-After Carvacre I decided I needed to fix the tippy-ness of my 4runner. I needed new tires, so I debated whether to buy new wheels with a different backspacing or to just buy wheel spacers. In the end I went with 2" wheel spacers on each corner. I bought 4 for $120. A few weeks later, I took the 4runner back out to Carvacre with it's new wheel spacers and it was like night and day. The ruts I used to need a friend to 'slider surf' for me now seemed like a piece of cake. Well that and my driving is getting a bit better (not me in the picture)
After Carvacre I ran Corral Canyon again, just this time I ran it solo. It didn't seem so bad the second time around. I now needed to find a new challenge. Then it hit me, before summer is over I wanted to run John Bull at Big Bear. The 4runner was decently capible, but if I wanted to run John Bull I knew what it would take, a rear locker. I ended up purchasing a aussie locker and installed it myself. I did a few tests on some dirt roads close to my house and I was extremely impressed with the 4runner's new capabilities.
I added a few more parts to the 4runner to prepare it for Big Bear. I added a set of Hella 500 driving lights for trail running at night and a switch in the rear cargo area to raise and lower the tailgate glass. I normally sleep in the back of the 4runner when I go camping and it's a pain opening the rear tailgate. First you have to lower the glass to drop the tailgate. The only way to lower the glass is to either put the key in the ignition and hit the switch between the driver and passenger seat or to use the keyhole on the outside of the tailgate. To remedy this I spliced into the wires of the keyhole in the tailgate and ran wires to switch in the rear cargo area that was always hot (meaning the car didn't have to be on). After a few nights of sleeping in the back of the 4runner, I just wish I did this sooner. Looks stock too!
July 31-August 3 I was up in Big Bear running the trails up there. Here's the
trip report. I ran into a few small problems, but the 4runner overcame them all. I managed to run Dishpan Springs, Gold Mountain and John Bull. It would have been nice to run Holcomb Creek too, but it's still closed from fire damage. Here's the 4runner on John Bull
Oh and to add icing on top of the cake, I got to use my winch to free a stuck Range Rover.
