s I noticed that the 4Runner was down right SCARY on the freeway. Switching lanes I was swaying back and forth to the point that I just stayed in the right hand lane going 55 mph or so. Having a ~800 mile round trip drive in the very near future (the next day) I knew I had to figure something out, so I got under the truck and found that 3 of the 4 sway bar to axle mounting bolts were VERY loose, and one was completely missing. Was able to source a matching bolt locally, and problem solved. Still a bit more sway than the 890's had, but it's very manageable and not scary in the least.

The 800 mile trip was a joy; my wife, dog, and I were able to test out the sleeping platform and [MENTION=88597]MyHigh[/MENTION] 's window vents for two nights. It was awesome. The vents let enough air in/out that the windows did not fog up overnight, and the temperature was comfortable, perhaps a bit too hot (I was in the desert...). Bugs however, there were none. My wife read for about 35 minutes with the dome light on and not a single bug made it through the screen to the light.

Here are some photos I posted to facebook to show off to a few friends... Sorry about the quality. iPotato5s at its finest.

Anyway, I was too busy with my little nephews to take too many photos of the 4Runner, but I did take a couple... Literally 2.

Here they are. Both taken at Lake Billy Chinook near Culver, Oregon.

DSC_0022 by awilson013, on Flickr

DSC_0023 by awilson013, on Flickr

I need to raise my coilovers a bit to get some of that rake taken care of.

 

[MyHigh]

Heeey!!
Sweet, them screens looks great!, thanks for the mention. With the amount of people that follow your thread this is going to catch onarty:

As far as the spare wheel goes, I'm glad you got one,I was going to offer mine up in exchange for the steel wheel, seeing how I pretty much bought it from under you....thanks Isaac! The only problem is it's not gunmetal and mine are, but hell, for a spare that's fine.

Hey what type of dog is that?

Bye the way, your runner looks Great!, it's all shiny and stuff. I used to think mine was, but dammm, your paint is perfect.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Heeey!!
Sweet, them screens looks great!, thanks for the mention. With the amount of people that follow your thread this is going to catch onarty:

As far as the spare wheel goes, I'm glad you got one,I was going to offer mine up in exchange for the steel wheel, seeing how I pretty much bought it from under you....thanks Isaac! The only problem is it's not gunmetal and mine are, but hell, for a spare that's fine.

Hey what type of dog is that?

Bye the way, your runner looks Great!, it's all shiny and stuff. I used to think mine was, but dammm, your paint is perfect.

In order...

The screens are awesome. I need to finalize the trimming to get them to be perfect, but they worked REALLY well. I am not sure how many people follow my thread. I imagine more would if I cleaned it up a bit... Currently it's a mess.

As for the spare.. You son of a b... haha. No worries. I think once I sell my old spare and this wheel I will make most of my money back. =p

Holly is a 7 year old Scottish Terrier. Since she's an adventure hound and not a show dog, we generally don't get her cut with the traditional skirt and all that... She gets too dirty. A nice short buzz all around the body, and a scottie dog head.

Here's another picture of the beast in question. It was hot, we were panting.

Thanks for the compliment on the runner. As I continue to use it more and more, the paint is losing its shine. Needs a good polish after I am done with my summer trips.

 

[Hepar]

After installing my 861s I noticed that the 4Runner was down right SCARY on the freeway. Switching lanes I was swaying back and forth to the point that I just stayed in the right hand lane going 55 mph or so. Having a ~800 mile round trip drive in the very near future (the next day) I knew I had to figure something out, so I got under the truck and found that 3 of the 4 sway bar to axle mounting bolts were VERY loose, and one was completely missing. Was able to source a matching bolt locally, and problem solved. Still a bit more sway than the 890's had, but it's very manageable and not scary in the least.

Meh. It's all about looking good first.

Still dig how far that rig has come! We PNW'ers need to get together before the summer ends.

 

[busmup808]

Meh. It's all about looking good first.

Still dig how far that rig has come! We PNW'ers need to get together before the summer ends.

I definitely AGREE!

 

[A.Wilson013]

Meh. It's all about looking good first.

Still dig how far that rig has come! We PNW'ers need to get together before the summer ends.

I definitely AGREE!

Indeed, gentlemen. I think you're probably the most busy, Jared... Perhaps see if you have an open date and see if we can make it work.

 

[A.Wilson013]

So kinda strange...

I had the intention of adjusting my front coilovers this evening in order to get some of the rake taken care of that occured after installing the 861's. Before I started, I decided to get my measurements so I knew how much to adjust.

Front driver side: 22.25" Hub to Fender. Same as when I installed them.
Front passenger side: 24.5" Hub to Fenter. What in the french. I swear to Jesus that when I installed these things they were both at 22.25", so I did not adjust them at all.

I was thinking maybe one was shot or something, so I decided to measure the amount of visible threads.

Front driver: ~2.5" Visible
Front passenger: ~2" Visible. What in the world.

So I guess tomorrow I'll make them even, then go from there... Kinda strange.

 

[the great him]

So kinda strange...

I had the intention of adjusting my front coilovers this evening in order to get some of the rake taken care of that occured after installing the 861's. Before I started, I decided to get my measurements so I knew how much to adjust.

Front driver side: 22.25" Hub to Fender. Same as when I installed them.
Front passenger side: 24.5" Hub to Fenter. What in the french. I swear to Jesus that when I installed these things they were both at 22.25", so I did not adjust them at all.

I was thinking maybe one was shot or something, so I decided to measure the amount of visible threads.

Front driver: ~2.5" Visible
Front passenger: ~2" Visible. What in the world.

So I guess tomorrow I'll make them even, then go from there... Kinda strange.

thats iconic err i mean ironic

 

[A.Wilson013]

thats iconic err i mean ironic

You silly.

I cranked the coilovers up (INCREDIBLY easy with the Icons. Took about 5 minutes per side) to make them at an even 23" hub to fender and they rode like absolute crap. I forget what Icon called it, but essentially the shocks were over extending over bumps like speed bumps from the amount of preload necessary to raise them that high.

So for now I took off my winch to lose some weight up front, and lowered them down to about 22.5" hub to fender. The ride is still less than desirable, but it's MUCH better.

In order to address this issue I placed an order through the guys at Down South Motorsports for a couple of 14" 700lb Icon coils for the front coilovers. These should give me my desired ride height with MUCH less preload on the coilover. And they had free shipping :bluejump:

 

[GX4SEVEND]

It acts like a slide hammer and over extends the shaft. That's what happened to my toytecs. How much did those coils cost you? Thinking of doing the same to mine. I've got the cdc calving and set to soft it's still pretty solid.