Sry bout the slow reply's guys been really busy at work. Got new hrs and as a matter of fact a new job.lol Instead of porter I am now a lube tech. It's fun and with some patience I can get certified and move up and make a career at Toyota. Pretty exciting....I love my job. The Fj60 WAS mine....I traded my Dad for the runner a few years ago. Its all on the first page of my build thread actually. The fj62s are cool but I believe they are all automatic wich is a turn off for me. Same with the 80s series. My dad also owns a 97 fj80 40th anniversary special edition. Both trucks are in great condition and completely stock. Thanks Toyo! I'm always silently lurking in your thread love your build man. The LT is badass. I do my best to keep them clean but loving three cars gets over whelming sometimes.lol I'm still fixing a lot of the PO's work on my pick up but its a great little gas saver...very useful. I moved to Chicago about 6months ago man. There is a thread called "AZ roll call" with all the local guys planning trips and such. Introduce yourself in there and you'll be wheeling with plenty of locals in no time. They are a good group of guys and hit the trails often. All skill levels to. The truck has not been driven in about 2 months. It's going to sit for the winter. I start it and go around the block every few days. I just really don't want the salt getting all over the truck. It's disgusting how much salt is used and is caked all over peoples cars and under carriages. I was hoping to have it undercoated by now but it just didn't work out in time for this winter....next year for sure. At least I got the pick up truck done though. Unfortunately this is where it's been sitting....wish I had a place to store it. -RONI-

 

Awesome update, Roni! Glad to hear you're OK... Sorry to hear you are having to leave those beauties outside! You'll figure it out. I bet you already have figured out how expensive it is to rent a garage, let alone a two car garage? Hahahaha... My buddy back east in New York pays more for his garage the most people pay for apartment rent in Los Angeles!

Sounds like things are going great for you man, I'm very happy to hear that!

 

Hey Mark.
Thanks man new job is really exciting. I love having a lift whenever I need one along with a full parts crew that gives me a discount.

I feel terrible about leaving the runner in the snow but at least its NOT covered with salt.

-RONI-

 

I defrost the 4rinner everytime it snows...its a lot of work all the time but I do anything for true love lol



-RONI-

 

Still one of my favorites....

 

Thanx bone! I cant wait till summer so the modding can resume! Goal is winter proofing and rear bumper at minimum this coming summer.

-RONI-

 

We should get together sometime this summer. Now that we are "close." I have a group of friends that would love to hang out sometime

 

Hell yea man. I saw the pics in your thread of your last trip with the "Michiana" group. Looks like an awesome group of trucks! My kinda group for sure...perhaps Illinois needs to be added to the group.haha Also that location looked great...I'm looking forward to meeting up in the summer.

-RONI-

 

So sexy in that pic

 

Last week a Tacoma came in the shop for a new clutch...Unfortunately when it was getting racked up the tech working on it noticed a lot of rust on the frame. There was a recall for rusted frames on these trucks a while back and as long as the vehicle had frequent dealership visits Toyota was willing to buy the trucks back. After they buy it back they shred the tires and crush the vehicle....dont ask me why

This particular Tacoma happened to have a brand new set of goodyear tires. Lucky for one of the techs who has the same truck....he swapped his set of wheels and tires....major upgrade for him. I grabbed the spare I have not had a spare tire in a very long time. It was in a lil bit rough condition. Took tire off...patched the nail....took a die grinder to the rim...replaced valve stem...used bead sealer....balanced it and now I have a spare its a firestone wilderness 265x75x15 its not exactly a 33" but its closer than no spare at all.

Heres the truck. You can see how new the tires are.


heres the spare...



oh ya...and this badass LC came in today.


-RONI-

 

I never knew they crushed the recalled Tacomas. I guess I figured they were recycled into new Tacomas...Soylent Green, ya know? Anyway, yeah, spares are good. I'd been running around without one for a long time, too. Such a relief not having that to worry about that. Hope you're having fun with your lovely weather over there!

 

Some day when my Cruiser grows up, it will be that bad ass. How are you handling the coldest Chicago winter in 20 years? Missing Arizona yet?

 

I learnt that Arizona has very, very sticky mud.

 

Yeah I couldn't believe it either. That truck would last many more years just the way it is. I'm very happy with the spare Dude it was pretty frigged last few days. -17F! -37F with wind chill...It's painful. Unbelievably the 4runner, Pickup AND Subaru start up fine every time!

Man that cruiser was nice but it was pretty beat up when you got close. interior is all torn up and the passenger seat is missing? Looked like the owner used it more as a winter/work vehicle rather than off road beast. I could be wrong though... Honestly I was very unhappy in AZ so I wouldn't say I miss it but I will say this icy cold is tough. Especially since I DD a 2wd pick up!

Only if it rains really...what part of AZ did you visit? I've been waiting for the pics on your thread!



-RONI-

 

We tried to take all the back roads to the grand canyon. It was awesome at first then it turned into a quagmire and I was getting concerned about breaking something.

The truck was HEAVY with thick mud which clearly has volcanic rock in it. It trashed my windsheild, my 6 week old clear as a bell windshield. It looks like a record. Now headlights streak across my vision at night time it's ridiculous.


I had no choice. I had to run my wipers over gobs of mud.

We had to get out at least twice to manually try and get it off. We used up our drinking water trying to get it off.

The sticky, heavy and very scratchy goo completely coated my windshield. I had to drive looking through small gaps in the mud. The road and not the road looked the same and I had to look though a 1 or 2 inch hazy gap to navigate. Good thing I'm Canadian and have done this before.

When you walk on it you get taller as it builds up under your feet. It makes your tires look like you are rolling a giant snowball.

It makes you worry that with all the strain something might break, overheat or both.

When we finally turned around and got out an old dude saw us and laughed. IT was everywhere and we where filthy.

Worth it.

 

Brought her into work for oil change and tire rotation today.


-RONI-

 

Starting to see some rust on that bumper of yours.

 

Yea it had some surface rust coloration when I came out here...now its really red and flakey... gotta have it sandblasted and powder coated this summer. Also plan on repainting the grill and undercoating the under carriage.

-RONI-

 

Man I love the look of your runner!!

 

Thanks mate!

22re runner with 5:29 gears running on 33s? Hows that thing do on highway!?

Im running 4:88s and my rpms get up there on the higway.

-RONI-