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

It's Phoenix, AZ. That day, 2 Aug 2023, I think we had a cold front or Arctic Blast, thus a chilly 108F morning.

 

Like today, high was around 108. Almost had to put on a sweater!

 

Hahaha! We got a few clouds and a shower a bit ago and I went outside thinking it had cooled down some, but NO. We’re south of you guys.

 

Well, In 9 days I should have a new 2023 White TRDOR premium…..

 

I'm always reminded of this skit from Jeff Dunham (scroll to around the 3:45 mark):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcAq6fRADzI

 

Abruptly woke up to, "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" from the smoke/CO monitor and smoke originating from the battery/RedArc BMS location while sleeping in the desert and running the A/C during the day. It appears the solar input cable fuze had melted. YIKE! Although it could have also been that the solar wire had moved when the 4Runner was serviced two days before and the seat moved too far allowing the wire to touch the BMS, which gets pretty hot despite a fan on it. Nonetheless, had to repair and reconnect the solar cable to the BMS for a 2,500-mile round-trip that's half overland and half interstate highway starting tomorrow, 9 Aug 2023.

 

Glad you are ok. Could've ended badly. (And glad vehicle is ok too)

 

It's a lot of dots being put together, but the biggest thing was an insurance quote for my new Prius from GEICO. There's like four companies in GEICO, for each level of risk they take. And the one I'm talking about is government employees insurance company (GEICO-all caps).

The Prius alone was being quoted as $1,600 when our previous policy was $1,200 for three cars ,total.

Rates are based off of statistics, actuarial calculations. Priuses had exponentially more accidents and claims than anything else we had. Being that I am a former GEICO agent, I still have friends there and I asked for an actuarial explanation. Teachers. Since the spousal unit is a Federal grant administrator at a school district, we got thrown into the pot of bad drivers with that car choice.

So now, we're paying $1,300 with Costco's Connect Insurance. Four cars, including my new 23 ORP, $50 comp/$500 collision $100k/$300k/$100k coverage... In Southern California!

 

Congratulations are in order! You are now joining the army of The Super White Ice Cap ORP.

Is it the same dealer or a different one this time? And what about the VSA? Are you going to end up calling Jerry?

 

Is that for 6 months/year? (I'm guessing for 6 months.)

 

6 months.

Good drivers should look at 6 month policies anyway because, if you qualify for a better rate two months into your current policy, you only have to wait 4 months for that discount to kick in as opposed to 10 months with a one year policy term. Insurance companies with one year policy terms make millions just on that alone.

 

Thanks. Yes, very bad. If you sleep in your vehicle, please have a smoke/CO monitor. Another time the alarm went off the vehicle was running and the hatch was open. While I was awake and outside the vehicle, I'm glad it's that sensitive and that it works.

 

I have no idea how much the permanent build in the back of my 4Runner weighs, but I am sure it's more than 80 lbs. Thirteen gallons of water alone is ~100 lbs. It's my daily drive with 70k and no issues yet. Because I travel mostly alone I put most of the weight on the passenger side to offset my 170 lbs. in the driver seat. Different for me, but not sure it matters, I removed the back seats. How ever much that weighs. I also used aluminum instead. Hope that helps.

 

Thank you! Ice cap it is and I will be calling Jerry for the VSA. it’s a different dealer since I have moved from VA to NC….

 

Put on Toyo Open Country AT3s (265/70/R17) with the 17x8.5mm 0 offset KMC Dirty Harry wheels. No rubbing at all.

 

To be fair, it doesn’t sound like it’s all of them… maybe his beef is just with *Prius* driving elementary school teachers.

Speaking of load bearing, I once saw a gal load up at least 800lbs of river rocks into the back of an OG Prius. Those cars are quite the beasts of burden lol.

I didn’t ask her if she was an elementary school teacher though.

 

Yeah, I’ll add a detector to the list lol.

I appreciate you posting your experiences with all this. Very instructional for those considering doing what you do…even if not at such a hardcore level lol.

I’m curious…what are your thoughts on a future 4runner hybrid? I wonder if it would simplify some of the electricity management for something like what you are doing, or if tying into the on-board battery system would be a headache due to potential complications/ problems.

 

Not something I did but something I want to do and brain storming.

Has anyone tried using TRD Pro roof rack to mount radio antennas? Any one used these M5 screws location to have some sort of clean mounting system for the GMRS antenna? Thinking of changing MXTA13 to a MXTA25. Looks like MXTA25 just come with antenna (no mounting thing or cable, no nothing).

 

This kind of stuff always requires some creativity. Mounting something to a round surface like that would leave the antenna vulnerable to getting torn off easily, probably leaving damage behind. Those screws also look fairly little, so it wont take much of a branch to rip it off if it gets wedged between the a flat mount and the round tube. Even if you made a mount with “half-round” piece of steel, it doesnt look like one of those screws is enough.

If it were a flat faces roof rail, it would be easy enough to make a mount with angle iron. Two holes to bolt it to the roof rail, and one hole for the antenna. Round tube complicates it.

Maybe a mount that clamps on on both sides to the upper and lower tubes? But you’d have to drill and bolt, or weld, some sort of flat surface for the antenna to mount on

 

I've got the same thing w/o the inclinometer. Love it. I have heart/respiratory issues, so we have to be careful.

I attached mine with Monsanto 2-sided tape.

 

They have this thing but looks fugly.

 

This was the mount that came with my midland, which I modified a bit to fit on my roof rail. You can also do a mount with angle iron that is the height of the flat face of the rail.


With two round tubes (one on top of the other like on the Pro rack), you would have to bolt two flat pieces together sandwiching both tubes…then mount an angle iron to that mount…so you can have a flat surface for the antenna

 

Is this all I need if I go with that mount?

1) The Antenna - https://midlandusa.com/collections/...cts/micromobile-mxta25-3db-gain-ghost-antenna
2) Cable - https://midlandusa.com/collections/.../micromobile-mxta24-low-profile-antenna-cable
3) mounting bracket - https://midlandusa.com/collections/...mobilemxta23-roll-bar-mirror-mounting-bracket

So about 100 bucks + tax to upgrade from 2.1db to 3db.

 

Yes. Lol, now that I look at that mount, it’s made to be clamped over round tube. I had forgotten about that fact because I threw the other half away and cut down the remaining piece lol.

So there you go! Easy solution!

You might have to trim off some height off the mount with a hack saw depending on if it interferes with the round tube below the the tube you are mounting it to. So maybe not perfect, but this kind of stuff always requires a little extra work. You could also pit some rubber or foam sheet between so the mount doesnt clamp directly to the metal, and it will make it more stable

 

Switching over to the Bridgestones using port takeoffs from Toyota's Long Beach PIO crew...

After researching so many different reviews and watching video, I have determined that the Dunlop AT20s, while they drive nicely on dry surface and are rather supple and quiet, or just not safe enough to have family in the car with me on a rainy day.

While there are plenty of reviews that don't like the Bridgestones either, they are more road tires, which will be its primary function for its first few years.

 

pretty happy with 3" Old Man Emu decal off ebay

 

damn man no need for window shades or even tint with the sticker murals you have going on.

 

Haha first step is admitting you have a problem, right. I used to manufacture stickers at home as a young skateboarder. The Runner's paid off, to each his own I guess