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

Yay! I think I saw a sticker price of $330 for the blackout as a way to load (not just pad) their margins. Yikes!

 

Polished a scuff from the idiot that thought he could fit between me and the curb while everyone was stopped at a light. Luckily it was his mirror that dragged down the rear 1/4 panel and folded in before it did more damage. Didn't think it was worth getting his insurance information since most of it wiped off right there.

 

https://trailgridpro.com/products/sony-xav-ax4000-plug-play-bundle-10-23-4runner

Installed the above kit this afternoon. Coming from previous vehicles with wired CarPlay, wireless is the bees knees.

 

I got a set of these and I am very happy with them.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/714823108/premium-cast-vinyl-letter-decals-for

 

I built a platform inside. It is pretty robust but I am not really happy. It is 80lbs and will stay in my 4runner in long term. I am so paranoid that It will dense the floor when it stay there permanently and put an extreme stress in the suspension. Am I overworried? And will 80lbs cause any damaged during long term usage?

 

Go through any elementary school parking lot and look at the crap in the back of every Prius parked on that asphalt.

Those hoarding elementary school instructors (those two behaviors are often mated) carry at least 80 lbs of crap all the time!

While I am a big believer of minimizing weight everywhere you can, it's like carrying a kid around in the back.

As for the individual leg pressure points, think of it this way if it's 80 lb total that's 10 lb per leg. Maybe a larger pad on the bottom of the structure's feet, but people haul around a lot of cargo with no problems. Any cosmetic crushing of the carpeting is what it is.

 

So much hate for elementary school teachers.

 

My dog weighs 106 lbs and he goes everywhere I go! Lots of storage under that set up! They make aluminum tubing if your worried about the weight. I used the same set up to make a storage for my fire wood.

My Luno mattress is arriving today.

 

Installed new Alpine system into the 2010 4Runner SR5....pretty nice upgrade.

 

wrapped the '16 spare steely w/ Kumho Adventurer 285 load E
$25 @ Albion Tire on the river

 

Installed VLED DRL kit today. The DRL is just the dimmed high beam bulbs and I didn’t like the yellow halogen look. I prefer a fancy led running light around the borders of the light like I had on my previous tundra, but this is a happy middle ground.


https://www.vleds.com/5g-4runner-mi...light.html?a=7a7452ded798ce0ae39357dd8fea7ad5

 

If you get a chance, any night shots with the brights on? Curious to see how these look.

 

I can try and do that sometime this week. I had it all planned out and was going to do before and after shots and then got excited when they arrived and I wanted them installed.

 

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.