YETIX Build and Adventure Thread aka Travels with Savanna

[YetiX]

This was “Hank” (daughter’s nickname), the day I got him, December 16, 2016. Completely stock 2006 Sport Edition 4WD with the 4.0L V6. It had 167,202 miles when I traded in my 2WD for it.

As it sits today (December 29, 2018 w 213,272 miles)

​

For years, I was into off-road motorcycle camping trips, aka Adventure Riding. I went though a bunch of bikes and built all of them up only to sell them and start over, as my wife will tell you, eventually ending up with this beast, a 2005.5 KTM 950 Adventure “S.”

In 2015, a lifetime of having fun (read: US Marines, football, lacrosse, surfing, climbing, riding dirt bikes, etc.) caught up with me and my right leg stopped working properly. I’d been having issues, but I got out of the water one morning after surfing and, as I was taking off my wetsuit, I realized I could not lift my right foot off the ground. Turned out I had severe issues with my neck, to the point where my spinal cord was dying. After one last motorcycle trip (a very, very mellow one), I had surgery at the end of May of 2015, a C3-C7 laminectomy with fusion. With that came the end of motorcycle trips for me as my leg has not fully recovered to the point where I feel comfortable on a bike off road.

I wasn’t ready to give up the outdoors and wanted a vehicle to get me there so I made an impulse buy and bought this 2006 Sport Edition 2WD.

I enjoyed it and used it for a few trips, but quickly realized I needed 4WD to go where I wanted to go. After about a year, the stars lined up, and I was able to trade in the 2WD for my current 4Runner and $h!t got real . . .

MODIFICATIONS (with much more to come)

Suspension
Bilstein 5100’s with FJ Coils
Bilstein 6112’s front with 650# springs/Bilstein 5160 rear shocks with OME 2895 springs
Icon 2.0 w remote reservoirs
SPC Racing UCA’s
Airlift Air 1000 air springs (rear)

Wheels and Tires
Plastidipped Sport Wheels
TRD Pro wheels
Nitto Ridge Grapplers 265/70r17
NoLoss Valve Stem Caps

Armor/Recovery/Misc
White Knuckle Off Road bolt-on sliders
Rocksteady Motorsports full aluminum skid plates w fill plate
Treaty Oak Off Road front recovery points
T4R group buy rear recovery points
Wilco Hitchgate Spare Tire Carrier
Custom Jerry Can carriers for Wilco
Instant Air Supply CO2 fill tank
ARB Single compressor mounted under the hood
Odyssey Group 31 battery in Pelfreybilt tray

Lighting
Baja Designs Squadron Pro lights in fog light pockets
Independent fog light modification
Baja Designs S2 rear work lights (soon to be installed)
LED lights in rear hatch
LED reverse lights

Interior
Pioneer Double DIN Bluetooth stereo
LED bulb swap
Smokers kit
Dual USB and Voltmeter where the cigarette lighter used to be
RAM Mount for tablet
Custom rear tie-down/sleeping platform w tool drawers
Weather Tech floor mats and cargo cover
The ultimate fortune cookie fortune

Comms/Navigation
Dual-band Ham Radio stealth mounted
Garmin Montana 850
Spot Gen. 2
InReach SE
Elipse Tablet running Gaia GPS
Baofeng UV5R Dual Band handheld

Exterior
Baja Rack Full basket
Rola rack with Armor Tech Offroad low profile mounts
ARB 2000 Awning on Fourtreks mounts
Maxsa Traction Boards
Shovel on Fourtreks mounts
Custom made TOYOTA grille
Rad Rubber front wheel well splash guards
Fumoto oil change valve
Overland Labs hammock


ADVENTURES:
1st Time Off Road - Anza Borrego January 21, 2017
Big Bear May 20, 2017
Big Bear August 19, 2017
Big Bear August 19, 2017
Corral Canyon October 14, 2017
Pismo Beach November 10, 2017
Oregon Road Trip December 22, 2017
Augua Caliente January 21, 2018
Anza Borrego March 10, 2018
WARPED Trip April 5, 2018
Big Bear June 22, 2018
Big Bear September 14, 2018

 

[YetiX]

This forum has been a huge help to me over the years in building and encouraging me to get out and have adventures, so I hope I can give back a bit with some of my modifications and encourage others to get out and have fun outdoors!

 

[bombventure]

Very sorry to hear you can’t enjoy riding bikes anymore, but glad you made it through seemingly well! Its always a bummer not being able to do something you love anymore especially due to health, but you got the 4R nonetheless! [emoji2]

Looking forward to seeing more Yeti!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[YetiX]

Very sorry to hear you can’t enjoy riding bikes anymore, but glad you made it through seemingly well! Its always a bummer not being able to do something you love anymore especially due to health, but you got the 4R nonetheless! [emoji2]

Looking forward to seeing more Yeti!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! The two things I can't really do any more that I used to love are riding dirt bikes and running. I can still run sort of, I just look like Frankenstein when I do it. :lmao:

 

[YetiX]

First Mod: Bluetooth Double DIN Stereo

The first priority for me was to install a Bluetooth stereo. I'm not an audiophile, I don't do amps or subwoofers, so if you're looking for that, you'll need to go elsewhere.

I drive a lot for work and have to be able to communicate with clients and my office, so a stereo with good Bluetooth is essential. I also like to stream music and podcasts from my phone to keep me from getting distracted. My other criteria were 1) the stereo had to double DIN so it would look stock-ish, 2) had to have multiple colors for the face, again because stock-ish, 3) needed to work with steering wheel controls, and 4) had to have enough power that it sounds at least decent.

I've bought multiple stereos from Crutchfield over the years because their customer service is great and they sell everything you need to install the stereo. In this case, I went with the Pioneer AVH-X2800BS and steering wheel kit. I cut all the wires in the harness and adapter kit and tinned them and wrapped them in color-matched heat shrink. (Sorry, no pictures)

I also removed the air bag on the steering wheel and installed the phone controls from a Limited. (I'll add more detail on this later)

The end result:

It sounds great, to me, and works flawlessly. #winning

 

[YetiX]

Bilstein 5100's, FJ Coils, and Plastidipped Wheels

I knew that one of the first things I wanted to do was give the 4Runner a moderate lift, but didn't want to spend a ton of money until I had a better feel for what my ultimate needs were going to be. I've read enough threads on here from [MENTION=124732]LawnDart[/MENTION]'s 2+ Long Travel suspension to everything else, that I knew from the outset the 5100's were not going to be the permanent suspension solution, but I wasn't sure how much more extreme I wanted to go.

I had installed the 5100's on the 2WD, so I knew they had limitations but would get the job done while I dithered about and made my mind up. With the help of my friend Miles (who will make an appearance shortly), who is an actual mechanic, we were able to quickly install the 5100's and FJ springs. We set the fronts on their second-from-highest setting and the truck came out pretty much perfectly level. :thumb:

Before:

After:

A random picture from the installation:

Then I found a set of Sport Edition wheels on Craigslist and Plastidipped them black because black wheels rule. With that, we were set for our first adventure!

 

[Ducks & Trucks]

Great thread! Very inspiring and nice build.

 

[YetiX]

Great thread! Very inspiring and nice build.

Thanks Ben. Looking forward to sharing some of the fun I've had over the past 1 1/2 years.

 

[Berty_K]

Mind sharing your current suspension setup?

Curious to see how you're liking the 6112's up front and the FJ coils in the rear.

I have the FJ trail TRD suspension (6112 & 5160), and went with dobinson 505 coils in the rear. Got about 2.75" of lift in the rear.

 

[YetiX]

Mind sharing your current suspension setup?

Curious to see how you're liking the 6112's up front and the FJ coils in the rear.

I have the FJ trail TRD suspension (6112 & 5160), and went with dobinson 505 coils in the rear. Got about 2.75" of lift in the rear.

Currently, I have the 6112's up front set at max height. In the rear I have Icon 2.0 with remote reservoirs and the FJ coils. It sits pretty close to level, with the rear maybe 1/2" higher when it is empty. With my camping stuff in, it's pretty close to level.

I'll give a more in-depth review when I get there in this thread but the short version is that I do like this set up. My only complaint is that I wish the compression damping on the Icons was a little bit less harsh when empty. I could send the Icons in to have the valving re-done, but I'm leaning towards selling them and getting a set of 5160's. The FJ coils seem well matched to the springs in the 6112's.

Hope that answers your questions!

 

[Berty_K]

Currently, I have the 6112's up front set at max height. In the rear I have Icon 2.0 with remote reservoirs and the FJ coils. It sits pretty close to level, with the rear maybe 1/2" higher when it is empty. With my camping stuff in, it's pretty close to level.

I'll give a more in-depth review when I get there in this thread but the short version is that I do like this set up. My only complaint is that I wish the compression damping on the Icons was a little bit less harsh when empty. I could send the Icons in to have the valving re-done, but I'm leaning towards selling them and getting a set of 5160's. The FJ coils seem well matched to the springs in the 6112's.

Hope that answers your questions!

Yes it does! Thanks for sharing.

 

[YetiX]

1st Time Offroading - Anza Borrego Jan 21, 2017

Aside from a couple of trips as a kid in my dad's International Harvester Scout II (Insignia Orange of course) which I barely remember, I had never driven off-road in a 4 wheeled vehicle. That needed to change, an quickly.

Two of my friends, Devin and Miles, both grew up off-roading in and around Anza Borrego State Park and they suggested it would be a good place to bust my cherry, so to speak. However, as Saturday approached, San Diego got pummeled by rain (it does happen) and there were flash flood warnings for the desert. As a result, a couple of others who were going to go with us, bailed for "safety" reasons. The three of us decided it was a bunch of hype and we should go anyways. So we did.

We left San Diego nice and early and drove through Ranchita where we passed by the statute dedicated to my people.

We then dropped down into the desert and could see lots of clouds and there was snow on the mountains, but no rain!

We all shifted into 4WD and had a quick chat before heading into the desert. Miles and his kid were in his '05 SR5 and Devin in his dad's Jeep Wrangler.

Our first stop was Font's Point which is a viewpoint over the valley of the desert. It felt a bit like being on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, just not so grand. The weather was perfect and the mud was not bad at all. Yet.

After Font's Point, we played around in some washes and then Devin suggested Calcite Mine Trail. Miles's voice excitedly agreed over the radio and off we went.

Calcite is a crystal which is commonly found in the desert sandstone. During WW2, it was discovered that high-grade calcite crystal sharpened the targeting accuracy of gun sights so well it raised the survival rate of allied bombing missions. John W. Hilton owned the land where this deposit was found and mined it initially, but then sold the mine to the Polaroid Corp. who worked the mine until a better synthetic substitute was discovered in 1945 when the mine was closed.

The trail is a narrow steep trail with a few ledges and drop-offs and more than one area where a wheel is on the edge of a cliff. In other words, perfect for a complete beginner!!

These are just a few random shots from along the trail. I got to lift wheels (yes, plural at one point) for the first time and learned how well our 4Runners really do off-road! I also got to put my first scars in the rear bumper.

Dropping off this ledge is how I got the first scars in my rear bumper:

And then out of the canyon and back to the road:

We all decided it was time for some lunch and headed over to 7 Palms for a quick lunch.

That's Devin lounging in my 4Runner because there's no room to sit on the tailgate of a Heep.

Lunch beer!!

We then headed back down the wash towards Ocotillo Wells off road area and the Pumpkin Patch.

On the way to the Pumkin Patch, we blasted through a mud puddle. I got a decent shot of Miles and his kid going through. If you zoom in, you can see his kid laughing his head off!!

The "pumpkins" are unique geological feature called concretions. It is believed they form much like pearls form, with wet sand attaching itself to a piece of shell. When the water dries, the sand becomes hardened around the object, which then repeats over many, many years. Wind erosion is believed to give the Ocotillo concretions their round shape.

After hitting the Pumpkin Patch, we went up a wash. This is the last picture I took before things got REALLY muddy. Eventually, it got too muddy and we had to turn around at a step we just could not get up without a winch.

The end result:

After this, it was a quick drive back to San Diego for Carne Asada burritos and some cold cervesas (beers).

 

[rickashay]

Great build thread. Sorry to hear about your neck injury but very cool and inspiring to see you get back out there via other means. Builds and stories with some "history" are the best... keep at it and I'm sure your going to continue loving the 4x4 world (and your 4Runner) for years to come. :cheers:

 

[YetiX]

Great build thread. Sorry to hear about your neck injury but very cool and inspiring to see you get back out there via other means. Builds and stories with some "history" are the best... keep at it and I'm sure your going to continue loving the 4x4 world (and your 4Runner) for years to come. :cheers:

Thank you for the kind words. Your build thread, photos and videos have been some of my big motivators.

One of the difficult things for me is deciding whether to keep things going in order, or to start highlighting some of the bigger things I've done. Fortunately, one of the "cooler" things I've done, my sleeping platform/drawers, was built pretty early on.

In about an hour or so I'm out of here for a four day weekend up by Kernville. Cannot wait. Mountains, desert, snow . . .

 

[rickashay]

Thank you for the kind words. Your build thread, photos and videos have been some of my big motivators.

One of the difficult things for me is deciding whether to keep things going in order, or to start highlighting some of the bigger things I've done. Fortunately, one of the "cooler" things I've done, my sleeping platform/drawers, was built pretty early on.

In about an hour or so I'm out of here for a four day weekend up by Kernville. Cannot wait. Mountains, desert, snow . . .

Stoked to see the pics!

 

[YetiX]

Stoked to see the pics!

Just a quick teaser shot from close to the top of Sherman Pass. It was a great weekend with a lot of relaxing.

 

[YetiX]

Sliders and Awning

I did a ton of research and spoke with some knowledgeable people about armor. Just about everyone agreed that the most-important armor was a set of sliders. They not only protect the bottom of the rig from rocks, but also the doors from the side.

The next question was whether to go with bolt-on or weld-on. At first I was a bit concerned that bolt-on sliders would not be strong enough, but did not want to deal with weld-on sliders since I have not yet learned to weld so I would have to pay someone, and take the time, to get it done. After some research I was convinced that bolt-on sliders were more than adequate for anything but hardcore rockcrawling (which I have zero intention of doing).

The next, and last decision, was which brand to go with? The 4th Gen Armor Thread LINK was a huge help. (There's now a v.2 version). In the end, I went with White Knuckle Off Road sliders because they got great reviews and were available locally, saving me $150 in shipping costs. I elected to go with the DOM tubing since it was only $40 more and at that point, why not? I also have White Knuckle powder coat them for me. When I was talking with John, I also found out they give a military discount. Score!!! LINK

A few weeks later they were ready so I shot up to Apple Valley to pick them up and then back to my friend's house to install them. The driver's side was a bit of a pain in the ass to install because of the brake lines needing to be moved a bit and we had to grind the end of one of the u-bolts down a few mm to get it to fit. It took about an hour, maybe a little longer. (We should have had beer, in retrospect) The passenger side took about 20 minutes. The end results:

I later added some grip tape cut into ovals where people step on the sliders because they are slippery as F when they get wet. I am very, very happy with them and they have certainly done their job over the past year or so.

A few days later, I was looking at Craiglist as I do every morning and saw an ARB 2000 awning available for $125. I called and talked him down to $100 and went and picked it up at lunch. Score. I wish I could say there was some thought involved in choosing this awning over any other, but it was a simple case of me knowing I wanted an awning at some point and this one coming available locally for such a good deal. It has been really nice to have over the past year, especially last weekend when it poured all day Saturday. I just sat under the awning and drank beer and stayed dry. :rockon:

At first I installed it with ghetto mounts made from angle brackets and u-bolts. That was a bit sketchy to me and in my search for better brackets I came across Four Treks Precision Off-Road Products. Their brackets are machined from 6061-T6 billet aluminum and are works of art. While they're not cheap, they are incredibly high quality, made in USA, products. LINKY

The roof rack bars on the Sport Edition are 2" so I ordered up a set of their ARB awning mounts for 2" bars. Look how pretty they are!!

I went a bit overkill and ordered three mounts, although they only recommend two for the 2000 awning. Here's the awning mounted with the Four Treks mounts.

(These are for sale now since I had to go with a different size when I installed the Rola Rack.)

 

[YetiX]

Big Bear 5/20/17

So, remember Devin from my first off-road trip? He who was driving his dad's Jeep Wrangler. Well that trip reminded Devin how much he enjoyed off-roading, so after a discussion with his household CFO, a decision was made to purchase a LX450 to replace his Excursion tow vehicle. (He races BMW's) Once the Lexus Land Cruiser had been procured, we naturally had to go on an overnighter to test it out. The weather was perfect up in the mountains at Big Bear, so the plan was set in stone. Or so we thought . . .

A few days before we were going to go, I took my 4Runner in to Miles's shop to have him replace the water pump which was seeping. A couple of hours later I got the call . . . "Dude, are you sitting down?" Turns out, I had a head gasket leak. A bit of quick research and I found out I had all the classic symptoms: rough idle on cold start, waterfall sound behind the dash on cold start up, and slowly disappearing coolant. The only thing missing was a Check Engine Light.

Well, I wasn't missing out on an overnight trip and the leak was early, so we threw some K Seal in it and off I went with Devin and his wife . . .

We met Saturday morning after breakfast and headed up the 15 towards Apple Valley. The plan was to take a long dirt road/trail, Coxey Road, from Hesperia to our campground in Big Bear.

At first it was a pretty easy, if rough, dirt road

We wound up higher and higher . . .

Where things got a little steeper . . .

And eventually made it up into the forests . . .

Obligatory shot to show off the new sliders and awning:

And then to camp at Hanna Flat campground. I wanted to find a dispersed camping spot on BLM land, but Devin's wife really wanted a proper campground with a real bathroom. Well, you know how that decisions ended up . . .

And my home for the night

After checking into our campsite and dropping off some stuff, we went to go explore some of the better trails and see how the "Land Cruiser" did. Turns out, it did very, very well.

It's hard to see from the (poor quality) photo, but this actually a really rutted hill and Devin's wheels are fully articulated:

We found our way via back trails over to Big Bear Lake for an early dinner:

Big Bear Pro Tip: If you like burgers and are in Big Bear, you must go to Get The Burger. It's a little shack on the main drag that serves up amazing burgers, fries and onion rings. The fry sauce is amazing!

After dinner we went back to camp and chilled around a campfire, BS'd and had some great beers.

The next morning I had to get back home to take my daughter to a volleyball thing, so I bailed right after breakfast and took the main highway back to San Diego.

And then dropped my 4Runner off on Monday to have the head gasket replaced along with some other stuff . . .

 

[jdm11]

How are you liking those Baja Design fogs? Think they better than just HIDs in there for the price?

 

[YetiX]

How are you liking those Baja Design fogs? Think they better than just HIDs in there for the price?

The Baja Desgins fog lights are, in my opinion, much better as fog lights than HID's. Primarily, they're a lot tougher waterproof and fogs get submerged on even the most basic stream crossing.

Baja Designs makes three levels of Squadron lights, which are what I have. They start with the Sport, then Pro, then Race. The Race lights are insanely bright and I couldn't justify those for fog lights. I went with the Pros and they are very, very bright. I wouldn't run them on the street unless there were no other cars around. They're really an off-road light. One of the guys at BD has a 4Runner and he runs the Sports in his fogs. He keeps them on all the time and has never had any issues. (He probably has them aimed low too.)

I'll be doing a write-up soon of the install since there is no kit actually made for the 4th Gen 4Runner.

Check back soon . . .​