LiquidArrogance is taking Jennifer up to the lake

Got my Diode Dynamics SAE Pro fogs installed (now just need to find a nice level place to get them aimed properly before rockin' em).

Thanks to @memario1214 at Hotshot Offroad for the sale!

 

Wheels arrived this week! Have an appointment Monday for tires & alignment.

Used my lil' desktop plotter to make some silver-on-black TRD center caps.

FN Wheels Five Star
Diameter: 17"
Width: 8.5"
Offset: -6mm
Backspacing: 4.5"
PCD: 6x139.7
Load rating: 955KG (2,100lbs+ per wheel)
Weight: 22lbs (approximate)
Certification: JWL-T, VIA, SAE J-2530, DOT approved
Colors: Anthracite light gunmetal, matte black and matte bronze
Toyota specifics: 106mm hub centric for Toyota hubs, and center machined to accept flat snap-in OEM TRD center cap.

Cant recommend this outfit enough. Superb customer service. Took a few days to get a response on my initial email but was getting replies in an hour or so once we had the conversation rolling.

http://www.fnwheels.com/

 

oooooohhhh. Those are fancy pantsy! Really digging them.

 

Got tires on yesterday and got to take everything out for some wheeling today. Very happy with with how everything rides and had a lot of fun. Loving the tires on the dirt and highway doesn't seem bad at all. Little noisy but totally bearable.

 

Thats a really good looking truck!

 

Thanks! I'm pretty excited with how it's turning out.

 

Added ATA (Anti-Tweaker Apparatus) to my spare.

 

enjoy it. looks like its coming along great.

how do you like the suspension set up?

 

Seat Jackers installed. Thanks to @LDS 77 for the hookup on those! I think we may have set a TW record on sale/ship/install time!

 

Thanks! I'm having a blast building it up. Still can't quit turning around to look at it every time I park...

I'm enjoying the suspension so far. Have only been able to do some light wheeling on it but I definitely like how it drives on and offroad. Little tight up front but that was expected for where I've got the preload set. Back was a little rough at first but it's already settled nicely.

 

Got the UltraGauge installed today. Have used ScanGauge in previous vehicles so this will be a first for me. Already a couple things I like better about the ScanGauge: from what I recall on the ScanGauge you can just enter your tire size and it'll automatically do the math for speedo, etc. Seems on the UltraGauge you can only adjust speedo for tires by calibrating which requires driving 3+ miles between known mile markers... kind of frustrating in a state that doesn't make extensive use of mile markers. I also like that the ScanGauge has a Cat5-style wire you can disconnect from the unit which makes fishing the wire a lot easier.

In any case: I wanted to give this thing a shot on account of some of the features it has the ScanGauge doesn't so I'll give it some use before passing any judgement.

I wanted the gauge on the left-hand side of the dash but I'm not a fan of the suction cup mounts and they tend to fail pretty quickly with the heat where I live. I've loved my Bulletpoint "Taco Bar" so I figured I'd use their stuff to mount the UltraGauge. Their stuff is a bit pricey but my experience has been that quality is top-notch. I used their universal single ball assembly and just screwed it right through the dash garnish. The ball joint on the UltraGauge is too small to be directly compatible with the Bulletpoint arm sockets. I just shot a dab of hot glue into one side of the Bulletpoint socket and let it cure which gave it some extra thickness & grip to fit the UltraGauge ball just fine. Since the Bulletpoint hardware is aluminum it'll pull right off in the future if need be. Worked perfect.

 

Took my oldest "camping" in the El Paso mountain area and we stumbled on this adopt-a-cabin in Bonanza Gulch we ended up spending up a couple nights at instead of sleeping in the tent. Had a blast. Truck did awesome and had some fun exploration wheeling on day two.

 

Got 1/4 of the way done with predator step delete ....

Took a nice bite on the fender flare ... thankfully didn't catch it with the tire that would've sucked.

Wifey was in the truck when it happened so real sliders should be an easier sell now

 

Got the Kicker tweeter install done. Shout out to @lsukevinc for the hookup on those.

I was a little skeptical on how big an improvement everyone raves about this making but it is definitely noticeable. Rocked my favorite high frequency "testing" tune (AC/DC It's a Long Way to the Top) before and after, and also with just one Kicker installed fading left/right and the difference is substantial.

 

Took about eight months but I finally got my plates!

 

Installed Cascadia 4x4 Flipster v3 & made myself a couple frames for the new plates.

 

Finally got my iconic "I climbed Bald Mountain" shot. Trail was a blast especially with all the snow melt. Ironman kit performed admirably. We took a good handful of little detours to tackle a few of the more difficult obstacles... had to leave behind a fellow SSM 3rd gen to find a different route as he wasn't able able to follow us. Kiddoes enjoyed the swing.

 

Man, it's been a while. You know how sometimes life gut punches you and then throws you on the ground and then kicks you in the balls repeatedly until you're unconscious?

2022 was kinda like that.

But by the grace of God and love of family members I'm alive and back in the saddle.

On the plus side... I put about 27k miles on the rig last year. Visited every single state in the lower 48.










Also finally ditched the predators and got some real sliders thanks to @GHOST SHIP

 

Great post, sweet truck and awesome pictures!

 

Thank you! And thanks for the awesome wheels I got to do it all on!