Ripcord's Spruce Mica Build

Nice, I was out that way recently a couple months ago doing Coyote Flats, one of my favorite camping/off roading areas in CA. I'll have to check that trail out next time.

 

Went on some fall colors trips recently.


First one with the BroCo group on the Halfmoon gulch trail.













My friend Drew's 1st gen 4Runner




Alex's 3rd gen 4Runner








Will's 4Runner





=======================================

And another trip, just some camping near Leadville, CO.




















Me showing me face.




My girl

 

I never did coyote flats, that was next on my list before I ended up moving.

The best part of the wheeler crest trail, other than the great crawling on the trail, is the lake you can camp at if you continue up the sand canyon trail beyond the entrance to wheeler crest.

 

Gorgeous truck!

 

Wow! That's one sexy 2nd gen.

 

DAMN I wish I could've got Spruce Mica when I bought my truck. Nice rig buddy.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

|October 18, 2018|

A few changes recently


Bolted Fender Flares:
First, I had to change how I was mounting my fender flares. The plastic clips just weren’t going to cut it. I had one flare come off completely on the highway (recovered it) and another that nearly did the same. The only method I could think to solve this was to replace the plastic clips with through bolts, so that’s what I did.

Parts / Retail Cost:
$25 - 1” diameter Neoprene Foam cord (McMaster Carr: 1298N9)
$15 - 1/4" or 5/16” flat head bolts & nuts. 1.25" length [Get Stainless steel, trust me]

Tools:
-Drill
-5/16” drill bit
-Countersink drill bit
-Hacksaw
-½” wrench

Time:
-Took me like 2 hours


Parts listed above:




Go ahead and break off any remaining plastic clips you have. Mark where the center of each clip was.




Drill a 5/16” hole where you marked the center of each clip to be.





Countersink them bitches.




Cut the foam into small ½” pucks, then drill out the center with the 5/16” drill bit (not pictured)




Start assembling



Result:

IMG_0528 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr


===========================================================================

Next, I got some new tires. Went with Cooper STT Pro, same size at 315/70/17. I have a few friends that run these and love them, especially in Colorado’s deep snow which is something I want to try more of. Similar to the duratracs I had before, these tires a fairly lightweight at only 67 lbs per tire.

Since getting them, I have tested them on the highway for many hours and a weekend in Moab, I can say that I am very impressed with these tires. They have amazing grip on rocks, just gotta try them in snow now.




===========================================================================

Fleece mattress cover:
As the temps get colder, a downside of the roof top tents becomes more apparent. They are cold, especially the cold plastic cover on the mattress. I usually sleep just with blankets instead of a sleeping bag and I would have to have just as many under me as on top of me because that cover was so cold. Also it was very slippery.

To remedy this, I decided to make a fleece cover for it!

Parts / Retail Cost:
$20 - 2 yd x 3 yd fleece
$15 - Quilting pad material

Tools:
-Sewing machine (and some who knows how to use one, lol)

Time:
-This was a slow process, about 5 hours while watching TV.


Here is the sheet laid out with the mattress for scale.




Sewed the padding to the fleece.






After that step, I sewed the fleece/padding combo to the plastic cover itself.


The finished Product! It is amazing, so soft and warm. Also I never slide around anymore like I did on the plastic cover. Highly recommended to all RTT owners.




===========================================================================



Rubber leaf spring bushings:
The polyurethane bushings I have had in the leaf springs are doing what polyurethane does… squeak like a MOFO.

Most aftermarket leaf spring bushing ends are the same size as the OEM leaf springs, including the Energy brand poly bushings that press into them. What that means is you can use the OEM rubber leaf spring bushings instead of the polyurethane bushings!

Parts / Retail Cost:
$48 - 8x OEM leaf spring bushings (90389-A0003)

Tools:
-Jack, stands, etc…
-a BFH or a press if you take the springs all the way out.

Time:
Took me less than 2 hours to swap both sides.

OEM rubber vs. the Polyurethane bushings




Natural Rubber > Polyurethane




Poly bushings out




Rubber in

 

Solid! Looks awesome!​

 

Went to Moab last weekend. Met up with my usual guys plus a friend from California who was on his was back from picking up his GFC camper.

Did 2 trails, Gold Bar Rim and Hell’s Revenge.

_DSC2149 by Will Oliver, on Flickr


On Hell’s, I finally did Hell’s Gate. I have been there with both of my 4Runners also but this was the first time I was willing to give this obstacle a shot.






Also did the Golden Crack, walked right across.




Had to winch this open-open 4runner out of the crack.

_DSC1835 by Will Oliver, on Flickr


One of our group was an 80 series on 40s with a 3-link front. Needless to say nothing really slowed him down.






On Gold Bar Rim, there is also an obstacle called the Waterfall.






We had to go both directions on this one, going down was scary enough but going up at night was a whole other ball game. Of our group of 10, only 3 trucks made it up without winching, I was one of them .

This is a video, FYI.

FLEM9418 by alex fleming, on Flickr




Adam and his 5th gen Cavalry Blue




Will




Noah approaching the waterfall also.




Alex, finishing the last 2 hours of the trail in the dark was really fun.







My friend Jason who just got his GFC.

 

Very creative on the bolted fender flares. I have been using zip ties on my Trimmed flares and haven’t had any issues besides them flopping on the freeway & that irks me. Might have to try your method of bolting them.

 

Thanks! The exposed bolt head look is still growing on me, might look into painting them.

 

Can you upload photos of the flares and how the line up with the front and rear he bumper?

 

This is the best shot I have of that currently, from before the bolts but that doesn't really change anything in this aspect.

 

When you get a chance could you take side shots closer to show the fenders aligning with the bumpers? Or I might just need to look at this rig in person!! Haha

 

Try this one on for size. Keep in mind I did trim the rear bumper back to match the rear flare line (link to post is on page 1).

 

Thanks!

 

Man, without question Spruce Mica was the best color Toyota ever produced the Tacoma in. Awesome truck, sir.

 

Thanks, I could not agree with you more!

 

How much of the fender sheet metal did you cut and how much flare?