Mutant138
Banned
Stuffed some 315/70/17 on a few days ago. SPC control arms for the win and giving me enough adjustment to clear the kick panel.![]()
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Chonky.
Stuffed some 315/70/17 on a few days ago. SPC control arms for the win and giving me enough adjustment to clear the kick panel.![]()
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Installed the Borla turbo XL 40665 muffler. A little louder than stock and not horribly noticeable. Also dumped the piping right behind the axel and added a tip because I mean why not
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I did the same and really like it. No drone either and I noticed more power and it seems to accelerate smoother with less pedal.
I blacked out the mirror markers with tinted vinyl and then did the upper chrome on the grille with 3m black vinyl![]()
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what size topper fit? did you make a platform to offset the uneven transition between rear seats and carbon space?
So as a follow-up, I drove the trailer about 350 miles or so round trip between Seattle and Astoria, OR. Flat, straight highways, it does fine, as you can imagine. It'll sit around 2500 RPM so it absolutely chugs gasoline but it's pretty uneventful towing in that situation.
Going up gentle-sloped hills it generally does fine. If you're willing to sacrifice some RPMs/MPGs, you can keep it above 40/45 mph without much heartache. However, I can't imagine what it would be like over a real mountain pass. It would probably be going about the speed of a loaded Vanagon Westfalia.
Curves are where it really feels the least confidence-inspiring. Especially bumpy downhills where it feels like the trailer might lift the ass-end of the 4Runner off the road and then push the rear end around. I doubt that would actually happen with the trailer brakes and what not, but the short wheel base really makes it feel pretty sketchy.
Keep in mind, this is all with a proper weight distribution/anti-sway hitch setup. I'm sure airbags would help a bit, but only for the bouncy feeling. Obviously that wouldn't help with the lack of power and lack of gears.
Just knowing that a vehicle exists that would barely even notice the trailer back there makes me want to give it a shot over the 4Runner. Which sucks because I generally love the 4Runner in every other respect.
But if we're ever planning to do any trips with this thing over 150/200 miles from home, there's just no way it would make sense, especially when we inevitably encounter a real mountain pass.
Just got to convince the wife that a more expensive vehicle makes sense in the long term. Especially sucky since Ford is running 0% APR for 72 months on F-150s until the end of September...:wow:
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I’m surprised you’re having such issues. Our Coleman is 18” long and weighs aprox 3400 empty. Honestly we are probably pushing 4500 loaded.
We don’t climb serious passes but going from Phoenix to flagstaff, which is about 1k elevation to 7k elevation.
Max speed is probably 40-45 on the steep ascents. I typically keep it at 55-65 on the flats.
Yes it’s a dog but honestly the Runner can’t get out of its own way from the getgo. Also it doesn’t just drink the fuel, it pounds it like a high schooler and a rack of keystone light.
I get 8.7mpg.
So that sucks.
However it’s super stable. It’s not stressful in anyway. It stops fantastically. It doesn’t bounce or sway or pull in the wind. Really, other than the lack of power and the godawful mpg, it drives really well when loaded up
We will buy a tundra early next year for my wife and then we will use that predominantly for the trailer
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Today, I installed Lasfit front and rear turn signal lights. These things are so fking bright! They reflect off of traffic signs WAY down the road. Pictures showing before/after installation.![]()
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Yes! Same ones I did. Literally light up street signs
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Honestly, I think it's just my inexperience with it and not being confident with it yet. I'm going to double check the weight distribution hitch tomorrow and see if I need to make a few adjustments to make it a little more flat when loaded.
Unfortunately a full size pickup won't fit in our parking garage due to length, so we went and checked out a 2019 Ford Ranger since it's got a way higher towing capacity and doesn't have the headroom issues or drum brakes like the Tacomas.
Anyway, I was incredibly unimpressed with it. Super cheesy feeling interior even though it was the top tier Lariat and has more bells and whistles than the 4Runner. Back seat was all but completely unusable with someone my height sitting in the driver seat. Visibility was terrible.
Oh yeah, and aesthetically, there's just no competition whatsoever:
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All that to say, we're holding on to the 4Runner and going to make it work and I'm just going to trust that the transmission will be fine and that I'll get use to the feeling of the trailer trying but not succeeding in pushing my rear end around on bumpy turns, especially with the help of the WDH and trailer brakes, obviously.
It also helped that I went through the "what are you towing" thread and saw the kinds of crazy loads people are towing with these things. So I should be fine. I guess I was just being reactionary.
Honestly, I think it's just my inexperience with it and not being confident with it yet. I'm going to double check the weight distribution hitch tomorrow and see if I need to make a few adjustments to make it a little more flat when loaded.
Unfortunately a full size pickup won't fit in our parking garage due to length, so we went and checked out a 2019 Ford Ranger since it's got a way higher towing capacity and doesn't have the headroom issues or drum brakes like the Tacomas.
Anyway, I was incredibly unimpressed with it. Super cheesy feeling interior even though it was the top tier Lariat and has more bells and whistles than the 4Runner. Back seat was all but completely unusable with someone my height sitting in the driver seat. Visibility was terrible.
Oh yeah, and aesthetically, there's just no competition whatsoever:
![]()
All that to say, we're holding on to the 4Runner and going to make it work and I'm just going to trust that the transmission will be fine and that I'll get use to the feeling of the trailer trying but not succeeding in pushing my rear end around on bumpy turns, especially with the help of the WDH and trailer brakes, obviously.
It also helped that I went through the "what are you towing" thread and saw the kinds of crazy loads people are towing with these things. So I should be fine. I guess I was just being reactionary.
Like a lot of people here I installed a bunch of Lasfit LED's. Front switchback turns (white/amber), front marker, back up lights, rear turns and license plate lights. I'll get around to the interiors next. I have to say while not overly difficult my arms aren't meant to reach up to those little marker lights. They were a PIA to get out and back in and I have the scratches on my arms to prove it. The rears I ended up just pulling the tail lights out which again wasn't horribly difficult but took a bit of finesse to get out.
After all that was done I got my mail and my Xenon Depot HID kit was here so I did those as well. I've installed one of their kits before so it was pretty straight forward. I measured the grommets and used a large step drill to get the holes in the dust covers perfect. Last time i had to dremel them a little larger than my drill bit.
All in all a very productive day. And like mentioned the turn signals are insane!