ExpeditionBill’s 2003 4Runner SR5 4x4 Build

Those are some sick photos. I'm getting into photography and using Lightroom. Unfortunately there's no where scenic like that in Atlanta to shoot and it gets dark way too early. All my pictures have been in parking lots and my best pictures have been of other people's cars and not mine.

I'm interested what was your setup for those pics? (Lens, ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture). I have my mom's Nikon D5100 but only have a wide angle lens and a 55-200 zoom lens and am looking to get another one. My good lens only works on my D50 which no longer can compete with these new cameras:rip:.
 
07V8 said:
What beach is that? I grew up going to Ocean City with my family.
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Island Beach State Park - just past Seaside. That light house in the background is the Barnaget Lighthouse.

Civiceg94 said:
Nice beach driving been wanting to do that
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Thanks..that was my 1st attempt at any offroading. Did not get stuck :thumb3:. Yea permit was like $195 for the year. Plan on going there alot to hang out and also fish. So it will pay for itself fairly quickly. They have day passes too.

muscarellaw said:
Those are some sick photos. I'm getting into photography and using Lightroom. Unfortunately there's no where scenic like that in Atlanta to shoot and it gets dark way too early. All my pictures have been in parking lots and my best pictures have been of other people's cars and not mine.

I'm interested what was your setup for those pics? (Lens, ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture). I have my mom's Nikon D5100 but only have a wide angle lens and a 55-200 zoom lens and am looking to get another one. My good lens only works on my D50 which no longer can compete with these new cameras:rip:.
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I'm using the Sony A6000 mirrorless . I just have the 2 lens' that came with it. One is the 3.5-5.6/16-50mm and the 4.6-6.3/55-210mm. Honestly, I tried manual mode and screwed up a good amount of pics..still learning about ISO, shutter and aperture. Lightroom fixed all of my screwups. Make sure you shoot in RAW to be able to fully edit them.

Take a look at this before and after. Here is one of my older pics...you can see the original I took with settings I picked. After a little Lightroom. Totally different picture.


Parking lots can still look good. :artist2:
 
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ExpeditionBill said:
I'm using the Sony A6000 mirrorless . I just have the 2 lens' that came with it. One is the 3.5-5.6/16-50mm and the 4.6-6.3/55-210mm. Honestly, I tried manual mode and screwed up a good amount of pics..still learning about ISO, shutter and aperture. Lightroom fixed all of my screwups. Make sure you shoot in RAW to be able to fully edit them.

Take a look at this before and after. Here is one of my older pics...you can see the original I took with settings I picked. After a little Lightroom. Totally different picture.


Parking lots can still look good. :artist2:
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Lightroom is a beast if you use RAW. I need to buy it because right now I'm just making multiple adobe accounts for the trial. That's an awesome picture btw :biggrin1: parking lots like that look good but not Atlanta parking lots too many trees.

How did you achieve the blurred bg in that one pic on the beach and what kind of brushes are you using in Lightroom? I normally just sharpen the car use a clarity brush to highlight lines on the car and darken the sky and ground while adding some vignette. Also it probably helps that your car is silver. Black cars are hard to photograph :ohwell:.

Also I'd recommend using photoshop and taking out stuff like those light posts and the little green circle in the grass. It makes a huge difference I found out.
 
muscarellaw said:
Lightroom is a beast if you use RAW. I need to buy it because right now I'm just making multiple adobe accounts for the trial. That's an awesome picture btw :biggrin1: parking lots like that look good but not Atlanta parking lots too many trees.

How did you achieve the blurred bg in that one pic on the beach and what kind of brushes are you using in Lightroom? I normally just sharpen the car use a clarity brush to highlight lines on the car and darken the sky and ground while adding some vignette. Also it probably helps that your car is silver. Black cars are hard to photograph :ohwell:.

Also I'd recommend using photoshop and taking out stuff like those light posts and the little green circle in the grass. It makes a huge difference I found out.
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Yea this is my 2nd day with lightroom. I just watch PHLEARN, hes awesome with all adobe stuff.
Phlearn LLC

I basically edit everything I saw in those youtube videos. Still learning.

The blurred background in that last pic? I focused on the truck and messed with some iso and apeture settings. I cant get it to blur everytime yet.

I will download photoshop now and give it a try.

If you have any pics in RAW...lmk and send me one, so I can mess with it.
 
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not much new...
had a little leaky pass side valve cover gasket.

Got both valve cover gaskets done and new Denso Iridium sparkplugs while it was apart since they were done about 7 years ago (even though they only had about 50k on them).
 
Some not so good news.

Problem 1 - Past few days I have been hearing a weird metal rattling sound only when I accelerate from a stop, then it goes away (hopefully just a heat shield...checked quick before and didnt see anything but will check it out this weekend).

Problem 2 - I went to leave my house before and shifted into D and accidently went into 3. It would not shift out of 3 or 2...eventually got it into Drive. Got where I had to go and when I went to shift it into Park, it made a weird noise like something broke. Now my Auto Shifter is sloppy and flops back and forth in any gear I put it in. When I am in Drive...it easily just flops into 3.

Any Ideas?
 
I took apart the whole center console area today and I did see anything broken. Didn't attempt to open that piece up though. Would there be some sort of clip, pin, plastic bushing or spring that could of come off or broke inside of it?

That whole shifter piece at the bottom of this picture costs $700 at Toyota and $500 online. I really dont want to have to buy another. :help:

331921E.jpg


I just found this thread on Toyota 120 and it could be that pin. I will open it up tomorrow and find out.
Toyota 120 Platforms Forum - View Single Post - Auto shifter just got loose
 
Took things apart again today...still don't know how to open that whole bottom part. I think its that pin at the bottom, didn't want to attempt that just in case I couldn't get it back together. Have work in the am.


There seems to be a clip that should be attached to the shifter.



After taking it apart and putting it back together, the key will not unlock and come out unless I pull this white plug. Whats going on here?
 
Time to rant at my local Toyota and local mechanic who both just wanted to charge me $700 for that part 33560 + labor and told me that unit was non-serviceable and would not touch it or open it up. :rant:

If they actually took the time to pull a pin out and take that top cover off, they would have seen that there is a broken plastic clip and that pin that slides when you shift popped out.




I need a Computer sub-assy, shift lock control - Part # 85903-60020. Look at that... it is serviceable (even shows it as a separate part in the previous post picture and it only costs $250).



Next time Toyota & Local Shop...why don't you actually check to see what the problem is before throwing a pointless let's replace everything for $700 + labor solution at me. :gun4:
DIY FTW! :trophy:

Discounted Toyota parts page = $250 :thumb:
Local Toyota = around $337
car-part.com = ~$75-$150 for the whole shifter unit (the shift lock control unit should be in it but unknown condition - junked 4Runner).
 
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ExpeditionBill said:
....


Next time Toyota & Local Shop...why don't you actually check to see what the problem is before throwing a pointless let's replace everything for $700 + labor solution at me. :gun4:
DIY FTW! :trophy:

Discounted Toyota parts page = $250 :thumb:
Local Toyota = around $337
car-part.com = ~$75-$150 for the whole shifter unit (the shift lock control unit should be in it but unknown condition - junked 4Runner).
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That's always a good feeling. Rig looks awesome.
 
Ordered that part from toyotapartsexpress.com, hope to have it fixed early next week.

Also took a cool picture yesterday of the sunset. They sky was crazy looking...wish I had time to go somewhere actually cool but had people over for my bday.

 
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So I found out the issue on the broken shifter. I did break it. Still have no idea why it got stuck.

Tried going to another Toyota dealership...they would not help me either but they actually let me talk to a mechanic and show him the pin that came out. They had no idea and told me keep trying and good luck.

Went to an old mechanic I used a lot years back when I had Volkswagen's and he was the only one that helped me. Haven't seen the guy in over 2 years since I got into Toyota's and moved but he helped fix it on the spot.

1st after him say WTF? How did I break that? He tried to get it in with no luck and the pin kept falling out when we closed the lid.

Then he cleaned up the grease that was on it and noticed a small crack in the plastic...shown here


So to save me $700 for a new whole shifter unit. He made a new pin slightly larger (like .01 or .02 mm bigger measuring it with a Digital Vernier Caliper Micro Meter) then the stock one from scratch and even used a grinder on the top to make it rounded. Thought if it was snug, that it would stay in. No luck there. Scrapped that idea.

He finally settled on the idea to cut that spring that the pin sits on to make the pin sit a bit lower so when it moves, it doesn't put pressure on that side of the plastic. He cut this amount off and it works GREAT. :banana:



Shifts great, locks into 3rd perfect. All I owe him is lunch this Saturday. :thumb:
 
anyone local want to go to Rausch Creek on Saturday?? I found a group on the Rausch Creek site that has 6/10 people going. Was going to jump in with them but some more Toyota's would be nice.

LMK
 
Went to Rausch Creek yesterday.....only saw 1 white tacoma and 2 4runners. Everyone else there had a Jeep or Bronco. Looking to go again on July 2nd, if anyone wants to come.

Banged up my rear diff a little, chipped both front rims on rocks...but had a blast.



 
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Did you go to an offroad park without a winch? Did you go with anyone else? How did that work out for you?
 
stivine6 said:
Those wheels look great. Love how clean and simple your ride is!
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kyle_uran said:
Looks night and day from when you first bought it!
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Thanks guys. :thumb:

Elan_ said:
Did you go to an offroad park without a winch? Did you go with anyone else? How did that work out for you?
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Yup...and went with out a tow strap, jack big enough to actually lift my truck. Just brought tools. I found a random group of people on Rausch Creek website. Joined it and drove 3 hours to get there at 4:30 AM...wheeled for 9 hours and drove home 3 hours with no issues. We were all pretty much new to offroading and no one new each other. Everyone was friendly and helpful, 3 guys had straps, high jacks and winches though. We stayed on green and blue trails for beginners. Lost 2 guys....1 had a rock go through his sidewall and the other flooded his engine in a pond.

The Toyota had no problems on the trails...great rig!! Wish I saw more Toyota's out there. 90% were Jeeps...haha.

I learned what I need to bring next time...recovery stuff. lol.
Hopefully will be ordering some things soon before I go back in 2 weeks.

Heres the group at the beginning of the day.


Here is the last 5 of us after wheeling for 9 hours.
 
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