Grego92

iTrader: (4)

No no no!!!....lol I feel your pain though, you'll get it soon enough, I've never seen someone do as much due diligence as you in solving a problem!


So my progress for today was adding the headlight reminder buzzer and ignition key/steering column light....hahhaha, it's something useful to me though so don't laugh!
It's useful to me because it is common for me to start driving at 5:00am (dark) or so to go yak fishing and not get to my destination until 6:30 (light). There have been a number of times I've left my lights on, and luckily I or a buddy caught it and just had to deal with the hassle of going back to the truck to cut the lights off. But a couple of times i wasn't lucky.

It was suggested in a thread to use a tap in clip to tap into the red w/yellow stripe wire, but it gave me unpredictable results. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't and sometimes the buzz was very faint.

I ended up spending 20 minutes with a razor and carefully scrapping away an opening in the wire and then soldered the wire, and followed up with 5 coats of liquid electrical tape and my problem was solved.

I also added the additional 4runner steering column/ignition key light at the same time, and added an extra wire in case I ever wanted to hook up to that again.

Stripped Red w/Yellow stripe wire exposed. That wire is power to the headlights.


I hooked three wires up to the stripped area. 1. Buzzer 2. Ignition Key Light 3. Spare Wire . Then I carefully soldered really well. Make sure you solder from the passenger side also if you do this.



The ground from the buzzer is tapped into the wire from the door switch. The clip worked fine for that hook-up. I also grounded the ignition light to one of the bolts that was grounded and accessible.



5 coats of liquid electrical tape.



The 4runner ignition light on the steering column turns on when I turn the headlights on. Doesn't do much but makes the cabin a tad lighter when driving at night. Wouldn't have done this if I wasn't already in there doing the headlight buzzer. Also, if you want to do this you can grab the whole top plastic portion that includes the light from the 4runner or if you look real close the cut out for the light is already outlined into the plastic. I just used my existing plastic steering cover part and cut it out with a dremel tool. It was very easy to follow the line and just sanded it down with a narrow file to perfection.

ToyoTech559

nice work. irrc. that light only comes on when the door is open so you can see where the key hole is. at least thats how mine works. than it turns off shortly after i start the runner

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Shweeeeet! ANY extra light is 'good light', ya know? lol... You Yak Fish, eh? Saw those big rack cross bars up there... now I know why! lol. I'm sure you use it for other stuff... but gotta have it for the Yak, eh?

Hey, ... btw, .... might need to borrow that CAT after all, lol. I have a bud in AZ that's gonna check in the morning,...he's got LOTS of parts, thinks he has one... But he has to check. He'd have to ship it, too.. so like I said, I might hit ya up! lol. I appreciate the offer, Grego!

Grego92

iTrader: (4)

Toyotech....I think you're absolutely right. I imagine there's some sort of relay that gives it that delay in turning off. I was going to hook it up to my dome light because that turns on when my doors open, but I had upgraded to the 4runner one and have super bright led's that light up the entire cab of the truck pretty well. So, I just figured a little green light in the cab to match the dash at night while driving would be nice.

Chef, yup been kayak fishing since about 2000, but I've taken a pretty big break that last couple of years. Was rebuilding my 2nd Gen Camry and now this truck. If you need to borrow my cat, no problem, just give it back without any holes or cuts!!...LOL I'll dare say I have an 05' Frontier and my Camry to use.







Hirame


Hamachi

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Grego, .... YOU HAVE A NEW FAN! lol.... Seriously though, ... that Camry/motor AND interior AND body......... SICK! I've been entertaining grabbing a 'run around' vehicle... And that's one I thought on. Maybe a LS400, ....something like that. Second reason I'm a fan? YOU'RE THE MAN with the fishin! lol. That's great! I did a lot of surface fishing up by Oxnard(all night trips out to channel islands) with my pops when younger... I caught a 32# white sea bass... First time out, biggest fish that day, and ran through everyone's lines, having to cut them, etc... THEY HATED ME! lol. That day, my dad caught a 22# Sheepshead.... DELISH! lol.

Hey, c'mon... just slap me the keys for that Camry.. you know you wanna! hahahaha. JK, you know that, lol.

Grego92

iTrader: (4)

Mark, I'd pick one that is plentiful at the yards. For luxury sedans there seems to be a lot of ES300's. There are a ton of 2nd Gen Camrys and many of the Lexus ES250 interior parts are interchangeable. It was pretty easy to rebuild the interior and improve it with ES250 parts.

ToyoTech559

wow. that is one clean camry. the fishes are HUGE. nice catch

Grego92

iTrader: (4)

With work I haven't had much time to work on the can-back. But I did attempt to sand and paint the frame, but that was a no-go! It was just too time consuming and the rust was really bad in some spots. So I broke down and dropped it off for a sand blasting and powder coating. It isn't ready for pickup though. Hopefully this coming week.

I did finish the front steering upgrades though. I used Moog steering dampener, Autozone idler arm (autozone 5040? - whichever one that everyone recommends because it is beefier and I can upgrade to the brass bushing once the originals wear out), Moog inner and outer tie rods and adjuster sleeves. Then took it in for a front end alignment. I wasn't that far off after doing the work. Such a noticeable difference after the replacing those things. The steering is nice and tight and no more road vibration at the wheel.





BEFORE:



AFTER:

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

OOOOh, sexy alignment pics!!!!!!! hehehe.... But seriously.... Nice work, Grego!!!

technojunkie

Well... I think I just learned something very good.... It looks like my driveshaft may be installed backward. In your pics it looks like the part of the shaft that slides to adjust length is attached to your transfer case. Is that correct? Mine is installed with the sliding portion facing the rear diff.

ToyoTech559

it doesnt really matter. the newer model trucks has the slip at the bottom now

Grego92

iTrader: (4)

Oh, you like those eh?! LOL

technojunkie - I'm sure what Toyotech said is true and answered your question. After all, he's a toyota technician, right?

Got the Can-Back rack back from the sandblasting/powder coating place. Beach Cities Powder Coating in Gardena, CA did a great job, albeit a little slow. They must be popular because I seen all kinds of parts being chromed and powder coated.

Spent all day yesterday gathering up new stainless steel hardware and cutting out rubber gaskets. Then was finally able to mount it up. The canvas sunbrella top is still soaking in oxyclean, it was horribly dirty and moldy. I finally got to see the original color after a few days of soaking and killing the mold with hydrogen peroxide.

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Ok, so, .....now, .... .yeah, ..... I HATE YOU MORE! hahahaa. JK, wow, nice work! BTW, where did you get that again? CL? I CAN NOT FIND ONE ON THERE TO SAVE MY LIFE! lol. However, I'm very hesitant to roll with one in my runner.... It's just WAY to often I hear of guys getting ripped off near me in Torrance, etc., in their runners w/soft tops.

Grego92

iTrader: (4)

Yup, off a craigslist about 8-9 months ago. $250 and had to make a drive out to the Riverside area. I jumped all over it since I knew it wasn't going to last long. It even came with the racks. The kid moved back from Seattle, WA and didn't need it anymore. That's why it got so moldy.

I really like the look of them on a 4runner, but I can see what you mean security wise.

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Ahhhhh... Yep, and I lost that V6 5 spd to HIS BROTHER! lol.(shared it on my thread).

Anyway, pics, asap, with it on, ...CHOP-CHOP! lol. JK, .... gonna look great! What color is it again? PLEASE say TAN? lol.... JK, I just LOVE the Toyota Colors with that deep TAN you see so often on CanBacks, ya know? Black would be sick too, no doubt.... It's black, isn't it? hahahaha.... Felt like one of those "Hey, ....he's right behind me, isn't he?" moments, hahahaha.

JK, throw up some pics though, can't wait!!!

Grego92

iTrader: (4)

Actually, you're right on it is tan. However, it is no longer that DEEP brand new tan anymore. Sunbrella material isn't suppose to lose any color, but it has. It's still tan though.

The canvas is as clean as it will get so I rinsed it out and hung to dry in the California sun for 4 hours. The mold really did a number on some of the threading. My mom still sews, so I went by and dropped it off to see what she can do. She thinks she can re-sew most of it. Then I'm going to drop it off an an upholstery shop to sew up a small tear.

After that, I need to apply 303 Fabric Guard. So it'll be a couple weeks before that thing is actually on the frame.

Grego92

iTrader: (4)

Well, what ya think?... I LUV IT! very happy with it, unique and functional for my kayak fishing and occasional camping trips.

My mom couldn't do the sewing so I still have to do that and put the 303 on it. But I was too excited to see how it would look. The sewing will make the canvas tighter over the top because that's where the threading had come off (helps stretch the canvas with the straps on the under-side).

And my lab will enjoy having shade while being in the back. He's got it easy....a soft comfy bedrug on the bottom and a can-back for shade.

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Grego, that's great! ..... and I hate you MORE NOW! hahahaha. JK, jk.. looks really nice, man.

BTW, .... you have TC or some other Scion Seats in there? Saab? Oddessy? I KNOW I've seen them...What is them? lol.

OH, btw, the dog? Yep, ...he's a droolin on your console to break it in for ya! hahaha... GREAT dog, too man!

Grego92

iTrader: (4)

Shhhhhhhhh.......I snuck in a shot of my dog sitting in my 05' 4x4 Nismo Frontier

ToyoTech559

top looks good.