Nark's Tinkerings (Build Thread)

[Narkhelek]

Here is my build thread to document the mods I've made to my 4Runner past, current, and future. I take very little credit for the things I've done as the members of this forum have been the source for most of my ideas. My hope is that someone will be able to take something away from what I've done and apply it to their own build.

Before falling off mountain:

After falling off mountain:

Contents:

I. Power Distribution System
II. On-board Air System Mark II (Replaced w/ CO2 Tank)
III. Repainted Silver
IV. Fender Liners and Rocker Panel Line-X
V. Camel Trophy Mod
VI. Dynamat XTREME!!1! Install
VII. Front Bearing Replacement
VIII. BFG KM2 255/80/17-E Tires
IX. Adventure Trailer Birch Storage Drawer

 

[Narkhelek]

Power Distribution System

Overview

I decided to create a power distribution system of sorts to provide a central place to power my various accessories. My goals were to make it easier to wire up new power feeds without having to continuously find inventive ways to tap in to existing power sources and to centralize power distribution as much as possible to make it easier to work with and troubleshoot.

Details

I decided that I wanted to have two different fuse blocks with one being a constant on power feed and the other being a switched power feed. As others have had success with the Blue Sea fuse blocks, I decided to use their products as well. I went with the 6 fuse ATO fuse panel with negative bus for both the constant and switched power feeds.

Given that the vehicle has a chassis ground the negative bus isn't strictly needed but I went with that model so that I could have the option of a clean ground path for devices such as my CB that can be sensitive to dirty or transient voltages on ground.

Both the positive and negative main feeds to the fuse panels are connected to the auxiliary terminals on my Diehard Group 31M battery with one positive and negative feed for each fuse panel. On the positive side the feeds come off the battery to a 125A ANL fuse. From the 125A fuse the feed then goes directly to the constant power fuse block while the switched feed goes to a 200A relay which then provides power to the switched fuse block. The 200A relay is triggered by power from a fuse tap off the in-cabin fuse panel under the driver side dash.

Pictures

A picture showing the layout while it was still being built out

A picture showing it after being completed

I used 4 gauge wire for the main power and ground feeds to the fuse panels. The 125A fuses, 200A relay and fuse panels are all secured with 3M VHB tape. I decided to leverage the large flat area on top of the engine compartment fuse panel as mounting locations for the 125A fuses and the 200A relay. I don't anticipate having to get in there very often so making use of that space was an acceptable trade off with the loss of easy access to the fuses inside. It's been a few weeks and the VHB tape still has everything very securely attached.

The silver L piece of aluminum you see on the far left of the second picture is a bracket I made to mount relays for my on-board air system.

 

[Corbet]

Nice work on the electrical. You'll never regret spending the time and money to do that right. Having a rats nest of accessory wiring does no one favors on the trail.

 

[Narkhelek]

On-board Air System Mark II

Overview

I originally deployed a Viair Constant Duty system (Viair 450C compressor + 2.5g tank) in the space above the engine compartment air filter box as detailed here. This worked fairly well however the space was very constrained causing me two issues. First, I had no room to expand the system which I desired to do because my tire fill rate was slower than I liked and the system wasn't sufficient to run air tools. Second, the mounting system I created wasn't rigid enough to prevent the tank from nocking against the top corner of the cylinder heads which would occasionally make some rattling sounds.

My solution was to relocate my on-board air system to under the rear deck where the spare tire was originally located.

Details

I decided to build a mounting system that would allow the on-board air system to hang upside down under the rear deck. The mounting system is designed to mount two 2.5g tanks and two Viair compressors.

Mounting system with only one tank and compressor mounted

The picture above shows what the basic mounting system looks. It was created out of aluminum L sections to be corrosion resistant.

On-board air system mounted under rear deck

View from other side of on-board air system

Air quick disconnect mounting location

This next picture shows the on-board air system mounted with the second tank added. I haven't acquired the second compressor yet but there is a location already for it next to the existing compressor. The wires for the second compressor have been pre-run.

New compressor power switch location

The original power switch was located in the rear right tail light access panel. I've relocated the power switch to the front dash so that I can start the tanks filling from the front cab area. That way I can start the compressor without having to stop before I get to an area where I'll need to utilize it.

Air gauge

The air gauge is still located in the original location. There is a little electrical tape over the hole where the original switch was located.

80A relay mounting bracket

The main power feeds for the compressors are hooked up to my constant power feed fuse block. The power is controlled through a 80A relay that is wired in series with the compressor switch and pressure shutoff switch installed in one of the air tanks. I have only a single relay installed right now. A second one will be installed once I have my second compressor. The wiring is ran up the left side of the vehicle in the cable tray under the floor sills. I used 8 gauge wire to power the compressors as I prefer to over build my wiring to ensure the fuse is the weakest link.

 

[limamike]

Power Distribution System

Overview

I decided to create a power distribution system of sorts to provide a central place to power my various accessories. My goals were to make it easier to wire up new power feeds without having to continuously find inventive ways to tap in to existing power sources and to centralize power distribution as much as possible to make it easier to work with and troubleshoot.

Details

I decided that I wanted to have two different fuse blocks with one being a constant on power feed and the other being a switched power feed. As others have had success with the Blue Sea fuse blocks, I decided to use their products as well. I went with the 6 fuse ATO fuse panel with negative bus for both the constant and switched power feeds.

Given that the vehicle has a chassis ground the negative bus isn't strictly needed but I went with that model so that I could have the option of a clean ground path for devices such as my CB that can be sensitive to dirty or transient voltages on ground.

Both the positive and negative main feeds to the fuse panels are connected to the auxiliary terminals on my Diehard Group 31M battery with one positive and negative feed for each fuse panel. On the positive side the feeds come off the battery to a 125A ANL fuse. From the 125A fuse the feed then goes directly to the constant power fuse block while the switched feed goes to a 200A relay which then provides power to the switched fuse block. The 200A relay is triggered by power from a fuse tap off the in-cabin fuse panel under the driver side dash.

Pictures

A picture showing the layout while it was still being built out

A picture showing it after being completed

I used 4 gauge wire for the main power and ground feeds to the fuse panels. The 125A fuses, 200A relay and fuse panels are all secured with 3M VHB tape. I decided to leverage the large flat area on top of the engine compartment fuse panel as mounting locations for the 125A fuses and the 200A relay. I don't anticipate having to get in there very often so making use of that space was an acceptable trade off with the loss of easy access to the fuses inside. It's been a few weeks and the VHB tape still has everything very securely attached.

The silver L piece of aluminum you see on the far left of the second picture is a bracket I made to mount relays for my on-board air system.

This looks great! Any chance you can do a wiring diagram showing exactly what you've got pictured?

 

[Winstondvm]

Hey Nark-- Very nice and clean looking installation. One quick question on the air tanks. With the location that they are in, are you concerned about hitting the drain valve/tank or eventual corrosion of the components?

 

[Narkhelek]

Hey Nark-- Very nice and clean looking installation. One quick question on the air tanks. With the location that they are in, are you concerned about hitting the drain valve/tank or eventual corrosion of the components?

Yes and yes. Those are both potential issues. I forgot to mention this above but I actually unbolted and removed the spare tire winch assembly. This allowed me to bolt the on-board air assembly directly to the frame crossmembers. The whole assembly is tucked up there pretty well. I would have to drag my rear axle up and over something to be able to drop the assembly on to something. I will probably leave it as is for now. However, if I do end up managing to damage it I will see about armoring it in some fashion.

As for corrosion, the biggest issue I anticipate would be rock chips flaking off the paint on the tanks allowing for the metal to rust. That can be addressed by periodic inspection and application of rust inhibiting paint touch up.

 

[KidVermicious]

Very cool, Nark! Coming on the AFC run in July?

 

[Narkhelek]

This looks great! Any chance you can do a wiring diagram showing exactly what you've got pictured?

I've created a PDF wiring diagram showing the layout. The objects in the PDF have the same approximate relative location as you see in the pictures above.

 

[Narkhelek]

Very cool, Nark! Coming on the AFC run in July?

I'd really like to but I may end up going to a family reunion instead. If I don't go to the reunion then I will definitely go to the AF canyon run. I was checking out the route in google earth and it looks awesome.

 

[Narkhelek]

As already mentioned in the Satoshi grill mod thread I installed the XXL grill from Customcargrills.com with a Toyota emblem from Toyota Parts - Genuine OEM Toyota Auto Parts and Accessories.

I painted every shiny thing behind the grill including the radiator with high temperature satin black paint to keep it nice and dark back there.

And the results:

 

[Narkhelek]

My 4Runner has been out of action for the last 6 weeks due to some trail damage. Here is a short run down of what happened:

The wife, my 2 dogs, and I decided to go for a day trip along a section of the Great Western Trail. I made a wrong turn and ended up on a very nasty steep (30-40 degree down slope) narrow (tires were right up to the soft shoulder) ledge trail with a cliff drop off on the right side and a cliff wall on the left and no way to turn around. I had to have my wife guide me down this very steep trail to ensure my right tires weren't going to slip off the edge or that the trail wasn't going to give way. To improve matters while I was inching my way down the trail it started to rain pretty heavy making it too dangerous to go on given the steep decent and narrow soft shoulder. Thus my wife, the 2 dogs, and I ended up having to sleep in the truck over night at about a 40 degree angle. Let me assure you it's quite impossible to sleep at a 40 degree angle with 120lbs of dog smashed up against you.

The next morning we got to the bottom of that section of trail only to have to negotiate a very sharp right hand switch back turn with the down slope now on the left. The shoulder at this point went from soft to just sand and the whole turn was angled down slope quite a bit.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to negotiate the turn without sliding off the trail. Fortunately, I had connected my winch to a tree so as I slid off the trail instead of just rolling down the slope I kind of pendulum across the face of the slope nearly tipping over a few times and ultimately coming to rest against a tree.

I then had to winch myself back up on to the trail accompinied by much metal crunching and wincing on my part as the left side of my truck was crunching along the side of the tree. Nothing structural was damaged but a bunch of sheet metal on the left side was dented up and my driver side mirror was sheared off.

I was then able to winch myself back up the slope on to the trail facing the way I came. I then proceeded to return the way I came, winching myself up the trail at times due to the steepness and narrowness of the trail.

While my truck was in the shop I had the collision repair place repaint my truck silver and line-x my fender liners and rocker panels. The collision repair place did a great job and you'd never know my truck was in an accident (again).

Here is my truck all fixed up:

 

[Narkhelek]

Here are a few close up shots of the fender liners with the Line-X coating. The coating has a rough sparkly texture which I don't like as much as the smooth flat black of the stock liners. However, the stock liners are very soft and scratch easily. Mine were all kinds of chewed up. At least now they are armored:

Rear:

Front:

 

[ATL4R]

My 4Runner has been out of action for the last 6 weeks due to some trail damage. Here is a short run down of what happened:

The wife, my 2 dogs, and I decided to go for a day trip along a section of the Great Western Trail. I made a wrong turn and ended up on a very nasty steep (30-40 degree down slope) narrow (tires were right up to the soft shoulder) ledge trail with a cliff drop off on the right side and a cliff wall on the left and no way to turn around. I had to have my wife guide me down this very steep trail to ensure my right tires weren't going to slip off the edge or that the trail wasn't going to give way. To improve matters while I was inching my way down the trail it started to rain pretty heavy making it too dangerous to go on given the steep decent and narrow soft shoulder. Thus my wife, the 2 dogs, and I ended up having to sleep in the truck over night at about a 40 degree angle. Let me assure you it's quite impossible to sleep at a 40 degree angle with 120lbs of dog smashed up against you.

The next morning we got to the bottom of that section of trail only to have to negotiate a very sharp right hand switch back turn with the down slope now on the left. The shoulder at this point went from soft to just sand and the whole turn was angled down slope quite a bit.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to negotiate the turn without sliding off the trail. Fortunately, I had connected my winch to a tree so as I slid off the trail instead of just rolling down the slope I kind of pendulum across the face of the slope nearly tipping over a few times and ultimately coming to rest against a tree.

I then had to winch myself back up on to the trail accompinied by much metal crunching and wincing on my part as the left side of my truck was crunching along the side of the tree. Nothing structural was damaged but a bunch of sheet metal on the left side was dented up and my driver side mirror was sheared off.

I was then able to winch myself back up the slope on to the trail facing the way I came. I then proceeded to return the way I came, winching myself up the trail at times due to the steepness and narrowness of the trail.

While my truck was in the shop I had the collision repair place repaint my truck silver and line-x my fender liners and rocker panels. The collision repair place did a great job and you'd never know my truck was in an accident (again).

Here is my truck all fixed up:

Smart thinking on attaching that winch line before you actually needed it or you may not be here typing today! Glad everyone is OK. 4Runner looks great - looks like the body shop did some awesome work!

 

[4Running Daily]

Any pictures of the damage?

 

[Keemonrunnin]

You should have painted your rig white. You would have been the only true white TE around. Oh well, silver is cool too.

 

[FactoryRide]

I second the damage pictures.

And if you could, could you please take a measurement from the center of you grill outwards to the furthest point out on the ARB. I'd like to know how far out it sticks off the front end.

Thanks

 

[KidVermicious]

Any pictures of the damage?

Yeah, where's the carnage? NEEDS MOAR CARNAGE.

Also, what part the GWT were you on?

 

[Narkhelek]

Any pictures of the damage?

Here's a few pics. The damage doesn't look that bad in the pics and indeed the damage wasn't that terrible in any one spot but there was a lot of it at various points along the side of the vehicle.

Front A-Pillar and side mirror damage:

A number of sheet metal dents along the panels above the doors:

Rear quarter panel and rear door dented up and shattered window:

 

[deekoi]

Any particular reason you went with silver?

As apposed to the same color or even the popular Blizzard pearl?