2003 4Runner Limited 4wd V8 FJ tcased overlanding rockcrawling do-it-all build

Hello from T4R.org! Definitely got lucky with the wheel shenanigans happening in the dirt, would have sucked on asphalt.

I personally would go with the OEM style instead of Race for the glass. I know you didn’t ask, but hey. Lol

 

Thanks for the feedback guys!

I am leaning towards the OEM style, so we'll see what happens.

 

Glad to hear its still running well and nothing was damaged any worse!
Had a great time out there!

 

Yikes, I had one come loose on me once and it trashed the wheel and the studs.

Those OEM style are newish, I dig em, wonder if they have as much clearance as the race ones.

 

Yeah, I was lucky it came off the hub cleanly and didn't damage any of the threads or suspension stuff. Fender isn't a big deal.

I think the race has a little more clearance but the OEM does look better and should work just fine for my use.

 

Damn! I been outta the loop. Luck was ridin shotgun for sure.
My cheap torque wrench is adequate, but I'm gonna start looking for a better one now.
Are you checking them every 10 miles now?
Glad for no injuries or serious damage.

 

Not that often but I have checked a couple times since then. So far, so good.

 

I was more worried about the 1.25" spacers I have, so I sourced some longer studs that sit flush with the outer surface of the spacers and used the All Pro extended lugs to lock them on to the hub nice and tight. All of that precaution still doesn't help with the wheel lugs coming loose for whatever reason. $150 - $200 on a torque wrench seems a little more reasonable these days.

 

Some pics from last weekends wheeling and camping trip with a bunch of TW guys here is Arizona. No wheels fell off during this trip!

This was the 3rd iteration of what is becoming an annual trip for our group here. These last 3 trips, we have followed the Arizona BackCountry Discovery Route. It's a route create by adventure motorcyclists but is totally passable by mostly stock 4 wheeled vehicles. High clearance is strongly recommended and depending on the time of year, 4 wheel drive is needed as well.

https://ridebdr.com/azbdr/

This year, the route was somewhat closed off in places due to the wildfires happening in AZ right now but we still managed a great time.

This was the Slate Fire up near Flagstaff.



And this was the Telegraph Fire near Globe. This has since merged with another fire in the area and has burner almost 165,000 acres.



Most of the group had started the run Friday morning and I met them Friday evening on the Mogollon Rim.





We camped on the rim Friday night and continued our trek north from there.







Trails are super dusty out here. Turned my black rear bumper a tan color.



Made it to the Cinders on the east side of Flagstaff Saturday evening and camped there for the night. Sunday, we worked out way up to the Grand Canyon.



@Phessor and I continued on north while the remainder of the group started the trek home. We went up into Utah and stopped for pics at Forest Gump Point on highway 163.





From there, we went up to Mexican Hat, UT and ended up finding a most awesome camp spot, right on the San Juan River.















Monday morning, we started the long trek home.



Ended the trip with 987 miles round trip and the odo turned over to 307,365 miles on the 4Runner now.

 

Good stuff! Love it out there. My folks have a place in Prescott valley. Driven out a couple times but only scratched the surface getting on the trails. Being the only truck limits the difficulty in trails that I try out. I could spend the rest of my life exploring the 4 corner states and probably would never come close to seeing most of it.

 

My mom and stepdad are looking at Prescott for a potential move. She's tired of the long winters in Redmond, OR that they have. Love exploring out here. So many open areas. I still want to get over into New Mexico sometime and back up into Colorado. My brother lives just outside of Denver.

 

Prescott winters can get chilly (single digits) w a dusting of snow once in awhile. Summers usually no hotter than the 90s. Fire is always a concern as you already know.
Sure is beautiful though.

 

Been a bit since there were any updates. Haven't done anything to the truck recently other than change oil and filters. I did finally ventilate the hood like I've been wanting to.

With the high heat in the summer out here in Tucson, I decided that hood vents probably would be a good idea to help airflow under the hood and keep things in the engine compartment from cooking when I'm slow moving offroad.

Ordered these off Amazon -

$80 RodLouvers Pair of Angled Aluminum 5” 11 Louver Hood Panels Jeep YJ (Bolt-On) Kit

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXKJ96G

Laid them out on the hood and decided where I wanted them. Then laid down some tape and measured to make sure they were straight on each side, drilled some holes for my nibbler and started cutting.





Drilled some extra holes in the hood support to help with airflow and painted the cuts with my favorite bedliner spray paint from Harbor Freight and bolted the vents in place. Rinse and repeat for the passenger side, taking measurements from the driver side to set placement.







View from the driver seat.





Fired the truck up when I was done and they allow for a significant amount of airflow out of the hood now, which should help a lot both when driving on the street and for slow moving off road. And I really like the look. Just need to get some more bedliner spray paint now.

 

Still slow though

 

Only thing slower is your progress

 

I was gonna suggest you paint those bad boys unless you like being blinded by the afternoon sun lol. I don’t hate them, will wait for a final decision when painted.

 

At least I own Vehicles for more than 6 months

 

That's because your cars aren't finished

 

Actually, I had the driver side done for the last week before installing the passenger side. No problems in the sun what so ever. But I still plan on painting them black.

 

@xtremewlr Looks pretty cool actually. You could name them too - Monique and Unique.
Sidebar: Do you always have people show up in your backyard and pick fights with each other? Lol