MattJakobs Build Thread-2001 Stellar Blue Pearl

[MattJakobs]

Rock Lights

Picked up some inexpensive rock lights and wired them up this weekend, in preparation for next weekend. Have a little wheeling trip and we did plenty of night wheeling last time so figured now would be a good time to put these in. Bright little suckers for sure, have 5 on each side. One in the front bumper, three in the middle body mounts(one per mount), and one in the rear body mount behind the rear axle. They do the job and then some, and should allow for plenty of light on the trail.

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[MattJakobs]

Transmission Cooler

Got around to installing a B&M 70268 Transmission Cooler and did a full flush with new fluid. This has been something I've been meaning to do and with this weekends trip coming up, figured now's better than ever. Install wasn't too bad, getting the old hose off at the send and receive pipes off the transmission was a bit of a pain but pretty painless besides that. After driving around today, temperatures seem to be 8-12* lower than they previously were.
Routed it to go Send-B&M-Factory Radiator-Receive.
Below average picture to show that it's in.
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[MattJakobs]

Uwharrie 9/28-10/1

Headed out to Uwharrie Thursday and just got back. Some good wheeling and camping was had. Nothing broken which is always good. Did over 600 miles the whole trip and averaged about 21 mpg to and from Uwharrie.
Stuffed
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Dropped
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[MENTION=80933]4x4runner2002[/MENTION]
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[Kid Charlemagne]

Love that color! Looking to pick up a 3rd gen soon

 

[Unner]

Any XJ rollovers this time?

Looks good with the new hood!

 

[MattJakobs]

Love that color! Looking to pick up a 3rd gen soon

Thanks man, best of luck on your hunt to find one.

Any XJ rollovers this time?

Looks good with the new hood!

Haha no rolled Heeps this time. Or drunken Heep drivers at the campsite.

It was also really nice to do that tippy section on Dickey Bell in the day light this time. That definitely made for a little less puckering.

And thanks! Still getting used to driving behind it, it definitely looks bigger from inside the vehicle. Still need to get a good cleaning on it but figured it was a waste to do before this trip.

 

[MattJakobs]

New Rigids

Picked up some D-SS Side Shooter PRO - Flood Pattern (PN: 262113) a few weeks back and just got to installing them. Put them on my CBI Ditch Light Brackets and moved my Rigid Dually - Spot Pattern (PN: 202213) to inside my bumper and pulled the PIAAs in there. The PIAAs were drowned out by my headlights and were only there to fill the hole really. Tested them out last night and damn are the Side Shooters bright. Definitely do the job as far as giving a good flood pattern. Should be done with front lighting unless a killer deal pops up for something.
Also got around to cleaning up the 4Runner after last weekends trip. Looks so much better clean and you can see the new sport hood all cleaned up.

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[Echo_Spartan]

Hey man! Just read through your entire build thread after you posted in mine (not to mention I was really bored and curious). Super awesome work, it's changed so much since you got it. Have to say, I'm really jealous you got a Stellar Blue sport hood, recently too. I hope to someday find a nice find like that for myself. Keep up the work!

 

[MattJakobs]

Hey man! Just read through your entire build thread after you posted in mine (not to mention I was really bored and curious). Super awesome work, it's changed so much since you got it. Have to say, I'm really jealous you got a Stellar Blue sport hood, recently too. I hope to someday find a nice find like that for myself. Keep up the work!

Thanks man, appreciate it! Excited to see where yours goes!

And it's actually the second one I stumbled upon since owning the vehicle. Missed out on the first one and told myself I wouldn't let it happen again haha. Consider letting [MENTION=941]SurfRunner[/MENTION] know you're looking for one, he hunted mine down!

 

[MattJakobs]

Kings

Bought some King Coilovers on Tacomaworld. Having them rebuilt at Downsouth Motorsports before install. This means my Icon's (PN:58615) will will be for sale in the next few weeks if anyone is interested.

Guess that means I need to get some Kings out back to match the front...

 

[MattJakobs]

Rebuild Alternator

After talking around and hearing opinions of others, mostly [MENTION=116387]Unner[/MENTION], I decided to have my original alternator completely rebuilt after the pulley bearing went out last month. I took it by Browning's in VA Beach today and they had it done in a few hours and I swapped it in this afternoon. Pleasantly surprised with the same day service. Drove it around and had 13.8-14.2 volts consistently. So far so good and there's a warranty on it so I should be good to go as far as this goes.
A nice grainy picture cause it had started to rain a little bit during the job.
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[MattJakobs]

Road Trip

Took a little road trip west Friday and Saturday to do Skyline Drive and the Natural Bridge. We left from my school apartment and headed to Front Royal, VA where we grabbed some food and started the fun part of the trip. From Front Royal, we got on Skyline Drive heading in the South direction. We camped Friday night on Skyline Drive and slept in the 4Runner. The plan was to pack light and sleep in the hammock but the entire campground was encapsulated inside of a cloud. It would've been a long, damp night and since we had packed lightly, we moved everything to the front two seats and slept in the back. Saturday morning, we got up early for the sunrise, watched that on an overlook, then got some breakfast. From there, we headed down Skyline Drive hitting almost every scenic overlook on the way. The drive was beautiful, so much so that I wish I wasn't the one driving.
It was awesome to see some elevation change and the fall foliage. The highest point we drove to was 3680 feet with most the lookouts ranging in the 2600-3400 foot range. Skyline drive, itself, was a little over 100 miles and then we headed to the Natural Bridge of Virginia. This was definitely cool and I had never scene anything quite like it. I didn't think that the bridge was as big as it was and I was intrigued on how it had formed. All in all, we did a little over 600 miles in the two days with no problems at all. The rebuild alternator held volts perfectly so I'd consider the rebuild a success.
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This trip got me thinking about my rear storage plans. This is the first time I had slept in the back of the 4Runner and likely not my last. My thoughts have been to make two drawers on different heights with the shorter of the two having a fridge on it with slides. I still want to do drawers, but may not have them set at different heights, instead average the two heights. I also will need to make a sleeping platform insert to go over the rear sears to make everything level. A RTT would solve all these problems as well but I don't want that much weight on top for wheeling or even some of those drives. There were plenty of tight turns that would've been a lot more scary had all that weight been on top of the 4Runner. This plan is ever evolving and I only want to make this system once so I'm being patient with it and taking everything into account.

 

[Unner]

Looks really neat with the clouds settling down into the valleys between the mountains. If you liked that I'm sure you'd like the Blue Ridge Parkway as well, lot's of scenery there, especially the western edge near Asheville, NC.

The worst part about sleeping in the back of the 4Runner is the heat, if it's slightly warm out. You probably didn't have a problem up in the mountains, but down in Florida this weekend the heat was pretty intense in the back of the 4Runner. It's pretty comfortable though sleeping back there. I've got a full size mattress topper I bought online that I lay down in the back. It's the perfect size for the back of our trucks and makes it kinda like a bed.

 

[MattJakobs]

Looks really neat with the clouds settling down into the valleys between the mountains. If you liked that I'm sure you'd like the Blue Ridge Parkway as well, lot's of scenery there, especially the western edge near Asheville, NC.

The worst part about sleeping in the back of the 4Runner is the heat, if it's slightly warm out. You probably didn't have a problem up in the mountains, but down in Florida this weekend the heat was pretty intense in the back of the 4Runner. It's pretty comfortable though sleeping back there. I've got a full size mattress topper I bought online that I lay down in the back. It's the perfect size for the back of our trucks and makes it kinda like a bed.

I'll have to check it out for sure. I was like a kid in the candy store stopping at every overlook, never getting to see anything like that.

And sleeping in the back wasn't awful but with two people back there, it was a little tight. It was sleep for an hour, wake up, re-adjust, sleep for an hour, and repeat. The heat wasn't bad at all, the temperature dropped to mid to low 50's which was perfect for sleeping back there. I could only imagine how bad Florida was, walking to my car after work in the summer is painful enough.

I'll definitely be picking up some sort of mattress pad for the back, I just need to figure out what my plans are for storage.

Do you ever remove the seat bottoms in the back for a few extra inches? I know Sonoran Steel sells a set of wing bolts to make this easy but I'm sure I can make my own iteration for less than their $75 price tag.

 

[Unner]

I'll have to check it out for sure. I was like a kid in the candy store stopping at every overlook, never getting to see anything like that.

And sleeping in the back wasn't awful but with two people back there, it was a little tight. It was sleep for an hour, wake up, re-adjust, sleep for an hour, and repeat. The heat wasn't bad at all, the temperature dropped to mid to low 50's which was perfect for sleeping back there. I could only imagine how bad Florida was, walking to my car after work in the summer is painful enough.

I'll definitely be picking up some sort of mattress pad for the back, I just need to figure out what my plans are for storage.

Do you ever remove the seat bottoms in the back for a few extra inches? I know Sonoran Steel sells a set of wing bolts to make this easy but I'm sure I can make my own iteration for less than their $75 price tag.

If you think that's good you gotta get out west. That's where the real scenery is :thumb3:

Yeah 50's would be perfect. 60 isn't too bad. 67 the first night and 74 the second night was a little toasty especially with the humidity.

This is what I use for a mattress.

The Foam Factory, Mattresses, Conventional Foam

I got the 2" full size one and it fits perfectly. The good thing is that even if you build a sleeping platform this will still sit on top of it and be the right size. I used to take the hi-lift off the mounts in the back, but this weekend we tried just laying the mattress over top of it and you couldn't even tell it was back there so that's one less thing that needs to be moved when setting up.

Yeah I do remove the seat bottoms. It gives a lot more room actually. I can lay back there without touching the hatch door or the front seats and I'm 5'11".

I made my own wing bolt things like you're talking about. I wasn't gonna pay $75 for them so I made my own for $5.

Here's the post from my build thread about it.

I made these quick release bolts for my seat bottoms so it's long enough for me to lay back there now. Simple set up, Just a M8x1.25 bolt, a 3/8" wing nut, and some M8 nuts and washers to clamp it on. They are sturdy, you just have to turn them a little to flip the seats up depending on how they are lined up at the time. Then I cut a piece of plywood to lay across the front. Just flip the headrests around and you've got a good support for the wood. Throw a 2" foam mattress topper on there and you've got a pretty decent bed.
DSC03754 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03753 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03752 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03751 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
DSC03749 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

 

[MattJakobs]

If you think that's good you gotta get out west. That's where the real scenery is :thumb3:

Yeah 50's would be perfect. 60 isn't too bad. 67 the first night and 74 the second night was a little toasty especially with the humidity.

This is what I use for a mattress.

The Foam Factory, Mattresses, Conventional Foam

I got the 2" full size one and it fits perfectly. The good thing is that even if you build a sleeping platform this will still sit on top of it and be the right size. I used to take the hi-lift off the mounts in the back, but this weekend we tried just laying the mattress over top of it and you couldn't even tell it was back there so that's one less thing that needs to be moved when setting up.

Yeah I do remove the seat bottoms. It gives a lot more room actually. I can lay back there without touching the hatch door or the front seats and I'm 5'11".

I made my own wing bolt things like you're talking about. I wasn't gonna pay $75 for them so I made my own for $5.

Here's the post from my build thread about it.

Hopefully I find myself out West this summer for that scenery. Going to start planning over winter break and start saving gas monies. Lots to plan but I have a list of a few different places I want to see for sure.

Those DIY wing nuts are exactly what I was envisioning, thanks for the share. Nice that I can go get it all in one swoop without having to worry about what will work.

For the bed, why’d you choose to do foam over an air mattress? I figure the foam could get a little annoying when packing sometimes. Is that what you used in Uwharrie earlier this year? And just loaded gear on half one side of it?

I see the foam being perfect for one night things with no serious wheeling, where tools and extra parts aren’t super necessary. But I’d think anything multiple night or requiring you to bring tools, the foam may take up too much room. Something you’ve had to deal with or experienced?

 

[Unner]

Hopefully I find myself out West this summer for that scenery. Going to start planning over winter break and start saving gas monies. Lots to plan but I have a list of a few different places I want to see for sure.

Those DIY wing nuts are exactly what I was envisioning, thanks for the share. Nice that I can go get it all in one swoop without having to worry about what will work.

For the bed, why’d you choose to do foam over an air mattress? I figure the foam could get a little annoying when packing sometimes. Is that what you used in Uwharrie earlier this year? And just loaded gear on half one side of it?

I see the foam being perfect for one night things with no serious wheeling, where tools and extra parts aren’t super necessary. But I’d think anything multiple night or requiring you to bring tools, the foam may take up too much room. Something you’ve had to deal with or experienced?

In Uhwarrie I just slept on blankets and my sleeping pad I use in my tent.

I chose foam over air mattress because I don't need to blow up a foam mattress,you can't puncture a foam mattress, and air mattresses don't insulate very well. Air mattresses can be kinda loud and transfer motion easily too.

The foam can be cumbersome, but what I did last time was lay the foam down, then put my boxes with tools, parts, camping stuff, and cooler on top of the foam. I didn't do any serious wheeling, but it was fine going down the forest service roads with a little speed. When I got to the campsite I just took the boxes and cooler out of the back and sat them on the ground. That seemed to work pretty well. You can also fold the foam back so it's only laying over the rear seat backs and then stack your boxes and stuff in the cargo area so it's not sitting on the foam. If you start with the foam laying down on the floor of the truck you don't loose much space. If you leave it rolled up (I keep it in a black leaf/lawn garbage bag) then it does take up a lot of space.

We always put our bags with clothes and food and stuff in the front seats to keep that covered and inside the truck. It's something you get better at the more you do it and realize what works best for you.

 

[MattJakobs]

In Uhwarrie I just slept on blankets and my sleeping pad I use in my tent.

I chose foam over air mattress because I don't need to blow up a foam mattress,you can't puncture a foam mattress, and air mattresses don't insulate very well. Air mattresses can be kinda loud and transfer motion easily too.

The foam can be cumbersome, but what I did last time was lay the foam down, then put my boxes with tools, parts, camping stuff, and cooler on top of the foam. I didn't do any serious wheeling, but it was fine going down the forest service roads with a little speed. When I got to the campsite I just took the boxes and cooler out of the back and sat them on the ground. That seemed to work pretty well. You can also fold the foam back so it's only laying over the rear seat backs and then stack your boxes and stuff in the cargo area so it's not sitting on the foam. If you start with the foam laying down on the floor of the truck you don't loose much space. If you leave it rolled up (I keep it in a black leaf/lawn garbage bag) then it does take up a lot of space.

We always put our bags with clothes and food and stuff in the front seats to keep that covered and inside the truck. It's something you get better at the more you do it and realize what works best for you.

I do like the idea of foam because you can cut it to fit around wheel wells and whatever else may be needed. And I fully agree that foam is a ton more comfortable than air. I'll have to do some thinking but this certainly makes it easier. A roof top tent would certainly make everything easier and comfier, wheeling with it would just make me a little nervous. It'd be perfect for overland-type trips like I just went on and surf trips, but I don't want a $1200+ tent I can't use every time I go somewhere?

 

[MattJakobs]

Kings

Background: I bought some King coil overs in rough shape on TacomaWorld's classifieds the other week and had them sent directly to Downsouth Motorsports for rebuild
So today I heard from DSM about the coil overs I had sent to them. One isn't in bad condition and was able to be rebuilt. The other, not so much... The bolt holding the top nut on is seized and they have given up on trying to free it. They offered me a couple options and I think I'm just going to have DSM send me what they did, and a new pair of extended length Kings. So new Kings instead of rebuilt Kings.
When I get the old ones in, I'm going to try and loosen that bolt. If so, I'll rebuild them and list them for sale. If not, I'll just have an extra rebuilt coil over to swap in during rebuilds I suppose.

 

[MattJakobs]

Kings

Installed some new King Coilovers 10/31. School had my laptop doing some repairs so just getting around to posting some pictures now.
So far, they feel great. A little more forgiving than my Icons were. They seem to soak up bumps a little bit more, where as the Icons seemed to skip around when hitting something. I'm running less preload, with more lift which is nice too. I kept the preload down on the Icons which gave me about 1/2-1" of front lift height and made everything super raked. I like that I'm more level again. I'm excited to wheel with them and see how they feel.
Also got an alignment 11/2 to get everything back into spec.
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Hows that for pictures [MENTION=119532]Road Bull[/MENTION]?

I also just placed an order for a 4XInnovations rear bumper. Adam said it should ship out this week so I'm hoping that it's in by Thanksgiving so I can install it over my holiday break.
Options I got: Swing out, Hi-Lift mount, Single jerry can mount
I'm eventually going to add a dual jerry can mount, I just don't like how low it sits on the bumper so I opted for the single mount for the extra framing he does with the jerry can mounts. Stoked to get this in and installed!