Cytronus 2016 4Runner Trail Premium Build Thread (Pic Heavy)

[Scriffer]

Sub'd. Awesome ride and write-ups!

 

[SAvoltage]

Jesus, this is my dream build. Not one thing I would have done differently.

 

[atatwalker]

Simply amazing


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[cutty01]

Today I installed the Tekonsha P3 trailer brake controller in a rather stealthy location, directly under the steering wheel in the foot well. Luckily, the controller bracket bolts right on to 2 factory bolts that appear to hold the lower air bag unit in place. Very easy and fast install.

I'm a tad concerned about the location not providing ease of visibility to the display screen for info/alerting but the buttons for brake boost and increasing or decreasing trailer braking are easily found without sight due to their large tactile shapes. I do like that it's out of the way and keeps the cabin clean and neat but I'll asses the location after actually pulling the new camper trailer home in early September.

Hi, when you wired up the Tekonsha brake controller to the factory harness did you splice it in using the factory trailer adapter or did use the Tekonsha Wiring Adapter for Toyotas? Thanks.

 

[Colorado_T4R]

awesome rig

great build thread. nice pics! :yo:

 

[HeartGuy]

Are you still waiting on a roof rack, or have you grown to love the look without? :shocked:

 

[Cytronus]

Roofrack

[MENTION=152219]HeartGuy[/MENTION], I do still want a roof rack but not impressed with anything out there right now. I'd like to design one when time permits. Goal would be 1.4" aluminum, modular, light weight, aerodynamic, lots of light mounting options.

 

[Xtremluck]

[MENTION=152219]HeartGuy[/MENTION], I do still want a roof rack but not impressed with anything out there right now. I'd like to design one when time permits. Goal would be 1.4" aluminum, modular, light weight, aerodynamic, lots of light mounting options.

Let me know when you start this project. Would love to help. I have come to a realization that if I need to fit my rig into a garage belonging to a Bay Area home I'm going to need to severely reduce my height profile. Which means bye bye Gobi.

 

[jayhat]

Without Hi-Lift jack mounted

You're great at modifying things! Wonderful build. Everything you do looks factory.

Any thoughts on modifying the wilco so it doesn't have the ridiculous gap between the tired and the truck? I love the idea of it and really want one, but that gap is something else. Doesn't look quite as unusual with 2 Jerry cans in there, but I don't want to drive around like that all the time.

 

[theikm]

how did you wire the grill led's?

 

[Cytronus]

@jayhat - Wilco gap and @theikim - LED wiring

[MENTION=50362]jayhat[/MENTION], appreciate the compliments! I try to keep a clean look. Completely agree on the gap of the Wilco! I wanted to mod it but it would’ve required a lot of fine cutting and welding which I wasn’t too keen of paying for. If you find a way, let me know! I’d like to tighten it up too.

@theikim, for the Emergency LED light wiring, I ran power (black and red) to the sPOD 8 channel unit. Control is via the sPOD LCD touchscreen in cabin. Love the sPOD!

 

[theikm]

This past weekend I made some brackets for emergency amber LED lights.

The lights contain 4 bright LEDs on each, have an excellent water proof housing and a dark appearance when off, which lends to the stealth look behind the grille.

I picked these up on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D4282LO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The brackets I fabricated allow the lights to be mounted behind the upper grille mesh using existing threaded holes on the upper radiator support. Because they're mounted and wired separately from the bumper, the bumper can come off and back on without unbolting or unplugging the lights.

Once I get the roof rack on and a few other emergency lights installed, I will wire them all up together to the sPOD and create strobing effects.

would you happen to have the measurements for these brackets? I would like to do something similar.

 

[CarolinaBlue]

How is the 4runner handling the Patriot Camper X1? Any issues with towing offroad that much weight? Any overheating issues?

 

[Cytronus]

How is the 4runner handling the Patriot Camper X1? Any issues with towing offroad that much weight? Any overheating issues?

No issues at all with the X1 and I've watched the temp very closely, especially in the summer desert heat. I'm actually quite impressed with the 5th gen 4Runner's ability to pull the trailer over rough terrain and up steep hills. I thought for sure I'd need to get a Magnusson super charger but I've been pleasantly surprised with the stock power and think I'll be happy leaving it as is. The X1 is absolutely marvelous and I'm super glad I bought it.

 

[SKT_07]

Awesome thread - thanks for taking the time to document each project with detailed pictures and write-ups!

 

[trail cruiser]

Today I added new 6 AWG welding wiring from the aux battery to a 50 amp circuit breaker with wire running to the rear, terminating with a 50 amp Anderson plug and weather proof TrailerVision housing with spring loaded, sealed door and a nice red LED light indicating power. I made a custom bracket to hold the unit which can mount in multiple locations if need be.

This will charge 2 lithium polymer 12V batteries on a camper trailer that I'm taking delivery of this weekend in Las Vegas. I'm pretty stoked but not about the 20+ hour round trip drive.

It was important to have a circuit breaker in line so that when doing water crossings where the plug at the rear may submerge, power can be cut by maually switching the breaker to prevent a short. I'm planning to leave the breaker "off" unless I'm pulling the trailer.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get the Trailer Vision 50Amp Anderson SB850, I have been looking online and can only find it in AU websites, any help will be appreciated....Waiting for my Patriot Trailer to be delivered in a couple of weeks!!

 

[Cytronus]

I picked up the the Trailer Vision plug on ebay. It looks like they're still available from AUS by searching "trailer vision 50 amp". I actually broked the spring loaded lid on my rig wheeling in Tahoe last week. Darn! Gonna order a couple more, one for repair and a spare for another mishap. If you do mount underneath your OEM bumper as I did, make it tight and close to the tow hitch receiver. If you have a metal rear bumper, you could flush mount a face mount style trailer vision plug.

 

[geoalesolo]

Special thanks to the huge hands-on help from infamousRNR and vital technical and materials input from Bumbo, most of the dual battery project is completed! The car started right up and the National Luna Isolator did its thing - charged the main starter battery and then charged the Aux battery.

I learned a great deal through this project and really glad to have added knowledge on electrical/dual battery systems that I can share with others.

Most of the work was in calculating wire gauge based on run length, amperage, voltage drop compensation, run times, heat AND in calculating the ring terminal sizes and stud hole sizes for each wire based on where it would be connected. I used the BlueSea Circuit Wizard app on iOS for all calculations.

I went with high quality Temco welding cable with thick shielding that supports high temperatures (221 degrees F), a must when considering the 4Runner's engine bay sees up to 195 degrees F. Temco ring terminals are stout, all tin plated copper to prevent oxidation. Both the wiring and terminals were ordered from Temco in Fremont, CA. If you use these guys, it's cheaper to call in, give your list, and pick up locally in Fremont. If you can't make it to Fremont, go to eBay. Highly recommend their stuff and great service. Welding cable is HEAVY. I'd say I added about 15-20 lbs of wiring up front, including looming and terminations.

I used a heavy duty 16 ton hydraulic hexagonal die press I picked up on Amazon for crimping the 6 gauge and larger terminals to the stripped wire ends. The press literally fuses the individual copper strands and ring terminal together as one solid piece of metal, which makes for a safe termination that helps prevent terminal overheating and fire. This method is preferable and safer than soldering and standard crimping methods for larger gauge wiring with high amperage.

Progress made includes:
- Aux battery terminals installed. Military grade lead with 3/8" studs
- Aux battery wired to National Luna isolator/controller and the main starter battery. Controller wire installed through firewall.
- ARB dual air compressor wired to main starter battery.
- New wiring & 50 Amp short block for sPOD 8 channel accessory unit run from aux battery and Ethernet for LCD touch screen controller run through driver side firewall.
- sPOD bracket is in for powder coating and should be installed next week
- Drilled 5/16" hole and installed new 5/16" studs/flange nuts in each OEM starter battery terminal connector to accommodate isolator connections, air compressor.
-50 Amp Bussman circuit breaker installed on passenger side, under air compressor for future wiring that will run from Aux. battery to trailer hitch to charge 2 Lithium trailer batteries via Anderson plug (SB50).
-All wiring properly terminated with heat shrink tubing, loomed, taped every 20" with 3" wide high temp electrical tape.

Lessons learned:
-Quality tools including cutters and hydraulic crimpers a must.
-Helper a must for wiring routing and hydraulic crimping.
-Should've gone with different aux battery terminal connectors that had 5/16" studs on them, to match OEM stud size and make it easier to/faster to service batteries simultaneously with the same socket size. Also, the terminations I used don't have any clearance for sockets to fit around them so an open ended monkey wrench is needed, which sucks.
-Should've ordered more wire loom, that stuff goes fast. Sizes of loom diameter don't match wire diameter at all. You'll need slightly bigger loom.

Next up:
-Route wire for National Luna controller under center console and stick on under side of lid with double-sided sticky tape (this reads out both battery's charge and has a jump from Aux battery button on it)
-Install sPOD LCD touch screen in cabin and connect Ethernet cable for accessory control
-Install 270 Amp DC Power alternator, which will give the 4Runner an additional 105 Amps over the stock 165, and augmented wiring based on the awesome write up by rigtec at "4Runner alternator upgrade (gen 5)".
-Install newly painted home made sPOD bracket and sPOD unit, connect wiring and begin installing accessories (bumper LED light bar and under hood light and more later)
-cut, strip, crimp terminals on new 6 AWG wiring to run from aux battery to circuit breaker to hitch and terminate with Anderson Plug to charge 2 camper trailer Lithium batteries
-Install trailer brake controller (likely in glove box)
-Install air lines and air tank for air compressor

More coming in a week or two!

Loved the write-up! I was wondering if you have pictures of how you reconnected the air pump back to the original connection or did you change it up when you relocated it?

 

[Cytronus]

Air pump relocation

Loved the write-up! I was wondering if you have pictures of how you reconnected the air pump back to the original connection or did you change it up when you relocated it?

The instruction manual that comes with Shrockworks Dual Battery Tray provide very clear direction and photos of this procedure. If you decide to add this tray, you'll have no trouble at all following along. Those guys did a stellar job on the installation instructions.

 

[geoalesolo]

The instruction manual that comes with Shrockworks Dual Battery Tray provide very clear direction and photos of this procedure. If you decide to add this tray, you'll have no trouble at all following along. Those guys did a stellar job on the installation instructions.

I have the Bandi mount with air pump relocate kit and not the Shrockworks air pump relocate which is why I was asking. The instructions for my Shrockworks battery tray don't mention the air pump section.

EDIT: Found what I was looking for in another thread but so thanks
-Geo