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Hi....hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I did with a five day mini-vacation at home. I'm looking for the next project on the truck or even the DD, Corolla. So far, I have not came up with anything.
Sounds like a good deal, RW. We had a great Thanksgiving. Spent 4 days backpacking a piece of the Ozark Trail with the hubby and son. Thirty miles of granite and woods and glades....ahhhh.
Projects:
Hook up gauges
Replace bent load bar
Other stuff that's not coming to me but I'm sure needs doing.
Warm bags and layers! Fruitlessly hoping not to have to pee in the middle of the night....WOW, STARS, WOW WOW WOW COLD!!! Was 28f on Friday night and 25f on Saturday night, no campfires allowed. The days were great, even the 39 degree high day felt good when hauling 48# packs each (our stuff plus all except the kiddo's sleeping bag and pad....17 1/2 pounds of it being food, gotta keep that furnace stoked).
You guys are NOT fair weather backpackers...woohoo! What great experiences for your son. I actually seem to be out more when it's cold than warm, although I'm out of a set camp with day hikes from there.
Ah, I see Avi, I wasn't sure how else to differentiate the part I needed to replace from its whole.
Finally got to replacing the rear load bar with the one Mightymouse snagged for me. My biggest worry was if the wiring for the rear lights would cause a problem.
Pull the end caps, they are held on by a single screw, t25 torx head and are keyed into the rack.
The worrisome wires...
Loosen the knobs on the load bar, slide off. Went right over the wiring, no worries.
Look at that pretty Mightymouse bar......and that not so pretty other bar....
For anyone who wants to see, here's where I went through the roof for wiring the lights. It's a little plastic 'vase' that fits into the roof, I just trimmed the bottom, ran wires through it and filled it with silicone. There's one at each of the 4 ends. I drilled a hole in the end cap to pass the wires through.
Hi RW! It's what happens if you don't think when you're loading heavy stuff and then bump up and down a lot. Got a taste of some good ol' live 'n' learn.
Good point! The bent bar lived through the rest of the Maze District and on other bumpy rides as well without failing, then for another 5+ months with various loads. It prolly helped that the gas load got lighter as we went along- though the wag bag bucket got heavier!
I've got to tell you....the front corner blinker mod was noticed by a local LEO yesterday. He followed me into the parking lot, hopped out of his patrol car, and wanted to know if they were aftermarket or a mod (and how it was done) so he could do it on his 4Runner. Yup, you got the credit for the small bulb idea.
Now that was a great story RW, had me on the edge of my seat, nail biting, nail biting! Glad- and relieved- to see he was an admirer of your mod!!!
Let's give the credit where due, the idea came from Ritzy4Runner's thread and the bulb, from YOU if I remember correctly.
Yeah, I was glad the overhead lights were not flashing.
Hmmm, Ritzy, 4Crawler, et al for the idea, you had the nifty bulb holders for the small bulb from the yard, and I came up with higher wattage and amber options. I really like using the small bulbs....plenty bright and easier to fit in the housing, IMO.
Hey hab just checking in. Glad to see you got the bent bar swapped out, things like that can really detract from a great looking rig as well as drive the owner nuts. Hope all is well in your part of the country.
Hi Jason! It's great, a cold clammy day for trail work but got some new trail done not far from home. It's only gonna be 2.5 miles to hike, bike and horse but any place to play in the woods is a good place.
Got around to figuring out the gaps of light from my view of the gauges. A bit of black latex paint gives me a good view of the numbers and needles while hiding those bright half-moons. Maybe not the prettiest but the 96 is not so much beauty queen as class clown.
Don't have anything hooked up yet. Still.
Yeah, I was glad the overhead lights were not flashing.
Hmmm, Ritzy, 4Crawler, et al for the idea, you had the nifty bulb holders for the small bulb from the yard, and I came up with higher wattage and amber options. I really like using the small bulbs....plenty bright and easier to fit in the housing, IMO.
I actually came across that while researching the project, then misplaced the link somewhere in my favorites. High cool factor but I opted for the more simplistic and cheaper other version (junkyard sockets, a couple of bulbs, some spare wire and connectors) that appealed to my cobble-it senses. Good find, Avi!
11-21-2012, 04:29 PM
