Unner's Build, 2001 T4R 4x4

[Unner]

Day 12 – Grand Canyon

We got an earlier start than we had the days before, because we had to see the Grand Canyon, and drive halfway home today… As we packed up all I was thinking about was whether or not the truck was going to start. I did not want to change this starter somewhere in a parking lot…

Fortunately, it started right up and we headed for the Grand Canyon. We parked, and I reluctantly shut it off again. It only had to start 2 more times for us to get home, hopefully it would make it.

We walked around the Southern Rim, taking pictures, watching mothers yell at their husbands for throwing their babies in the air on the edge of the Canyon, normal stuff.

There appeared to be smoke lingering here too on the west side of the canyon.

DSC02326 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC02339 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC02328 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC02329 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

This canyon is so deep, it seems to just go for miles and miles. When you finally see the river at the bottom it’s amazing to think it created all of this.

DSC02333 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC02334 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC02338 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC02340 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC02341 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

ANOTHER CALIFORNIA BEAVER!!

DSC02352 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC02354 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC02362 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC02366 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC02372 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Around noon we decided we really had to get on the road. I looked up directions to Amarillo and that was going to leave us with a lot of driving left on the last day. The next city was Oklahoma City, which was 14 hours and a time zone change away, but we figured it would be best to try and push to make it there. We started driving while she booked a hotel. We made good time and enjoyed the last of the desert scenery as we drove across Arizona and New Mexico.

Around dinner time we were approach [MENTION=44220]BigFishAllDay[/MENTION] ‘s stomping grounds and wanted to grab something that wasn’t a chain fast food place. She found a place called Mac's Steak In the Rough that had really reviews and served something called steak fingers. I hadn’t had steak fingers, but they sounded delicious so we stopped there.

They were in fact delicious, as were the milkshakes.

We got back on the road, and somehow got caught up in all the truck traffic that was leaving the Rodeo in Las Vegas pulling their horse trailers. Normally truck traffic means you slow down, but not with these guys. They were passing us doing 85-90mph…

As it got late traffic died down, and we made it to Texas. We made good time across the panhandle, and eventually into Oklahoma. We stopped at the Oklahoma sign to take a picture, since she was born in Oklahoma, but hadn’t been back since then.

20171218_015155 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Not far into Oklahoma a very dense fog settled over the interstate. It was the thickest fog I’ve ever driven through. To the point where I was driving 30-35 mph on the interstate with my amber Rigids on, trying to find the lines and hoping we don’t get rear ended by some fool driving 70mph blind. This went on for the rest of the drive, all the way to Oklahoma City. It was one of the strangest drives on an Interstate I’ve ever had…

We got to the hotel at 4 AM, and the guy wanted to talk to us about their rewards program. No thanks buddy, people were already checking out to go to work and we were just showing up.

We finally got to our room and slept for a few hours.

Day 13 - Home

We went to breakfast in the morning right before they closed, ate, and then went back to bed for a couple more hours, thankful that this place had a noon check out time.

We got on the road around noon, with the truck starting perfectly. Barring some freak occurrence we wouldn’t have to start it again on the way back.
The rest of the drive back was fairly uneventful. Other than being run off the interstate in Littlerock, and dealing with Memphis traffic we made pretty good time.

The fog started to roll in once we got to Mississippi, but not like it was in Oklahoma.

We eventually made it home, 5,999 miles later. It was an awesome trip, and the 4Runner didn’t let me down again.

The next morning when I went to leave for work she would not start, almost like it knew how much longer it had to last, and lasted exactly that long. I put a Denso in a couple days later and everything was just like new again.


Well there it is, all 13 days, 5,999 miles worth of my trip. With the Flickr image links this Word Document is now 73 pages long…

Hopefully you guys enjoyed it, any questions or comments about places we saw, campsites we stayed at, trails, etc. are always welcome!

 

[Road Bull]

I have seen some of your trip updates, but want to be able to sit down and do a start to finish. What a cool trip though! Looking forward to reading all about it man.

 

[YOTAGUY93]

Hey Unner im new around here and came across your thread i just wanted to say that i enjoyed reading through your current trip review. made my last few hours of work go by quickly.

Btw that sucks someone was a fool and placed the spider by your campsite. Also i figured it was your starter as soon as you mentioned it would click but not turn over, but then turn over eventually after a few tries same thing happened to my old 98 corolla. glad you werent stuck out in the middle of nowhere when it failed completely.

Nice truck hope i get to build mine up half as nice as yours :hatsoff:

I SUB'D to your build thread.

 

[Unner]

I have seen some of your trip updates, but want to be able to sit down and do a start to finish. What a cool trip though! Looking forward to reading all about it man.

Thanks! It was an awesome trip, we saw so much and did so much. We covered a lot of ground in those 13 days, and a good bit of it was dirt as well.

It's a pretty long read, but I think you'll enjoy it!

Hey Unner im new around here and came across your thread i just wanted to say that i enjoyed reading through your current trip review. made my last few hours of work go by quickly.

Btw that sucks someone was a fool and placed the spider by your campsite. Also i figured it was your starter as soon as you mentioned it would click but not turn over, but then turn over eventually after a few tries same thing happened to my old 98 corolla. glad you werent stuck out in the middle of nowhere when it failed completely.

Nice truck hope i get to build mine up half as nice as yours :hatsoff:

I SUB'D to your build thread.

Thanks! Welcome to the forum!

Glad I could help you pass by some hours at work haha. If you've got more time you're looking to kill at work you can read through my trip reports from Moab, Colorado, and Canada. They should all be linked on the first page of this thread.

Yeah I don't know what someone was thinking with that spider. Had I woken up and seen someone snooping around our campsite that would not have been cool...

I got very lucky with the starter. After that failing, and a cheap parts store alternator failing on me twice I will never put anything non OEM quality on these trucks.

With time and patience you'll be able to have a nicely built truck as well, thanks for reading through, I look forward to seeing what you do with yours!

 

[JohnTheLuck]

Day 9 – Death Valley

(...)

The first few miles of the trail were mostly climbing along winding mountain roads. It was a scenic drive, but not like the pictures I had seen of driving along huge canyon walls.

Then we crested the hill, and the sunlight was casting a perfect image across the valley that lay below us. It was stunning.

I drove Titus Canyon before during the day and all of it is amazing. You should plan to go back once with more daylight. The view from Red Pass is breathtaking, and the canyon wall even better.

I have to bring the 4Runner there once...

 

[psraff]

As always Amazing! Just consider this post me "Liking" all your posts on that trip. From the research I did..... You drove more on that trip then Alaska has paved roads! LOL

Once again I have to say, thanks for those pics and the details. It's people like you who started me thinking about moving down to the Southwest (except for that F'ing Spider!!!!)

Crap like that is something I'm going to have to learn to handle. Setting up a camp knowing things like that can come into camp and make a home in my gear.

Many Thanks!!

 

[JohnTheLuck]

Day 11 – Alabama Hills

DSC02199 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Awesome pictures!!! Can't wait to be there myself...

Unner, this was an amazing trip with top of the notch reporting. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
.

 

[phattyduck]

So good! I wanted to comment on about every third photo the whole way.

And I need to get back to Death Valley and the Grand Canyon again now, thanks to these photos.

-Charlie

PS. Those California beavers come in lots of different sizes and colors.

 

[octanejunkie]

Great updates, Unner!

I am heading up to Alabama Hills next weekend to camp and tour around and will head up Whitney Portal Road to see the falls too, probably no longer frozen lol I'll stop to pet your coyote and feed it some california beavers

The Hoover Dam pics are amazing :bravo:

 

[Unner]

Thanks everyone for reading. It took me a few days to respond because I'm out and about again. I'm typing this from a campground in Two Harbors, Minnesota. Sitting a hundred yards from Lake Superior.

I drove Titus Canyon before during the day and all of it is amazing. You should plan to go back once with more daylight. The view from Red Pass is breathtaking, and the canyon wall even better.

I have to bring the 4Runner there once...

I'm sure I'll be back there again. Death Valley is an awesome place. I wish we had more daylight, but the days are really short during the winter.

As always Amazing! Just consider this post me "Liking" all your posts on that trip. From the research I did..... You drove more on that trip then Alaska has paved roads! LOL

Once again I have to say, thanks for those pics and the details. It's people like you who started me thinking about moving down to the Southwest (except for that F'ing Spider!!!!)

Crap like that is something I'm going to have to learn to handle. Setting up a camp knowing things like that can come into camp and make a home in my gear.

Many Thanks!!

Thanks! Glad you read through and enjoyed it!

That's incredible that there's that few paved roads in Alaska. The southwest is a great place, I could see myself somewhere out there also eventually. Maybe Arizona or New Mexico.

The details are what make the story and the trip. I know I'll eventually forget them all, but if they're written down I can always come back, read what I wrote and remember some detail I forgot. Also that spider ended up being fake, but it had us going for awhile also haha. And there definitely are spiders that big in the desert...

Awesome pictures!!! Can't wait to be there myself...

Unner, this was an amazing trip with top of the notch reporting. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
.

No problem! Glad you liked it so much! I'll try to get the next one up faster! That picture was one of my favorites as well.

So good! I wanted to comment on about every third photo the whole way.

And I need to get back to Death Valley and the Grand Canyon again now, thanks to these photos.

-Charlie

PS. Those California beavers come in lots of different sizes and colors.

Haha that would have been a lot of comments then! Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the compliments, and definitely get back out there. It's awesome!

The California beavers seem to be an invasive species because they're everywhere!

Great updates, Unner!

I am heading up to Alabama Hills next weekend to camp and tour around and will head up Whitney Portal Road to see the falls too, probably no longer frozen lol I'll stop to pet your coyote and feed it some california beavers

The Hoover Dam pics are amazing :bravo:

Thanks man! Have fun up there, it's beautiful. Hopefully there's still some snow on the mountain caps for you. Tell the coyote I said hi!

The hoover dam pictures are really neat. I didn't think it would be that great seeing it at night, but it actually turned out pretty special.

 

[psraff]

"I wish we had more daylight, but the days are really short during the winter."

hmmmm...... That's cute. LOL :dance::dance:
(Sorry, I just had to. Forgive me.) Here's a pic of around noon (in the winter time) where I work. Few days after this, that won't even happen. It's not totally dark, but I would call it "Dusk" throughout the whole day.

"That's incredible that there's that few paved roads in Alaska. The southwest is a great place, I could see myself somewhere out there also eventually. Maybe Arizona or New Mexico."

Here's a decent site showing our Highway System. It's funny how a few of our "Highways" aren't even paved.

Great Land of Alaska - Alaskan Highways

Yep, I'm looking hard at Arizona right now. Seems like the BLM is doing their part there just like everywhere of shutting down trails, but they have so many compared to up here.

"The hoover dam pictures are really neat. I didn't think it would be that great seeing it at night, but it actually turned out pretty special."

Man, I think you nailed it. I would be one to rather see it without people and kids screaming their heads off. LOL Still awe inspiring, but peaceful at the same time.

 

[Unner]

"I wish we had more daylight, but the days are really short during the winter."

hmmmm...... That's cute. LOL :dance::dance:
(Sorry, I just had to. Forgive me.) Here's a pic of around noon (in the winter time) where I work. Few days after this, that won't even happen. It's not totally dark, but I would call it "Dusk" throughout the whole day.

"That's incredible that there's that few paved roads in Alaska. The southwest is a great place, I could see myself somewhere out there also eventually. Maybe Arizona or New Mexico."

Here's a decent site showing our Highway System. It's funny how a few of our "Highways" aren't even paved.

Great Land of Alaska - Alaskan Highways

Yep, I'm looking hard at Arizona right now. Seems like the BLM is doing their part there just like everywhere of shutting down trails, but they have so many compared to up here.

"The hoover dam pictures are really neat. I didn't think it would be that great seeing it at night, but it actually turned out pretty special."

Man, I think you nailed it. I would be one to rather see it without people and kids screaming their heads off. LOL Still awe inspiring, but peaceful at the same time.

Yeah Alaska is a whole nother ball game when it comes to long nights, and long days in the summer. Even in North Dakota last night I was thrown off by the amount of light still available at 10 pm.

Definitely would rather see something without huge crowds. They tend to make it less fun of an experience in my opinion. I've never been a big fan of busy touristy places.

 

[Unner]

Well as a few of you may know, about a month ago I graduated with my Mechanical Engineering Degree. I was working at my university, but couldn't continue working there after graduation. I had a job lined up already, so after graduation I decided to pack my bags, load up the 4Runner, and set off across the country.

In total I drove 8,430 miles on the odometer, about 9,020 after accounting for the bigger tires.

I crossed through 21 states, 8 of them being new states for me. I've been to 44 of the 50 states now.

I visited 13 National Parks, countless National Forests, and lots of other beautiful places that don't have fancy designations.

Over the course of 9k miles here's a list of all the problems I had with the truck.
- Two burnt out headlights.

Man I love this truck. It rides great now with the Kings, and did everything I asked of it. 80+ MPH on the interstate, to crawling through mud in 4 Lo. I did 2 oil changes along the way. That was the only time my toolbox got opened.

I met some cool people, saw lots of new things, spent all but 1 night camping, and had a great time. I saw everything from snow capped mountains at 10k+ feet, to rainforests.

I made the most of the time and drove from Hanksville, Utah back to Alabama basically straight through. 1,650 miles in 29.5 hours... I stopped to sleep for a total of 2 hours, and had to pull off the road in Kansas for about an hour it was storming so badly.

This will be quite the trip report, I think this time I will post each day as I work my way through the pictures and the trip to keep it manageable. I have 35 GB of pictures worth to sort through...

For now though, here's a few pictures from my phone I took along the way. The S8 camera continues to impress me.

20180515_113747 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180516_103259 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180516_202732 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180516_211558 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180517_123842 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180517_150858 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180518_192751 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180518_203726 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180520_112721 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180523_162901 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180523_191502 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180524_072514 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180524_201630 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180525_145246 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180526_083139 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180526_192157 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180527_180115 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180527_202536 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180528_084234 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180528_195359 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

 

[BoarderDave]

If I could subscribe to this thread a second time; I would. hah. Sounds like an epic trip.
Can't wait to see all the pics as you work through em.

opcorn:

 

[AZBub]

Congrats on graduation. Hopefully you work in something automotive so you can give us all a big fat discount [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23].


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fourfive]

Man I love this truck. It rides great now with the Kings, and did everything I asked of it. 80+ MPH on the interstate, to crawling through mud in 4 Lo. I did 2 oil changes along the way. That was the only time my toolbox got opened.

Well said, I love Toyota 4x4s too...especially the older ones! Pics look great & sounds like you had a blast on your trip. Congratulations on graduating :cheers:

 

[Unner]

If I could subscribe to this thread a second time; I would. hah. Sounds like an epic trip.
Can't wait to see all the pics as you work through em.

opcorn:

It was an awesome trip. A whole lot of fun, but the time flew by. I was gone for nearly 3 weeks and I can't believe it's over already.

I'll try to get the trip report up sooner than I have in the past, but life always seems to get in the way.

Congrats on graduation. Hopefully you work in something automotive so you can give us all a big fat discount [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23].


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! I won't be working somewhere where I can give discounts on cool truck stuff, but I will be providing cool pictures in the coming weeks haha.

Well said, I love Toyota 4x4s too...especially the older ones! Pics look great & sounds like you had a blast on your trip. Congratulations on graduating :cheers:

Yeah I can't see myself ever not having at least one Toyota 4x4 in the garage. 3rd gens are the best. I wouldn't mind getting a first gen 5 speed Tacoma as a daily driver, but I also know it would be a slippery slope trying to keep it stock...

Thanks! The trip was a blast, I can't wait to start looking through the pics from my camera.

 

[Gothere]

Sighting

Hey Unner! I read your build back to front about a month ago, and I recognized some of the places you are at in your pictures. I thought I saw you around town about 3 weeks back, but it was dark and I think you were going the opposite way. Well today, the fiancé and I were out getting ice cream and we say the 4Runner while we were there. When we pulled in, I didn’t see your license plate and I exclaimed “I’ve read his build thread that’s UNNER!” And sure enough we saw the famous Unner plate . After talking with the fiancé for a few minutes she said it was creepy that I knew who you were. I made this account just to say that I saw the truck in person and that it’s gorgeous. 99% clone of the one I’ve built in my head so many times. Right now I have a 2009 RAM 1500 4x4, so no T4R in my driveway.

 

[theesotericone]

I wouldn't mind getting a first gen 5 speed Tacoma as a daily driver, but I also know it would be a slippery slope trying to keep it stock...

Coming from a guy that has one it is indeed tough not to throw money at the Taco. It's also tough not to pull parts from the Taco and put them in my rig. lol

Glad to hear you had a blast and congrats on the degree.

 

[Taylor20]

Thanks to you I made the switch to 255's yesterday!