Murph's Build and Off Road Thread

[ugamurph]

In March of 2013, I had my first chance to go on a trail ride at Coppinger Cove near Chattanooga, TN. I had heard some great things about riding there and was excited to be able to go.

We met up with a great group of guys including two FJ40s, two 4Runners, two Wranglers and a Chevy LUV. Yes, a nearly stock Chevy LUV!

Enjoy the pictures.

Met for breakfast and getting ready to head out.







This is an old block building church that holds a service once a month for the "locals".


This is Brian and his Chevy LUV. He taught us that LUV stands for Light Utility Vehicle.


Two of my favorite trail buddies. And [MENTION=67079]Fjatheart[/MENTION]'s T4R in the background.










One of many caves in this area. The opening was over 50 ft high.


From the inside out

[MENTION=67079]Fjatheart[/MENTION]


The Cove is full of God's beauty.






One of the many creek crossings.



Look at that flex.


The kids enjoyed playing in the rocks as much as we did.

 

[541joseph]

Ok so I looked and didn't see it. Pics of your 6th seat?!?

 

[ugamurph]

Ok so I looked and didn't see it. Pics of your 6th seat?!?

Those pictures will be up soon. I started building the truck in November 2012, but just recently started documenting it in a build thread. It's taking some time to get caught up, but I'm almost there.

 

[Dee3]

Nice runner uga.. Looks like a fun trail, pretty countryside. Like the caves.

 

[DizzyDoyle]

I am glad you made one of these. I love your 4runner man. Can't wait to see what's next. And GO DAWGS!

 

[ugamurph]

Nice runner uga.. Looks like a fun trail, pretty countryside. Like the caves.

There are several thousand acres there to explore. It is absolutely beautiful. It has several caves, beautiful trees, rocks, creeks and even ruins from old homesteads. Last time we were there we found a rock chimney from what was a two story house. My daughter asked, "Dad, Why did these people have these big trees growing where their house was." I had to explain that the "big trees" were much younger than the chimney. It's a great place to ride and get away from the rat race of life. No cell service at all in there. I have some more pictures from other rides that I'll post when I get to that point in the timeline. Can't wait to share and can't wait to go back.

I am glad you made one of these. I love your 4runner man. Can't wait to see what's next. And GO DAWGS!

I've been saying for a long time that I was going to do this. Since I've reached a point where I'm going to slow down on the major mods, I'm going to try to catch up. Then it will be easier to keep up with the build from there. Once I do get caught up, most posts from then on will be maintenance and trail rides.

Thank y'all for the compliments. It's been a fun ride.

Go Dawgs! (right, [MENTION=88391]NateMob[/MENTION]?)

 

[ugamurph]

Adding a couple of videos from that last trail ride at Coppinger Cove.

This is a fun little movie trailer that I created with iMovie using several clips that were taken on that trip.

 

[ugamurph]

The trail went into a creek around a corner and back up the other side. Come to find out it was a rocky bottom creek that wasn't quite as deep as we thought. We could have taken our time with it and not worried about getting stuck. You live and learn.

 

[ugamurph]

This was one of the long uphill climbs that was less rocky than most. A good break from the bouncing and jouncing of the cobblestone creek beds.

 

[ugamurph]

One more short clip.

 

[ugamurph]

This is one of my good friends and wrenching partner, [MENTION=67079]Fjatheart[/MENTION] (Trae). He and I help each other as much as we can not only with wrenching on the 4Runners, but also in just living life.

Here, we were working on installing new steering knuckles on his 2001 T4R.

 

[ugamurph]

Trae gave me this steel box that I use to pack all my recovery gear and tools in when I hit the trail. I packed it up getting it ready for STLCA's Great Smoky Mountain Trail Ride (GSMTR) in May 2013.



Spoiler alert…. GSMTR pics coming up!

(05/14/2013)

 

[ugamurph]

[MENTION=67079]Fjatheart[/MENTION] invited me to come along with him, his dad and his son to the Great Smoky Mountain Trail Ride put on by the Southeastern Toyota Land Cruisers Association at Wind Rock Park in Oliver Springs, TN. We spent 3 days riding many of the trails in the 72,000 acre park. The group there included all kinds of Toyotas including FJ40s, 4Runners, FJ Cruisers, Iron Pigs, Tacomas, Hilux and the list goes on. Our group of friends included an FJ40 owner driving a fun little Samurai.

On to the photos:

Our crew..


The Sammy three-wheelin' on trail 22..



As always, a non-action shot of my T4R, because I'm always the photographer..


Andy Scott in his FJC. The ATRAC system in these things is amazing.


Eric coming up trail 22.


What a view!


This was a great spot for lunch.


The boys laughing and cutting up while eating lunch.


Visiting the windmills. These things are huge!


Eric Scott wanted to have some fun on the challenging trail 15.

He ended up smacking this tree with his passenger side. The trail was wet, slick and hard to control.


The nights were capped off with a little socializing around the campfire.


Here are a few pics of other rigs that were there.



and a very colorful FJ40 motor..



And, one last poser shot of my rig…"Do you even wheel, bro?"


(May 16-18, 2013)

 

[tinman]

Those are some cool pics of that last ride. Looks like a lot of fun. I've been up to Coal Creek before, but on ATV's. Looking at possibly going to GSMTR this year with the 4Runner, so hopefully I can make it.

I'm subscribing for pics of the "6th seat".

 

[Skidmarcx]

Clean build!

 

[ugamurph]

Those are some cool pics of that last ride. Looks like a lot of fun. I've been up to Coal Creek before, but on ATV's. Looking at possibly going to GSMTR this year with the 4Runner, so hopefully I can make it.



I'm subscribing for pics of the "6th seat".

I've never been on ATVs, but it's a very fun place in the 4Runner. I'll be at GSMTR next week. Hopefully my dad will be coming up from GA and bringing his semi-pro photography skills. There may be some action shots of my rig available soon! Shoot me a PM with your info if you end up going.


6th seat install should be posted soon. Stay tuned.

Clean build!

Thanks, [MENTION=91261]Skidmarcx[/MENTION]. I need to sit down for an hour or two to get this thread caught up.

 

[ugamurph]

I really need to get caught up on this build thread. I'm just over a year behind. A lot has changed and we've had several adventures.

 

[TNRunner99]

You do need to get caught up. It makes it hard to T4R stalk you.

 

[DizzyDoyle]

Any updates to this awesome 4Runner?

 

[ugamurph]

Any updates to this awesome 4Runner?

Thanks for the compliment [MENTION=93037]DizzyDoyle[/MENTION]. It's actually further along than the build thread shows but I have not had the time to update here in awhile. I'll try to get caught up someday.