Dirtco's 1999 4Runner Build-Up Thread
#584
#585
I bought my Alpine head unit about three years ago, hoping it would give me years of good service. Well, sadly it quit working right and it would not communicate with my Ipod correctly. It was the special “Ipod model” that had no CD player, I had Sirius but sometimes you want to listen to your own music.
I really liked the controls, and the head unit in general, so I bought pretty much the same unit as a replacement. But when I got it I realized that Alpine has stopped supporting Sirius (at least this model) and it would not work with my gear. I just bought all the Alpine/Sirius gear a year ago and I didn’t want to rebuy the XM gear and have to reinstall it. So I started shopping around for something that would work with my Sirius equipment, and was in the same price range as the Alpine unit I bought.
My search led me to the Pioneer AVH-P3400BH, it was $50 more but it had a ton of features the Alpine didn’t have and it had great ratings. It was really a no brainer once I started looking into it. I also had to buy the Pioneer/Sirius control box but it was easy to swap that out. It has HD radio, Satellite radio, Bluetooth, Pandora, CD, DVD, Ipod controls, the list goes on…
Old

New! You can change the color of the screen, so I went with green to match the factory dash lights.



Movies on the trail, why not!!!
I really liked the controls, and the head unit in general, so I bought pretty much the same unit as a replacement. But when I got it I realized that Alpine has stopped supporting Sirius (at least this model) and it would not work with my gear. I just bought all the Alpine/Sirius gear a year ago and I didn’t want to rebuy the XM gear and have to reinstall it. So I started shopping around for something that would work with my Sirius equipment, and was in the same price range as the Alpine unit I bought.
My search led me to the Pioneer AVH-P3400BH, it was $50 more but it had a ton of features the Alpine didn’t have and it had great ratings. It was really a no brainer once I started looking into it. I also had to buy the Pioneer/Sirius control box but it was easy to swap that out. It has HD radio, Satellite radio, Bluetooth, Pandora, CD, DVD, Ipod controls, the list goes on…
Old

New! You can change the color of the screen, so I went with green to match the factory dash lights.



Movies on the trail, why not!!!

#586
Just be careful out there, don't wanna hear a story about you and that SICK rig, like, "Hey, look, DAYUMMMMMM, Pepper Pots is lookin gooooo......................AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, crunch", HEHEHE.
VERY nice deck!
VERY nice deck!
#587
Bothing like a sick iron man fight to amp u up before attempting to tackle that boulder!! But seriously looks good!! I love pioneer thats all i buy i had a cd head unit last 5 years of ruff and tuff lol. How do u like the scan gauge?
#589
I almost lost my drink on the computer screen when I read that! 
I used to buy Pioneer's back in the day and I was always happy with the quality, we'll see how this one works out. I love the scan gauge, it's awesome!
#590
I’ve been dying to take the 4Runner out on a rocky trail, where I could play around and see what the limits of the IFS are without having a group of rigs behind me. I’ve taken it rock crawling before but always with a group of rigs. I decided to make a solo trip down to Spring Creek on Friday and play around a little. I wouldn’t say it’s a seriously hard trail, but it has a rock garden towards the end of the trail with several different lines to choose from.
http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=36
I bypassed the first obstacle because I was alone (it can be dangerous if you screw up) and I worked my way up the trail.

As I made my way up the trail the weather took a turn for the worse.


I got to the first real obstacle; I engaged the front locker and the air compressor ran non-stop, not a good sign. I checked it out, and the solenoid on the compressor was leaking air, not letting the locker engage. By this time the snow was really coming down, so it looked like I was stuck running the trail without a front locker in the mud and snow. Not the end of the world, but it kind of defeated the whole reason why I was there. Oh well, any day of wheeling is a good day and I made it through the trail fine without winching, but I wasn’t able to run some of the lines I wanted.




http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=36
I bypassed the first obstacle because I was alone (it can be dangerous if you screw up) and I worked my way up the trail.

As I made my way up the trail the weather took a turn for the worse.


I got to the first real obstacle; I engaged the front locker and the air compressor ran non-stop, not a good sign. I checked it out, and the solenoid on the compressor was leaking air, not letting the locker engage. By this time the snow was really coming down, so it looked like I was stuck running the trail without a front locker in the mud and snow. Not the end of the world, but it kind of defeated the whole reason why I was there. Oh well, any day of wheeling is a good day and I made it through the trail fine without winching, but I wasn’t able to run some of the lines I wanted.




#593

Seriously, I never planned on getting something like this, but the price has really come down to the point where it was stupid not to upgrade. Alpine didn't have close to the features this Pioneer has for close to the same price. I really doubt I'll use this to it's full potential, but it's still nice to have the features.
I don't see using the DVD player very often, but CDOT does love to close all the mountain passes as soon as it starts snowing, and I get stuck in stand still traffic waiting for the road to open on a regular basis. It would be nice to throw a movie in and kill some time waiting for the road to open and traffic to start moving.
#594
Always better to have things you don't need than to need things you don't have lol. I picked up a new head unit for mine a few weeks ago, nothing as nice as yours haven't had time to get it installed yet. Id love to do an amp/sub new speakers but I don't get to drive mine enough to justify it.
Looks like you had a nice wheeling trip, great pics as always.
Looks like you had a nice wheeling trip, great pics as always.
#597
Thanks! Yeah, Colorado is amazing!
#598
I had my front two windows tinted to 20% when I first bought the 4Runner. This was a very close match to the factory 22.5% that the factory rear windows meter out to, but having the rear windows slightly lighter kind of bothered me and the color was a bit off compared to the factory tint. Also, I didn’t like how visible all my wheeling gear was in the back of the 4Runner. After talking with my tint guy he suggested tinting the rest of the windows with the same 3M 20% tint that was on the front windows. While it was a little darker than I wanted, the color would match better than using something like 30%. For night wheeling I can always roll down the back window if I need to, and for night snow wheeling the rear window is usually covered with snow and I’m stuck using my mirrors anyways.
With the rear windows being darker I wanted to do something about the sun faded, tree branch scratched, flat black section between the two doors. While I was inside the tint shop I noticed a hood that was hanging on the wall, it was wrapped in fake 3M carbon fiber. I figured it would help to clean up the side of the 4Runner, especially with the darker windows.


With the rear windows being darker I wanted to do something about the sun faded, tree branch scratched, flat black section between the two doors. While I was inside the tint shop I noticed a hood that was hanging on the wall, it was wrapped in fake 3M carbon fiber. I figured it would help to clean up the side of the 4Runner, especially with the darker windows.


#599
While it was there I also had them Clear-Bra the front of the hood, fenders, mirrors and headlights. Where live they dump a ton of gravel on the road, so I want to keep the paint looking as good as possible. Clear-Bra is lot cheaper than new paint, so it was worth it.









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