What have you done to your 5th Gen 4Runner today?

I remove mine every time anyways. It's four bolts no matter what and removing it is just less messy. Also it gives me a chance to check everything out in the area under there. When I had the free oil changes I removed the skid myself before taking it in to avoid any cross threading or other dealer oil monkey issues.

 

good to know. thanks for sharing!

 

So it’s tax season and once again we owe, we always owe. So we were going to try to cut back expenses a bit and save some money. But with daylights saving starting this weekend, summer will be here before we know it so naturally, over the past week and half we’ve bought a set of Maxtrax, ARB Weekender recovery kit, Boulder Tools heavy duty tire repair kit, trasharoo, durobumps, Smittybilt 5.65 CFM portable 12v compressor, Nemo Roamer sleeping pad, iKamper Skycamp 2.0 mounting brackets, kids North Face sleeping bag, kids hiking poles, tire deflator and the money is set aside for a Garmin InReach mini, Jetboil Genesis Basecamp, and another Nemo Roamer sleeping pad for when the REI 20% off member coupons come out on the 20th. And if you’re gonna make poor choices and bad decisions you may as well go big and really make it count right?!



Sooooo, that cutting back and saving money thing is going pretty well so far.

 

Nice tho!!!

 

Here are the pics I couldn't get until today. I absolutely love this unit. I keep a blanket over her! Lol I hope it helps. Sorry it took me awhile.

 

So today I finally mounted up my Recovery boards. I made some custom brackets to mount them flat to my Gobi Stealth rack. I want them flat to my rack so that I can have my awning mounted on one side and my rooftop hot water shower on the other. Here’s how I did it:

The mounting holes are 6” apart as you can see:



I found a bracket at Lowe’s that had holes exactly 6” apart... score! I cut the bracket into 4 equal pieces and sprayed them with some texture spray:



My original plan was to sandwich the mesh of my rack between two pieces of the bracket and secure the bolts that I mount the boards to 6" apart with some washers and nuts on top

Unfortunately I could not get the bolts to come through the mesh on my rack at exactly 6"

So on to plan B.




Fortunately, the next space over on each side came to 4-1/2", which worked perfectly to mount the brackets. I found some extra spacers in my garage and was able to mount the 3" bolts upright at 6" with the head of the bolt sandwiched between the brackets, and then use two more bolts facing down spaced at 4-1/2" using a big washers on the other side of the mesh to secure the brackets.



All mounted and secured with a cable lock:

 

are these from cartrimhome? how's the fitment? these are faux cf overlays right?

 

I think he got his off Amazon but probably from the same warehouse lol

 

Got the tires rotated and balanced at Discount. The weird thing is the guy said they all balanced great with minimal weight. I have always had one tire that didn't balance very well and took a lot of weight. Now it doesn't. So maybe bfg KO2's get better with age

So I take a gander under the thing cuz I have a big road trip coming up and I see this...what in the H..E..double hockey sticks!!!

They ran the replacement ABS wire I had done a while back around the sway bar mount. ....my fault for not looking but really pissed me off. Moron don't even care enough to make it look like the other side? Or, are, moron just dumb?
So I fixed it. The dealer owes me the hundred bucks I paid for the morons work.

 

Finally got around to completing these.

 

Welcome from Nebraska!

 

Quick fists, original size. Purchased on Amazon.com

$11 END OF ROAD Original Quick Fist Clamp for mounting tools & equipment 1" - 2-1/4" diameter, 2 Count (Pack of 1) - 0010

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CQPANY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_ZXuyEb45V34EM[/QUOTE]

 

Installed my Raptor lights but still waiting on the switch.

 

So I went to Toyota service manager (nice guy actually). In regards to my tail light(1) that fogs up.....this was Toyotas response.
Anyone know how to fill the tail light up with water and put a gold fish in it?

 

More specifically....

Retro Grill Badge

 

So the Lexus fogs came in early! Build quality is far better than the stock led that came in the pro, better heat sink, materials and lens almost feels like glass but is just a thicker grade plastic. They fit exactly the same as stock & fit like a glove. Now, for 40 bucks more the light output is the same as oem pro fogs & if I had to do it again, I would buy pro oems.
No output shots as is pouring outside now. These pics are the lights and a compassion of stock halagens to led fogs

 

It’s always a good idea to test out your gear an equipment prior to actually needing it and I had an chance to use some of the new stuff I bought this morning. My wife left for work, turned around at the end of the street and came right back with a tire light. I checked pressures RR was at like 15 psi. I tried out the cheap tire plug kit that lives in her car and it was huge fail. The plug actually snapped in half trying to get it in the tire.


So I opened up some of my new recovery stuff I just bought. The Boulder Tools heavy duty tire repair kit and the Smittybilt compressor. Everything worked perfectly (you can see in the case but that’s the screw I pulled out of her tire).

 

Is OP talking about ceramic coating paint or protective film instillation quote?

 

Paint correction with protective film.

 

Traded my 2016 LE for a 2019 Nightshade. Then added the USR blacked out tail lights.

 

Congratulations!
Slick looking. Haven't seen many in that color yet, I like it! Already got the tint for that Oklahoma sun. Are you keeping the 20" wheels? Just curious.
*Edited for spelling.

 

Thanks. Yes, I plan on keeping the wheels, I actually like them. I would like to see a little more rubber on them though.

 

Not sure how much more you can get with the 20"s. That is why I asked. I am sure others will be of more help but you may be maxed out already.

 

Yea, it was just an observation. I’m going to stick with the stockers for now.

 

First things done, I had the boards put on at the dealer then the Falkens put on at Discount Tire today. Now I'm waiting for the Cornfed 2/1 setup to arrive and I have to paint the aluminum strip on the boards black and the rack runners black.

 

Added a 3/2 readylift today. Vision wheels and general tires.

 

Congrats on the auto tech that's badass. I was just catching up on this thread and wanted to share an experience. I went to a welding school about 10 years ago and worked as a fabricator up until about a year ago. I paid like 10k to go through the 9 or so month welding program. I wish I would have done some more research before I went through it ( I was 21 and wanted to get my life going.) Looking back on it, I could have spent that money and a couple nice welders and taught myself how to weld and then pay the 400 per test and went and got certified myself. Granted the program helped me get a job when I was done. Im certified through AWS in TIG, FCAW and SMAW. I'm not trying to deter you or talk shit I'm just sharing something that maybe helps. Either way welding is a great skill to have. I love driving through town seeing things I've built or helping buddies with their rigs, it's definitely a skill to be proud of!

 

Thanks for the info bro!

I have free schooling through the GI Bill, and have never welded anything... I guess I could watch a bunch of videos and just go for it and try and teach myself... But really I'd rather be taught all the correct ways of doing it so I don't develop bad habits starting off.

I'm a disabled veteran. I'm doing this to learn as a hobby really... Keep me busy. I won't be going to work after school, so really even the certifications are not that important to me, but I will most likely still take the test anyway... I am with ASE testing...

After Auto tech school I'll have one more year left of free education benefits before they expire, and the welding program is 1 year... Might as well get the full benefits while I can....

 

Heck ya! I used to work with a bunch of younger veterans and it amazed me how many guys don't use their GI bills. Use that shit! You more than earned it. Have fun with welding, it's a cool feeling to finish something and be able to be proud of it and know you made it!