hwnrunner
New member
I applied Laminex fog light film, bought off Amazon, $15 ish.
What did you do to/in your 5th Gen today?!
- Thread starter DEKA3
- Start date
I applied Laminex fog light film, bought off Amazon, $15 ish.
Friggin Idiot
Senior Member
Over the past year I've been refurbishing my boat trailer. I bought a used trailer that would fit my hull, and put the boat in storage on that trailer. It's not a perfect fit, but she's supported properly. April last year my dad, JROTC teacher, dropped it into the high school's welding and auto paint classes. They removed all the bunks, what was left of the lights and wiring, and all of the rollers. It got new leaf springs, suspension hardware, fenders, and a custom fender liner. Then off to paint where it was blasted and painted, with bedliner texture for the rear fenders & step. They apparently didn't use the rust converter as I had intended, and ruined the winch with it instead of applying it to the whole trailer.
I didn't get to finishing it last year before it got too cold, so started back in March working on projects. New bunks are cypress, double wrapped in a berber pontoon boat remnant mounted on all new hardware. I mounted a new winch up front (Fulton F2), and replaced all hardware on the front post. All new rollers for the keel and sides too.
This last week was the not fun part, all the wiring and lights starting from scratch. I've learned a few new things along the way too. Like how a soldering iron just won't cut it when trying to heat up a joint which has 25ft of wire on one side. A propane torch might not be the best soldering device but it's a whole lot quicker than a soldering iron. Use it on too high of a heat and you won't need solder because the wires will have melted together!
So I put in all new wiring, with both 7-blade & flat-4 connectors through a distribution box. All splices and connections are soldered, coated with di-electric grease, then covered with heat shrink. Lights are all LED, sealed, submersible, and attached to a ground wire. I added a pair of BajaDesign Squadron Sports as work & reverse lights. The Squadrons operate on a switch on the winch post, or automatically via relay any time the tow vehicle goes into reverse (7-blade only). After several tries over the past couple days, I finally got everything working right this afternoon attached to the 4Runner.
My dog was less thrilled with the amount of work that this took, even if she did get to relax outside on the nice days.
I didn't get to finishing it last year before it got too cold, so started back in March working on projects. New bunks are cypress, double wrapped in a berber pontoon boat remnant mounted on all new hardware. I mounted a new winch up front (Fulton F2), and replaced all hardware on the front post. All new rollers for the keel and sides too.
This last week was the not fun part, all the wiring and lights starting from scratch. I've learned a few new things along the way too. Like how a soldering iron just won't cut it when trying to heat up a joint which has 25ft of wire on one side. A propane torch might not be the best soldering device but it's a whole lot quicker than a soldering iron. Use it on too high of a heat and you won't need solder because the wires will have melted together!
So I put in all new wiring, with both 7-blade & flat-4 connectors through a distribution box. All splices and connections are soldered, coated with di-electric grease, then covered with heat shrink. Lights are all LED, sealed, submersible, and attached to a ground wire. I added a pair of BajaDesign Squadron Sports as work & reverse lights. The Squadrons operate on a switch on the winch post, or automatically via relay any time the tow vehicle goes into reverse (7-blade only). After several tries over the past couple days, I finally got everything working right this afternoon attached to the 4Runner.
My dog was less thrilled with the amount of work that this took, even if she did get to relax outside on the nice days.
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Motory
New member
I did a first impressions post earlier in this thread with some of the pros and cons I noticed after one trip: https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3483962-post42625.html
Here are some additional pics of the tent open:
6uam671_T4R
Member
Installed Diode Dynamics Tail-as-Turn kit and RAV4 mirrors on Monday. Then drove from LA to Sacramento to pick up some future mods on Tuesday. Averaged about 21.7MPG - not bad!
EddieV4runnin
New member
heptolisk
New member
What filling did you go with?
Was lucky enough to get in on the first batch of these for the OG 5th gen. Really happy with it and my paint job turned out great as well. Definitely completes the look. Ignore chipping plastidip below, getting replaced with vinyl soon.
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Going to pull the trigger on some new shoes. Wife gave the a ok. Both these are good deals. Staying stock size but will be adding Bilstien 5100 in the future for leveling and a tad more lift / clearance from Arizona’s wicked rocks and washed out backroads.
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Going to pull the trigger on some new shoes. Wife gave the a ok. Both these are good deals. Staying stock size but will be adding Bilstien 5100 in the future for leveling and a tad more lift / clearance from Arizona’s wicked rocks and washed out backroads.
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Go Wildpeaks you won’t be disappointed. Plus the run larger than most other tires.
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heptolisk
New member
Blue 4ever Runner
New member
I prefer the logo but blacked out. Personal preference.
the_fornicator
New member
Too funny. I came from a vinyled front end. It appears the grass is greener on the other side whichever side you come from.
My cons with vinyl:
* It was hard to get the edges to adhere properly so when there was the slightest of imperfections along the edges/corners, given the tension in some areas, edges and corners started to peel
* You have to apply PPF (e.g. 3M) over the vinyl otherwise rocks and pebbles are to vinyl like a pick axe is to an ice cube. So, the cost drastically kicks up with vinyl and PPF.
Given the cost difference, I so far prefer plastidip. With plastidip, if you want to redo some parts, you can smooth out the chipped parts with a foam paint brush or qtip dipped in paint thinner. Once cleaned up, you can hit the area with more plastidip. I put 8 layers of dip on my front-end and it has yet to chip (knock on wood?).
Either way, I hope you find what works for you. I just found it interesting that I went from A to B and you went B to A to what I can only assume is to find a better solution. :beer:
Completely understand, this held up wonderfully over the winter, but I drive on the highway a lot and the bugs have destroyed it lol, just doesn’t hold up to power washer anymore. I’ll discuss protecting the vinyl with the installer. Currently I use black pinstripe tape to ensure a nice clean edge that doesn’t lift.
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I think I will. The Coopers are their very low end. The Peaks look great too. Lots of good reviews. I got a bolt stuck in the tread of my stock nerdy street Nexen tires with nearly 50K miles, so we're due! They are embarrassing. Wife green lighted it for a birthday prez too!
$637.95 for 5 tires, not mounted, that's pretty dawg gone good deal for me. Anyone done Walmart for Tires?
$637.95 for 5 tires, not mounted, that's pretty dawg gone good deal for me. Anyone done Walmart for Tires?
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the_fornicator
New member
Oh snap, that's brilliant. I'm gonna find me some black pinstripe tape. That doesn't stick out at all?
I went with a more gloss black plastidip, so not really, either way I think it looks clean even if it might be noticeable. Advance sells pinstripe, 1/4” black 40ft $5.99 I think? Just restriped my entire boat lol.
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Honestly I prefer Discount Tire, excellent service every time I go. They will match Walmart’s awesome price on those stock sized Falkens.
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