thanks! I am a lover of bridges and the old heavy truss styles are amongst the best to photograph.

What knd of freelancers do you search for to write for you guys? Do you givebthem stories to do or take their work if they have a good story? Just curious. You listed a very large number of titles and for a 10 person company that sounds like a lot to do.

 

We take submissions for stories but it's up to our editor if/when we will use it depending on certain themes each issue has, etc. We don't give stories often unless its something like a show we plan to cover that one of us can't make it to. You can send some writing samples over to me with your contact info and I'll send over some mags so you can get a feel of what we like to use for content. We are always on the lookout for good writers. My email is ademiar@engagedmediainc.com. I'll pass it along to my editor for him to look at! This is also for anyone on here who writes.

Just to clarify, we have 10 people just in our auto team. Each department has a team. Outdoor, auto, homes. Plus we have our graphic designers, production teams, accounting and a bunch more. The company as a whole is a decent size. I was specifically talking about auto and who is involved in putting out our titles.
​

 

Ahh the staffing makes more sense now.

If I have good enough content together one day I will remember to share with you

 

Found an old MOMO wheel on craigslist for 30 bucks. Much better than the stock wheel. Also made a simple bikini top from an old cargo cover I kept from my old Cherokee. Holds up well at freeway speeds.

 

Cool bikini top, way to make use of that old cargo cover. I love the family in the 4Runner selfie, I need to do one of those.

 

Had my exhaust redone at a local shop and he asked me if I wanted an old canvas top that the previous shop owner left up in his storage area over 10 years ago. I said SURE and grabbed it. Missing a few pieces and hardware that I fixed with a home depot trip...

CAN-BACK topper! Its a little beat up, windows cracked and faded and it has shrank quite a bit. I got it to fit and am pretty pleased with it. Next I need to soak it and stretch it out in the sun.

Exhaust now consists of: LCE headers, new magnaflow cat and 4x9 xl magnaflow muffler, all 2.25 piping. Sounds great, very happy with it.

Heading out to Big Bear Lake for some camping this weekend so I will put the Can-Back to good use.

 

Free topper, bad ass.

 

Those Canbacks are nice... What a score.

 

I'll give you double what you paid for the top! lol

 

Thanks everyone, I love the top. After buttoning it the first time, it has stayed rolled up. Heat wave here in SoCal and the A/C is broken.

Anyway my recent adventures have been interesting to say the least. Had a weekend of camping and easy wheeling up in Big Bear mountian. Nothing too crazy but it had rained the night we got there which meant lots of mud. Had a great time until a tree jumped out of nowhere and took out my passenger side fender, headlight, corner and hood. A mild setback but it was overall a great trip and the truck did great.

Damage assessment upon return showed, the inner fender and core support were pushed in about 4 inches. Broke the mounts on my fuse box and cracked the washer bottle. So I hooked up the tow strap to my wifes SUV and got pulling. Ordered the parts off Amazon for as cheap as possible (because I'm cheap). got most of it as straght as possible and put the cheapo Tiawann fender with a little massaging. New headlights that I had to make a new harness for. DEPO corder light and a headlight bezel for the grill.

It had developed a front output shaft leak on the T-case so I ordered two Marlin Crawler Eco-Seals to do both front and rear seals. Started draining the t-case and it was about 1/4 full of water! Swapped out the seals and ran some cheap gear oil through it for about 50 miles then put redline MT90 in it and the transmission. Glad I caught it now before it caused more damage. Probably why it was leaking so bad. Over filled from the water and was pushing out the oil out of the output seals.

Here are some pics.







Dug out some of the dirt built up in my rear bumper and tried to "blend" the new, too clean, fender in with the rest of the truck. haha. Easier than washing the truck.

 

Nice work repairing that damage. My soft top is almost always rolled up as well. What headlights are those?

 

nice job on the repairs.
Did the state trooper cite the tree?

 

Thanks! I got these headlights off Amazon. Had to make a new harness for them because they are power side controlled. so fused wires with high and low relays. Our headlights are ground side switched, most aftermarket LED replacements are pos switched. They have a pretty good cut off and run about $100.
Thanks!
No state troopers involved. We were yellow post camping so we were the only people for at least a mile. Yellow post sites are first come first serve and only have a fire pit and table.They are about a mile from each other and about 15 miles out from the lake on dirt roads.

It was a smaller tree and I basically skimmed the bark off it. Peeled my fender back like a can of sardines. I was only going about 5-10 mph and tagged it but bounced off it a bit. luckily it was mostly cosmetic.

 

did some mods over the last weekend. Hard top with rack, 3"memory foam bed in the back, roll bar speakers, put my subs in the walls, Trail Gear bumper (soon to be sliders and weld on a swing out to the TG rear). Plus misc stuff.

Here is a short album: https://imgur.com/a/oT11u

I am prepping it for a 10 day 2000mile trip during and after overland expo west in may.

 

Sounds like a great trip, are you and your wife AND kids sleeping in 4runner?

 

Should be a great trip.
The kids won't be with us on this trip. Just the wife and I this time. If the kids were coming we would ground tent for sure.

 

Spacemonkee - Quick question regarding those tires - Are you running any spacers? Any trimming needed on the wheel well area? Just picked up a set of SR5 wheels that are in great shape only 4 (searching for a 5th) and looking for tire options. I run an 87 SR5 stock height 4runner. looking to stay at stock height and looking to avoid too much tire from outside the fender. Thanks and keep up the great work.

 

No spacers, I'm at stock height with zuk mod in the rear. They are Toyo open country RT and they are practically silent on the hwy. No rubbing at all. Very happy with them. 31x10.5R15

 

thanks for the quick reply and answer. going to assume - there is no way to use the original spare carrier with this size of tire?

I haven't decided what I want to do with my rear - spend the cash for LCE stock leaf springs or do the Zuk coil. Thinking about new leaf springs when I order my LCE Header.

 

@hiddenforest
I have a worn 31X10.5x15 bfg all terrain in the factory spare location. Tight fit, but you'll have more room if you don't have a rear tow bar.