Doesn't Somebody make a Lexan Windshield for these??

But ya, just abandoning it might be smarter, simpler and cheaper.

Looks like Y'all had a blast, despite the carnage! Were you the only one in your group that flopped?

 

This truck is amazing. Hats off to you sir, for a SICK 4runner that performs AMAZINGLY well. I loved watching that thing on Holy Cross.

 

I was thinking about that for a while but it might be too late.

I don't have a tow rig or trailer, it gets driven to and from the trail. The other issue is that even with a trailered rig, being at 9000' in the Rocky Mountains with no windshield cut's down your wheeling season quite a bit.

I have not heard of any Lexan windshields for this, it would nice though. The only problem is that even with a Lexan windshield something would have broke, I didn't hit the glass, the A-pillar caved in an inch or two. The other issue is that the windshield frame has pretty much had it and doesn't want to come back into shape (even with a 10 ton Porta-Power ).

It was a great trip! I met a bunch of great people and did some awesome wheeling. As far as I know, I was the only person to flop on the trip.

Thanks! I had a lot of fun watching your rig too; I was very impressed at how well it worked for its size, a true example of a sleeper.

 

Ya, it seems like I've heard rumor of racecars "popping" lexan windshields out once in a while when they roll. Don't want that!

Hope you can straighten it enough again!

 

When's the next trip?? We had a good time at Indy

 

you could always swap bodys and exo it lol.

 

Thanks man. I'm doing some cutting this winter to hopefully improve some more. Should have some pics up at some point. Sawzall's do cool stuff.

 

It's going to be a while ...

I would have loved to run Indy with you guy's but the truck wasn't up for the drive down there, I'm sure you had a good time though! Instead I ended up running the last two trails for the 4Runner (although I really didn't know it at the time).

First up was the Trough Trail. I've only ran it once before and it was pretty close to home so it seemed like a good trail to run until I figured out the windshield situation. Everything was going great until I snapped my passenger side hub studs towards the top of the upper trail. I was able to get back out in three wheel drive but it took a little work.

Cory





Poser shots







Towards the top

 

Nice pics!!! I'll have to hit that trail with you guys one of these days. Tell Cory I said "What's up!"

 

And the damage!

 

Ouch, looks like it's time for some ARP hardware I've got an extra pair of SFA hubs if you need them.

 

The next morning I went to the shop and replaced the wheel bearing/hub/rotor assembly and the hub body. The plan was to head up Red Cone with the GF and check out the mountain goats and views. So we went to the top of Radical Hill and watched the goats for a while, then dropped down and went up Webster Pass and over Red Cone. It was a great trip but the lack of doors made it pretty rough, towards the top of Red Cone it was pretty close to freezing and the rain was starting to turn into snow.

Top of Radical Hill with the goats

 

I think I have to agree with you on that one, but it was better than breaking a ring and pinion! Thanks for the offer, but I have a couple spares too. With 40's you might want to hang on to those.

There's more to the story but it's getting late so I'll finish later ...

 

I've actually got 2 pairs, one pair for my trail spares toolbox and an extra set I picked up at the pull-n-save because they were easy and cheap

Nice pics of the goats on Radical Hill. Every trip report I've ever seen of Radical Hill has some goats

How's Breck? Getting cold yet?

 

I'll have to remember that just in case I ever need one.

The goats just hang out there, it's pretty cool. As long as you don't get too close they just mind there own business, you can get 5-10' away from them before they start backing away or getting upset.

I spent the last week in Oregon, but there's snow on the mountains and frost on the deck today! You can tell fall is here and winters coming soon.

 

Some more pictures from the trip

 

I've been debating what to do about the truck for a while now (even before the Carnage trip). I always figured that I would just get a tow rig and trailer but after putting some numbers together, I realized that's just not possible for quite a while. Even if I picked up something cheap, I don't think I could afford the fuel for the thing, not to mention no place to park either of them.

So I came to the conclusion a while ago that I needed some thing more streetable. I also realized that running the super hard trails has become more stressful than fun. Without a tow rig you pretty much worry about whether it's going to make it home or not the entire trip (and sometimes it doesn't). At first I thought about doing a body swap but since the cage, engine and body are all solid mounted it would require a ton of cutting and refitting. Also, I don't want a bobbed rig and solid drivetrain, it works great on the trail but sucks on the road.

The next issue that came up was horsepower. Whether I did a body swap or put all of my stuff on another truck, it wouldn't be any faster. It does good on flat roads but as soon as you hit a hill plan on going 45 mph. I thought about some kind of engine swap but realized that's just not in the budget.

After ALOT of debating, planning, and thinking about every aspect I could; I've decided to do a milder build on the turbo 4Runner and keep it the daily driver at the same time. I want something that I can drive everyday, take on mild and moderate trails (Wheeler Lake, Chinamans, Holy Cross up to the city) and still be confortable, have room to go camping and cruise along at a decent speed

I thought about selling the rock crawler all together but realized there was no way I was going to get much money out of it, the body just too beat. The final straw was Red Cone. I pretty much froze the entire day and since the doors won't fit back on there wasn't much I could do. Then when I got home and looked at the truck I noticed this, another broken front leaf spring.





The spring were hammered when I got them (used) and I was cruising through some water bars at a decent amount of speed but I never really jumped it. They are pretty bent too.

 

Since I don't want to spend money on a truck that I can hardly get money out of, I decided to start chopping it. Some parts will go on the Turbo 4Runner, some will get sold and some will be kept as spares. As hard as this was it needed to be done.

The two trucks together before the cutting starts.



And after a couple hours of work. I still need to be able to drive it to the shop for the complete tear down but I wanted to get a little of a head start. There's some more little stuff to come off but it's coming along.

 

what are you doing with your t-cases?

 

Ah man, that sucks bro. I understand about the streetablity issue and not having a tow rig. Maybe you can build another hardcore crawler in a couple of years?? You're always welcome to join us (ride along) on the tougher trips.