SOcalTrail's 2011 Trail Edition Beast Build Thread

[SOcalTRAIL]

Just took my truck across the truck scales to see how fat it was....

5,460 LBS unloaded, no occupants, 3/4's full fuel tank.

Jumped up to 5,840 with myself and my dad inside.

Thats a pretty heavy vehicle, considering the full sized Tundra Crew Max 4x4 with the big 5.7 V8 has a curb weight listed at 5,625 LBS!!!

Here's the kicker.... the Tundra has the V8 with 100HP and over 100ft/lbs more torque than our trucks. Bummer.

 

[Hardrunner]

These little engines are not designed for that much weight. We need more power.

 

[El Diablo 82]

I think that means we either need a good supercharger or someone needs to figure out how to swap a 5.7 under the hood. Any takers on the motor swap?

I kicked the idea of a V8 swap around with a buddy who owns a fab shop after a few beers. Based on his opinion I think an SC would be easier but unfortunately not as unique.

 

[Antman]

Just took my truck across the truck scales to see how fat it was....

5,460 LBS unloaded, no occupants, 3/4's full fuel tank.

Jumped up to 5,840 with myself and my dad inside.

Thats a pretty heavy vehicle, considering the full sized Tundra Crew Max 4x4 with the big 5.7 V8 has a curb weight listed at 5,625 LBS!!!

Here's the kicker.... the Tundra has the V8 with 100HP and over 100ft/lbs more torque than our trucks. Bummer.

True- but try to get over 20MPG with a Tundra V8!

I didn't think the gas mileage would bother me when I had my Titan (which could literally smoke the tires off :I could scrape the rubber chunks off my rear mudflaps after I did the "burnout MOD" :bravo.
But, it did. When you have to TRY to get 12MPG it just isn't fun anymore.

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

I average 15MPG around town these days so dropping another couple MPG's to gain 100hp and 100ft/lbs torque would be alllllllllrrright by me:zoom:

I've actually had the opportunity to talk to a couple TRD engineers a few years back when I had my 05' Taco. They swore up and down that the gas mileage on the supercharged test truck got better MPG than the comparable stock truck. Their theory.... more power made the vehicle get up to speed and maintain speed easier. Whether it is true or not, I do not know but i have had friends with supercharged Taco's and they all claimed huge improvements in drive ability and equivalent or better MPG than they previously had.

If they make a TRD blower for our trucks, I would be a candidate for sure.

 

[Bourbonator]

I'm still hoping someone gets their hands on the 4.5l v8 biturbo diesel and tries to fit it in a 4r. That aside, the supercharger is obviously the simpler choice, and I don't really care about uniquity. However, it's been nearly three years and the only supercharged 4r I know of is gadget's, and although I haven't talked to him, I haven't heard of any plans to put it to the market any time soon. Hopefully I am proved wrong shortly.

According to the website, though, TRD's s/c for the 4.0l only improves hp by 34 and torque by 56. That's rather unimpressive for something that will likely cost 6-7k all said and done.
By comparison, the Toyota VD Engine makes 261hp and 479 ft/lb torque. It is also rumored that the engine has been swapped into an FJ as posted here

 

[Jeremy556]

According to the website, though, TRD's s/c for the 4.0l only improves hp by 34 and torque by 56. That's rather unimpressive for something that will likely cost 6-7k all said and done.

I think you are looking at the specs for the old 1GR-FE. I haven't seen any specs or numbers posted about this new one.

 

[Bourbonator]

I think you are looking at the specs for the old 1GR-FE.

It's in TRD's 2011 parts catalogue as producing 304hp @5,400 RPM and 334 ft/lb @3,600 RPM for the 4.0l v6. It doesn't specify whether those numbers are for 1gr-fe engines with vvt-i or dual vvt-i, so you could be correct

 

[Jeremy556]

I'm almost certain it is for the old one with these specs stock:
236 hp @ 5200 rpm; 266 lb.-ft. @ 4000 rpm
Blown:
304 hp @ 5400 rpm; 334 lb.-ft. @ 3600 rpm

So, 68 hp and 68 ft-lb, and the torque at 400 RPM lower, so decent (not great) gains, but you can only expect so much from something they are going to warranty.

I wonder if they will be able to get similar % wise gains from the higher spec 1GR-FE? My guess is that they will be less with the new engine, but if they did, we might be looking at:
348 hp above red line; 349 ft-lb at 3960 rpm

 

[Corbet]

According to the website, though, TRD's s/c for the 4.0l only improves hp by 34 and torque by 56. That's rather unimpressive for something that will likely cost 6-7k all said and done.
By comparison, the Toyota VD Engine makes 261hp and 479 ft/lb torque. It is also rumored that the engine has been swapped into an FJ as posted here

But what do you think it would cost to get your VD engine swapped in? I'm guessing with purchase of the engine and labor our going to be well north of $30K. If you could find one affordable and do the labor yourself you might cut that in half but I doubt it. The little things eat you alive during and engine swap. Especially attempting to relocate something never intended for the chassis. I don't think the 4R trans would be very happy with a nearly 500ft/lbs nor would anything else down the line. For the money I'd take the TRD SC.

I would love that engine too but for me I want one in a 45 series Cruiser.

 

[Bourbonator]

party pooper.

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

~~~Rigid SR LED Light Bar Covers!!~~~​

A while back a few of us with the SR (single row) Rigid Industries light bars were looking for covers for em, either for legal purposes, looks, or a tinted beam. rigid has always had the covers for the DR (dual row) lights and recently released the covers for the SR's.

They sell em in quite a few colors - Black - Clear - Amber - Blue...

Unfortunately for those of us with 6" LED bars, the smallest section of cover that they sell is 10", so I picked up 2 sections of Amber and cut them to size. Took less than 5 minutes to measure out 6", cut on the band saw, finish on the sander and snap on. Pretty nice, and very secure fit. I purchased them direct from Rigid Industries, they showed up in 2 days!

Now I need a new night shot for my avatar.

Pics:

 

[MeBe4running]

What a tease.... Light them baby's up my friend! No seriously do it now eace:

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

~~~New Night Pics~~~​

Lot o' light!!! New Rigid Amber SR LED covers installed.

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

~~~Navigation Lock Out Override~~~​

The fact that Toyota took it upon themselves to lock out many of the capabilities of our factory nav systems always annoyed me. Now, not even you passenger can input a destination address, search for POI's etc. Very annoying.

In the past, Toyota and other nav. unit manufacturers made it easy for us to bypass this lock out by simply grounding out a wire that was supposed to be connected to the parking brake. Now, they have gotten smarter and the lock out feature is facilitated by the vehicle speed sensor and GPS - slightly harder to bypass.

One of our members here on the board (J.A.) makes a nifty little "black box" utilizing a 555 Timer to intercept the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) signal and outputs an artificial VSS signal that shows the car as going less the 5 km/h which is the cutoff for the nav lockout. Installation is cake - just pull the nav unit, find the G18 Grey plug, find wire #3 which is a sky blue 24 gauge wire, snip it in half - splice in the input and output to the correct locations on the black box, ground the box, and wire it to switched power. Now, not matter how fast you are going, just flip a switch and you regain all usability of your nav system so your passenger can input destinations etc.

See here for more info: Toyota 4Runner Factory Navigation Override and Unblock Bypass Module

***My passenger took the pics shown***

Here are the pics:


Traveling down freeway, nav in normal config. Locked out.

"Black Box" switched on, functionality regained.

Back of the nav unit

Black box wired up

The module itself

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

Upcoming Projects-

Rear Bumper - Just ordered the "swing-out pivot", a half sheet of 3/16" steel, and a chunk of .75" plate for my tow points.

New "improved" Gobi stealth tool box - lower profile, better lock / latch, gas struts, aluminum construction.

Aux Fuel Tank - While fabricating the rear bumper, I'm gonna integrate an armored 15 gal aux fuel tank between the frame rails where the spare tire currently resides, utilizing a "y" filler neck mod for a cascade fill similar to what is used on the FJ cruiser aux. tanks.

New switch plate - I was never really happy with the placement of my switch panel ( below and left of the steering column. the new panel will take the place of the area below the AC controls and incorporate 11 laser etched Contura switches and an "always on" 12v receptacle.

Icon SS rear shock "shin guards" are on order.


LOTS OF WORK COMING UP!! MY WEEKENDS ARE BOOKED!:banana:

 

[MeBe4running]

Upcoming Projects-

Rear Bumper - Just ordered the "swing-out pivot", a half sheet of 3/16" steel, and a chunk of .75" plate for my tow points.

New "improved" Gobi stealth tool box - lower profile, better lock / latch, gas struts, aluminum construction.

Aux Fuel Tank - While fabricating the rear bumper, I'm gonna integrate an armored 15 gal aux fuel tank between the frame rails where the spare tire currently resides, utilizing a "y" filler neck mod for a cascade fill similar to what is used on the FJ cruiser aux. tanks.

New switch plate - I was never really happy with the placement of my switch panel ( below and left of the steering column. the new panel will take the place of the area below the AC controls and incorporate 11 laser etched Contura switches and an "always on" 12v receptacle.

Icon SS rear shock "shin guards" are on order.


LOTS OF WORK COMING UP!! MY WEEKENDS ARE BOOKED!:banana:

:snacker: I CANT WAIT to see how the AUX fuel tank turns out! You'd be the first one to do it on a Fifth Gen, to my knowledge.

 

[jam23r1]

Upcoming Projects-

Rear Bumper - Just ordered the "swing-out pivot", a half sheet of 3/16" steel, and a chunk of .75" plate for my tow points.

New "improved" Gobi stealth tool box - lower profile, better lock / latch, gas struts, aluminum construction.

Aux Fuel Tank - While fabricating the rear bumper, I'm gonna integrate an armored 15 gal aux fuel tank between the frame rails where the spare tire currently resides, utilizing a "y" filler neck mod for a cascade fill similar to what is used on the FJ cruiser aux. tanks.

New switch plate - I was never really happy with the placement of my switch panel ( below and left of the steering column. the new panel will take the place of the area below the AC controls and incorporate 11 laser etched Contura switches and an "always on" 12v receptacle.

Icon SS rear shock "shin guards" are on order.


LOTS OF WORK COMING UP!! MY WEEKENDS ARE BOOKED!:banana:

and when your done with that rear bumper can i get your diagram and measurements so i can copy it????

 

[mikey's2010SR5]

I was thinking about the auxiliary tank where the spare is too when the rear bumper gets put on. I was thinking a 10 gallon would be perfect.


Keep me posted.

:hiding:

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

and when your done with that rear bumper can i get your diagram and measurements so i can copy it????

Its gonna be a unique design. Maximizing departure angle and trying to keep it from looking too "boxy" are my main goals.

I am going to do my best to document and record the measurements of everything I make. Its going to be entirely bolt on, still requiring the rear trim panel to be cut, but to a lesser degree than other designs. I'm using a latch similar to what Poison Spyder uses on their Rock Brawler Jeep Bumpers:

http://shop.poisonspyder.com/TJ-YJ-CJ-RockBrawler-Rear-Bumper-with-Tire-Carrier-p/14-61-020.htm

I'm going to fab. a fuel tank out of aluminum to fit up in between the frame rails where the spare sits now. A little cutting will be required, but nothing too major. I just can't wait to have almost 40 gallons of fuel on tap - at 18mpg (what I average on the freeway) that gives me roughly a 720 mile range!!!! Annnnnd I no longer need to haul my Scepter cans full of fuel, just water.