Hour's '99 Build

[hour]

Thanks much Brian.

Got back from Moab an hour ago, definitely a fun time. Didn't get to hit a bunch of trails since I'm not familiar with the area (and didn't want to be setting up camp sites in the dark) but did Fins n things and chicken corners. That ate up all of today (Sunday) as I didn't know it'd take so long. Very scenic, and the plastidip survived the journey!

We enjoyed the trip so much that I think I'm going to do the unthinkable and trade the Tacoma in on a new 4runner, instead of a 37mpg Subaru. My goal was to have one play vehicle and one economical, but I'd rather something new for remote adventures. Will I keep my current 4runner? Absolutely, but I'll just use it within the state and take the new one out to crazy places.

Only took one pic on fins, and should have gopro'd it.

best camp site ever

Enough booze made sleeping back here actually acceptable.

Hurrah pass

end of chicken corners. one spot had me on the side of a cliff but needing to drive between two large rocks. one scraped up my tire pretty bad but thankfully it didn't suffer any real damage. air compressor popped a fuse with one tire left, so I had to drive back to town with one floppy.

Had a solar panel riding on top the entire trip and aimed it when we'd get to camp sites. Enough power for late night music, lights, and anything else. Very happy with the setup, will probably get a larger panel in the near future.

 

[PhdNPrerunners]

Great build thread! You have done a lot of maintenance stuff that I have been afraid to do myself. Keep up the great work!

 

[hour]

Just a pic finally showing my 285/75/16 duratracs and replacement wheels with more offset (3.75" bs)

 

[hour]

I guess I forgot to mention that in the last picture above, I had also added a 1" Toytec body lift. Here are some more recent shots of the last camping trip of the year. Have addicted offroad plate bumper that I've finished painting and will mount this weekend. Pictured are some sweet duct tape turn signals and the unpainted bumper mount from AOR.

Received 1gal of flat desert tan single stage auto paint from summit racing and their hardener. I have some rust under the windshield gasket and a spot on the roof... figured I'd just spray the whole thing. Kind of regret the decision now, and I haven't done it (and with winter approaching I probably won't soon, thus not too late to bail) but we shall see.

Will post updated pics as soon as bumper goes on. These photos were from Johnny Park Trail near Lyons, CO. Rated 3 on Traildamage but I beg for reassessment. The trail was so washed out, and I wound up at some uncomfortable tippy angles with significant hills off to the side a few times. Nothing some careful driving didn't take care of, but the thought of going up there in a stock height pickup isn't appealing. Oh, these pics are from wayyy down towards the main road, woman wouldn't permit on trail photography

Annnnnd got a puppy copilot

 

[hour]

I went on a trail to two secluded lakes today. Snow all over the place including a lot of the trail. Easy going up, constant ABS firing on the way down. Figured I'd throw up some pictures of new bumper.

And old vs new

And the pup once I got home. Well fed and happy

 

[calimobber]

Nice build man, dont be afraid to take the 4runner on far trips. I cross the country pulling a trailer every 6 months.

Like all the little mods, some times those are the most rewarding.

 

[hour]

Hah, at 250k I'd be a little wary. Definitely needs new inner tie rod on drivers side and steering bushings. Have all the parts, just need a good day to install. I think she's sound otherwise.. but I did get a truck to pull her around to far destinations (even Moab, 5-6 hrs).

That said, I trust the 4runner more than the 2014 Ram :doh: Lemon!

 

[amalik]

[MENTION=101600]hour[/MENTION], you bought a RAM? ^_^

 

[hour]

[MENTION=101600]hour[/MENTION], you bought a RAM? ^_^

[MENTION=99383]amalik[/MENTION] Yeah, the ecodiesel. 27-30mpg rocks. 21mpg hwy towing for 1,000 miles dragging 6,000 lbs rocks too. I got it to tow the 4runner out to Moab and do road trips in. Sucks that it'll probably end up bought back by Chrysler right after I started modding it. Really wanted a reliable rig to take the 4runner out in to the middle of no where with. Not a rock crawler, just a support vehicle ya knaw. Went full bro on the wheels like the incognito douchebag that I am... not so incognito anymore.

Honestly, I thought my 2012 Tacoma sucked. I didn't even consider the Tundra because it's ugly as fuh and, well, I was convinced (still am) that older Toyotas were superior. So I rolled the dice and went with a domestic vehicle for the first time in my life, lured in by crazy fuel economy, and have suffered because of it. Live and learn :yell:

 

[amalik]

[MENTION=101600]hour[/MENTION], why the regret though? Sounds like the diesel is awesome. Also, it looks similar to a tundra to me, but with a top on the cab obviously.

Honestly, I like the black wheels on white exterior.

 

[hour]

[MENTION=101600]hour[/MENTION], why the regret though? Sounds like the diesel is awesome. Also, it looks similar to a tundra to me, but with a top on the cab obviously.

Honestly, I like the black wheels on white exterior.

...Sucks that it'll probably end up bought back by Chrysler right after I started modding it....

...So I rolled the dice and went with a domestic vehicle for the first time in my life, lured in by crazy fuel economy, and have suffered because of it. Live and learn :yell:

It's a lemon. Cracked oil cooler at 7500 miles (beginning of January) that caused mass amounts of oil to mix with my coolant. 3 visits, 37 days in the shop, countless flushes, 3 new overflow reservoirs, and 17 hoses replaced... still have oil in the coolant.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Hour, that stinks to hear. My buddy has an Ecodiesel and has put roughly 25,000 miles on his in a year. No major hiccups to speak. His looks nowhere as nice as yours.

Yet it is a Dodge, hence the reason I would never own one. Hopefully Ram buys back the engine and installs a new one for ya. I would settle for nothing less.

 

[amalik]

It's a lemon. Cracked oil cooler at 7500 miles (beginning of January) that caused mass amounts of oil to mix with my coolant. 3 visits, 37 days in the shop, countless flushes, 3 new overflow reservoirs, and 17 hoses replaced... still have oil in the coolant.

oh. my. :uzi::shrug:

 

[hour]

Decided to have my Borla 40664 muffler installed this morning. I've had it new from amazon in a box for like 5 months.

Sounds good, but my camera seems to suck at picking up sound while capturing great video, and I'm parked next to a cement wall. Engine noise isn't neat either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI39tF-0bvU

 

[hour]

Finally took the 4runner out today... first time this season that she's seen rough terrain (drive to work once or twice a week to keep charged). This trail just became passable in the last week and a half, but still feel like I should have been out doing fire roads and stuff camping instead of taking my new truck. Front diff leak has had me a little wary with frequent dripping in my driveway, but I realized it was the drain plug and nothing serious before I left this morning. Next mod- desert tan paint job. Have proper single stage paint and catalysts or whatever, have garage, waiting on good deal for air compressor.

Then rear bumper, savage front skids, and probably call it quits for the modding season. Now that I have a garage, for the first time in my life, I can actually buy myself a bunch of xmas presents and install them the same week

 

[derpiful]

Looks like fun! What trail/road is that?

The build is coming together nicely, I like it! The rear bumper and skids will definitely tie it together and make it look even better...

 

[hour]

Looks like fun! What trail/road is that?

The build is coming together nicely, I like it! The rear bumper and skids will definitely tie it together and make it look even better...

Oops, sorry for the late reply. It's Argentine Pass in Georgetown CO, most pics at the mine site before the trail goes up to the top. Yes, rear bumper and skids would be a nice complement. I got a 33g air compressor so it'll soon be time to paint. Looks nice in the photos but the paint really needs an overhaul, so flat desert tan it is.

Debating over yanking the windshield (having safelite do it, and probably crack it) or just trying to prop up the windshield gasket, sanding as best as I can to remove the rust down there, and going for it. By the time the thing rots through I'll probably have flipped it on a trail or suffered some other untimely demise.

 

[hour]

The beast is hurting. Posting this to force myself to actually do something...

Gotta dos before I hit another trail:

Drivers side inner tie rod (was toast 1.5+ years ago, hope everything else remains OK)

Steering rack bushings. They're dust, and have been dust for 1.5+ years. Just started feeling it though in the last 500 miles... or it combined forces with my tie rod drama and alignment probably being whacky. Squirrely as hell to drive.

Rear brake drums. I've heard a damn whirring noise from the rear since I bought it late 2013... never knew why. After towing a popup a few weeks ago and realizing I couldn't stop for crap, and smelling my new pads burning up front while descending trails, I've decided to redo the drums and flush the brake fluid... it's midnight black :banana: Also replacing brake lines, factory length. Whatever.

 

[amalik]

Hour, not bad on the paint job man. How did it go?

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

[hour]

Hour, not bad on the paint job man. How did it go?

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

Dude I have no idea how I keep seeing your messages like months later.. but thanks re: paint. Prep work was totally the suckiest part of it, but spraying was OK minus low clearance in my garage for spraying roof, screwing up the first coat with a crappy fan pattern from the gun (which didn't help any following coat look too great), and the color being way darker than I anticipated. I should have sought out khaki or dune colored, not desert sand.

So in short: If I ever feel like taping it up again and giving it a quick once over with a scuffing pad, I'll spray it the color I actually wanted it to be and try to do a better job on the first coat.

Maintenance crap and some rants to serve my memory and build giant walls of text at 2am .. between July of 2016 and mid August 2016, 266,500 mi:

Brake fluid with some Valvoline full synthetic. Series of turkey bastering the reservoir, excessive flushing through each corner of the car, and a proper bleed. As I was trying to do the last corner I noticed I wasn't really getting much in my collection cup - hadn't tightened the previous corner fully and it shot a ton of brake fluid all over my garage

Power steering fluid using a series of turkey baster to reservoir->refill with ATF fluid->rotate wheels a few times->repeat, a lot. Then refilled with Lucas PS Stopleak because my rack boots had a little fluid in them, which I noticed when I did...

Inner and outer tie rods on both sides, MOOG brand, worked okay. I couldn't separate my inner and outers so I had to use an angle grinder once they were off the car to slide the boots off. Also replaced steering rack guide with the updated style used in 3rd gens made after mine.. easy, significant improvement

Front and transmission skids from RCI offroad in steel, painted with the HVLP and Rustoleum Hammered. Pretty awesome products

Re-did front brakes because I had used rotors for 15" wheels 2 years / 5,000? miles back. Oops. New rotors & new Wagner thermoquiet pads again. Picked up a reman'd front passenger caliper as it's a little uncooperative at this point and I had done the drivers side a couple years back for the same thing... yet to install.

Installed new Hopkins trailer tail light converter as the factory one had bit the dust. Installed 7 pin/4 pin trailer connector but haven't run wires up to the front yet. Purchased and received, but yet to install: Prodigy P3 brake controller

And wow, I just realized I've dumped significantly more than I paid for this thing back in to it in 12,000 miles and 2 years 9 months :wtf: