Which you you rather have?

I ceramic tinted my moonroof so I always have it "open" or actually open. I could careless about my passengers head room. More air and light is good for the soul.

I don't understand the whole it will end up leaking argument. My 95 4runner moonroof didn't leak for 28 years. In fact it never stopped working.

 

I got spoiled halibut fishing as a kid. My grandparents lived in Southeast Alaska. My dad has been going to Elfin cove since they passed telling me best halibut fishing. I will make it up there eventually.


https://elfincoveresort.com/

 

MAMA, I'M COMING HOME!!!!!

 

BTW: My old boss (took my job as Chief of Habitat Restoration when I stepped down after 6 years) is now head of Marine Mammal regulatory branch in Anchorage!

 

Packing up the rental for a quick turn-around trip to pick up "The Beast". Installed a portable Garmin GPS in the rental. Will move it to her RAV when we return!

 

I had all of my windows tinted with Xpel ceramic tint and it is fantastic. First time I've ever tinted a sunroof and it was the best decision I've ever made.

 

If your going to keep it a long time option 1

if your going to dump it in a few years option 2

personally I like sunroofs but I don’t want to have to deal with a older vehicle that has one. If your only going to have it for a few years the moon roof will get you a better trade in or private sale amount.

 

Neither for me as well. I bought an SR5 premium then I added all the accessories I wanted. Eibach pro 2 Sherpa Roof rack rago panels, cali raised rock sliders and I am still under the asking price of a TRD pro

 

How long did they take to get them to you? I ordered mine with a 0-4 week lead time. Working on week 5 now and they said they'd ship this week. Here it is the end of the week and nothing. Looks like I'll get my truck before the sliders at this rate.

 

Finale!!!

OK! Got a call that the Blue Beast was ready in Klamath Falls (See my previous post for background). Rented a car (didn't want to be driving 2 cars back!). Call came Wednesday afternoon, we rented and picked up on Thursday AM, took off Friday AM on a MARATHON drive down. Of course, Hwy 97 through the "Rez" had construction, so we detoured via Prosser. Gou there Friday evening. Picked it up on Saturday about 8AM, dropped off the rental and decided we wanted to see some local petroglyphs. Turned out they weren't so local ! They were over the border in Cali at Lava Beds National Monument. We headed on down, saw the petroglyphs, hit the Visitor Center (had a real nice talk with one of the Park Rangers on "pikas" aka "mountain whistlers"). Then decided to head back to Klamath Falls via a bck way. We drove for 2 hours on a mix of single-lane paved roads, cinder roads , mud, pea gravel, and snow. Our GPS simply said "Unknown road". We decided discretion is the better part of valor and (1) the GPS wasn't helping, (2) snow was starting to cover the roadway, (3) no cell or CB reception, (4) car was just out of the shop, and (5) it was getting late!. We doubled back on our tracks. Next day, we visited Lower Klamath Lake Wildlife Refuge and took the 10-mile nature drive. Saw several mule deer (one a buck in velvet), several harriers, including a couple doing their courtship flight, lots of avocets, blackbirds, etc. Got some pictures to follow.
In a nutshell, the "Beast" is driving well, looks like Valvoline is re-imbursing us for the new rear end and axles, weather was great, company was great, pretty good food. Just got back and all is well!

 

what happened to the rear again? I tried to look up the post but couldnt find it

 

We were on a vacation to SoCal and AZ, returning via Vegas. On the way down, we got a humming noise that we couldn't locate=almost like tire noise. Car slowed down and we pulled over using our momentum as the RPMs raced higher. Wouldn't move although I managed to pull forward about 12 feet using the front diff (of course, we were in axle deep muck). No cell or CB service, so the wife hitched a ride (she carries). Driver knew the owner of a tow truck in Alturas, CA. Driver said good luck on finding anyone qualified in Alturas and he recommended taking it to a Toyota dealer in Klamath Fall (a little over 100 miles away). Mechanic's report said the diff was toast and that someone (Valvoline at home) had failed to replace and/or tighten the drain plug. One of the rear axles had actually welded to the diff.! Since Toyota hadn't done the prior service, it was not covered under warranty. Estimate was $5800. BUT when they found the axle was welded, it was an additional $1400. The Manager found a 4Runner with 18K miles on it (ours had 33K) that had a front-end collision. Valvoline has not committed but it looks like they are picking up the cost of the repairs!

Rental Cars: We rented a Mazda CX-5 for our original trip. It was comparable to our RAV4, although not QUITE AS ROOMY! Did not come with GPS, so my Army training in map-reading came in handy! Overall, I would stick to our RAV. For the return trip to P/U the "Beast", we rented a Nissan Rogue. Again, not as nice as our RAV (XLE) but comparable. I would purchase a RAV again (as well as a 4Runner!).

On a more positive note: neither rental had GPS. Neither does our RAV. I bought a GARMIN 65 GPS unit. That is REALLY nice!! Easier than the one in the 4Runner. It's going in the RAV right way!

 

thank for the eun down on the events. That is quite a debacle. This just reaffirms that you have to double check everyones damn work all the time with local shops and dealerships. Glad to hear you got the Beast back!

 

I have a 23 TRD ORP and I also smell the exhaust most of the time I have the rear window partially down (usually have the moonroof lifted in the rear and 4 passenger windows partially open when I smell the exhaust from the rear window). But I'm still playing with all the different window configurations to see what works best for the overall flow.

 

You'll have that with any vehicle where the back window can be opened, which isn't many. It's just physics. Setting your incoming air to 'Fresh' with the fan speed up a bit, and only lowering the rear window an inch or two, works because air can flow through and out the back.

 

Huh... I never smell exhaust when the read window is down. Maybe I just don't have good nose for it
My dog absolutely loves it. I can roll it down if she wants to see outside, and if not I can just roll it up. And its automatic, how freakin cool is that!

 

Valvoline called and they are paying for the new diff with labor, etc. Better than nothing!

 

Decided on option #2