Warthog Build and Adventure Thread

[2014 Warthog]

Great looking build brother, quick question I know you used a 30" single row light bar on the Baja rack, do you think there's enough room to squeeze a 40" in that opening where the fairing is ?

There is plenty of room for the light bar itself, but you would have to either get one with rear mounts or figure out a way of mounting it so that the mounting was done behind the light bar. The one I have has mounts that mount further out from the end of the bar and there is not enough room to clamp them onto the rack. If I was able to flip the brackets over so that they clamped the rack behind the light bar instead of out from the ends it would work.

Might have to make your own mount or play around with some alternate clamps from on line. Mounting these things is always some kind of tinker to engineering on your part

 

[2014 Warthog]

Which wire is the brake light in the harness? I want to do brake lights up top on the rack also.

Ok, here are a couple pictures:

The relay and brake connector in the background:



This is where I tapped into the wiring. The White/Black stripe and the blue. Polarity didn't matter since they are just driving a relay.

 

[2014 Warthog]

Red Canyon/Salton Sea

Last weekend I went offroading with [MENTION=121256]Gratchy[/MENTION].

We drove out the 10 through Palm Desert and Indio to the Red Canyon Jeep Trail trail head at Chiriaco Summit.

It's called a Jeep Trail" but in fact it's very mild. Probably inly one tiny spot where even a 2wd vehicle would have trouble. Any stick 4x4 can do it with ease.

The Red Canyon trail is mellow, remote and scenic. I got no pictures from it though

We then tried to get to the old Dos Palmas spring site. Tried going in the back way from the road that follows the aqueduct but there was some mighty new looking fencing and signs up blocking the road.

Tried going down south and coming in the other end, went down Coyote Rd which follows the defunct railroad line. There was a turn of to a small palm spring there and some old farming wreckage. Another road led to some private residences which we stayed off of.

Coyote road unfortunately ends up crossing a large mud field (Which we followed) and dumps into a very muddy ravine/wash which was the end of the line for us... Don't know if the Dos Palmas area is still open or not. May have to try again another day.

We headed back to the aqueduct road and then all the way down south till we hit the 111, then back north a bit to good old Bombay Beach where I got a couple nice shots. The sea was in a very rare state of almost absolute calm. Got some pictures that normally take some 98% ND filters and 5 minutes of exposures, instead I just took them hand held!

It was hot and muggy and the STENCH was simply overpowering. Gratchy didn't want to camp out near the sea as I had planned (but further south). So we ended up driving all the way to the Imperial Dunes to spend the night. Sadly neither of us had flags at the time so no dune running

Nest day we drove over to Truckhaven and I took Gratchy on the Tierra Del Sole trail which is fun and on the mud hills and little dunes in the area. Fun stuff.

Finally we headed south and took Arroyo Salado south fork to Cut Across and finally went up the back side of Blowsand up the Buttes canyon trail. Half way up that trail is a side route into the awesome little Hawk Canyon.

Hawn Canyon and the other side of the hill Boirrego Mtn Wash are a really nice "Little Moab" like area. Not really in the driving (though a teeny bit) but in the nice sandstone rock formations and color. Including the only spot of grey green mud rock I've seen in Borrego. Was really nice.

From there it was to 78 and home. About 400 miles driven and about 100 offroad. A few wild flowers, ocotillos were blooming like mad, nice calm weather. Awesome weekend!

Random pictures follow:














This one shows the illumination area and relative brightness of that 10 watt LED light head I bolted to a small wood clamp. Works awesome!

 

[2014 Warthog]

Here are a couple more pictures...

 

[cd121082]

Ok, here are a couple pictures:

The relay and brake connector in the background:

View attachment 151351

This is where I tapped into the wiring. The White/Black stripe and the blue. Polarity didn't matter since they are just driving a relay.

View attachment 151352

wonder if you can tap into the back up lights without having issues in order to install this lights on the bottom of my rear bummer.

2x6inch 18W Flood Beam LED Work Light Bar Driving Off Road Fog 4WD Sekill 15W | eBay

 

[RogueYota]

Loving your Runner, looks like you're doing it right! Hopefully I'll be able to check it out in person in May. Hoping we can get a few folks together to convoy to Utah.

 

[2014 Warthog]

Well today I had nothing scheduled to do (So I thought), so it was finally time to take care of a couple of things I've been wanting to do for WEEKS but never got around too. Both having to so with the sway bars...

Turns out that today was actually a SD trail run that I really wanted to go on and take [MENTION=121256]Gratchy[/MENTION] too I had it in my head that it was NEXT weekend. Sigh.

Anyway, my front sway bar has been clanging against a front body support ever since I had my front end lifted and a sway bar relocation bracket installed. Was only audibly annoying on the trail, not during DD so I put it off, but today I was going to fix it.

Here is an older picture I took of it contacting:



After taking the front skid off, it turns out that the part it was rubbing on was entirely removable. Here you can see where the sway bar was wearing against the part.



Initially I was going to try putting some washers between the part and the frame to move it away from the sway bar, but that would have lowered the front of the skid 1/4 or so which was not ideal.

After examining the part and it's placement it really didn't seem to be something that was a serious structural part. Not REALLY sure what it's main purpose really was other than maybe rear support for the factory skid? So if you went over anything it would ride on these rails from the front to the second cross member?

SO anyway I decided to just use the wear mark and grind the one tube down enough to clear the bar instead:



And attached:



There is a good gap now when attached. However The sway bar can move around a bit in those rubber bushings, it may hit again. I painted it so if it does I can see where and grind some more off.


The second thing was lengthening the rear sway bar links. After the lift they were pulling the sway bar ends up quite a bit and that was limiting droop.

I had bought some of MStudt's releasable rear links and a set of adjustable front links some time ago but never installed them. Turns out the front links you cant adjust too much due to the lower end already being really close to the CV joint so it didn't seem worth putting on. The rears I put on but the releasable mechanism rattled like CRAZY just driving down a normal paved road. Drove me crazy after one day and I took them off

So using parts from the two sets I made ONE set of adjustable but not unlinkable rear links:



And installed:



The sway bar ends are now down about as far as they can go and should give as much droop as I can get without removing it entirely now



So also: I removed the front skid to get at the part I needed to modify for the front sway bar clanking and the two rear bolts were really bent out of shape from skid plate "use"



I went to Lowe's and bought some replacements but they aren't the same quality at all. RCI sells replacement bolts which I'm going to order. I'd suggest anyone with RCI (or other) skid plates to buy a few replacements!

 

[Saker]

wonder if you can tap into the back up lights without having issues in order to install this lights on the bottom of my rear bummer.

2x6inch 18W Flood Beam LED Work Light Bar Driving Off Road Fog 4WD Sekill 15W | eBay

Don't want to distract this thread, so I will sent you a PM for your question!

 

[STX4Runner]

McMaster Carr also sells the bolt you need.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-cap-screws/=wqfe27

Look at the Flange Head Cap Screws and scroll down to the bottom right of that page and look at the JIS metric high strength steel ones. I just ordered a bunch of replacements for the various skid plate bolts as I usually damage the heads pretty good when off road.

 

[2014 Warthog]

McMaster Carr also sells the bolt you need.

McMaster-Carr

Look at the Flange Head Cap Screws and scroll down to the bottom right of that page and look at the JIS metric high strength steel ones. I just ordered a bunch of replacements for the various skid plate bolts as I usually damage the heads pretty good when off road.

Awesome thanks!

 

[STX4Runner]

Awesome thanks!

No prob. The RCI replacement set is about $30 if I remember. For just a little more you can get the equavelant of about 10 replacement sets from McMaster Carr. I think this is where RCI gets his hardware anyway, as they are identical. Just make sure you have a damaged bolt remover kit! I've had to use mine after every off road trip.

 

[2014 Warthog]

Just make sure you have a damaged bolt remover kit! I've had to use mine after every off road trip.

Heh you aren't kidding about this. One of the bolts was too mangled for the 13mm socket, though I got lucky with a 14mm this time. I was very Unlucky though that the bolt had been hit hard enough that it cracked loose the poorly tacked on nut inside the cross member Now I got a loose but not removed bolt and jammed on nut rattling around in the hole.

I'll probably be able to torch the bolt head off and then, through some amazing contortions, use a magnet to pull the rest of it up and out of the cross member through a hole somehow. But getting another bolt in there... ugh.

Do they make something like a Jack Nut that's strong enough to hold a skid plate on?

Edit: Looks like I can get a but with a flange on it (A Weld Nut) and try welding it to the surface of the cross member. Luckily the cross member there can be detached to work on it though there are several things bolted to it :/

 

[STX4Runner]

Heh you aren't kidding about this. One of the bolts was too mangled for the 13mm socket, though I got lucky with a 14mm this time. I was very Unlucky though that the bolt had been hit hard enough that it cracked loose the poorly tacked on nut inside the cross member Now I got a loose but not removed bolt and jammed on nut rattling around in the hole.

I'll probably be able to torch the bolt head off and then, through some amazing contortions, use a magnet to pull the rest of it up and out of the cross member through a hole somehow. But getting another bolt in there... ugh.

Do they make something like a Jack Nut that's strong enough to hold a skid plate on?

That sucks. Which bolt was it? Something like a jack nut might work.

 

[lipek]

I used these on my FJ when I lost my skids on the trail and my weld nuts broke off. Works really good and are simple to use

 

[2014 Warthog]

I used these on my FJ when I lost my skids on the trail and my weld nuts broke off. Works really good and are simple to use

Ah I was looking for something like that... I'll order some of those and some weld nuts just in case...

That sucks. Which bolt was it? Something like a jack nut might work.

It was a bolt in the cross member that the rear of the transmission mount is on. But I've heard of other people breaking the nuts off of other places. They are just tack welded on unfortunately

 

[2014 Warthog]

Borrego again!

Tried to get a group run to Borrego last weekend. Was short notice and then bad weather on Sat morning. In the end only one brave soul [MENTION=77357]85straight[/MENTION] met up with me and we spend sat and sunday offroading all over the park.

Font's point, Borrego canyon, Squaw Peak/Devils Slide, Truckhaven, The mud Caves, Diablo Dropoff, Sandstone canyon and Olla Wash and finally Split Mountain. (Whew!)

A few pictures below, Some are screen caps from video so a little blurry...


Here we are at the corner of the world famous Hollywood and Vine! Only, we must have passed through a time portal and ended up there a million years in the future or something... Actually this is in Valecito wash, don't know how long ago some joker put it up but it's been there a LONG time.


Inside the big mug cave in Arroyo Tapaido.


Another part of the same system of caves.


Sandstone Canyon


Sandstone Canyon


Sandstone Canyon


Sandstone Canyon. This is funny, I've been out here twice this year after the big rock fall that blocked the canyon. People have tried climbing over it, bit of a challenge. But this last time the park service came and installed that sign. So I guess your not allowed to try to get over the fall any more (Not that I would have made it anyway)


Olla Wash. Some neat geology here. Never been to it before! This ridge of layer after layer of varying mud patterns has been turned up to completely vertical in places.

 

[jicko]

So sad that i couldn't make it, but i was there in spirit!

 

[2014 Warthog]

Continued...


Coming down the narrow canyon below the Diablo Dropoff.

So... I had not been through here in 25 years. I remember it being a little scary at the top and challenging (slightly) in a couple places through the canyon. I asked about current conditions some time ago and I remember someone saying it was challenging or something so I assumed it had gotten worse. When we got there, the top was pretty well groomed and the rest of it was... well my 98 year old grandmother could have driven it. Current condition is "Let Down" if looking for something a little challenging so anyway, if anyone wants to get from the middle of the park into the fish creek area, just go for it!



Sand blowing in snakey tendrals across the highway.

So about the weather. It was raining in SD and there was forecast for a bit of rain sat night and for winds up to 65 MPH during the day. But.. this is the desert! 20+ is normal, 40 gusts are fairly regular. Overall the wind wasn't a problem except when we drove from the Salton Sea to Little Blair Valley. That's only like 50 miles but took a quarter tank of gas due to the wind blowing like crazy

But the clouds and drizzle with the sun going down was dramatic and awesome and if anyone stayed away because of the weather, BOO! It was great out there.

Oh and we ran into the Facebook 4runners out there in the actual obstacle course at Truckhaven. Guys seemed great, several 4runners, some Tundras. I was thinking about camping there that night with them and hanging out, but we decided to move on and get as much of the park in as possible in two days

Ugh, am I going to have to get a Facebook account to keep tabs on you guys when you plan trips?

 

[2014 Warthog]

So sad that i couldn't make it, but i was there in spirit!

I originally had you in mind specifically when thinking about inviting people along!

 

[jicko]

I originally had you in mind specifically when thinking about inviting people along!

Short notice makes it difficult. I tried. :-(