Agent_Outside: Adventures in a 4Runner Limited

[Agent_Outside]

Copper

Kevin ate it while my wife was cruising just fine.

The snow really started coming down and visibility was getting bad, so we went into the trees.

Man down

Double black tree runs

My wife killing it!

Down again, partially stuck in a tree well... this is why you never ski trees alone.

Sushi is part of the ski trip tradition

It comes out by the skateboard if you order enough.

 

[Agent_Outside]

The following day the official snow total was 6" to along with the bluebird skies.

Scott decided to bring a pink gorilla suit lol

I've always wanted to drop that tight chute down the face of that rock but I've never gotten to it with good enough snow to not destroy my skis in the process. I finally got to do it.

 

[Agent_Outside]

Out with the old Phillips Vision interior lights

In with the new Arc Light LEDs. Stupid high powered and the black button changes them back and forth between red and white. Red light doesn't mess wiht your night vision and it doesn't attract bugs, perfect for camping.

 

[Agent_Outside]

I had a couple quick projects today.

Yesterday I stopped by Toytec and grabbed one of the 10mm OME rear trim spacers to put on the left rear to fix the slight lean in the rear. I installed that today.

I also picked up an OEM TRD fuel tank skid. My Limited comes with a small little skid protecting the front edge a bit but leaves most of the gas tank exposed. I've been wanting to get a RCI aluminum fuel tank skid to go with the rest of mine but I got this locally for $30, it was worth it to me.

The last project was the parking brake. My parking brake has felt like a soggy bag of shit for a while so I decided to pull it all apart. I pulled the rotors/parking brake drums, dissembled, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled the brake shoes and all the hardware. Once it was all buttoned up I adjusted them for a much tighter pedal and a ton more bite. For a while now applying the parking brake on a hill it would still slowly roll gently back to the parking pawl. It holds nice and firm now.

 

[Agent_Outside]

More snow. Copper got dumped on, I drove up the morning after the snow. I beat an avalanche closing the highway by minutes but it meant the resort was empty. Like it was so empty it was kind of eerie. I only road 1 chair all day that I had to share with another person.

So much fresh snow they couldn't even get the groomers flat.

There's always fresh snow to be found in the trees.

Liftline at the base after eating lunch.... this doesn't happen.

 

[Agent_Outside]

Custom colored Kings

 

[Agent_Outside]

Southern Style Offroad roof rack with C4 ladder. They are a perfect paring in my opinion. Black with silver, angular, exposed bolt heads, the clearance between them is perfect, easy to install all of it solo.

Littleman approved!

 

[Agent_Outside]

Every so often I'll get a tick sound over bumps which means its time to retorque the skid plate bolts. I had my 3rd year apprentice double check everything.

 

[Agent_Outside]

Here’s my newest project I’ve been working on. This has grown to be a lot more elaborate than I initially planned.

The side rails on my Southern Style Offroad roof rack has cutouts for flush mounted lights. The main use of the roof rack is for the an iKamper Skycamp roof top tent. Having scene lights installed on the sides would be perfect for camping. I already have a grill mounted light bar using an OEM style push button switch and the Baja Designs fog pocket kit using the OEM switch. I’m not liking to OEM push button switch so I thought I’d just move all the aftermarket lights over to a switch panel. I started planning out switches and mounting and this project just keeps growing and expending from the original plan.

Here’s the current plan... I want any and all added electronics and accessories as separated from factory electronics as feasible. I want a clean install that looks like it could have come that way from the factory. I want modularity in the installation and design so I can remove, change, add or disconnect things as my needs evolve. I want something physical that can be worked on/fixed if there’s an issue - I don’t want the big price tag of a SPOD or Switch Pros, plus the thought of just throwing it away and buying another one if something ever goes wrong isn’t appealing.

The plan is to tie in fog lights, ditch lights, light bar in the grill, left side camp lights, right side camp lights, solar charge controller & solar panel, USB charging ports, dash cam and an electrical box for in the roof top tent that that can turn the left or right side camping lights on and off independently from the inside the tent, plus I want power outlets. Other than tying into the dash lighting circuit for the switch backlighting and a main power and ground cable to the battery, it will be a fully standalone electrical system with a low voltage disconnect that will cut power to everything on the panel except the solar if the battery discharges past a preset level. I don’t want the weight or expense of a dual battery setup at this point, but I want this to easily adapt to a secondary battery IF I eventually go that way. In the mean time I want to make sure I don’t discharge the starter battery to the point of being stranded.

It’s getting to be complicated enough that I felt it was best to make a wiring diagram that maps everything out to visualize my thoughts and aid with planning. Plus it’ll help with assembly. I want to build it right once and not constantly go back to modify harnesses as I figure stuff out.

This is where I’m at with the planning and wiring diagram.

 

[Agent_Outside]

I picked up a new OEM dash compartment for a 2014+ (without the door) and some custom Contura II switches and a blank mounting panel to install them in. I was hoping the fit was going to be a little closer than it was was right out of the box but it actually took quite a bit of subtle shaping to get it to sit exactly how I wanted it to. Overall I’m happy with how it came out.

Finished product minus a Blue Sea 1039 dual USB fast charger that is a direct fit into the Contura sized cutouts.

 

[Agent_Outside]

Starting on wiring

 

[Agent_Outside]

More progress

 

[Agent_Outside]

Power Distribution Module finished up.

 

[Agent_Outside]

Battery cables made and the module installed, now to start on all of the accessory wiring.

 

[pobando]

Ha I knew it! Thanks for posting this. I had a '10 limited that I upgraded to full RCI skid plates. I nowhave a '16 limited and was baffled that the gas tank skid was so small. When I moved the RCI skid plates to the new truck, I swore the gas tank skid was bigger on my '10, and you proved it for me.

I had a couple quick projects today.

I also picked up an OEM TRD fuel tank skid. My Limited comes with a small little skid protecting the front edge a bit but leaves most of the gas tank exposed. I've been wanting to get a RCI aluminum fuel tank skid to go with the rest of mine but I got this locally for $30, it was worth it to me.

The last project was the parking brake. My parking brake has felt like a soggy bag of shit for a while so I decided to pull it all apart. I pulled the rotors/parking brake drums, dissembled, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled the brake shoes and all the hardware. Once it was all buttoned up I adjusted them for a much tighter pedal and a ton more bite. For a while now applying the parking brake on a hill it would still slowly roll gently back to the parking pawl. It holds nice and firm now.

 

[Agent_Outside]

Today's updates.

I got the first part of the switch harness done. The wiring is ran into the cabin but just tucked away under the floor mat and coiled up on the floor of the back seat. I’m going to wait to get my airbag recall done before I do the interior wiring and switch panel install. I got my Baja Squad Pro fog lights and Rago behind the grill light bar all wired up to the power distribution module today.

Passenger side fog light harness.

The harness runs right through the radiator support over the to drivers side.

The drivers side fog light and the light bar harness.

Fog light wiring spliced together and harnesses routed around the battery back to the PDM.

I took the connectors from the Baja fog pocket kit. I pulled the terminals out, put a dab of sealant and stuck terminal plugs in them. These plug into the OEM fog light wiring and keeps it all sealed up water tight since those harnesses are no longer in use.

The last thing I had to do before getting the bumper back on was cut the connectors off the Baja lights and repin them to use the connectors for my setup.

 

[Agent_Outside]

Cali Rasied low profile ditch mount brackets with Baja Designs S2 Pro wide cornering amber lights.

I depinned the connector in order to route the harness through a small hole I drilled in the trim.

Pretty clean install

Harness routing

Passenger side light wiring

Drivers side light wiring and the harness to the PDM

Done. A small discreet setup with a ton of light output.

 

[Agent_Outside]

I go my Blue Sea 1039 dual USB fast charger today so I mounted that up and wired the switch panel.

 

[Agent_Outside]

I got my airbag recall completed yesterday so today I got the switch panel installed and the interior harness built and routed. I did some messing around with it and changed up the switch lighting. The original plan was to have the LEDs on the dimmer, I temporarily tied it in and tried it, it worked but what I didn't anticipate was the inability to make out the emblems on the switch. Since the text is not backlit and the logo is but not clear enough to see what it says I decided to not wire them to be backlight at all when off. I set it up so the switches are totally dark when off and the upper LED comes on when the switch is on. I kept the extra wires in the harness though in case I change my mind down the road.

 

[Agent_Outside]

So the rack is predrilled for the side lights, but SSO drills them for Baja S2 lights or some Rigid flush mounts. I don't see the value in buying Baja Designs or Rigid for camping lights so I went with some Aurora LED flush mounted scene lights. The bolt pattern was just slightly narrower than the Rigid lights so I used a file and slotted the mounting holes on the rack inwards to fit the new lights and painted the inside of the slot with a black tractor and implement paint but before that, I just looped a zip tie to hold the light in so I could get a visual of the layout and take some measurements for the harness.

Mounted

I don't that most roof rack light setups are messy and covered in zip ties so I made sure to make this as clean and hidden as possible.

No visible zip ties or wires

Wiring from the power distribution module up to the rack.

Wiring completed and 100% functional.

It came out really clean, everything is hidden behind the lower solid portion of the rack.

This is where the roof top tent electrical box will plug in. Disconnect that connection, hook up the wiring from the box inline and there will be a second switch wired in series controlling the side lights. Leave the dash switch activated and then the switch in the tent takes over control of the system.

More of the completed wiring

Now I have to duplicate a mirror image of it for the other side, I'm not really looking forward to that. I probably won't touch it again until next week.