y=mx+b's Build Thread

[y=mx+b]

Is that a Rockhopper?

Yep. Specialized rock hopper comp 29.

My buddy is into MTB, so picked up an entry level bike to get my feet wet, but I already want to get something nice lol. Picked it up less than a year old, 2nd hand for almost half of retail. I really capitalized on the fall of the COVID outdoor splurge haha

 

[Bluesky 07]

Yep. Specialized rock hopper comp 29.

My buddy is into MTB, so picked up an entry level bike to get my feet wet, but I already want to get something nice lol. Picked it up less than a year old, 2nd hand for almost half of retail. I really capitalized on the fall of the COVID outdoor splurge haha

Nice, I also have a Rockhopper 29 and it's a great bike.

 

[aemravan]

I have a 2014 Giant full suspension 26er that I need to dig out of the storage shed and actually go ride.. I used to ride on a regular basis but the last 3 years have been slacking quite significantly. My brother just upgraded to a 29er and I have really big doubts about being to keep up at all anymore between lack or riding and his much easier-rolling bike.

I can't believe how expensive bikes have gotten.. when I first got into mountain biking you could get a pretty badass setup for like 1500 bucks.. now that barely even scratches the surface of what is considered a mid-level bike if you want to be on 29" wheels and have full suspension.

 

[y=mx+b]

I have a 2014 Giant full suspension 26er that I need to dig out of the storage shed and actually go ride.. I used to ride on a regular basis but the last 3 years have been slacking quite significantly. My brother just upgraded to a 29er and I have really big doubts about being to keep up at all anymore between lack or riding and his much easier-rolling bike.

I can't believe how expensive bikes have gotten.. when I first got into mountain biking you could get a pretty badass setup for like 1500 bucks.. now that barely even scratches the surface of what is considered a mid-level bike if you want to be on 29" wheels and have full suspension.

Yeah the nice bikes are much more expensive than I realized. Luckily I picked this one up off a guy that bought it and realized it wasn't for him, so I saved a bunch of his loss. but nice full suspension bikes wowza, those are expensive!

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

Burning my 1000th post here. Is when I get to upgrade to senior member status???

Should've been Senior status after your 1st or 2nd instructional thread, but Mo didn't go for it lol.

 

[y=mx+b]

no real 4runner updates, but turns out I really like biking.






may have also cracked a wheel by sending it a little too hard on low pressure with tubes lol. Maybe time to look into tubless. I got a whole new wheel because they're pretty cheap compared to car things, but I have the old one and I'm tempted to get a new hoop and spokes to build a wheel just for funzies.



Also moved back to VA from Illinois to start my last year of school. Did it in 1 day instead of 2 and just pocketed the hotel allowance lol. Had to stop of an impromtu coolant burp session because it loves to develop a bubble in the coolant system after 5-6 hours of non-stop driving by pushing coolant into the reservoir and not sucking it back. Probably a HG problem, but I need to look into it further. Opened the radiator drain to relieve pressure and partially closed it to let it dribble into a tupperware. Then with a bath towel over the cap, I removed it. Because the pressure was already released and low coolant level, the towel didn't even get wet. Always a good idea to extra take caution when dealing with hot coolant

 

[y=mx+b]

Broke off a wheel speed sensor when I was doing the spindle gussets a few months ago, and I finally got around to fixing it. State inspection time, I hated the lights on, and really is a safety issue so I'm glad its fixed.



Had to drill that bad boy out, it was really stuck in there


Like lipstick on a pig!

 

[maxdef]

Also moved back to VA from Illinois to start my last year of school. Did it in 1 day instead of 2 and just pocketed the hotel allowance lol. Had to stop of an impromtu coolant burp session because it loves to develop a bubble in the coolant system after 5-6 hours of non-stop driving by pushing coolant into the reservoir and not sucking it back. Probably a HG problem, but I need to look into it further. Opened the radiator drain to relieve pressure and partially closed it to let it dribble into a tupperware. Then with a bath towel over the cap, I removed it. Because the pressure was already released and low coolant level, the towel didn't even get wet. Always a good idea to extra take caution when dealing with hot coolant

I've been dealing with what seems to be the same issue, where short trips are no problem but long trips have left coolant in my overflow without it returning. Have you done any diagnostics/eliminations to narrow this problem down? I've replaced many things over the past few years. Also, by drain do you mean the twist valve at the bottom on the driver's side? Didn't know that could be done as I usually just consider it all hot coolant and don't go near it.

 

[y=mx+b]

I've been dealing with what seems to be the same issue, where short trips are no problem but long trips have left coolant in my overflow without it returning. Have you done any diagnostics/eliminations to narrow this problem down? I've replaced many things over the past few years. Also, by drain do you mean the twist valve at the bottom on the driver's side? Didn't know that could be done as I usually just consider it all hot coolant and don't go near it.

haven't done any diagnostics really because life has been getting in the way. I was gonna toss a rad cap at it, but I haven't done that yet. I figure its a HG problem stemming from a bad overheat I had a while ago where an ice chunk plowed my radiator.

yep that one down by the driver side of the rad. I cracked the drain on the bottom to relieve the pressure and half closed it, to let it dribble without loosing a lot, while I opened the top. I learned this trick when I was trying to flush all the green coolant that a shop had decided to top it off with a while ago

 

[aemravan]

that definitely sounds like a headgasket issue for sure unfortunately.. dealt with a similar issue on my supra. Probably a slight warp or a tear somewhere. Doesn't sound too big.


I just recently got back into mountain biking too .. boy am I out of shape for it it lol. The first few rides has be gasping for air for sure. also doesn't help that since my last ride my brother and just about all my friends that i rode with upgraded to 29er's so it doesn't make it very easy to keep up to begin with on my older 26er.

 

[y=mx+b]

that definitely sounds like a headgasket issue for sure unfortunately.. dealt with a similar issue on my supra. Probably a slight warp or a tear somewhere. Doesn't sound too big.


I just recently got back into mountain biking too .. boy am I out of shape for it it lol. The first few rides has be gasping for air for sure. also doesn't help that since my last ride my brother and just about all my friends that i rode with upgraded to 29er's so it doesn't make it very easy to keep up to begin with on my older 26er.

yeah its unfortunate. Not an issue on short drives like under 3-4 hrs, so I guess i'm gonna just top it off when its time for now lol

I've been trying to mix in some road riding to improve my endurance out on the trails which has been fun and some good mental etch-e-sketch. I'm definitely hooked on all aspects of biking now lol

 

[maxdef]

that definitely sounds like a headgasket issue for sure unfortunately.. dealt with a similar issue on my supra. Probably a slight warp or a tear somewhere. Doesn't sound too big.

Dang.. I've had a sneaking fear that I'm gonna fall victim to a bad head gasket. I don't really mind as I can have the timing chain/cam gears and other parts swapped/covers resealed, but it's definitely bigger than anything I've done and I worry about finding and trusting someone to do that job well.

Not sure what else to troubleshoot or test, but I'm mentally preparing for this job to go down :/

 

[maxdef]

Hey man wanted to see if you had any updates/progress on your coolant issue. I've been very closely watching a recent rebuild thread as well as my coolant level everyday. Tried doing a block test but the coolant pushes out well before the engine heats lol. Still no other symptoms on my end (that I've noticed!)

 

[y=mx+b]

Hey man wanted to see if you had any updates/progress on your coolant issue. I've been very closely watching a recent rebuild thread as well as my coolant level everyday. Tried doing a block test but the coolant pushes out well before the engine heats lol. Still no other symptoms on my end (that I've noticed!)

Haven't seen any significant losses recently. Max trip length has been 3-4 hrs home from school. I've done a few of those back and forth since this summer, and I only think I topped it off once in late August.

 

[y=mx+b]

Haven't been on here in a while, life just gets in the way sometimes. 4runner was chugging along smoothly until it failed a state inspection for frame rust. I knew it was crusty, but it finally caught up to me. I'm going to save it, but I've had a stressful past 4 days working to fix it. For better or for worse, its all on the frame and none of the deep rust is on the body. When I'm all done I'll put all the pics, but here are some teasers and gore:

 

[rdruss]

That's one of my projects for this summer, pull the rear bumper cover and take a look. Hope it's not as bad as yours, but could be! Tell us how to remove that bumper cover if it's not too obvious. Thanks.

 

[y=mx+b]

That's one of my projects for this summer, pull the rear bumper cover and take a look. Hope it's not as bad as yours, but could be! Tell us how to remove that bumper cover if it's not too obvious. Thanks.

The cover isn't too difficult to remove. On each side there is a bolt in the wheel well by the very tip of the pointed edge and three clips that span the side. Additionally, there are 1-2 bolts per side along the bottom edge of the cover. Then there are the 6 bolts under the tailgate and then it just all yanks off. There are also two little shelf pieces that hole up the corners under the cover. They don't clip to anything, but just need to be mindful of them when wiggling it off

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

Was over on the 4Runners.com this morning and stumbled on this. Seriously wonder how Toyota will respond, considering there are no frame blanks floating around the US. They would have to ship a load over, or have Dana build some here. I'm sure the GX owners would like to know about this.

Toyota 4Runner - Bell Legal Group

 

[Bluesky 07]

Was over on the 4Runners.com this morning and stumbled on this. Seriously wonder how Toyota will respond, considering there are no frame blanks floating around the US. They would have to ship a load over, or have Dana build some here. I'm sure the GX owners would like to know about this.

Toyota 4Runner - Bell Legal Group

Interesting. The wildcard is how a court defines “premature” considering the youngest of these trucks is 14 years old. Is there some industry standard or baseline as to the reasonable service life of a vehicle frame? The fact that Americans keep their vehicles for ~12 years on average should help illustrate that 14+ years is a more than realistic period for the frame to remain solid and safe (figure is per The Wall Street Journal in 2021).

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

Interesting. The wildcard is how a court defines “premature” considering the youngest of these trucks is 14 years old. Is there some industry standard or baseline as to the reasonable service life of a vehicle frame? The fact that Americans keep their vehicles for ~12 years on average should help illustrate that 14+ years is a more than realistic period for the frame to remain solid and safe (figure is per The Wall Street Journal in 2021).

Yes, but isn't there a precedent set with the other Toyota models that had frame replacements?