Dat 4Runner Life Doe - Adventures in a T4R

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Dbest
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D Griff wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:16 pm Hey man, I'll be traveling to Denver for work in about a month and am flying in a day early to try to hit a hike. So I have all day post landing at DEN around 9 AM to drive somewhere, do the hike, and get back. I'm in pretty good shape, could do 10+ miles no problem, but I will be alone so I'd probably shy away from anything crazy remote or dangerous.

What would be your number one recommendation?
Tough choice. Weekday or weekend? If you have the time and you want to experience a big mountain hike with big mountain view without a long drive pic a trail around Mount Evans. Another good one would be Brainard Lake area, do the Blue Lake/Mitchell Lake hike which isn’t bad, there’s plenty more trails in the area if you still want more. Or go to Boulder, do Mount Sanitas Trail up, east ridge down. If you still want more head to Chitaqua Park and hike the flatirons, or to Royal Arch. That puts you in Boulder while hungry and there’s some insanely good options for food.
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Dbest
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Detroit wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:12 pm
dubshow wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:37 pm don't let [user not found] see those engine bay photos. :nuke:
Yea, the truck is basically totalled by the looks of these engine bay photos.

Cleaning is over rated, the paint is lucky to see soap more than 2-3 times a year. I’d rather use it than look at it. I popped the hood and threw an extra handful of dirt in there while we were camping this weekend just to spite you guys lol
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Dbest wrote: Tue Jul 30, 2019 1:58 am
Detroit wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:12 pm
Yea, the truck is basically totalled by the looks of these engine bay photos.

Cleaning is over rated, the paint is lucky to see soap more than 2-3 times a year. I’d rather use it than look at it. I popped the hood and threw an extra handful of dirt in there while we were camping this weekend just to spite you guys lol
:triggered:











:trollface:



You're doing it right.
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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Dbest wrote: Tue Jul 30, 2019 1:58 am
Detroit wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:12 pm
Yea, the truck is basically totalled by the looks of these engine bay photos.

Cleaning is over rated, the paint is lucky to see soap more than 2-3 times a year. I’d rather use it than look at it. I popped the hood and threw an extra handful of dirt in there while we were camping this weekend just to spite you guys lol
:lolol:
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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Dbest wrote: Tue Jul 30, 2019 1:52 am
D Griff wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:16 pm Hey man, I'll be traveling to Denver for work in about a month and am flying in a day early to try to hit a hike. So I have all day post landing at DEN around 9 AM to drive somewhere, do the hike, and get back. I'm in pretty good shape, could do 10+ miles no problem, but I will be alone so I'd probably shy away from anything crazy remote or dangerous.

What would be your number one recommendation?
Tough choice. Weekday or weekend? If you have the time and you want to experience a big mountain hike with big mountain view without a long drive pic a trail around Mount Evans. Another good one would be Brainard Lake area, do the Blue Lake/Mitchell Lake hike which isn’t bad, there’s plenty more trails in the area if you still want more. Or go to Boulder, do Mount Sanitas Trail up, east ridge down. If you still want more head to Chitaqua Park and hike the flatirons, or to Royal Arch. That puts you in Boulder while hungry and there’s some insanely good options for food.
Thanks man, I’ll look into these! I have been around the area four or five times before but having a full day to knock around is nice.

The day off will be a Sunday, then likely a pretty packed schedule in Denver for work Monday-Thursday.
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Dbest
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I’ve been meaning to get these pics up for a couple weeks. My wife took a day off of work so we could get out on a week day for a big hike. From the truck up to the first peak (14,270 feet) across the saddle over to a second peak (14,270 feet) and back down to the truck was a little over 9 miles with 4,000 feet of elevation gain.

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We started early, the sun just up enough to hit that peak.
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The morning sun peaking out over the mountains.
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That’s our goal right there dead center. Don’t mind the weird iphone panoramic sky stripes lol
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Dbest
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Mountain goat
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The sun gets pretty damn potent when your over 2.5 miles above sea level.
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My wife taking a little detour up the spire
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My wife and a goat
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A view of the saddle between the two 14ers
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First summit
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Top of the first summit looking to the second summit
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Dbest
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Alost down the saddle
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Up to the second peak
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Looking back at the first peak
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I’ve really been wanting to do the ridge route up this peak.
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Second summit
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Dbest
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Hiking in the snow on July 23rd
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Dbest
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This goat followed us around for a while waiting for us to pee on stuff. They want you to pee on rocks so they lick it up.
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Spot the marmot
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Dbest
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Unreal pics man. Those summits are incredible. I'd love to do that someday.

Do you hike with a GPS device? Or are the trails marked well enough that it isn't a problem?
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Dbest
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Johnny_P wrote: Tue Aug 13, 2019 8:24 pm Unreal pics man. Those summits are incredible. I'd love to do that someday.

Do you hike with a GPS device? Or are the trails marked well enough that it isn't a problem?
I always hike with my phone. I use a few different apps depending on what I'm doing. The 14ers.com app lets you download trail route pictures and descriptions as well as a trail map so you can access it all offline. The Hiking Project app has 16,466 miles of trails mapped out and downloadable for colorado alone and it'll overlay your phones GPS position on the map. All Trails is a good one but its only a free app for reference, if you want to be able to download content you need to pay for a subscription. CO Trex is another good one that shows basically every mapped out publicly accessible legal hiking, biking, horseback riding, dirt bike, atv, and under 50" OHV trail in the state. I'll always screenshot the trail map and send it to whoever I'm with as well. We always try to go prepared.
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Also, come on out, I'll take you with on an adventure
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Dbest
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I decided to beef up the wiring for the circuit that will power the fridge, this is from the fuse in power distribution module to the plug and play connector for the circuit.
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Running the wiring to the back.
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Now to figure out how I want to wire it- hardwire it with a connector, or install a 12v power outlet, and either way where should I put it when I have the JBl system. I do want the fridge on that side because that’s the side with the child seat, meaning we never fold that side seat down flat. Image

And since I was working in the engine bay for the first time ever I cleaned the engine bay a bit. Just sprayed it down with foamy engine cleaner and then rinsed it with water.
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max225
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I am :triggered: that the engine cover isn't centered... :butwhy:
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Dbest
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max225 wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2019 1:10 pm I am :triggered: that the engine cover isn't centered... :butwhy:
Me too, I hate it lol.

What's the point of an engine cover that just covers the intake manifold and 1 cylinder head.
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Dbest
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Running wiring and planning out a slide mount.
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I only have 3 rivnuts on hands so I had to order more but here's the plan. I made a cut a board out of 1/2" birch plywood and shaped it slightly to fit snug up against the passenger side trim. I'm going to put 2 or 3 rivnuts in that crossbar to mount th front of the board. I verified its open under neight the bod so I'll put 2 or 3 more in the back along with metal spacers. I'll cut out holes in the styrofoam layer for the spacer to pass through. I cut the insulation off the underside of the trunk carpet where the board will sit to reduce the height a little bit. Right now I'm still waiting on the fridge slide to continue, its held up being shipped out of FL because of hurricane Dorian causing problems. Once the board is mounted I'll line up the slide to have it as far forward and the side as I can without anything hitting anything. When the mounting is figured out I'm going to use pronged t nuts inder the board to mount the slide from the top. I'd trim down the board as much as possible then Bedliner the whole board to keep it protected and waterproof. With this setup when I take it out for ski season its 4 quick bolts to remove the side and no other hassle.

It should right about here, it'll still clear the privacy cover.
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I got the wiring almost buttoned up yesterday. Its ran, it's grounded, and I put some temporary terminals on it to just to turn it on so I could verify the wiring. Dometic has a hardware socket kit thats 25 feet of 10 gauge wire, seeing as I'm running one of the smaller fridges and my run of wire is only about 17 feet or so I opted to go with 12 awg. the temporary hook up was to verify the wire is gauged ok to not impede function. As the fridge compressor starts the max voltage drop on startup is right around .28 volts, that'll work fine. 0.0 is ideal but not worth running like 6 or 8 awg. The performance will be just fine, the one potential concern is the battery protection could kick in earlier if it thinks the battery is lower than it is because of a voltage drop. But, I have everything aftermarket running through a low voltage disconnect right at the second battery so I don't need to utilize the fridges internal battery protection.

I realize I didn't take many pictures, I'll try to grab a few more today, especially if I finish up the wiring.
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Dbest
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I went out of town for a few days and then got sick. Today I finished up the car side wiring. Still waiting for the slide to move forward from here. It should get delivered Thursday, we’ll see how much I can get done before I go back out of town again.

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Dbest
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I got the fridge install finished.

I was kinda planning out the space. I didnt have enough rivnuts on hand so I had to order more but this was the gist of it. I wanted to to do 3 rivnuts along the brace and 2 towards the back with spacers.
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Rivnuts installed
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I cut off the insulation from the underside of the carpet where the board would sit to give it a more solid surface on the hard foam under the carpet and bring the overall height down a hair.
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I countersank the 5 holes to mount the board the to the floor of the body so it sits flat and flush and for the side to attached I used pronged t nuts that were glued and hammered in. Then I coated the board with black primer/sealer scuffed it up and hit it with 4 coats of bedliner.
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I cut holes in the thick foam for the spacers to slide in, then I cut small holes in the trunk carpet for the bolts to pass through and I cut out a section of the Canvas Back liner so it can just be permanently sandwiched in there and mounted up the board. Its super solid, it doesn't flex or move.
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From there I bolted up the DFG Offroad slide.
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I checked to see how long I'd need the wiring before cutting the 12v plug off and installing an Anderson SB50 connection.
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When I was planning everything I was measured known dimensions out with a tape measure and made some assumptions about the unknowns and it was going to be to close to tell if it would fit with the privacy cover or not. I'm happy to say it all came together exactly how I had hoped.
You can retract the cover and the fridge can be opened and closed as it sits. With the cover in place, it can be slid right out and opened.
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https://youtu.be/ww_coqVU87g
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Dbest
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We already got to put the fridge to good use tailgating for the Chicago Bears visit to Denver, they pulled off a win in a thriller.

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It's so nice having always the perfect temperature drinks ready to go.
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Continuing this where it left off a LONG time ago

Royal Arch, minutes from downtown Boulder

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Valmont Bike Park

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It was time for brakes on the 4runner.

I live in the Colorado mountains, I have some extra weight and bigger tires on the 4Runner, plus I tow from time to time. My brakes don’t have it easy so it was logical to look for an upgrade over stock, especially given the cost of stock pads and rotors. When it comes to parts I always buy OEM or I upgrade. I started researching and decided to go with the Powerstop Z36 brake upgrade. Powerstop recommends that kit for a vehicle with larger than stock tires, added weight, or for towing at least once a year. It's a pretty complete package - pads, rotors, and hardware and on forums and facebook groups, I was seeing a lot of positive reviews and recommendations for it. I also decided to replace the stainless steel brake lines with the kit from Goodridge. A reputable brand, even Tirerack sells them, and their kit was actually for 6 lines, 1 per wheel and the 2 flex lines from the body to rear axle housing. I got high-quality DOT4 fluid and I was good to go.

Everything ready to go.
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I thought I'd start with the stainless steel lines first. I was matching everything up to make sure it was right and notice a major, MAJOR, problem. The new bolts that came with the new lines to bolt the banjo fitting onto the rear caliper are dangerously undersized. You should have quite a few threads to screw in before you get to the point of collapsing the crush washers... this pile of hot garbage has 2 threads exposed.

This is dangerous, its an accident waiting to happen and there's not a chance in hell I would install this on any vehicle. This is extremely likely to end in catastrophic failure of the brake system. My mind was blown at the level of oversight here.
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So the lines are a bust... we said screw it I'll leave the lines alone for now and we'll just do the brakes.

My helper and I started to tear everything down.
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Turns out the Powerstop kit wasnt any better than the brake lines!

There was all sorts of debris in the zinc coating just waiting to get embedded into the brake pads. I've never seen a worse finish on new brake in my 15 years of working professionally in automotive.
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I installed the pads and went to put the caliper pins in, but wait a minute... they aren't long enough to actually come out the back of the caliper.
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So I reused the stock hardware to properly secure the pads and found another interesting tidbit.

This is how a pad should sit, the friction material stops just short of the edge of the rotor, especially when there a slight chamfer on the edge of the rotor. You want flat surface on flat surface.
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But the inconsistencies in the build quality of the pads left the friction material hanging just a hair over the edge of the rotor. This is not acceptable.
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At that point, I had enough. I said screw all this stupid crap and took one of the over vehicles over to Toyota and just bought all new OEM parts.

I definitely got my money's worth out the old brakes.

Front
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Rear
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We got the new pads and rotors installed, flushed the brake fluid, and adjusted the parking brake.
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Because I've seen it asked about a decent amount I decided to take a quick video of how to adjust the parking brake so it grabs strong and stiffens up the parking brake pedal. Hopefully, this can help someone out.

https://youtu.be/it4BMOrM41g
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