Have fun and waiting for pics!

 

had a good trip, however I didnt get as much wheeling in as I would have liked, it was still nice to hang out with some old friends and make some new ones.
It was a bad weekend for toyotas out of the 15 trucks there almost half were broke to some degree by sat night. the runner did great as always, no break downs, the only issue is I have an axle seal leaking again but ehh it a miner issue.
do to the lack of actual wheeling I didnt get a lot of pics but heres what I got.





















regina and I agreed to provide the sat night meal. everybody sittong around waiting to be fed. had a great meal, southern style BBQ and all the fixens.








Your never sure who you might run into when your wheeling the woods of TN, sat we ran into Ian from the tv show XTREME 4x4. really nice guy took time from working on his buggy to chat for a few and take a few pics. he had a rough weekend as well, the first time we seen him he had blew a hydraulic steering line, the second time was a bit worse he broke the cross member for the 4 link mounts. nice to know the pros have there issues too.

the wife with Ian






and a little video

Over all it was a great trip, actually got Regina behind the wheel for a bit, she did a great job. probably the last trip I will be able to make for the summer so it was great to get out. sorry the pics arnt great but you get the idea. thanks for checking in.

P.s. my caddy trans cooler seemed to work great. My aux fan is only working off the a/c side, I had some issues out of the other relay when I was wiring it up but it was just sticking but now it won't kick on at all so I'm just going to replace that relay and see what I get.

 

Nice to see someone out and enjoying the nice weather. It looked like you might not have had 4WD in the section you were going through. Nice to see some celebrities out on the trail and who hasn't watched Xtreme 4x4..?

I understand your woes...the driver side on mine wasn't leaking when I did mine but thought I'm already there might as well...now it's leaking again. I didn't go with OEM but I now have a set of OEM's to replace em with.

 

Hey ss thanks for stopping by. It was nice to get out in the woods for a bit, we all thought the weather was going to be super hot but for this time of year it was mild. I don't remember where exactly I locked in the T case but I have a habit when wheeling of waiting till the last minute to do so and also unlocking if I feel it ok to do so, weird driving style I know. Seeing Ian was cool, those shows are filmed about 40 miles from where I live, I've been by the studios but its not like they hang out outside Lol.

The seal leaking has me a bit concerned because of where its leaking I'm afraid its the outer seal this time. My pinion seal is leaking as well and I'm not sure with the 4.88s what seal I even need to replace it because there is something different about the pinion so I'm going to have to talk to the guy that did my gears about it.

 

Wow, great trip summary! Was cool to see you wheeling, getting a lil help or not! That dog can hunt!

Cool meeting Ian! Looks like a great bunch of guys and gals. ... Glad you had fun, buddy! Say hi to Regina for me!

 

Good morning! Pics and vid do not disappoint. Looks like a great time and it's always better with the other half. Glad to hear she drove, it's just too much fun to pass up!

Hope the axle seal turns out to be an easy and it's something stupid like a clogged breather. That was my last leak, clogged breather even though it was extended up behind the filler door, behind the gasket. Cleaned it out and poked it through the fuel filler gasket and haven't had a problem since.

Chef, got Primus in me noggin now....Dog will hunt.

 

Haha thanks mark, I've ran that trail in the video before but this time it kinda got the better of me.
STLCA the cruiser club I'm in are some great guys.

 

Glad you enjoyed the pics, wish there was more but honestly there wasn't much wheeling. Regina lost a bet with me and now she has to drive in the clubs QUEENS ride, she decided she needed to start trying to get over her fear of it but I don't think I have to worry about her taking over.

I kinda wondered if the vent might be the issue, I will check that as well, I already have mine thru the filler door seal. The pinion seal has me more concerned but the guy that did my gears told me to bring it over and he would take care of it so hopefully I can get that took care of soon.

 

awesome. it looks like it was a great trip. I'd like to do a big trip like that someday. maybe not so many that it takes the fun out of wheeling but big enough at least.

 

Hey Richard thanks for dropping by, there is such a thing as to many trucks on the trail Lol, this is a pretty diverse group and we stay spread out over different trails, but its nice to have a bunch of people to hang out with at the end of the day.

 

Ah ok I see what you mean. That there soujds much better. I was mostly talking about caravans. I hate running into those on trails because you gotta wait on like 20 rigs to get by before your 3-5 man group can go by. Sometimes waiting up to 40-60 minutes. Kind of a nuisance.

 

Hahaha, glad to plant a classic in your noggin, habanero! Hahaha

 

Looking for some advice/input. I'm want to install a power inverter and maybe a 12 volt power outlet in the cargo area of my runner. What I'm wondering is do I need to add an aux fuse block for this, the inverter most likely will be hard wired to the battery, I have a 400 wat inverter already but I'm wondering if that's big enough to mess with or if I should upgrade to a bigger one 750 or maybe 1000 watt. The only thing I use it for now is charging the cameras and have it rigged to plug into the cig lighter which works but it just makes for a lot of wire dangling around the center console. Throw out any ideas or advice I trust my abilities but don't want to catch my runner on fire either.

 

I don't think an aux fuse block is ever a bad idea. Opens the door for lots of goodies later on. I would definitely fuse it though. Cheap insurance. Amp cords have a built in fuse. You could use one like this:

 

I agree jburt. What I'm wondering is would it better to mount it under the hood and run circut wires to the cargo area or wire it in the cargo area and work from there?

 

Why not go to 1000+ to handle far more options? You may not "need" it now, but why not have one hard wired that COULD handle more (nothing over 400w should be in the lighters, they can melt things...... Which you know,....and which is why they don't give you a car plug with 750w inverters.... I mention this, Jason, In case ppl don't know is all. )

You want an aux near the battery if it's gonna handle more load than a phone charger. .... And offroad lights, smaller compreasors...... they're certainly candidates for an aux box.

I have a marine aux 12v plug wired to my aux fuse block.....and lights...and may do the compressor that way if it's 30A fused (most aux fuse blocks are 30A each terminal, max)

Mount it pass. side fenderwall if you can and run wires through firewall grommet.... or run wires through fender grommets and up into the cab through the antenna grommet.....(I've done both)

 

I agree with Mark. If you plan on putting more accessories later I'd put a fuse block under the hood. Either way though it'll be sweet to have a power inverter.

 

That I agree with Mark. I had a bunch of wires powering off straight from my battery and not only is it a fire hazard but it makes your engine bay look messy. I took his advice on that marine fuse block. And I couldn't be happier. It has 6 or 8 fuse spots. It just looks much more organized in my opinion.

Also think you outta go with the 1000watt. You never know what kind of hair mahines your girl will wanna bring along lol. (Like Mine hahaa) but its true I think it'd definitely be worth it. I would love to make something like that in the future too. Even more now that I have my Napier Sportz SUV tent I'd like to have that luxury even more!

 

Thanks guys. I'm thinking the aux box is going to be a must. I've already added a constant hot lighter style plug, that is on its own fuse, the fan I just added is on its own fuse, the HELLAs are on there own fuse so yep its time to do an aux box.
On the inverter I think I will pick up a 1000 watt unit at a minimum. We run a 1500 watt in the truck and it does everything we need in other (fridge, microwave, chargers) so a 1000 should be plenty in the runner.

 

Well I've owned her for 2 years today. Sometimes it seems as tho its spent more time in the shop than on the road but it has been a great rig. Still have lots of plans for it and look forward to a lot more wheeling with it.