Nice* thanks for clearing that up... I will have to look into that, sounds like a good idea.

 

Read this...
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...l#Introduction

 

Now that's creative!

 

My two new tires came in. I thought I had two pretty new tires on the truck already, but now that I can look at them next to the new tires, looks like they've got about 2/3 tread left on them. Wow, these tires are aggressive new.

Hopefully with proper rotation and attention I'll get them worn down even over time.

Now I'm starting to think about bumper options. I like Marlin Crawler's front bumper, or Trail Gear's. I'm trying to decide whether I want a stinger or not. I like how clean things are without one, but I understand the functional advantages of having it on there. Form vs function.





I'm not thrilled with rear bumper options, as far as form. I don't really have the resources to build one myself, so I'm looking for something off-the-shelf.

Sliders are on my list too.

Any suggestions are welcome, but I'm really just thinking out loud.

 

this one gets my vote..

http://4xinnovations.com/p-RB1H.html

let me know if you order, there is a referral program

 

http://www.stubbswelding.com/
check out these sliders

 

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.


I made it out to Hidden Falls yesterday. Had a blast. I went out with my buddy Jeff, who's got this crazy Blazer (or what's left of a Blazer) running Propane.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8176803311/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8176803311/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/ocell/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8173716847/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8173716847/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/ocell/, on Flickr

I spent a lot of time riding with him on some trails I couldn't begin to try in my nearly-stock 4Runner.


I did get to have a second shot at the trail where I almost flipped my first time out, "Bronco Buster". The truck was SO MUCH better without the Wrangler coils in the back, and with the sway bar out of the front. I went down the ledge that almost toppled me last time with no drama, since my rear suspension is actually articulating now.

Here's a look at some flex. I don't know if it was maxed out, it was just a spot on the trail, but things look much better.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8173910237/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8173910237/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/ocell/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8173912113/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8173912113/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/ocell/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8173947432/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8173947432/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/ocell/, on Flickr


I learned a lot on this trip, and I'm getting more knowledge about what the truck can handle... which is a lot more than my confidence level so far. The "Bronco Buster" trail was an appropriate challenge and a great learning experience.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8176837320/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8176837320/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/ocell/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8176805021/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8176805021/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/ocell/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8176837632/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8176837632/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/ocell/, on Flickr

I've got a few more photos on flickr: /I don't have very many photos of the 4Runner, unfortunately.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8173715743/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8173715743/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/ocell/, on Flickr

 

I also found a decent way to hold my phone on the dash using the ash tray. I'm going to see if there's any rubber grip or a full tray that I can add to make this work better.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8173855784/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/8173855784/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/ocell/, on Flickr

 

Damn that looks fun! Got my truck on stands in the driveway right now, can't even go have any fun* runners looking good ocell, that blazer is crazy too!

 

Thanks! Tons of fun. I know EXACTLY how you feel after having my truck on stands for a month. It's so great to finally get it back off road.

The Blazer is insane.

 

Yah forsurgen! hahaha. GREAT pics, man.... They're great because YOU'RE HAVING FUN, not only the scenery

x2, nice blazer. I miss my 70 CST 4spd. 350 4bolt main. ..... BUT, I love my 4Runner haha.

 

I have a windshield mount for my TomTom/Phone I'll be getting. But they make a few things for ours that work in the air vents, ...and that cupholder thing that goes under the radio that Cyberdragon has... (think RBX added a Taurus Cupholder/pop out change tray that looked SICK, TOO! )

LOTS of gadgets on that stuff. Stop by BigLots for the heck of it.... they have a BIG selection of that stuff's.

 

Yeah, Chef, TONS of fun. I'm glad it shows.

I got my new Treadwright Guard Dog tires mounted today. Here is the new one next to the super-loud worn down tires I replaced.



I thought my other two tires were still pretty new, which is why I only bought two, but now that I've seen them side by side... I may be buying two more sooner than I thought.

Here's the new tire next to my "good" front tire.

 

It's a very interesting style tread design.. I've ALWAYS liked their looks. The price? HOLY SMACKULA it's gooooood! lol.

 

I lowered my spare hoist just to make sure it doesn't get frozen (I hit it with some PB Blaster and ran it back up). While I had the spare out I wanted to have a look at what it may look like standing up in the back.



Now I've got this bug in my brain about making this happen. Once I get a bumper that hugs the rear of the truck and I get rid of the tow bar in the back, this could be a nice way to keep my spare without having it hanging down so much under the truck.

I've seen a couple ways people have done it... I'm still looking for a clean and easy solution.

 

I'm stealing the iphone ashtray holder idea!

 

Hey Ocell- Check this out....we made it up for a customer who's here on the boards. Angrybob....we did a swinging spare tire carrier for him too..had a place for the tire, fuel tank (5gal), cb and gave him a couple of light tabs cause he wanted to add some rock lights in the future. If you look at the date stamp on the pic, you'll see how we came up with the side protection on the bumper....long before MC did...but who knows, I may have seen it some where and just thought it was my own idea As a matter fact, we replaced MC's bumper with ours. Not dogging on MC...they make great stuff I just think he was the 3rd owner of that bumper and it looked like it'd seen the torch a couple of times.


You can check out some of our stuff....avidoffroad.com I'm not trying to plug the company I work for, just trying to give you some options. If you'd like, call us tomorrow and ask to speak with the owner, Brandon. He's a great guy to work with and is super critical of the small details.

Any how, interested in how you like the new tires.??? Do you have any close up's of the seam where they did the retread?

 

Hey SS... nice! Angrybob's a good dude, too.

Not to say AVID isn't a good option for ya... But you do have a few is all, Ocell. It's 459$ not assembled....

http://www.cbioffroadfab.com/store/p...roducts_id=152

 

CBI definitely some good stuff too. Great post Chef.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Mark, I think that rear carrier is heavier than I'm going for right now. I do like that set up, though.


Even though I haven't figured it out yet, I'm at least getting ready to put some type of bumper on. I got the stock bumper mount tabs cut off of the body, and removed the tow receiver bar. Things are so much cleaner now.








Saturday I was hunting down rattles around the truck when I rolled the rear window up with the key switch. The window got about 3 inches up and stopped. Now I can't get it to move with either the key or cab switch. I don't seem to be getting voltage at the motor, so I tore in to the relay board but I haven't gone further yet. I tried putting 12V straight to the motor, but I still couldn't get motion out of it, so I'm a bit confused about where the problem is. I need to dig deeper and get the whole picture.

I was wondering when this rear window was going to give me trouble. I'd be plenty happy if I could just get it rolled back down for the time being.