Superbads Boring Build and not Enough Exploring

Sounds good man, Just hit me up. I dont have much going on besides some errands to run.

 

My second set of 2nd set of ballasts going out on my RX350 BHLM retrofit from a few years ago. I also had 2 broken tabs on my driverside head light. Decided rather than fix the driver side and replace the ballasts again I would just replace them. Took advantage of BF sales and picked up some Morimoto xb v2's. Installed them a week or 2 ago, I cant remember since I barely drive my truck right now.


Front end torn apart and old HID's pulled out.

First headlight installed!

Getting the low beam aimed to try and not blind people too much.(After I removed the tape I put up to get them lined up correctly.)

High beams.

Quick video of the sequential turn signal.

Overall I am very happy with the new headlights. The output is great and I do not miss my HID setup at all.

 

I'm not on here much anymore and haven't taken any trips. Need to get my truck trip worthy again and get an inspection so its finally time to get some work done that I've been putting off.
I've had my ABS, Traction Control and Brake lights on for the past 8-9 months.


(ignore the seatbelt and low tire pressure lights, I was parked and not going anywhere)
I haven't been driving enough to care so I just ignored it after running the code which came back for a rear driver side speed sensor failure. Finally tested all the wiring which was good so I pulled the sensor with plans to swap sides to verify the sensor itself was bad until I saw that it was damaged and had been making contact with something and covered in grease. Could be a wheel bearing or something else I have no clue. Dropped it off at a shop today to get it looked at next week. I didn't get any pictures of the wheel speed sensor when I pulled it but a 1/4"-1/2" wide section of plastic on one side was worn down flat and you could see a few sparkles of metal. It will def need to be replaced once the shop fixes whatever caused it to rub in the first place. I dont have the space or desire to figure out whats causing the issue in the Tx summer heat.

 

Ouch, that's rough. Where'd you take it?

 

I dropped it off at Collin County Offroad. They are going see if they can make the time to get my MC HD LCA Frame brace kit installed while my trucks there. I've had that sitting around for like 3 years needing to get it installed.

 

Ahh nice! I never did install my TC LCA cam tabs either.

 

Dropped the truck off on sunday at Collin County Offroad and picked it back up today. Was getting the work done I took it in a couple of weeks ago for. Dash no longer has the ABS/Traction control lights on so I can go get my inspection done thats due this month. The driver side rear wheel speed sensor is working again! To fix that the shop had to replace the driver side rear wheel bearing and tone ring. They also replaced the inner and outer tie rods and installed the Marlin Crawl LCA gusset kit.

Truck also got some new UCA's to match the Dirt King LCA's I installed last year. The SPC UCA's where worn out and needing a full rebuild.(they will be for sale soon)

 

Nice!

 

Picked up a decked last weekend I found at a great price fairly close by! Should be nice, I need to figure out whats going over the bed now. Maybe a new(taller) bed rack or find a deal on a camper so theres still room for the fridge on top of the decked.

 

Looking good!

 

After 4.5 yrs of having a damaged tailgate its finally looking better!

Now I need to figure out a camper/topper that the fridge will fit under with the decked installed.

 

Nice! Any ideas on the topper?

 

Not really. I dont want to spend a lot of money on it so it will likely be whatever deal I can find for sale.

 

Picked up a soft topper used back in Nov before a quick trip to Montana for Thanksgiving at my sisters. Going to run it for a while and decide about a camper shell.

Did a quick drive by of Mt Rushmore but didnt park or get out. It was cold, LOL.

Pups fighting for space on the center console.

Trucks went to the shop today...
Couple days before Christmas a mouse decided to get into the engine bay and eat up some of that tasty soy based wiring. I know they got the wire going to the #1 fuel injector. Will let the shop chase down what all got damaged and get it fixed.
Truck was in limp mode and throwing 4 codes.

Ate up some of the insulation the the engine "beauty" cover.

There's supposed to be 2 sets of wires coming out of this plug...

Really hope thats the only damage but we'll see what the shop says after they dig into it. From what I saw they have to pull the fuel rail to get the plugs off the injectors.

 

Damn! Those shitty little bastards, they did me dirty in my last car after I parked it at a trailhead for a week. Dealer replaced every part of the AC system and it still wouldn't work until they finally saw that one chewed up wire

Hope they got you back up and running now, and safe travels out there!

 

That Softopper looks great, but then again I'm biased

 

I feel I got out fairly good considering. Just got home from picking the truck up. $900 in rodent repairs and trucks running great again.(plus another $800 in random work I just didnt feel like doing)

 

Its been nice. I am liking it but not completely in love with it. Let me carry the dog crates and some other gear in the bed and it kept dry. I am actively looking for a good deal on hard shell with windoors as I think I would like it better.

 

Well finally got time to take a trip. Didnt start off great. On the way to CO my A/C went out in Amarillo.
Pups relaxing enjoying the ride before the A/C went out.

First night was great and was in the 50's over night even with the heat and the dogs not being happy about driving in the heat to get there. Set up on some BLM land and relaxed!

Next day is what has become my usual for going to CO and ran through a nice easy trail, Medano pass(Great Sand Dunes NP), before heading towards Durango area where I planned on camping and wheeling through out the area.
See deer there every time I have been.


The dunes peaking through as your coming up to them from the east(back) entrance.

Then it was of towards Durango before it got too hot. It did not turn out how I had hoped or wanted.
Wheel decided it no longer wanted to be apart of my truck about 30 minutes out from Durago. Managed to keep it mostly under control as I left the pavement to get to a stop. 4 wheel studs sheared off while doing 50mph and just cam out of a turn.
Thankfully I kept it under control as much as possible and neither my pups or I were hurt. The truck on the other hand...
Rotor was damaged but nothing else in the suspension. Fender is destroyed which then damaged the hood, A pillar and door.

Managed to find the wheel with the help of the couple who stopped after watching it all happen from the car behind me. It was a few hundred yards away up a hill after it tried to go into Orbit. Managed to put it back on with the remaining 2 studs and lug nuts from my spare tire so it was at least rollable to get onto the tow truck.

The tow truck guy managed to talk his shop into getting my truck worked on right then so I wouldnt be stranded with the pups. I was very grateful!
Rotor was surprisingly in decent shape after sliding across the concrete minus the whole not round thing.

The shop originally tried to replace the wheel studs. The old ones came out easy. The new ones didnt fit. So then it was a whole Hub assembly since it comes with studs already pressed in and the parts store didnt have any other wheel stud options that would work. I didnt care, I just wanted the truck to be driveable so me and the pups werent stuck for an unknown amount of time paying for a hotel.

New hub with all 6 wheel studs! dust shield was bent back into place some what.

Wheel went back on with 5 ET spline lug nuts and 1 non ET lug nut. to make it driveable. Also discovered every dang lug nut is way over torqued. Thank Toyota for reminding me why I had dealers/service departments. Going to reach out to them and see if they will take responsibility for their techs failure of torquing wheels properly but I doubt they will. At this point I wont feel safe until I get all the wheel studs replaced even if I have to get it done myself. The other option should be insurance if(when) Toyota says its not their fault since my truck was in there 4+ months ago.
Once the truck was done I gave it a quick test drive, paid the bill(~$850 with the tow), tipped both the tow driver and tech for getting my truck working and hit the road to go home at 8pm. Drove through the night and havent slept at all but my pups, myself and the truck are home. Going to relax as much as I can with the rest of my vacation time and start figuring out how I will get the fender and other stuff repaired or by who.

 

Got the truck back on Tuesday night from getting the A/C repaired... Took 2 trips to the shop to get it fixed. They apparently though a quick refill would fix it the first time. I had no AC driving home but didnt have any other way to get home that night so I took it back in the next morning when I had a ride. They replaced the AC Condenser, which seems to have been the correct fix since I have a cold AC again!
Contacted insurance this morning to start the claim to get the fender and other damage fixed. I will take it in next Thursday(first time available) for the repair estimate and to arrange a time to get it in.