MattJakobs Build Thread-2001 Stellar Blue Pearl

Back-Up Light

Finishing up some miscellaneous little tasks on the 4Runner over my holiday break. One of my to-dos is a back up light. I picked this light up from Cali-Raised and just wired it into my reverse lights. I'll put a diode in the line and run it to a switch as well so that I can have the lights come on even when I'm not in reverse. This will provide good camping light and I since I can open my rear swing out about 110* degrees, I can have it under my awning too.
I also picked up some switches from OTRATTW in the classifieds so all my wiring is getting redone since I'm going from a 3-prong switch to a 5-prong switch. Not too much work, just adding another ground and adding power to the switches so the text lights up whenever the car is on. I also linked all of my grounds together and same with the switch power to clean everything up and have that many less wires running around.
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861s

Swapped in some 861s in place of my 8 wraps to help with the weight of the new rear bumper. I have a little rake again without having too much. They still feel soft and I'm happy with the switch. Hopefully I'll get to stretch them out over my winter break.
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OTRATTW Switches

Pulled my old Daystar switches and plugged in some new OTRATTW switches. Really happy with them. The text is amber when the vehicle is on and when I flick the switches, the top is green. I also finished wiring my rear/back up light. It comes on whenever I go in reverse but it'll also come on with the flick of the switch.
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Pulled my old Daystar switches and plugged in some new OTRATTW switches. Really happy with them. The text is amber when the vehicle is on and when I flick the switches, the top is green. I also finished wiring my rear/back up light. It comes on whenever I go in reverse but it'll also come on with the flick of the switch.

Nice job with the wiring! I'm kinda partial to good wiring. Trying to catch up on your rig since I've been away a bit.
 
Nice job with the wiring! I'm kinda partial to good wiring. Trying to catch up on your rig since I've been away a bit.

Thanks Mike! I have you to thank for the clean wiring as your build is what really made me want to make mine tidy and more organized. I even color coded all the wires going to my fuse box and the accessories to make it easy to trouble shoot if there's a problem. Took that out of your build thread too, haha.

I have to catch up on yours as well. I haven't gotten to read through your recent trip reports. I stopped around the time you finished your rear boxes so I'll definitely be catching up before the New Year now that I'm free from school.

Hope the holidays treat you well!
 
New Years-2018

Went camping this New Years Eve with [MENTION=80933]4x4runner2002[/MENTION] and a couple other semi-local guys. Headed up to Flagpole Knob and camped the night, and got a little wheeling in. Light snow coverage with some ice. Nothing too bad, one sport that was a little nerve racking but smooth sailing besides that, for wheeling at least. Definitely on the cold side of things. In the negatives with it feeling even colder. When we woke up, everything was frozen, besides the alcohol. Water, Coke, Wet-Wipes, everything. Not too miserable with some propane heaters and a healthy fire. Probably the last time I camp in sub-zero weather though.
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Things weren't as smooth on the way home. On the way home, I noticed something felt a little weird but wasn't sure what. No shaking or noises, something was just off. Pulled over, looked at all the usual suspects, and everything looked fine. Got back in Drive, started to idle forward, then drop. All my lug nuts sheared off and my tire stuffed into my fender. Luckily, it kept it from dropping all the way down, and I was idling forward. The fender is a little bent but nothing serious, I should be able to pull it and give it some love back into place. Tomorrow, I'll go by Toyota and pick up some new studs and get it back on the road again. Best of something bad. Could've been on the interstate and busted a lot more stuff. New studs and lug nuts and I'll be as good as new.
Not sure if this is a result of the extreme temperature change or what, but I'll make sure to torque all my wheels before any sort of long drive for now on.
This all happened at night so no pictures but I'll get some tomorrow. It's on jack stands in the driveway which is as far as it's going for now.
 
Probably the last time I camp in sub-zero weather though....

.....Got back in Drive, started to idle forward, then drop. All my lug nuts sheared off and my tire stuffed into my fender. Luckily, it kept it from dropping all the way down, and I was idling forward...

I used to do that sort of thing, it's a young mans game. I remember trips where the cooler would freeze solid and I'd be screwed for breakfast in the morning unless I wanted to chip it out of the ice. Door jambs freezing shut, beer cans all burst from freezing, battery hating life as you start the engine... fun, fun, fun. One trip I fell in a river up to my thighs at the bottom of an 800 ft. deep canyon and had to hike 3 miles out with my clothes and boots frozen solid from the thighs down.

Good luck getting the ladies to attend a trip like that, right? And it didn't kill you, so you must be stronger now.

That's some crazy stuff losing all six wheel studs. How far were you from home? Do you suspect they were over/under torqued?
 
Things weren't as smooth on the way home. On the way home, I noticed something felt a little weird but wasn't sure what. No shaking or noises, something was just off. Pulled over, looked at all the usual suspects, and everything looked fine. Got back in Drive, started to idle forward, then drop. All my lug nuts sheared off and my tire stuffed into my fender. Luckily, it kept it from dropping all the way down, and I was idling forward. The fender is a little bent but nothing serious, I should be able to pull it and give it some love back into place. Tomorrow, I'll go by Toyota and pick up some new studs and get it back on the road again. Best of something bad. Could've been on the interstate and busted a lot more stuff. New studs and lug nuts and I'll be as good as new.
Not sure if this is a result of the extreme temperature change or what, but I'll make sure to torque all my wheels before any sort of long drive for now on.
This all happened at night so no pictures but I'll get some tomorrow. It's on jack stands in the driveway which is as far as it's going for now.
Diggin the pics. Looks like a fun (but cold) trip. That sucks bad about the issue on the way home tho! Woah. Glad it was minimal damage though.
 
I used to do that sort of thing, it's a young mans game. I remember trips where the cooler would freeze solid and I'd be screwed for breakfast in the morning unless I wanted to chip it out of the ice. Door jambs freezing shut, beer cans all burst from freezing, battery hating life as you start the engine... fun, fun, fun. One trip I fell in a river up to my thighs at the bottom of an 800 ft. deep canyon and had to hike 3 miles out with my clothes and boots frozen solid from the thighs down.

Good luck getting the ladies to attend a trip like that, right? And it didn't kill you, so you must be stronger now.

That's some crazy stuff losing all six wheel studs. How far were you from home? Do you suspect they were over/under torqued?

I've said the same thing about surfing in the winter. After doing it for years, I think it's time to hang up the thicker wetsuits and just stay in when it's freezing outside and the water is in the low 30s. Just too hard and the preparation for everything is so much more. That being said, we haven't gotten a good winter swell yet so we'll see how true I stay.

The night I got in and the next morning were both too cold to cook. The propane lines were frozen and therefore we couldn't get the stove to stay on so that wan't much fun either.

Asking a girl was out of the question too. I was the only one without a roof top tent so I ended up sleeping in one of theirs. I couldn't imagine how cold it would've been on the frozen ground in a tent or even in the back of the 4Runner.

I was 51 miles from home and Zach (4x4Runner2002) wasncaravan-ing with me. He had his floor jack and jack stands in the trailer so once I went down, we put it on jack stands and inspected everything. It was a little too cold to do the repair there (and I think all auto parts stores would be closed after 7 on New Years Day) so it was towed home. I only have AAA's basic coverage which doesn't cover anywhere near 51 miles but Zach had 100 mile towing through them so that was nice. I think it's about time I consider upping my coverage for more miles.

I'd hate to think it's something as small as improper torque on the wheels causing them to fall off but I'm starting to think so. It's something I'll definitely start checking a little more often, especially before longer road trips.

Diggin the pics. Looks like a fun (but cold) trip. That sucks bad about the issue on the way home tho! Woah. Glad it was minimal damage though.

Thanks Dave and me too! Could've been a lot worse and I wasn't more than maybe 250 ft off the highway when this happened. Had I been driving on the highway at 60 mph, this would've been a totally different posts.

So that’s who I saw on instagram. Awesome trip. JELOUS !
I hope you saw some camping/wheeling pictures instead of it on the tow truck...
And definitely a fun trip but cold. Had it been a little warmer, would've made everything a little better.
 
Looks like a pretty nice trip even if it was a bit on the chilly side. That's pretty interesting about your lug nuts coming off like that. Like you said the only good thing is it stayed in your wheel well. I hope the fender can easily be bent back into shape.
 
Looks like a pretty nice trip even if it was a bit on the chilly side. That's pretty interesting about your lug nuts coming off like that. Like you said the only good thing is it stayed in your wheel well. I hope the fender can easily be bent back into shape.

You and me both. I’ll get pictures of it today. Gonna pull it too and try and bend it out some.
 
I've said the same thing about surfing in the winter. After doing it for years, I think it's time to hang up the thicker wetsuits and just stay in when it's freezing outside and the water is in the low 30s. Just too hard and the preparation for everything is so much more. That being said, we haven't gotten a good winter swell yet so we'll see how true I stay..............

I'd hate to think it's something as small as improper torque on the wheels causing them to fall off but I'm starting to think so. It's something I'll definitely start checking a little more often, especially before longer road trips.

Dang, you're definitely crazier than I am when it comes to the cold. You won't catch me swimming in 30 degree water, wetsuit or not.

That AAA Plus coverage is a lifesaver. I signed up after my starter imploded in the parking lot of a farmers market 113 miles from home. The friend that was riding with me had the 100 mile coverage and the tow truck driver dropped him off in one town, then took me the remaining 100+ miles home with no extra charges. I tipped that driver a crisp $100 bill when he dropped me off. Even if you use it just once, it pays for itself.

When you got the new wheels, did you paint them prior to install? I know that with newly finished wheels you're supposed to re-torque shortly after install because torquing against new paint/PC can cause the lugs to loosen up some.
 
Dang, you're definitely crazier than I am when it comes to the cold. You won't catch me swimming in 30 degree water, wetsuit or not.

That AAA Plus coverage is a lifesaver. I signed up after my starter imploded in the parking lot of a farmers market 113 miles from home. The friend that was riding with me had the 100 mile coverage and the tow truck driver dropped him off in one town, then took me the remaining 100+ miles home with no extra charges. I tipped that driver a crisp $100 bill when he dropped me off. Even if you use it just once, it pays for itself.

When you got the new wheels, did you paint them prior to install? I know that with newly finished wheels you're supposed to re-torque shortly after install because torquing against new paint/PC can cause the lugs to loosen up some.

6mm of neoprene can warm you up a lot haha. To the point when you're sweating in the water. Putting it on when it's still wet from a previous session is a whole other story though.

My AAA is up next month so that 100 mileage cover will be added. Super thankful Zach was with me cause that tow bill for the remaining miles would've been painful. The tow truck driver was a really nice guy and was definitely compensated when he dropped me off.

I painted them before installing them. But the wheels have been off multiple times with miscellaneous maintenance since then so I don't think that attributed to it in any way.

Just picked this guy up after doing some research last night on sub $100 torque wrenches and re-torqued all my wheels. I wanted the 1/2" drive and I'm not sure I trust my dad's old 3/8" drive torque wrench all that much. Hopefully I'm smooth sailing from here.

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New Front Passenger Side Wheel Studs

After last nights incident, I got busy today putting everything together again. Knocked out all the old studs and put new, OEM studs in. I also need to play with my fender fitment a little more and will do that tomorrow.
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Drove around a little tonight and everything felt solid again. I'll put a couple hundred miles on it and double check the torque on them to make sure all is well.
 
Woe... glad you are alright man! That could have sucked way worse. Yeah, at some point in the single digit degrees it just seems to hurt and my fun return also drops to single digits. LOL. Glad you got it sorted.
 
Woe... glad you are alright man! That could have sucked way worse. Yeah, at some point in the single digit degrees it just seems to hurt and my fun return also drops to single digits. LOL. Glad you got it sorted.

It was a lot of fun. Just very cold. Something I'll probably never do again.
 
Bent the fender back into place. I got it as good as I could without taking it off. It's still freezing outside and I don't really want to mess with it till it's a little more pleasant outside. First three pictures are before, the next three are after.
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Traded around some lighting to finally get everything where I want it. I got rid of my Rigid Industries spot pattern duallies and added a set of HID spot patterns on the bumper and a set of Cali-Raised amber flood lights in the bumper. Since the Cali-Raised are a little softer on the eyes and I only have 4 spots on my ash tray switch panel, I wired them to the left of the steering wheel to a OTRATTW switch since I'll likely use them the most. I don't have an extra switch blank so I'll start looking for one to put it where I have the factory-like fog light switch.
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