I found "The One", 2001 Sport Ed. TRD SC'd

[BigFishAllDay]

Christmas Tree Run 2017 is in the books... we went hunting in a new spot this year above 10K to get a spruce.

My 5 yo daughter tagging the wind sock on the lookout summit = proud daddy.

So many possibilities...

I've seen guys mention in several threads how dismal the snow conditions are so far this year... well, things are no better in NM. This is looking east across the middle Rio Grande valley from a summit at 11,306.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

My late Christmas present to the 4Runner... a day of exploring.

 

[Volcom]

I know I'm late but Merry Christmas Nick!! Hope you and your family had a good Christmas! Happy New Year too arty:

 

[BigFishAllDay]

We did, my friend. It was awesome, as my oldest is now 5, so she's the perfect age to really get into the spirit. I hope you and your family had a Merry Christmas as well, Aaron. Happy New Year!!!

 

[T4R2014]

A late Merry Christmas from me too. And Happy New Year. Nice to see you're still around. I actually used one of those center caps you gave me years ago on my 3rd gen #3 haha.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

A late Merry Christmas from me too. And Happy New Year. Nice to see you're still around. I actually used one of those center caps you gave me years ago on my 3rd gen #3 haha.

Thanks, I hope you and your loved ones had a Merry Christmas as well.

Happy New Year! I think it was about 30 minutes ago for you, but we have another hour and a half to go where I am. We're actually winding down for bed with the kiddo... getting old, I guess.

I'm glad you finally found a use for the caps.

 

[T4R2014]

Thanks, I hope you and your loved ones had a Merry Christmas as well.

Happy New Year! I think it was about 30 minutes ago for you, but we have another hour and a half to go where I am. We're actually winding down for bed with the kiddo... getting old, I guess.

I'm glad you finally found a use for the caps.

Haha, the first cap found a use immediately when I got it in 2012. Other one just sat till then. Now I just need to get my ass out of NJ. At least plastic center caps can't rust out here. Then we can go wheeling.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

I've been playing around with some aluminum and steel, making a wind fairing for the roof rack. This is the final product, less paint. Actually, I'm not sure if I want to paint it... the bare aluminum kind of works.

 

[dubate]

Really like the aluminum.

 

[4Runner4Leon]

Aluminum is nice but it oxidizes over time, unless protected with a coating.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Really like the aluminum.

It ties in well with the grille and the body color, I think.

Aluminum is nice but it oxidizes over time, unless protected with a coating.

My grille and hood scoop mesh is bare aluminum, too. I sprayed them both with several coats of clear enamel and they have held up well for 4 or 5 years now. I'll do the same with the fairing.

 

[Scramble]

The fairing looks great & yes a clear coat would work. Stainless steel would too but probably too heavy compared to alum for this application.

 

[4Runner4Leon]

My grille and hood scoop mesh is bare aluminum, too. I sprayed them both with several coats of clear enamel and they have held up well for 4 or 5 years now. I'll do the same with the fairing.

:thumb: :thumb:

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Spot the extra 20 horsepower....

Before

After

There's no way I would drop $30+ on a radiator cap, but when I found a guy offering one BNIB for $15 shipped, I couldn't help myself. It mean, it says TRD, right?

Really, if you're interested, the link below offers a good read on the benefits of a 1.3 bar cap vs the stock 1.1... (Long story short, it adds about 9 degrees to the boiling threshold of the coolant)

Beating the Heat: Advantage of a High Pressure Radiator Cap | Tuner University

Also, I applied some 3M paint protection film on the roof to prevent the fairing from rubbing / scratching the paint.

My jigsaw left some scratches on the face of the fairing, and I tried various polishes to try and remove them with no luck. Also, the mill finish on the aluminum was a little too shiny for my taste, so I used a scouring pad to work the surface in three directions and put a brushed finish on the face of the fairing. It disguised the scratches well, and toned down the shine.

BTW, the fairing is made of 5052 aluminum alloy, chosen for light weight, maximum corrosion resistance and better malleability over 6061, since I had to put a few bends in it.

I had some of this leftover from other projects...

So I laid a couple coats of clear on the fairing and black on the brackets. It'll be all ready for install tomorrow.

 

[MattJakobs]

Really big fan of the color matched fairing. It really ties everything together nicely.

Speaking of which-After having your flares lines for quite some time now, how to you like them? I’m sure the duribility is there and I’ve been thinking about doing mine. What’d you do for the weather stripping?

The Christmas pictures look nice as well. I’m jealous you live in a region that you’re able to get out and cut down your own Christmas tree. Best we get is running down to the local church and picking one from the ones they shipped in.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Really big fan of the color matched fairing. It really ties everything together nicely.

Speaking of which-After having your flares lines for quite some time now, how to you like them? I’m sure the duribility is there and I’ve been thinking about doing mine. What’d you do for the weather stripping?

The Christmas pictures look nice as well. I’m jealous you live in a region that you’re able to get out and cut down your own Christmas tree. Best we get is running down to the local church and picking one from the ones they shipped in.

Thanks for the feedback, Matt. I installed the fairing today I'm happy with the look. Fingers crossed that it does what I hope it will and cuts down on wind noise when the sunroof is open.

The flares on this 4Runner had the color matched Rhino Liner on them when I bought it back in 2010. I didn't like the liner at first because it was on the F/R bumpers too, and I thought it was too much. Now that the bumpers have been replaced and it's just the flares, it has grown on me. The liner is indestructible, easy to clean, and doesn't scratch. It was applied right over the stock flares / flare pads, so everything is stock underneath.

Taking a trip to the woods to cut a tree is definitely a top tier family experience. We bring hot cocoa, have snowball fights, grill hot dogs, etc. I always feel like Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation standing there with a big, dumb, proud smile on my face watching it all go down. They way a fresh tree makes the house smell is awesome, too.

 

[Mark_BC]

Taking a trip to the woods to cut a tree is definitely a top tier family experience. We bring hot cocoa, have snowball fights, grill hot dogs, etc. I always feel like Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation standing there with a big, dumb, proud smile on my face watching it all go down. They way a fresh tree makes the house smell is awesome, too.

Did it go a little something like this?

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Did it go a little something like this?

No way, that's a baby tree.

Our prize was 12 feet tall when I went to work on it with the axe, Paul Bunyan style, grunting and farting and swinging honed metal.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

MLK Day found the family and I dreaming of adventure, so an adventure was had.

New Mexico turns out another good one...

<< Thattaway to adventure

 

[BigFishAllDay]

When one day of adventure is not enough...

It simply will NOT snow in NM this year, so we found the next best thing...