VernySanders
New member
If I could find some TRDs I'd buy them immediately Haha. Looking back, would you still have went with the lower mileage engine or would you have made the original one work?
Build Thread: Mothra, the (blown) budget camping rig
- Thread starter Renegade_Medic
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If I could find some TRDs I'd buy them immediately Haha. Looking back, would you still have went with the lower mileage engine or would you have made the original one work?
Renegade_Medic
New member
I could have made the original one work, but it was nice to have a known good, clean engine to start over with. I'm sure this tighter, newer engine makes more power as well.
Renegade_Medic
New member
Moab Trip
Took forever to get some pictures up, but here they are. We had an absolute blast in Moab and I can't wait to go back again. We did a lot of hiking, more hiking than wheeling really, but that's ok. Only broke one thing: rear differential. I managed to wedge a tire in a ledge and didn't realize it had not made it over and hammered on the throttle. I was able to pull the driveshaft with the world's strongest U joints and limp into town on FWD. I was fortunate enough to find another 4.30 Locker in Moab and got it put in and did a little light wheeling before heading home. I didn't want to push my luck on another unknown axle.
We took a long route to get there, but it was scenic. We went through Durango and took CO 141 up through Naturita and then 90/46 West into Utah. It was a nice drive and well worth the out of the way drive.
On our first full day in Moab we went to Arches before it got busy for Spring Break. We did a lot of hiking and also got to do some wheeling in the park and area. Tower Arch is amazing and well worth the drive down the trail to see it.
Park Avenue:
Double Arch:
Trail to Tower Arch:
Tower Arch:
We also found a little trail near the Delicate Arch, which we went down and later found out it was "Dry Mesa Trail". Apparently it is a 7/10 rated trail and that makes sense because we had pretty extreme difficulty with it and almost rolled a few times driving up the canyon wall.
Took forever to get some pictures up, but here they are. We had an absolute blast in Moab and I can't wait to go back again. We did a lot of hiking, more hiking than wheeling really, but that's ok. Only broke one thing: rear differential. I managed to wedge a tire in a ledge and didn't realize it had not made it over and hammered on the throttle. I was able to pull the driveshaft with the world's strongest U joints and limp into town on FWD. I was fortunate enough to find another 4.30 Locker in Moab and got it put in and did a little light wheeling before heading home. I didn't want to push my luck on another unknown axle.
We took a long route to get there, but it was scenic. We went through Durango and took CO 141 up through Naturita and then 90/46 West into Utah. It was a nice drive and well worth the out of the way drive.
On our first full day in Moab we went to Arches before it got busy for Spring Break. We did a lot of hiking and also got to do some wheeling in the park and area. Tower Arch is amazing and well worth the drive down the trail to see it.
Park Avenue:
Double Arch:
Trail to Tower Arch:
Tower Arch:
We also found a little trail near the Delicate Arch, which we went down and later found out it was "Dry Mesa Trail". Apparently it is a 7/10 rated trail and that makes sense because we had pretty extreme difficulty with it and almost rolled a few times driving up the canyon wall.
Renegade_Medic
New member
The next day we went to Corona Arch in the morning, which is a decent hike, but was our absolute favorite thing to see. We went early in the morning and we had the Arch all to ourselves for about 30 minutes. It was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. If you only see one thing in Moab, make it Corona Arch early in the morning. It was getting really busy on our hike out.
It ended up being kind of a rainy day, so we went exploring and ended up on Shafer Trail. We explored some old mining ruins and ate lunch overlooking the Colorado River.
Our lunch stop:
Creepy cave with some bones in front of it, didn't get very close:
It ended up being kind of a rainy day, so we went exploring and ended up on Shafer Trail. We explored some old mining ruins and ate lunch overlooking the Colorado River.
Our lunch stop:
Creepy cave with some bones in front of it, didn't get very close:
Renegade_Medic
New member
The next day we explored some more mining ruins and then headed to Gemini Bridges. Of course it started snowing in one of the most arid regions on Earth while we were vacationing there.
I launched a snowball at my wife and missed, then had to sit in all the snow for a little while
We called it a day early due to weather.
The next day we headed up to Dewey with the intention of doing Dome Plateau and Top of the World Trail. In my infinite wisdom, I decided to do Dome Plateau "reverse" to minimize driving on the road while aired down and sway bars disconnected. Unfortunately, this makes the trail exponentially harder to do.
Boca Arch:
We made our way to the Professor Valley overlook and ate lunch:
Then it happened: very loud pop and lots of grinding. I got to enable my bluetooth driveshaft mod, hoping it would make the drive back easier. It didn't There was loud jackhammer-like pounding from under the truck, limped into town going about 30 in FWD.
And the other trail carnage: blew the fender flare off and dented the fender out with the tire, the flare won't really stay on now.
I launched a snowball at my wife and missed, then had to sit in all the snow for a little while
We called it a day early due to weather.
The next day we headed up to Dewey with the intention of doing Dome Plateau and Top of the World Trail. In my infinite wisdom, I decided to do Dome Plateau "reverse" to minimize driving on the road while aired down and sway bars disconnected. Unfortunately, this makes the trail exponentially harder to do.
Boca Arch:
We made our way to the Professor Valley overlook and ate lunch:
Then it happened: very loud pop and lots of grinding. I got to enable my bluetooth driveshaft mod, hoping it would make the drive back easier. It didn't There was loud jackhammer-like pounding from under the truck, limped into town going about 30 in FWD.
And the other trail carnage: blew the fender flare off and dented the fender out with the tire, the flare won't really stay on now.
Renegade_Medic
New member
Moab Trip Part 4
A friend came out from Denver to hang out for a couple days, and I'm glad he did. He was able to give me a huge hand with getting the axle pulled out and replaced. I have now pulled axles in 110 degrees as well as 20. I think I'll take the dry 20 degree one, I was able to wear just pants and a light sweatshirt. The cold in the desert is vastly different from home, where if it's below 50, you will freeze your butt off outside vs 50 is almost "warm".
Got back on the road in about 3 hours and went back to Gemini Bridges since we didn't get to see them yet.
Saw some tiny arches forming in a riverbed
Gemini Arches from below:
Looking back down into the canyon we hiked through, now standing on top of Gemini Arches
This picture pretty much sums up the landscapes of Moab, UT. Some cedar trees, sharp fins, rolling sandstone, and snowy mountains. Absolutely breathtaking.
A friend came out from Denver to hang out for a couple days, and I'm glad he did. He was able to give me a huge hand with getting the axle pulled out and replaced. I have now pulled axles in 110 degrees as well as 20. I think I'll take the dry 20 degree one, I was able to wear just pants and a light sweatshirt. The cold in the desert is vastly different from home, where if it's below 50, you will freeze your butt off outside vs 50 is almost "warm".
Got back on the road in about 3 hours and went back to Gemini Bridges since we didn't get to see them yet.
Saw some tiny arches forming in a riverbed
Gemini Arches from below:
Looking back down into the canyon we hiked through, now standing on top of Gemini Arches
This picture pretty much sums up the landscapes of Moab, UT. Some cedar trees, sharp fins, rolling sandstone, and snowy mountains. Absolutely breathtaking.
Renegade_Medic
New member
AEM F/IC6 Installed and running
I was having some problems with my URD 7th setup not running properly, mainly the closed loop enrichment was not working and would send the truck into full blown enrichment (fuel trims +40%). It also would delay going into open loop and there would be a range where the AFRs would go lean before the 7th would start spraying. I've been having these issues basically since I installed it, and have just been using it to spray starting early and additional timing retard. It didn't work well for my trip to Moab and it knocked quite a bit even with a lot of timing taken out. It MUST HAVE MORE FUEL IN LOW RPM, HIGH LOAD. I can't fathom how people just slap these on their trucks and go without a care in the world.
Enter: The AEM F/IC6. Install is significantly more complicated and involved a ton of soldering and research to determine the correct wires on the ECU harness to install correctly. It also has to have a resistor put one of the circuit, the one on the guide didn't work for me, but a lower resistance did work (560 Ohm). I got it all tuned today and it works like a champ. I have it set to start bringing AFR down smoothly after 3 psi of boost and it ends up close to 11 AFR at redline, on stock injectors. It pulls hard now in the midrange and absolutely flies above 4k RPM. I have a lot of timing taken out in the midrange to keep it from knocking, so I'm giving up a little power for reliability. I did notice on the logs at redline the injector duty cycle says 115%. Somehow they are spraying over their duty cycle, which doesnt seem possible. I guess I'll be in the market for some Supra 320cc injectors.
I ended up installing it below the radio, behind the center stack.
I was having some problems with my URD 7th setup not running properly, mainly the closed loop enrichment was not working and would send the truck into full blown enrichment (fuel trims +40%). It also would delay going into open loop and there would be a range where the AFRs would go lean before the 7th would start spraying. I've been having these issues basically since I installed it, and have just been using it to spray starting early and additional timing retard. It didn't work well for my trip to Moab and it knocked quite a bit even with a lot of timing taken out. It MUST HAVE MORE FUEL IN LOW RPM, HIGH LOAD. I can't fathom how people just slap these on their trucks and go without a care in the world.
Enter: The AEM F/IC6. Install is significantly more complicated and involved a ton of soldering and research to determine the correct wires on the ECU harness to install correctly. It also has to have a resistor put one of the circuit, the one on the guide didn't work for me, but a lower resistance did work (560 Ohm). I got it all tuned today and it works like a champ. I have it set to start bringing AFR down smoothly after 3 psi of boost and it ends up close to 11 AFR at redline, on stock injectors. It pulls hard now in the midrange and absolutely flies above 4k RPM. I have a lot of timing taken out in the midrange to keep it from knocking, so I'm giving up a little power for reliability. I did notice on the logs at redline the injector duty cycle says 115%. Somehow they are spraying over their duty cycle, which doesnt seem possible. I guess I'll be in the market for some Supra 320cc injectors.
I ended up installing it below the radio, behind the center stack.
Renegade_Medic
New member
Maintenance-repair leaking transfer case
I guess I got some of the sandy mud in the seal of the transfer case on the front output, because it's been leaking for a couple months. Admittedly, I have not been driving the 4Runner much, it needed some work after the Moab trip, which is now done. Alignment was completely off, brakes needed to be bled again, and fix the leaking front output of the transfer case. The repairs were pretty easy, and surprisingly inexpensive.
Lots of mud in the seal. Gear oil looked pretty nasty as well.
Hardest part was definitely cutting off the old nut, but really even that was pretty easy with a dremel.
I cleaned out all the areas pretty well before reassembly, hoping for the best.
As much as I hate to admit it, the Tacoma made a pretty compelling argument for the go-to adventure vehicle earlier this month. My wife and I took a trip to Colorado and camped out for a little over a week. The Tacoma did excellent on the drive, and also cost me about half the fuel to do the trip. Even with a 2 inch lift and 32s, I averaged a little over 21 mpg for the whole trip, on cheap gas vs roughly 15 on premium in the 4Runner. Had a blast as usual.
We went all over, and ended up staying around the Ouray area the most. If you get a chance to hike the Ouray Perimeter Trail, I would highly recommend it. It was absolutely breathtaking and moderately difficult.
Got to play in the snow. This is really where I missed the runner the most. The Toyo ATs were good in the snow, but I needed A LOT more ground clearance.
I guess I got some of the sandy mud in the seal of the transfer case on the front output, because it's been leaking for a couple months. Admittedly, I have not been driving the 4Runner much, it needed some work after the Moab trip, which is now done. Alignment was completely off, brakes needed to be bled again, and fix the leaking front output of the transfer case. The repairs were pretty easy, and surprisingly inexpensive.
Lots of mud in the seal. Gear oil looked pretty nasty as well.
Hardest part was definitely cutting off the old nut, but really even that was pretty easy with a dremel.
I cleaned out all the areas pretty well before reassembly, hoping for the best.
As much as I hate to admit it, the Tacoma made a pretty compelling argument for the go-to adventure vehicle earlier this month. My wife and I took a trip to Colorado and camped out for a little over a week. The Tacoma did excellent on the drive, and also cost me about half the fuel to do the trip. Even with a 2 inch lift and 32s, I averaged a little over 21 mpg for the whole trip, on cheap gas vs roughly 15 on premium in the 4Runner. Had a blast as usual.
We went all over, and ended up staying around the Ouray area the most. If you get a chance to hike the Ouray Perimeter Trail, I would highly recommend it. It was absolutely breathtaking and moderately difficult.
Got to play in the snow. This is really where I missed the runner the most. The Toyo ATs were good in the snow, but I needed A LOT more ground clearance.
phattyduck
Elite Member
You should be able to take the nut off without undoing the staking... Just hit it with the impact.Hardest part was definitely cutting off the old nut, but really even that was pretty easy with a dremel.
-Charlie
This thread is awesome! Thanks for sharing your inspiring journey and beautiful build. In retrospect what are some of the things you feel like were your favorite and best mods? Also what, if anything, would you definitely not do if you did it over again?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Renegade_Medic
New member
Thanks, sorry for the late reply.
Those are actually kind of hard questions to answer.
While I absolutely love my 4Runner, and have spent countless hundreds, or even thousands of hours working on it and driving it, it's kind of hard to say what my favorite mod is.
On one hand, I really like the truck exactly as it sits and drives, but if I were going to do it all again I would probably do it differently. That's not to say that I wouldn't enjoy the same build, but I have had this one and if I built another one I would probably go a different route, more stock-like. To start, the truck is heavy, very heavy. This puts a lot of strain on the drivetrain, which makes it kind of lumbering and slow. The supercharger made a significant improvement, but it's what I would consider tolerable now, not exciting or exhilarating. I also am having a serious issue getting my ECU tuned properly, it still is going full rich under part throttle boost and I can not for the life of me figure out why. It's intermittent and will happen randomly, then go away for a couple days, without explanation. I am putting a new AFR on it this week, but I think I may have a bad ECU. Of course the Limited model has a chipped key, which must remain with the ECU and must be present to program new keys. If I could figure out how to bypass the chip, I'd happily toss a salvage yard ECU in it and give it a shot.
The ride is pretty good, but kind of stiff. I may have unrealistic expectations, but it seems like one set of shocks is too stiff and another set too firm, or springs too hard but necessary for the weight. I can really tell after riding in my mostly stock Tacoma, with a mild lift, that rides much much better. I would like to try a set of OME 861 springs in the back, which are considerably longer, but lower spring rate than my airbags and 891s yield. I believe that this would give me a better ride in the back. The front is just stiff, its a lot of weight up there to hold up. It's perfectly fine to drive across the country, but you know you're driving a heavily modified vehicle. Overall, I would go with a true coilover front suspension if I did it again, something like ADS or King, maybe even Sway Away. I'd skip Fox and Toytec. Same for rear, ADS, King, or SA for shocks and OME springs (I have always had good results with them).
Exterior-wise, I love the look of the truck. It is an absolute head-turner, and it starts up conversations everywhere I go, and they have all been positive. It looks mean, but not like a try-hard mean, like an actual "You could drive this thing through the apocalypse" kind of mean. Obviously, there would need to be a steady supply of premium fuel in this apocalypse. I like the classic look of the swing out rear bumper, but its a pain to use, and it is very very heavy. I would likely just toss the spare in the back cargo area and build the drawers around it/over it and use a light hybrid style rear bumper. That would shave off about 150 pounds right there. I also would not have the same roof rack. It served its purpose for a while, but now is becoming an eye-sore to me. The welds look bad in person and it needs an overhaul. My "fabrication" skills have increased substantially since then. I have a Curt roof basket that I need to/want to add 2 extensions in and toss that on. Honestly, I just haven't had money to spend on it lately. My wife and I are trying to finance some land and then build a custom home on it, so money is going to be pretty tight for a while and it's not really a priority. Also, I would consider getting a single stage cheap paint job on it vs bedline in the future, or tear it down more for bedline. It is peeling/chipping in some of the high traffic corners and seams.
At the end of typing all that though, I still have a hard time saying I wouldn't build the exact same truck again. It's impossible to really answer. One thing for sure, I would strongly consider a V8 swap vs a SC. I would even consider a turbo setup, but I'd be dealing with the same tuning issues.
I would definitely recommend the sliders, with filler panels. They are super useful, both protection and for climbing on/standing on. Also, HID Retrofit, hands down best bang for your buck mod if you drive at night at all.
I don't think that there is anything that I would "definitely not do" again on my build. I feel like the experience has given me a lot of insight into how these trucks (and other Toyota Trucks) operate and handle various mods. I really do my best to try and keep it positive and spread as much information as I can, based on my experiences. I have been able to help numerous friends and family members with their runners, and helped them trim a lot of unnecessary spending along the way. I also am very active on several Facebook groups and help out others as best as I can with good, useful information and advice. I am on 3rd gen 4Runner Mafia, Toyota Tacoma Enthusiast and Toyota 3.4L Supercharged groups.
Good luck, sorry I didn't really answer your questions and just rambled on.
your "rambling" answers are actually perfect for me, and i greatly appreciate you taking the time to type up all those thoughts! they help me reassure my current thinking and priorities with my truck and give me some good ideas to look into. youve likely just saved me a lot of pain and money, which im certain my wife appreciates! haha
thanks again!
thanks again!
Renegade_Medic
New member
Yes, sir. You're welcome. If you have any questions or need pointers/direction/information, don't hesitate to ask or shoot me a message.
-Roger
Renegade_Medic
New member
Thanks for reading, glad you liked it.
Renegade_Medic
New member
Fixed Headlights
I had one of my headlight retainers(?) Break while in Moab, and am just now fixing it. The light was being held in with a zip tie. I did not have any luck finding the part I needed to hold the little ball on the back of the housing. I found these 8mm Ball socket things on the Retrofit Source, and with a little modification and glue, they seem to be working.
img]https://i.imgur.com/B0ZUrJ9l.jpg[/img]
All good. I think that pretty much wraps up all my damage from Moab.
I had one of my headlight retainers(?) Break while in Moab, and am just now fixing it. The light was being held in with a zip tie. I did not have any luck finding the part I needed to hold the little ball on the back of the housing. I found these 8mm Ball socket things on the Retrofit Source, and with a little modification and glue, they seem to be working.
img]https://i.imgur.com/B0ZUrJ9l.jpg[/img]
All good. I think that pretty much wraps up all my damage from Moab.
Renegade_Medic
New member
Ome 891
In an effort to increase ride comfort, I decided to make the switch to OME 861 rear springs instead of the 891s and airbags. I am pleased with the result and they do ride better, and testing the flex was incredible.
891:
With 861:
I maxed out the high lift and the tires were still on the ground with the 861s. Pretty impressive.
Up next: new roof rack
In an effort to increase ride comfort, I decided to make the switch to OME 861 rear springs instead of the 891s and airbags. I am pleased with the result and they do ride better, and testing the flex was incredible.
891:
With 861:
I maxed out the high lift and the tires were still on the ground with the 861s. Pretty impressive.
Up next: new roof rack
Renegade_Medic
New member
New Roof rack
I have had this Curt roof rack sitting in the garage for a few months, I finally made time to mess with it. It was actually pretty easy to do and was fairly inexpensive. I have under $100 into the rack, since I got the base rack for free.
First I put the factory rails back on on, which was weird because it looked naked.
I then fabbed up some mounts that work easily with the factory tracks/slider bolts. They are M6-1.00 thread. I should have used either thicker aluminum or steel angle in retrospect, the angle deformed a little when under stress while tightening down, probably not a big deal.
I don't want the rack to stick out over the sunroof, both because of noise and also I want the whole sunroof open. So I decided to cut the rack about 5 inches shorter. Initially I was thinking about cutting the rack down, height-wise, but I am holding off for now.
It ended up looking pretty good, and looks better in person. I am happy with the 3/4 rack, for now at least. I still need to add the lights and fairing back on.
I have had this Curt roof rack sitting in the garage for a few months, I finally made time to mess with it. It was actually pretty easy to do and was fairly inexpensive. I have under $100 into the rack, since I got the base rack for free.
First I put the factory rails back on on, which was weird because it looked naked.
I then fabbed up some mounts that work easily with the factory tracks/slider bolts. They are M6-1.00 thread. I should have used either thicker aluminum or steel angle in retrospect, the angle deformed a little when under stress while tightening down, probably not a big deal.
I don't want the rack to stick out over the sunroof, both because of noise and also I want the whole sunroof open. So I decided to cut the rack about 5 inches shorter. Initially I was thinking about cutting the rack down, height-wise, but I am holding off for now.
It ended up looking pretty good, and looks better in person. I am happy with the 3/4 rack, for now at least. I still need to add the lights and fairing back on.
STI_MECE
New member
Awesome build going on here. Going to copy your retrofit setup.
It's ideas like that I love. You don't have to molest the housing, you actually put the effort in to find a more or less plug and play. Sure you take stuff apart but no ridiculous trimming required. That saves alot of time
And you saved me money because 500 dollars for a retrofit kit seemed ridiculous. 155 mark seems much more reasonable.
Did you ever find a harness that was complete plug and play or is it still ambiguous. I can be the test dummmy if not
It's ideas like that I love. You don't have to molest the housing, you actually put the effort in to find a more or less plug and play. Sure you take stuff apart but no ridiculous trimming required. That saves alot of time
And you saved me money because 500 dollars for a retrofit kit seemed ridiculous. 155 mark seems much more reasonable.
Did you ever find a harness that was complete plug and play or is it still ambiguous. I can be the test dummmy if not
- Status
