My expedition runner project

You will probably like an external speaker for that HAM. There are ideal mounting places on top of the B Pillar or behind the sunroof.

Impressed by how much thought is going into this build. This will be a really great truck when you get it finished.
 
You will probably like an external speaker for that HAM. There are ideal mounting places on top of the B Pillar or behind the sunroof.

Impressed by how much thought is going into this build. This will be a really great truck when you get it finished.



I have an external speaker, Right now I always have the back seats folded and I just put it under the rear cup holders facing up. I guess Ill have to figure out a permanent place eventually lol. Humm.. Im a little scared about cutting into the headliner just yet but maybe thats the most clean look.
 
So I had the afternoon off and I decided i might as well get the Rear Diff Breather mod done and out of the way. after reading a few others post I ordered the parts i needed last week.

I used this as my example to copy. Thanks Bob_98SR5

4Runners.org - Type R Rear Differential

Parts
Toyota Union Fitting- #90404-51319
Toyota Breather Plug- # 90930-03136
Just picked up 6' vacuum line from Autozone
2 hose clamps

Tools/Supplies Needed
14mm rachet socket
12mm rachet socket
Flat-bladed screwdriver
Xacto knife
a few zip ties



Others have lowered the spare tire for more room but I was able to get it done with out it. I just jacked up the rear by the tow hitch and put some jack stands under the hitch.

So I just laid on my back and unscrewed the stock breather. The hardest part was getting the new adapter screwed in. It was a pain in the ass from my back to get the threads to line up since i was going on feel only.

Then i just cut a hole in the rubber around the gas cap and slid in my hose til it came out the bottom. Maneuvered it to the diff adapter and hose clamped it on.cut the extra hose sticking out the gas door and put on my breather and hose clamped it. cleaned it up with a few zip ties and I was done. cost was prob around $30. Parts are only like $10 but it was $10 shipping. then hose and camps was around $5.

Its good insurance since my last truck I filled the tranny and diff with water a few times lol


IMG_1029.jpg~original


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IMG_1027.jpg~original

As you can see the hole clamp keeps the hose from sliding back through the rubber. No other modifications are needed for that
 
The build is coming along great and I love the black runners. They just wouldnt hold up will to the backwoods pinstripes here in AR.:)

I am curious about the stinger relay setup for the second battery. I have been holding off for a National Luna setup but they are expensive. Do you have to remember to flip the switch to charge the second battery or is that automatic.

Again, great build.
 
The build is coming along great and I love the black runners. They just wouldnt hold up will to the backwoods pinstripes here in AR.:)

I am curious about the stinger relay setup for the second battery. I have been holding off for a National Luna setup but they are expensive. Do you have to remember to flip the switch to charge the second battery or is that automatic.

Again, great build.

Thanks,man

You can set it to an ignition wire so when you turn the car on it connects them and when you turn it off they disconnect. Right now i just have it on a switch and leave them always connected. When Im camping or ever feel the need to disconnect them I do.

I think ill end up moving it to the ignition wire so I dont have to worry about it. I want the switch for my compressor when it gets installed also.
 
So I have been extremely lazy with updating my build but I have done a few mods since. I installed a wilson cellphone booster that is pretty amazing. You can have one bar and you hook up the booster and it goes to full bars.

But today im updating to post my solar panel add on. My edgestar fridge lives in the car always providing cold drinks. This outs a drain on my battery so I bought a 30watt solar and mounted it on the roof to help offset the power.


photo2-21.jpg~original

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I wasnt sure where I wanted to put some hella's but i settled on the front bumper since light bars cost over $200 and didnt know when i would get a roofrack.

I bought hella 500ff driving lights and installed HID's in them. i plan on getting some 500ff fogs to put on the ouside of the driving lights for more wide coverage

At this point I also ordered 3 toyota fog light switchs so use for my aux items. They should be here this week some time.

IMG_0906.jpg~original


IMG_0909.jpg~original

Awesome build. How exactly did you mount the Hellas? I am thinking of doing the same but can't figure out if its mounted to the plastic part or the metal part of the bumper.
 
So I have since removed the hellas, they are actually disappointing for the cost. LED light bars are soo cheap these days there is no point in wasting money on HID.

I drilled through the plastic and the metal for the HID but the new LED light bar I drilled 2 new holes the same way.

I will try and get some updated pictures tomorrow for you. I put a 24" LED light bar in front cost like $60 shipped and a 32" LED light bar on the roof that cost like $90 shipped.

the LED light bars are simply amazing, its like day time compared to the HID.

-Cheers
 
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Well its been a while I guess I better give yall an update. continuing with the way my project has been going im still doing mods for fancier living in the back country vs off road capabilities.

In no real order Ill just start talking.

So my square wave inver died and I really wanted a heated blanket for camping and they can not run on modified sine wave so I decided to buy a sine wave inverter. I ened up getting this one

http://www.amazon.com/Xantrex-806-1...id=1419652819&sr=8-4&keywords=1000w+sine+wave


So far its great, I can run my heated blanket fine. Its nice having the car more like a bed with blankets and not tied up in a mummy sleeping bag. Sorry no pictures of it installed buts its in the same place as the other inverter so you can revert back to the old post.



So lets talk solar. I always want more. I installed another 30w panel on the roof, still using the same morning star controller.

calimobber-albums-pictures-picture49229-added-panel.jpg



So Im still not satisfied with my solar since its normally hot and im adding more drinks to the fridge over camping trips. Add my heated blanket use and solar cannot keep up So instead of conserve I will add more solar! haha. I ordered a 85w panel that will replace the 60w now. But sadly it arrived cracked!

calimobber-albums-pictures-picture49228-cracked-panel.jpg


Im in the process of returning it and Ill try again. At $125 shipped for the 85w panel it not bad at all.
 
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Ok time for shade. I wanted a way for shade but cant handle the super high prices for most premade systems. Yes they look nice and maybe some day ill get one but for now I just wanted a cheap simple option. I bought a camo tarp from walmart for like $15 and some bungie cords. I got 2 poles for either a tent or shade setup idk but they seem to work great.

calimobber-albums-pictures-picture49225-shade.jpg
 
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Always trying to improve communications. My magnet mount antenna for the cellphone booster works great but it keeps sliding around from car washes and random stuff scratching up my roof. Also I got a few pretty nice NMO antenna's so I figured it was time to install the nmo and cut into the ROOF! Im not happy with the signal as it actually a little worse then my magnet antenna. I think it has to do with the cheap cable my nmo came with so ill be upgrading to nice LMR400 and hope to see better improvements.

calimobber-albums-pictures-picture49227-nmo-antenna.jpg
 
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Now more POWER!!! We all know about the cs144 alternator mod-- Is you dont just seach google and there is a ton of write ups so Ill jsut stick to the basics.

I bought mine off amazon open boxed item. $60 shipped ( best price I found by far)

ACDelco 335-1048 Professional Alternator

I found the adaptor on ebay for like $18 shipped, This allowed me to plug the stock alternator plug into the alternator with out splicing or cutting wires.

I also needed 3 3/8 washers so fill the extra room this alternator had, you can see them in the pictures.

It was a pretty straight forward mod, the bottom bracket gave me a little trouble since you need to move it down for it it clear then pull it back up and bolt it up. I was just able to push it down with force and pull it back up hard but not to bad.

This goes from 80amp stock to 140amps and 100amps at idle( ill be testing this tomorrow since I needed to drain the battery down a good amount to push that much amps)

calimobber-albums-pictures-picture49232-alternator-3.jpg


calimobber-albums-pictures-picture49230-alternator-1.jpg



calimobber-albums-pictures-picture49231-alternator-2.jpg


The end large black wire you see is part of my grounding mods
 
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Oh and since I drive all over the country pulling a 6x10 enclosed trailer with everything i own I figured a transmission cooler would be a good upgrade. I cant find any pictures of this but there seems to be plenty of information these

I pretty much copied this one

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...oler-transmission-cooler-install-3rd-gen.html

Got the cooler from amazon like everything I buy online lol. It didnt take long and I didnt really need to add any transmission fluid since you dont lose much. I monitor my temps with the scan gauge and its amazing how much overdrive helps to cooler the temps. SO use it on hills!
 
Shame on me I didnt even post the booster on here ( problem with multiple forums)

I have also purchased a wilson cellphone booster. You can see the antenna in the solar picture #54 . The wire runs into the car from the brake light wiring boot and runs under the headliner and down the back seat pillar. I just glued the Amp under the carpet as seen in the picture. As of now it still plugs into cigarette plug but I will be hard wiring it with a switch to turn on and off as needed. the phone cradle just sits next to my seat and I use it when needed.

I purchased this unit. I paid $160 at the time.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011GI95A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


I also own the sleek mini booster and it seems to work just about as good so I guess just the nicer unit helps clean things up mainly that it.

calimobber-albums-pictures-picture49234-booster-1.jpg


calimobber-albums-pictures-picture49235-booster-2.jpg
 
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