Road Bull's 2002 SR-5 timeline.

[theesotericone]

Do you leave your hi-lift mounted, or do you only mount for trips?

Have you been driving the Tacoma much?

I leave the hi-lift there full time. I need it to change the tire now. lol

I've put about 2500 miles on the Taco since we got it. It just hit 333,333 miles today on my way to work. The 5 speed in it makes it a joy to drive. I'm actually thinking of throwing my rigs 4.10 diffs in the Taco and returning the Taco diffs to ECGS.

 

[Unner]

Hey man, how've you been?

I think I'll probably be spending a few days in Washington here in a week or so. Any suggestions on trails to run? Must see sights? I've never been to the Pacific Northwest, but it looks beautiful!

 

[Road Bull]

Hey man, how've you been?

I think I'll probably be spending a few days in Washington here in a week or so. Any suggestions on trails to run? Must see sights? I've never been to the Pacific Northwest, but it looks beautiful!

Sweet! Glad you can make it out to our neck of the woods. I moved here from Florida about 17 years ago and totally dig it. The weather has been warming up, so with the snow melting, I think some trails are starting to be doable again without great effort. There are some fun trails out in Belfair / Tahuya WA. The Tahuya ORV loop can be as challenging as you want to make it, but there is usually a bypass as well. There are lots of fire service roads too.

https://www.dnr.wa.gov/GreenMountainTahuya

Also Stampede Pass can be pretty cool.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/S...de00debd6c2b2!8m2!3d47.2834462!4d-121.3512045

The snow closes some trails down during winter time. So, some trails I have seen only in winter, while others, I have only seen in summer. I am interested in going back and checking on some places we went this winter that had tons of snow, (a trail head out of Liberty, WA.)

The Olympic State Forest is pretty cool, mostly FSRs.

Any idea what days you will be here? Weekday or weekend?

I have been doing well thanks. Our busy season is kicking off, so my free time is touch and go at this point. Hahaha. I have just caught up on a few items of maintenance and have not done anything fun for a while.

Depending on timing, we might be able to get a couple people together for a trail ride somewhere. If nothing else, I could meet up with you to grab some food and or drink.

I will cut this short for now as I have to get up at 4:15 in the AM to catch a flight, but I can make some suggestions once I get some downtime in California this weekend. But If you are going to Seattle, I can give some recommendations, And I can recommend a few things to do and see outside of Seattle too.

 

[Unner]

Sweet! Glad you can make it out to our neck of the woods. I moved here from Florida about 17 years ago and totally dig it. The weather has been warming up, so with the snow melting, I think some trails are starting to be doable again without great effort. There are some fun trails out in Belfair / Tahuya WA. The Tahuya ORV loop can be as challenging as you want to make it, but there is usually a bypass as well. There are lots of fire service roads too.

https://www.dnr.wa.gov/GreenMountainTahuya

Also Stampede Pass can be pretty cool.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/S...de00debd6c2b2!8m2!3d47.2834462!4d-121.3512045

The snow closes some trails down during winter time. So, some trails I have seen only in winter, while others, I have only seen in summer. I am interested in going back and checking on some places we went this winter that had tons of snow, (a trail head out of Liberty, WA.)

The Olympic State Forest is pretty cool, mostly FSRs.

Any idea what days you will be here? Weekday or weekend?

I have been doing well thanks. Our busy season is kicking off, so my free time is touch and go at this point. Hahaha. I have just caught up on a few items of maintenance and have not done anything fun for a while.

Depending on timing, we might be able to get a couple people together for a trail ride somewhere. If nothing else, I could meet up with you to grab some food and or drink.

I will cut this short for now as I have to get up at 4:15 in the AM to catch a flight, but I can make some suggestions once I get some downtime in California this weekend. But If you are going to Seattle, I can give some recommendations, And I can recommend a few things to do and see outside of Seattle too.

Thanks for those suggestions! I'll look into those.

As for timing it will probably be for a few days between the 18th and 24th of May. I am leaving for Wisconsin after I finish typing this to stay with a friend over the weekend, and then heading west Monday morning towards Montana. I plan to see Glacier NP, Yellowstone, Tetons, etc and then go towards Washington. From Washington I'll probably go down to Oregon for a day or two, and then either spend a day somewhere in California, or Moab on the way back. It'd be cool if we could figure something out to meet up!

I don't have much of a plan or itinerary for this trip, just kinda do whatever I feel like doing that day, depending on weather, etc. Just want to see some new sites, visit some new states, do some camping, and drive on some dirt haha

 

[Road Bull]

Quick camping trip to Stampede Pass.

This a short and sweet one nighter. We started with 5 4Runners from the 4Runners of Washington FB group. Two dropped out, so three of us, John and Craig, met up at 6pm late Friday afternoon to see if we could make it to a camp spot that had a 50/50 chance of being blocked by snow. Spoiler alert. It was. LOL.

But I have wheeled with these guys before and we simply adapted our game plan and found another spot. We were racing all along these back fire service roads looking for suitable spots. One clearing had a pretty good view, but was mostly rocks, (I had a ground tent), and... was under some loud buzzing power lines. Nope. Just as we were losing all light, we found a little clearing amongst some future Christmas trees. I set up a brand new ground tent that I purchased for the occasion by headlamp. Easy peasy. Had a few good beers, some food and good conversation and hit the sack. My stuffed horse Glue Stck joined me again for the trip.

Craig and John both have 4th gens. Craig had a RTT, and John had a hammock. I think we pretty much had all the various camping options covered.

We woke up, Craig cooked some awesome sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast burritos, we broke camp, took a few poser glamour shots flexing and headed out to see a few more things before heading back.

 

[Road Bull]

Some more pics.

I did want to check the rear flex a bit. I never really feel like I am pushing it that much when I am inside, but in this pic, I am making contact with the bumpstop. Those 861's and LC shocks can flex quite a bit. And that's with the sway bars connected. I was kind of surprised that the SCS 3.5 BS wheels cleared the tires and tucked as well as they did. Lol.

 

[Giarc1234]

This was a good trip.. Short but adventurous none the less. We will try again to get to that spot. I hope your busy schedule give you a day off so we can try. Mark the Wed Night before NWOR. Leave the spot and make our way to the rally. I think Ryan will be in for that as well.

Oh this is Craig by the way.. haha

 

[Road Bull]

This was a good trip.. Short but adventurous none the less. We will try again to get to that spot. I hope your busy schedule give you a day off so we can try. Mark the Wed Night before NWOR. Leave the spot and make our way to the rally. I think Ryan will be in for that as well.

Oh this is Craig by the way.. haha

Hahaha... I kinda figured that was you. I had a great time and this short outing motivated me to spend even more money at REI and get a nice sleeping pad. I picked up the REI Camp Pad 3.5" There will be comfort! I felt wrecked sleeping on that poor excuse of a pad I had. LOL. I know I took the Thursday off, but I will have to see about Wednesday. Maybe I will just head out after work. We'll see.

 

[Road Bull]

Early Friday morning hike up to Rattlesnake Ridge.

I jumped in the 4Runner early Friday and headed up to Rattlesnake Ridge to hike that trail and take in a view from the cliff at the top. It was a beautiful day, maybe a bit overcast, but nice. One picture shows the mountain where we would climb up. Another picture is looking down at the parking lot. I can see my vehicle parked next to a red vehicle all the way from the peak. It was impressive and a little bit intimidating to climb up on top of a boulder to take my picture it was already close enough to the edge to make me wonder why the hell I was that close to an edge that high up.

 

[Road Bull]

Trip to Tahuya, Memorial Day 2018.

I met up with a couple friends, Brett and Art, off the GXOR Facebook page. We did a short run at Tahuya. It was fun and a bit drier than the last time I remember being there.

I have a couple videos but I have to learn how to upload the videos as it seems it's more difficult than figuring out how to load pictures up that are the correct size.

 

[Hepar]

Can't believe it took me this long to find this thread. Great build. Love the front bumper and you're making me want a rear one...

 

[Road Bull]

Can't believe it took me this long to find this thread. Great build. Love the front bumper and you're making me want a rear one...

Thanks for dropping by and thanks for the compliment. As far as rear bumpers go, I doubt that I would have gotten one if I had just stuck with my 265/75/16 tires. Maybe I would have just gotten a sweet roof rack for items like shovels, high-lifts, and traction pads. But all in all, I am happy with how it turned out.

I love your 4Runner. I can't tell you how many times I looked at that side profile pic with those Pro Comp, and later the LC wheels when I was looking for wheel and tire upgrades. You build helped get the ball rolling.

 

[violation]

jelly of that scenery in your backyard!!

had to drive 4 hours this past weekend to get scenery like that, but well worth the drive

 

[Road Bull]

jelly of that scenery in your backyard!!

had to drive 4 hours this past weekend to get scenery like that, but well worth the drive

I was thinking about that a lot this weekend. I took a nice hike and got to go wheeling in some very beautiful places here. That, and the PNW just stays so fresh and green for the most part. Where did you go to find your spot?

 

[Hepar]

Thanks for dropping by and thanks for the compliment. As far as rear bumpers go, I doubt that I would have gotten one if I had just stuck with my 265/75/16 tires. Maybe I would have just gotten a sweet roof rack for items like shovels, high-lifts, and traction pads. But all in all, I am happy with how it turned out.

I love your 4Runner. I can't tell you how many times I looked at that side profile pic with those Pro Comp, and later the LC wheels when I was looking for wheel and tire upgrades. You build helped get the ball rolling.

Yeah, which is why I'll probably never get one. I like the 265's and don't really do any real offloading anymore, so the only want for one is purely aesthetics.

 

[violation]

I was thinking about that a lot this weekend. I took a nice hike and got to go wheeling in some very beautiful places here. That, and the PNW just stays so fresh and green for the most part. Where did you go to find your spot?

went to Giant Sequoia National Monument.

editing a few pics today and i have a very similar pic to yours lol

silent hill... or endor?

 

[Road Bull]

Yeah, which is why I'll probably never get one. I like the 265's and don't really do any real offloading anymore, so the only want for one is purely aesthetics.

I hear you on the want vs. need aspect. But another benefit of an aftermarket bumper is that they generally are far more sturdy than the chrome window dressing that is the stock bumper. Now the tow hitch... That's Toyota's real bumper. It is connected to the frame and can take some serious abuse. When someone rear ended me on I-5 in stop-and-go traffic, the bumper tour like a wet paper towel and the tow hitch saved me from more serious damage than the hatch and bumper. There are a couple on here who has swing outs and 265. But there is there is something to be said about keeping things simple and the extra weight down. And I for one think 265's look good on our 4Runners.

went to Giant Sequoia National Monument.

editing a few pics today and i have a very similar pic to yours lol

silent hill... or endor?

Nice. With that fog, I think it looks a little bit like Silent Hill myself. I'll keep an eye out for those pics.

 

[theesotericone]

That, and the PNW just stays so fresh and green for the most part

Glad your getting out. Looks like fun.

Things tend to stay green when they get 200 days of rain a year. lol

 

[Hepar]

I hear you on the want vs. need aspect. But another benefit of an aftermarket bumper is that they generally are far more sturdy than the chrome window dressing that is the stock bumper.

For sure. If anything happens to my current bumper, I'll probably go that route. Another big reason I haven't ever done it is the added weight. The power to weight ratio I have currently is absolutely perfect for my driving and I don't want to mess with that.

 

[Road Bull]

Glad your getting out. Looks like fun.

Things tend to stay green when they get 200 days of rain a year. lol

Ahem... I'll have you know that it only rains an average 150 days a year. :rain: LOL. So there! Hahaha. Actually, we just broke an 122 year record for the most rain in a 4 year period. And... last year we went over 50 some odd days straight, without any rain. But 2017 was pretty friggin wet.

I grew up in Florida, and got to spend a year in Kuwait. The year in the desert really sold me on the notion of wanting a fresh green environment where I lived. I gotta say that I was pretty happy when it stopped raining every day this year. It motivates you to get out and go find a good time somewhere that's for sure.

For sure. If anything happens to my current bumper, I'll probably go that route. Another big reason I haven't ever done it is the added weight. The power to weight ratio I have currently is absolutely perfect for my driving and I don't want to mess with that.

That sounds like a plan. I wish I had researched bumpers when I got rear ended on the highway. I would have just put the money they charged for the replacement bumper towards an offroad version. :frusty: The Savage rear bumper is a good option if you are looking to keep weight down.