Spiker Engineering
official vendor
Charlie, do you have any photos of drilling/installing the rivnuts for this rack? I'm contemplating the same rack, and I like the idea of extending the OEM rails instead of using the bumpers.
Phattyduck's '99 4WD swap
- Thread starter phattyduck
- Start date
phattyduck
Elite Member
I'm sure its a horror show under there... :banana:
The widest washer is a 3/8" stainless fender washer, which is what allowed the top of the rivnut to sit flush with the roof sheet metal. From there, it was just a pyramid of washers to spread the load as much as reasonable.
If I had planned ahead and had the material, the right way to do it is with a flat bar drilled and tapped to match the holes in the track on the outside of the roof. On the first installation, silicone it up there and it should stay if you need to remove the rail later. I can't remember if there are ribs in the way though - and if you have a sunroof, it gets more complicated.
-Charlie
Spiker Engineering
official vendor
Sounds like I better have a look at in the junkyard, since I do have a sunroof... Just so I know what to expect.
Flipside909
New member
Looking good Charlie!
phattyduck
Elite Member
phattyduck
Elite Member
I got the honor to run sweep for a regional rally race in Nevada (Rally Nevada in Tonopah, NV):
Before:
After (a bit of high desert snow overnight):
My job was to do any (minor) recoveries needed and collect and return time cards from the start and end of each stage. The experience was great! Got to pull out a few cars (quick tug, nothing major) and rescue a couple recce cars the day before the rally that got stuck in some deep sand. I need to get a ham license so I can have better coms... and I found out that water bars at speed are no fun! Also, I need a bit more lighting up front for high speed night driving.
Which leads to the next mod, Durobumps! Crashing into the stock bump stops is no fun.
The rear is sagging a bit ('14 4Runner springs and 10mm spring packers), time for some OME 2906's for a bit more height. Don't want to be too tall though.
Clearance at full droop during install. You can also see the front swaybar disconnects I put on years ago (and leave disconnected most of the time!). I believe they are for a ZJ Jeep application. Took a bit of modifying to get them to fit.
Clearance at ride height:
Before:
After (a bit of high desert snow overnight):
My job was to do any (minor) recoveries needed and collect and return time cards from the start and end of each stage. The experience was great! Got to pull out a few cars (quick tug, nothing major) and rescue a couple recce cars the day before the rally that got stuck in some deep sand. I need to get a ham license so I can have better coms... and I found out that water bars at speed are no fun! Also, I need a bit more lighting up front for high speed night driving.
Which leads to the next mod, Durobumps! Crashing into the stock bump stops is no fun.
The rear is sagging a bit ('14 4Runner springs and 10mm spring packers), time for some OME 2906's for a bit more height. Don't want to be too tall though.
Clearance at full droop during install. You can also see the front swaybar disconnects I put on years ago (and leave disconnected most of the time!). I believe they are for a ZJ Jeep application. Took a bit of modifying to get them to fit.
Clearance at ride height:
phattyduck
Elite Member
Did a last minute off road adventure with a couple buddies yesterday. There was a bit more mud than I was expecting...
A bit to fast though one puddle that was a bit deeper than I was expecting and boom. At least the kids had fun in the back seat. Up until that point, the front mud flaps were doing an awesome job keeping the truck pretty clean, at least up top. Not a fan of removing mud, but here we are!
-Charlie
A bit to fast though one puddle that was a bit deeper than I was expecting and boom. At least the kids had fun in the back seat. Up until that point, the front mud flaps were doing an awesome job keeping the truck pretty clean, at least up top. Not a fan of removing mud, but here we are!
-Charlie
octanejunkie
Elite Member
A couple of my last outings and I ended up looking like something from Jurassic Park. Nothing that the local you wash car wash couldn't swallowDid a last minute off road adventure with a couple buddies yesterday. There was a bit more mud than I was expecting...
A bit to fast though one puddle that was a bit deeper than I was expecting and boom. At least the kids had fun in the back seat. Up until that point, the front mud flaps were doing an awesome job keeping the truck pretty clean, at least up top. Not a fan of removing mud, but here we are!
-Charlie
I bet those durabumps made it fun For you AND the kids
Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
phattyduck
Elite Member
It was a pretty tame route, but I think the durobumps helped a few times...
Did a quick touchless wash and was a buddy's house last night and got the underside and engine bay with a fan-tipped pressure washer. There's still plenty left under there, but better than nothing! I didn't feel like crawling around on my back in muddy water and he doesn't have an outside lift anymore...
-Charlie
phattyduck
Elite Member
Got to run as an Advance (course opening) Car for the Prescott Rally this weekend outside of Prescott Arizona.
I was originally scheduled to run as the "00" car (second of three cars to do a final check and open of the course), but I got upgraded to 0 car (final car to see the course before it is declared HOT and open for racing). This is normally reserved for a prepped rally car (full cage, fire suits, helmets, etc. and a ham radio - running the course at maybe 7 tenths speed/effort), but that car had issues (Mitsu Galant VR4, what do you expect?!?!) and the 4Runner had to step in. We adjusted the leave time to allow me to drive closer to normal vehicle speeds, but we still had to hustle. The co-driver from the 0 car moved over to the 4Runner to read pace notes so I could safely turn up the speed.
The Durobumps worked well on a few water bars and cattle guards - but now I want a supercharger and some 2.5" shocks... There's nothing like driving on a (nearly) totally closed course with full safety support.
-Charlie
I was originally scheduled to run as the "00" car (second of three cars to do a final check and open of the course), but I got upgraded to 0 car (final car to see the course before it is declared HOT and open for racing). This is normally reserved for a prepped rally car (full cage, fire suits, helmets, etc. and a ham radio - running the course at maybe 7 tenths speed/effort), but that car had issues (Mitsu Galant VR4, what do you expect?!?!) and the 4Runner had to step in. We adjusted the leave time to allow me to drive closer to normal vehicle speeds, but we still had to hustle. The co-driver from the 0 car moved over to the 4Runner to read pace notes so I could safely turn up the speed.
The Durobumps worked well on a few water bars and cattle guards - but now I want a supercharger and some 2.5" shocks... There's nothing like driving on a (nearly) totally closed course with full safety support.
-Charlie
octanejunkie
Elite Member
Got to run as an Advance (course opening) Car for the Prescott Rally this weekend outside of Prescott Arizona.
I was originally scheduled to run as the "00" car (second of three cars to do a final check and open of the course), but I got upgraded to 0 car (final car to see the course before it is declared HOT and open for racing). This is normally reserved for a prepped rally car (full cage, fire suits, helmets, etc. and a ham radio - running the course at maybe 7 tenths speed/effort), but that car had issues (Mitsu Galant VR4, what do you expect?!?!) and the 4Runner had to step in. We adjusted the leave time to allow me to drive closer to normal vehicle speeds, but we still had to hustle. The co-driver from the 0 car moved over to the 4Runner to read pace notes so I could safely turn up the speed.
The Durobumps worked well on a few water bars and cattle guards - but now I want a supercharger and some 2.5" shocks... There's nothing like driving on a (nearly) totally closed course with full safety support.
-Charlie
Oh boy, LT, 3-link and OSR in your future :hiding:
phattyduck
Elite Member
Another rally in the books! 000 car this time - tons of fun!
Ridge Rally, a little ways north of California City. The service area was in the Jawbone Canyon OHV area. All 3 of the advance cars were 4Runners... (ok, one was a GX470, but you get the idea!) Everything held up great.
New since the last post is an upgraded alternator (105A from Grand Vitara, I believe) and 'big-3' wiring and replaced rear swaybar end links. Nothing much to write home about there.
-Charlie
Ridge Rally, a little ways north of California City. The service area was in the Jawbone Canyon OHV area. All 3 of the advance cars were 4Runners... (ok, one was a GX470, but you get the idea!) Everything held up great.
New since the last post is an upgraded alternator (105A from Grand Vitara, I believe) and 'big-3' wiring and replaced rear swaybar end links. Nothing much to write home about there.
-Charlie
phattyduck
Elite Member
A few more pictures from the rally... These were caught by the media on course.
Here you can see the rear light bar that I run all the time now. There's amber flashers and a rear white light I can turn on too:
-Charlie
Here you can see the rear light bar that I run all the time now. There's amber flashers and a rear white light I can turn on too:
-Charlie
