TWheat40's Build and Adventure Thread

Yeah man I'll sit on them until you're ready for them. I got plenty of space to store them so no rush obviously. You just focus on getting better.

 

Thank you very much Tyler! Deb gave you a big Awwwww! <3

Depending on what happens with my truck, I may or may not keep them.

 

Oh, and obviously they do not to be inside.

 

I think he went there @EatSleepTacos . Soooooo now give the people what they want!

 

Well!?!

 

I dont remember this conversation.

 

I don't know what you are talking about.

It never happened.

 

I wanted to follow up that my hand surgery went well. My surgeon was behind when I got there and of course that day it felt like someone forgot to pay the A/C bill. So they put me in a pre-OP room on a bed in a gown and I had them turn the lights off. After a while they took me to a pacu area, the doc came in and shot my hand up with a local. He hit the bone a couple of times but it might have been on purpose.

Since it was a local anesthesia I was awake. They still draped and completely covered me. Since I was awake, to keep me from bleeding out, they used a tourniquet. After about 30 minutes the pain was excruciating. My BP shot up to 177/93-94 so when they were at a good pausing spot they released it, controlled the bleeding with suction and irrigation and swabs. When my BP stabilized they cranked it back up and in a while I was done. For the most part the pain meds are keeping things in check but I definitely know when it's time for another dose. End result Mod is 3 screws and a couple stitches.

And because









My wife and I just wanted to say thanks again to everyone for your well wishes and support! We really do appreciate all the Love and generosity!

 

So a lot has happened over the past couple years. Both work related and in my personal life. Haven't felt like posting or lurking or anything really since the 4R was parked for over a year due to issues with the registration and being unable to travel back to TN to get it fixed. However, it is road legal once again. So I figured it was time to update the build thread with the mods that I've done in that time.

First up: New front bumper from @Mobtown Offroad

So early in 2020, I was able to get my hands on a Hybrid Front bumper from Joe and them. THey absolutely killed the design on this bumper. I could not be happier with it. I wish I had shown it off more when I got it, because it is just beautiful.



To pair with the new bumper, I also picked up some Diode Dynamics SS3 sport fpod lights for my fog lights. The light output is fantastic. I am super happy with the way the truck looks from the front end.

One of the other things I did was get rid of the fridge. Remember how I said I wasn't driving the 4R? Yeah, that also means I didn't need a fridge anymore. So the fridge got sold too.

Then the 4R just kinda sat there and collected rust. Lots of rust apparently.

Until I finally got to travel back to TN last month, when I got the registration fixed. Yay street legal again! Unfortunately, on my way to TN, I somehow tore through a power steering hose and dumped all my power steering fluid. I figured it out right as I hit the back roads in TN. Not a fun time. Thankfully it was an easy fix though.

Which brings us to last week. I finally decided to upgrade the front suspension to match the rear in terms of capability. Partially because the front shocks look real beat, and mostly because I was ready for an upgrade. So, I started looking into options. I wanted to stick with dobinson's, so I looked into their IMS shocks (non resi). But then, in my infinite wisdom, I decided that I want a better upgrade. So I ordered their MRA extended travel shocks. The interesting thing is they have 3 way adjustable clickers I also ordered some Dirt King UCAs as well since I needed new UCAs.

Everything came in and I went to get started installing. Well, remember that rust I was talking about earlier? Yeah. It kicked my ass. After 4 days of spraying everything down with PB blaster before I even started, I still had to cut both shock tops and a bottom bolt to get the OME shocks out. I also had a seized LCA bolt, but that one came loose thankfully. So, after way too much time spent, I finally got the new suspension setup in. I am super happy with the way the MRAs ride and I cannot wait to get them out on the trail. I also need to figure out the clickers if anyone has any tips lol.



I'm supposed to be hitting the trial this weekend, so I will work to get more pictures of my new setup while I'm out.

 

Damn, a Tyler sighting. Welcome back and glad to see you getting the old girl trail worthy again!!

 

So this weekend, I went to Pott's Mountain with @EatSleepTacos and a friend of ours. We got out there late Friday night, camped, and then hit the trail at 7 AM Saturday morning. Overall, the T4R did fantastic. We had to winch everyone at least once, and I was able to finally conquer one of the obstacles I've been wanting to do for years, but was too nervous to do. I did destroy the pin that holds my rear bumper arm open, but I should be able to fix it myself.

I finally got some good pictures and video of the 4R, I'm just working on editing the videos right now.

(Photo credit to @EatSleepTacos, who also owns the badass Tacoma)










(Photo credit to @EatSleepTacos)

Once I finish going through the gopro footage and editing the videos, I will hopefully be able to grab some more pics out of the footage as well.

We finished up at Potts around 11 AM and then made our way over to Flagpole where we met up with a bunch of people from all over Virginia and Maryland and camped out on Meadow Knob. It was nice seeing everyone that I haven't seen in a while, on top of meeting a bunch of great people.

Overall, I am happy with the way the new front suspension handles both during rock crawling and during higher speed wheeling. Soon I hope to get MRA's in the rear to match.

 

Great to see you getting back on the trails. Will have to make it up for a trip once I get the rear complete on my truck!

 

Stole this pic from Shawn'y boy. Rolled into "camp", aka a parking lot in the woods, at 11pm Friday night. Awake by 6am and aired down on the trail by 7am. Didn't see anyone else out there except a million moths.

 

Idk why I just saw this post. But yeah, the amount of bugs was actually insane.

 

What are you doing to it??

 

So after the Potts Mt. trip, I decided I wanted the rear suspension to ride like the front. So I picked up the Dobinsons long travel MRAs for the rear.

Thankfully this time the old shocks came off pretty easily.



They are the same length both extended and compressed as the old LT shocks I had, but with the resi's, it rides so much smoother. Plus the adjustability is nice.

However, I didn't like the way they mounted the resi's to the frame, so I tried out a few different mounting options.



This is ultimately what I ended with. I was able to check for rub at full stuff and off camber. It wasn't even close to rubbing, so I am comfortable with this for now. I might build something to change the mounting location a bit, but we shall see.

 

Hammer hangers, shock relocate, 12 inch fox shocks... you know, the usual cheap stuff....lol

 

Alright, time for some that don't help me offroad.

I have always disliked the headlights and taillights in the 4runners. They look outdated and have a lot of chrome for a truck with NO CHROME ON IT OTHERWISE. Yeah, not my thing.

So I finally decided to upgrade both.

For headlights, I went with the Alpharex Pro series Alpha-black headlights. They have dual projectors and an led DRL. And they aren't chrome.



Oh and the led turns amber with my turn signal/hazards.



These are similar to what I would've expected the factory headlights look like on a 2017 vehicle. Very pleased with how they look and we shall see if they hold up.

I did order taillights as well, but still waiting on those, so stay tuned.