KCcarguy's Build Thread

[KCcarguy]

^^^Thanks Taylor! I never get tired of looking at trail pics.:hungry:

I noticed at some point my Rola rack slid over to one side. Gotta figure out how to prevent that. I love the pic of all the rigs together.....you can definitely see the family resemblance between generations.

 

[KCcarguy]

So, not long after that was another note-worthy moment for my rig. My first "wheeling" experience. Before this, I had been off-road only as a means to get me somewhere to hunt, fish, etc. I had always wanted to try a doing a little more, but at the time didn't recognize all the great off-roading opportunities there are around here.

With the help of [MENTION=15853]Redswan[/MENTION] (owner of a bad-a$$ 4th gen, and former OK resident) I found Camp Gruber OHV park outside Braggs, OK. A few friends from work and I went out there to check it out. From then on, I was hooked!

A few thoughts on Gruber:

-I wanted MORE!

-I needed a CB!

-I needed some kind of paint protection


All the rigs lined-up


My friend's FJ "Fs2000" on FJforums. Pretty sweet, huh?


The trail loops around to an overlook of the Arkansas river


My rig on the trail


There's a nice rock ledge to play on near the staging area. This is my friend's "Bloodymary" on Tacomaworld



And the resulting pinstripes

 

[KCcarguy]

I think it was around this time, I started to get the ball-rolling on the K-trail trip. I knew I would need to make a few mods before I ran this trail; an easy one is the diff breather mod:





The section of the K-trail we ran was about 40 miles ling and very isolated. I felt a winch was a necessity. I decided on the Budbuilt winch mount for a few reasons:

-Much cheaper than a steel bumper
-Much lighter than a steel bumper
-I love the look of the TE bodywork and I had already spend the $$ to add it.

The install was pretty difficult because Bud intentionally doesn't include instructions :frusty: The bumper came off in about 30 min and everything was going pretty well.



My buddy and I took a few minutes to try and figure out exactly how it attached, then we bolted it up and that's when the trouble started. I WAY over-torqued (because I didn't have instructions I had to guess) the nut when re-attaching the aluminum bumper to the frame extensions and sheared-off a stud (sorry no pics. I was too angry). Several hours later we had drilled out the old stud and welded on a M8 bolt from home depot. The bumper wen ton fine, but I couldn't the bumper cover to seat right, so I had to go to the body shop with my tail between my legs and ask for help......also had them check out our repair job while it was there. The guys had it ready to go the next day and here's the results:

 

[MasonT4R]

Dang whose sexy 3rd gen? :biggrin1:

I keep thinking the 5th gens are huge compared to my 3rd but this picture doesn't show that huge of a difference.

 

[KCcarguy]

Dang who's sexy 3rd gen? :biggrin1:

I keep thinking the 5th gens are huge compared to my 3rd but this picture doesn't show that huge of a difference.

I was thinking the same thing....just wait til you get your lift on, yours will probably look bigger It's really cool how the 3rd and 5th gen have the same profile.

 

[KCcarguy]

Interior add-ons

Next install was a CB. I wanted a clean and unobtrusive install. I went with the ever-popular Cobra 75. I mounted it in the glovebox and drilled a couple holes to run the hand piece wire and the antenna wire as well as an external speaker hidden in the passenger footwell. Very happy with it.





I've also added a few things here and there.

I started out installing a collapsable baton on my driver's seat, but found out that's illegal (oops), so I replaced it with a D-cell Maglite.



I also mounted a Zippo Woodsman camp tool in the cargo are using Quickfists.



I put a compact fire extinguisher on a wheel-well bump. Fits perfectly with the mounting hardware it came with!



This is one of my favorites. I'm a CC holder, and I especially like to carry when traveling. I installed a gun magnet in the center console. I've seen a lot of guys use holsters, but I thought this was a better solution. I also put my accessory magazine holder in the tissue holder. You might also notice a second AA Maglite mounted.





Finally; here's a cargo box I built. It's pretty handy, but not the best and I plan to make a second go at it this summer. I want to integrate a folding sleep platform and table next time.

 

[KCcarguy]

Reserved for plasti-dip writeup.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/165681-my-very-abbreviated-plasti-dip-thread.html

 

[KCcarguy]

I installed my hood-hinge CB mount today. This is my second attempt at this. I made the first one out of an old OEM skid plate. On the trail, it became apparent pretty quickly the metal was way too thin and flimsy. This is 1/8" and should hold up much better.

Here it is before paint:



And installed:



I also put some Rigid Duallys on my BB winch plate. The guy I bought them from gave me the amber covers, so I thought I'd give them a try for a while.

 

[nevetsvsx]

WOW! Fantastic job on all of the above mods!! I will definitely be using these as a reference for my 4Runner...as a fellow CC holder, I especially like your center console mod :clap2::gun6:

 

[KCcarguy]

Went Wheeling saturday with [MENTION=65827]MasonT4R[/MENTION], [MENTION=92563]ReconRunner[/MENTION], and my buddy Joe in his built TJ on 35's. Had a great time! Thanks Jeff for the vids!

 

[DannyLlama]

I also put some Rigid Duallys on my BB winch plate. The guy I bought them from gave me the amber covers, so I thought I'd give them a try for a while.

View attachment 120067

Looks good! Do you have photos at night with the amber covers on? Always wondered what that would look like.

 

[KCcarguy]

Looks good! Do you have photos at night with the amber covers on? Always wondered what that would look like.

Thanks Man. I'll get some pics for you. Surprisingly, they actually out off more of a true yellow light.

 

[KCcarguy]

For Nav, I added a Arkon flexible mount for my ipad with MotionX GPS app

 

[KCcarguy]

[MENTION=65827]MasonT4R[/MENTION], [MENTION=92563]ReconRunner[/MENTION], and I went wheeling in at Buckhorn OHV park in Arkansas last weekend. It's an awesome place with challenging trails. Unfortunately, we got into an area that was a little too tight for my big ol' 5th gen and by the time I realized I was in over my head, it was too late. She got a little beat up. Broke a tail light, dented my rear fender and bent my right side lower link. It was a tough lesson for me.

 

[KCcarguy]

And a few more pics of the action at Buckhorn before things got ugly.

 

[jrob]

For Nav, I added a Arkon flexible mount for my ipad with MotionX GPS app

View attachment 128790

How do you like that motion x? Work well offroad? Offline?

Awesome truck btw, and I like the carry solution. My XDm in it's holster clipped to the divider is ok, but quick removal is a little funky. Where did you find the magnet?

 

[G8RB8_12SR5]

For Nav, I added a Arkon flexible mount for my ipad with MotionX GPS app

How's the vibration on the Arkon? Is it bolted to the seat mount or drilled in. I'm trying to figure out how to mount my iPad mini for the same purpose of mapping. I know the Ram amount no drill vibrates and still looking into other options. Thanks in advance man.

 

[KCcarguy]

How do you like that motion x? Work well offroad? Offline?

Awesome truck btw, and I like the carry solution. My XDm in it's holster clipped to the divider is ok, but quick removal is a little funky. Where did you find the magnet?

Honestly, I haven't used it much yet....my 3yo came on our last trip and used it to watch Blues Clues, :shrug: BUT I got this setup on the recommendation of [MENTION=65827]MasonT4R[/MENTION], who has used it quite a bit with good luck. It's my understanding that a 3G ipad does not require online access to operate as a GPS

I love the gun mount. Got it on MidwayUSA, but you can find them on Amazon, etc too

LOCKDOWN Gun Concealment Magnet Black

How's the vibration on the Arkon? Is it bolted to the seat mount or drilled in. I'm trying to figure out how to mount my iPad mini for the same purpose of mapping. I know the Ram amount no drill vibrates and still looking into other options. Thanks in advance man.

It's the type that uses the seat mount bolts (no drill). It does vibrate, but I think that's just a compromise you have to make with the flexible mounts. The good thing is it costs half as much as the RAM version.

 

[phillyd2]

If you relocate your 4WD Handle, I’m suing! :biggrin1:

 

[MasonT4R]

How do you like that motion x? Work well offroad? Offline?

How's the vibration on the Arkon? Is it bolted to the seat mount or drilled in. I'm trying to figure out how to mount my iPad mini for the same purpose of mapping. I know the Ram amount no drill vibrates and still looking into other options. Thanks in advance man.

MotionX has been a pretty powerful app so far. With a GPS enabled iPad you can download the area you will be in for offline use. I usually download the Topo or Terrain map around the trail we are running and I have the road map for the way to the trailhead. You can adjust the min/max zoom for the map downloads so that you don't download unnecessary detail and waste storage space on your iPad. For the roads I only download the zoom that shows main roads. For the trails I download max detail.

Using MotionX this way I have been able to use the iPad as a very effective GPS using zero cell data. The downloads do take awhile so I usually start it as I'm going to bed and let it run all night on the charger. You can't forget about it until 30 mins before you leave on a trip. The downloads are actually fairly large as well (can be multiple gigs).

For the mount I looked at RAM mounts for a long time but couldn't find myself spending $100+ on a mount with mixed reviews and reports of vibration. I found my Akron mount for $18 and figured I'd give it a shot. I'd be much less disappointed in the $18 mount vibrating over the $100+ mount vibrating. So far I'm very happy with the Akron. Which is a strange thing to say because I'm usually the guy to say spend the money on the quality item the first time. It moves when offroading but if it is moving then I usually I'm moving around too and am not paying attention to navigation!