Back Woods WV

[chethro]

I purchased my first Runner a few weeks back. My intentions are to make a capable back woods explorer on the old county roads in my area. No giant lift, no rock crawling just something that could go through a few holes, streams and of course hills.

I started with a one owner truck that had 102,000 on the clock.




Not much for 20's, so I sanded the origional rims down, cleared them and threw on some BFG's




I changed the timing belt, water pump and all the related items when tearing down for that job. Changed all the fluids except for the tranny. Now, I knew I would need a little more protection up front, so I took off the front bumper cover and started to beef up the existing bumper. I added some angle and square tube as a base for a couple of 2 1/2" receivers I had laying around.





Next, I plan to add a push bar and a hoop that will slip into the receivers. Not sure about the push bar yet either some 3 x 4 angle boxed in or some 2 x 5 rectagular tube. I happen to have enough of each handy so this will keep the cost down.

 

[oljedi11950]

Good job & nice find , ya won't need to go to much 51s & springs should get you enough , with them backroads n WV get some decent mud tires just in case most of the AT tires do a fair job if you still plan on it as DD IMO .

 

[chethro]

Thanks, I do plan on some 5100's in the spring. The Xreas shocks are starting to leak.

I need to find a way to lower the seat a couple of inches too.

 

[oljedi11950]

Check member LTDSC build he's 6'8" & did his by chopping the the seat bracket !

 

[Sungod]

Looks too pretty for 'West by god'. You need to change a door or two with a red or black one. Maybe scratch it up and find a few different wheels before venturing off into the hallows (holler). Those boys in the woods might think you have a pretty smile.

 

[chethro]

when you hear the banjo playing ..... :eyebrows:

 

[chethro]

Check member LTDSC build he's 6'8" & did his by chopping the the seat bracket !

Thanks, I'll probably do that mod this weekend.

 

[chethro]

Finally had some warm weather and finished making up my front push bar. Sort of crappy pics but I need to let the paint dry another 12 hours before taking her out and getting some better ones.

 

[oljedi11950]

Handy !

 

[chethro]

A small drive today along some local back roads. A few streams crossed and a couple nice sloppy hills left me liking the way the Runner handled it.

A few pics from the begining of our journey.

 

[chethro]

Some pics from our drives the past two days. A nice way to ring out the old and bring in the new year.

 

[chethro]

Installed a sound system in the runner over the last few days. I wanted bluetooth capability and I settled on a Pioneer FH-X700BT head unit. It works great, sync's up fast and streams fine. It has decent power output and can be expanded with amps easily (I see a future amp/sub soon).





I had a pair of Pioneer TS-D6902R's already and was able to modify the old speaker as a mount. These are very good speakers but very tall. Once installed the tweeter was just kissing the inner side of the door panel, so I had to put a speaker grill on the door panel to get rid of the problem. I don't really like the look but it worked just fine.





In the rear I picked up a pair of Pioneer TS-A1305C's. They are a component set that are OK with good high's but I had to fade +2 front so they wouldn't distort.

I installed all new LED's in the interior lights and put some LED strip lights on the bottom of the doors for puddle lights.

 

[chethro]

I had some spare time today and decided to add two LED strips to the engine compartment to make it easier to check the fluids. I put the strips on the passenger side and added a switch near the battery to turn them on/off.






Next up, I'm putting on some MOOG FJ coils on the front and 5100's all around.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Dude, you made that pushbar? That thing is sweet, I wish you could make me one.

 

[chethro]

Thanks! Yes, I built it. Sorry, it's something that requires a lot of trial fits to get right. At least it did for me.:wink2:


I was able to get my 5100's and Moog front coils on today. Right now she's sitting about 3" higher in the front. I set the 5100's on the.85 position. I'm hoping it settles out to 2" or less.

Edit: The front is now setting at 2" higher after a few days of driving.

 

[chethro]

Below are a few pics from some wheelin this past weekend.







I finally mounted an amp under the drivers seat to run the front 6x9's and a rear sub. I hope to get the sub in this week. Plans are to stiffen up the rear shelf and use some ratchet straps to make it easy to remove when I need to. The fuse was mounted on the un-used relay box beside the fuse panel.

Yes I hear you, the carpet looks like crap. PO was a pig when it came to the carpet. How do you get stains under the seat??

 

[chethro]

I finally finished mounting my sub & box and strapped everything down. A strap around the box and two from the deck down to lower D-rings made for a nice tight set up that can be torn down easily if needed. I just finished the initial tune of the head unit and amp. This thing rocks, at least as much as I wanted it to rock anyway and has nice bump too!

Two 6x9's at 60W each off the amp front
Two 6 1/2" at around 20W each off the head unit front
One 10" sub at 120W off the amp rear/sub

The door speakers are running thru a 100HZ HPF set at the head unit and faded 2 rear.

The sub is running a LPF set at 200HZ on the amp with 70% Bass boost.

 

[chethro]

I have updated a few things since my last post. I installed a full set of RCI skids and tinted the front windows.

Below are some pics from a recent drive along the New River from Bull Falls WV to Glen Lynn VA.


Bull Falls:











Along the way to VA: