Daren's Excellent Vehicular Activity Thread

[darenwelsh]

In order to afford my 4Runner upgrades and adventures, I get paid to work at NASA's Johnson Space Center in the ExtraVehicular Activity (EVA) Flight Operations Directorate (FOD) group. This means I teach astronauts how to perform spacewalks (EVA), I write the procedures used to perform spacewalks, and I work in Mission Control Center Houston (MCC) as a flight controller to guide the astronauts during their spacewalks. So please forgive my lame play on words to title this build and adventure thread.

I bought my 2016 4Runner as somewhat of a birthday indulgence in June of 2016 after lots of research in these forums. It replaced my 2004 RX-8 as my daily driver, but just like with my RX-8 I intend for my 4Runner to also be a fun outlet from the stress induced by dealing with astronauts all day.

My build will be incremental, progressing over time based on functionality keeping budget and daily-driving needs in mind. That said, I'm looking to push my comfort zone and learn about off-roading and overlanding by real experience. My adventures will include my wife and my kids (currently 10 years and 6-months old), so I hope I don't get us stuck anywhere for too long.

Since I am new to off-roading and overlanding, please feel free to offer up your advice here in this thread. I'm not ashamed to admit what I don't know and I don't mind researching things, but I certainly appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

Current Vehicle Configuration
2016 Nautical Blue Trail Edition Premium

Stock Factory Options

• KDSS
• Sliding Rear Cargo Deck

Puddle Prep

• ARB rear differential & e-locker breathers (see how I routed the ARB-provided line, cut in two halves, from the engine bay to the rear diff and e-locker)

Interior

• Husky floor liners
• Rago modular stowage panels
• Salex console and glove box organizers
• Expedition Essentials Powered Accessory Mount

Electronics

• Custom Startup/Display Off images
• Vantrue X3 dash cam (hard wired)
• Ram mount for phone (thanks to this video for guidance)
• DSLR mount for Canon 6D Mark II
• Kenwood D710GA ham radio (call sign WD5EVA)
• Browning BR-180 dual-band NMO antenna
• Goal Zero Yeti 400 Lithium Ion battery + 100W solar panel
• Dual Battery - CTEK 250SE + Odyssey Battery ODP-AGM24F Group Size 24F 840 CCA
• Blue Sea power panels on both sides in rear
• Renogy 100W mounted solar panel
• Iceco VL60 Fridge/Freezer

Roof

• Finless XM antenna
• Eezi-Awn K9 2.2M roof rack
• Eezi-Awn table mount
• <s>Eezi-Awn large camp table</s>
• Regency 30" x 60" 18-Gauge Stainless Steel table
• Eezi-Awn shovel mount
• 23 Zero Bundaberg roof top tent

Hitch

• X-Bull ¾” shackle hitch receiver
• Curt basket style cargo carrier

Recovery

• Viair 70P air compressor
• NoCo Genius Boost GB40
• Hi-Lift Jack

Wheels

• BFG KO2 275/70/17

Suspension

• Sonoran Steel Trail/TRD Off Road KDSS Full Articulation Kit - Adjusters
• (2) Radflow 2.5 Front Coil Overs: Remote Reservoir/Compression Adjuster and spanner wrench
• (2) Radflow 2.5 Rear Custom Shocks: Remote Reservoir/Compression Adjuster KDSS Specific Shocks
• (2)-Old Man Emu 2898 Coils
• (1)-Sonoran Steel Built Adjustable KDSS Trac/PanHard/Lateral Bar
• (2)-Camburg Performance Balljoint Upper Arm Kit for 03+ 4Runner and 07-14 FJ Cruiser (CAM-310079)

Armor

• BudBuilt sliders
• BudBuilt Stage 2 Rock Armor skid plates
• BudBuilt differential skid plate

Lighting

• Low beam 6000K white LED headlights - LASFIT H11 H8 H9 LED Light Bulbs, H16 6000K
• Amber 3000K LED fog lights - Alla Lighting 5200 total lumens
• LED backup lights - LASFIT 921 912 T15
• FSR ReadyLight (mine is gen 1)

Mods I'm researching:

• Front bumper with winch and lighting
• Rear bumper with swingouts for spare tire, high lift jack, jerry cans, and foldout table

 

[darenwelsh]

I replaced the stock tires with BFG KO2 275/70/17 tires today. These certainly help with that "off-road look".

There's a chance of a trip from Houston to South Carolina right after Christmas. I'm thinking of breaking in these tires on the Georgia Traverse. Let me know if you have any other suggestions for trails on the way to/from SC.

 

[Swarty]

tall rack

I replaced the stock tires with BFG KO2 275/70/17 tires today. These certainly help with that "off-road look".

There's a chance of a trip from Houston to South Carolina right after Christmas. I'm thinking of breaking in these tires on the Georgia Traverse. Let me know if you have any other suggestions for trails on the way to/from SC.

If you get tired of the rack being that tall they make shorter legs for the K9 racks.

 

[darenwelsh]

If you get tired of the rack being that tall they make shorter legs for the K9 racks.

I had seen that option, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work with the table mount between the rack and my roof.

 

[JSparky]

Did you relocate or modify the shark fin antenna for that table mount or no? Great looking truck man, really clean.

 

[darenwelsh]

Did you relocate or modify the shark fin antenna for that table mount or no? Great looking truck man, really clean.

I modified it. See the link in my first post for the Finless XM antenna mod.

 

[JSparky]

I modified it. See the link in my first post for the Finless XM antenna mod.

Oh ya! Sorry missed that was you.

 

[darenwelsh]

We got the tent installed ... and let me tell you that was no small feat. I guess I had the impression that removing and re-installing these tents was not a big deal. All of the hardware that came with the tent had nyloc nuts and while I would agree with using those for a permanent install, I really don't think that's the best choice for retaining the option to remove the tent when we're not planning to use it for a while. I already had a nyloc nut seize up on me when installing my Rago panels and had to cut the bolt in that case (heat didn't work).

So we took a trip to Home Depot to get some standard nuts and bolts with lock washers. Out of an entire aisle dedicated to nuts and bolts, only one set of drawers had metric sized hardware. And of those ~10 drawers, half of the bins were empty. I ended up trying some different imperial sizes and found a size that was close enough to fit in my rack's slots and in the tent's mounting rails. With these, I got some lock washers and we returned home to install the tent.

That's when we realized that even without a lift, the 4Runner is too tall for my wife to lift the tent. We ended up getting one end onto the rack and then I slid it up onto the rack from there.

Then the fun trying to access bolts started. In all the pictures, it looks super easy to turn wrenches on these bolts. But in practice, they're all blocked from the side you'd really like to access them and the space between the bottom of the tent and the top of the rack is really tight for my forearms. I guess I need to get some extra long box end ratchet wrenches for this next time.

Once we finally had it bolted down, my daughter and I packed in for a night to test it out. We just barely got in before a thunderstorm hit us and dropped several inches of water in about 30 minutes. I can attest that the tent kept us dry. I didn't really have the rain fly perfectly in place and I didn't know how to attach the extendable rain/snow rod, so we pooled water over the entry-way. But overall we figured it out. Now to plan a trip where we can test it in the field!

 

[darenwelsh]

For two of my Christmas gifts, my wife read through my Google doc with my wish list for mods and gear and she bought me the Salex organizers for the center console and glove box. W00t!

I thought it was funny how the glove box organizer bag has "Organizer must be assembled inside vehicle center console" on the label. I think they meant inside the glove box

 

[bpolunin]

That tent is pretty awesome. Looks great.

 

[darenwelsh]

For another Christmas gift, my wife got me a first aid kit to stash in the 4Runner. In that kit, it has an emergency light. This is very thoughtful, but ... my favorite part was the box and the (poorly) translated instructions on it.

 

[Cymon]

That's when we realized that even without a lift, the 4Runner is too tall for my wife to lift the tent. We ended up getting one end onto the rack and then I slid it up onto the rack from there.

We run into the same issue with our Mt. Rainer Summit Series, as it is about the same dimensions as your 23zero and weighs in at 175 lbs. We usually ask our neighbor for help, but one thing that helps is removing the cover as it weighs about 20lbs. Another thing is we use is a step system...we lift from the handtruck we store it on, to saw horses, to two 6-foot ladders we place next to the car. We’ve gotten it down to doing it with just my wife and I. The Frontrunner quick release mounts do help as once it’s on the roof we have it fully attached in less then 2 minutes.

 

[darenwelsh]

So you're telling me there's a chance?!? I guess we'll have to give it another try. I'd like to remove it for when we drive to the mountains to go skiing over spring break. I'm hoping to rig something up to hold our skiis without spending too much money.

Do you leave the mounting brackets/adapters on your rack all the time and just remove the tent itself? If we did this, it would at least reduce the number of bolts down to 4. But accessing those bolts is really difficult. Maybe if we get some extra long box end ratchet wrenches it won't be so bad.

 

[Cymon]

So you're telling me there's a chance?!? I guess we'll have to give it another try. I'd like to remove it for when we drive to the mountains to go skiing over spring break. I'm hoping to rig something up to hold our skiis without spending too much money.

Do you leave the mounting brackets/adapters on your rack all the time and just remove the tent itself? If we did this, it would at least reduce the number of bolts down to 4. But accessing those bolts is really difficult. Maybe if we get some extra long box end ratchet wrenches it won't be so bad.

I have a Frontrunner rack and bit the bullet on the quick release mounts, which makes it breeze to install once we get it up on the rack. Once I measured the bracket mount locations I marked it with black duct tape, so it only takes about 5 minutes to take the mounts on and off.

As for the method to get the tent up to the rack it took 3-4 Times mounting and in-mounting of trial and error to figure out the method that worked for us (I’m only 5’10” and my wife is 5’6”).

Here are some pics that I just posted recently to my thread (Post #180).
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/222282-cymons-weekend-warrior-mfd-thread-12.html

 

[HTXpro]

I'll have to keep a lookout for you. I live right down the road near 518 and Bay Area.

 

[darenwelsh]

Thanks [MENTION=120701]Cymon[/MENTION] - I'll keep those FrontRunner quick mounts in mind. I assume I could get them to work on my k9.
[MENTION=146115]HTXpro[/MENTION] - Howdy! Maybe you can tell me where I can go off-roading around here without being shot for trespassing I know there are some private parks around, but I'd like to learn about any free/public places.

 

[darenwelsh]

So for spring break, we packed up the 4Runner and drove 2 days to Silverthorne, Colorado. Considering we had 3 adults, a 10-year-old, and a 9-month-old, we did well to complete that drive in 2 days. From the cabin, we made day trips to 3 different ski resorts: Loveland, Arapahoe Basin, and Copper. We had a blast. It was about 2400 miles round trip.

In order to make use of the roof rack, I ended up buying a pair of these INNO racks. I had to use a grinder on the square plate base of each bolt since it was designed for a specific T-Slot style rack. After about an hour of grinding them down, they fit into the k9 slots just fine. I waited to attach these to the roof until we got into Silverthorne. Just the empty rack alone added a lot of wind noise and drag as we flew 80+ mph across Texas and NM. But I'd say it was still worth it. The racks made for easy ski storage out of the vehicle.

I'll also brag a bit for my daughter. 2 years ago we did the same trip and that was her first time skiing. This year she made her first blue square run and she only fell maybe 3 times throughout the 3 days of skiing. Woo!

I can't say we really tested out the 4Runner, though. The conditions were dry with little snow on the roads. I put it into 4wd in the parking lots just because of the sludgy mud and ice mix. But I'll have to plan another trip to really test out the 4wd since there wasn't much snow left by the time we got there.

 

[darenwelsh]

I forgot to share how we got the tent off the rack before our trip. I decided to try out the tractor. It allllmost works perfectly. Unfortunately the scoop doesn't quite reach over the mid-point of the tent, so when I pulled the hydraulics up, the tent swung sideways toward the tractor. It wasn't a big deal for removing the tent, but this will be an issue when trying to re-install the tent. I might have to build a little rig to fit over the scoop to provide longer arms reaching over the tent....

 

[HTXpro]

I feel like I saw you the other day. I was in another car though, so I would have looked like a crazy person.

Also, I'm always down for a drive to CO. . . .

 

[darenwelsh]

I feel like I saw you the other day. I was in another car though, so I would have looked like a crazy person.

Also, I'm always down for a drive to CO. . . .

I see a lot of crazy people driving in Houston. You'll have to be more specific