Nautical Blue Build Thread (Big Blue) - 60K mile review - lessons, regrets, etc.

Lovin the Wolfpack sticker on the back glass.

 

I got something special just for you! coming up shortly.

 

You will like this sticker better...you'll see soon. This is the real Wolpack Red unit.

 

Waiting from a prior Houston, Well kuykendahl road resident when working on Airline Drive!

 

Red for you Loco....the wife's truck is Barcelona Red. This is a true mall crawler - ultimate pavement princess.

 

This is the real wolfpack true red unit. I just get to clean it and do the maintenance on it. It rips too as it is SC and regear as well. A hell of a unit.

 

https://www.google.com/imgres?q=jim...d=2ahUKEwjki7z-692NAxWN3skDHcBZDwsQM3oECEkQAA
Approved!

 

I never thought of doing my tires like that: raised lettering, but not in white.

The red lettering would look awesome on my rig.

 

So here is the story on those letters....I wanted to put on the general grabbers which are the only tire out there with red lettering out of the factory.

The problem is that these are only available on MT (I think they are called the X3) and a $30 bucks was added per tire because of the letters which brought each to about $335 and I said $^@%! That. I ain't doing it because some red letters bull...so I bought a red marker for tires and just flipped the KO2's. I cleaned the hell out of the white letters on the K02's and went to work with the pen. I rolled into discount tire the other day and the kids were like.....dang Mr...we didn't know the K02s come in red. I said me neither!! My back hurts like hell...from flipping these tires and doing this by hand. The boss here at the house likes it though....I told her they will turn pink eventually and you will end up with a girly unit.

 

FIFY

 

Today was oil change day. I do it every 5K, and my goals are two: "Zero Harm & Zero Spills". I have to admit 5 yrs ago when I started doing it myself, I wasn't as neat and tidy as I'm today. It takes me now 30 mins max to do this job, first time it took me probably 2hrs .

The setup:

I got all my stuff ready to go. No beer on the floor however as it was too early , got going at 730am to try and beat the Houston hot weather.


I bought into the hose thing because I can't stand spilling stuff on the ground, so these little hoses work just right for me. I put the blue tarp on the floor just for insurance, my pulse sometimes is not the best and I'm also not a small guy so I need the insurance there.


I'm always surprise how much oil is retained in the filter housing and so I try to get everything out but you do get a decent amount on the pan. Again, the goal is zero spills on the driveway and on the 4R. Here is the quality or looks of the oil:


Not too bad, it could probably do a few more but I'm a big believer on the 5K. I use the K&N filters, they soak pretty good...they get a little hard to pull sometimes but for the most part they do ok.


Cleaning everything up and ready to fill in....30 mins was my time for this. I think I spent more time wiping down my hands to not mess up my cell so that I could snap these shots.

The bay looks clean and good....


A reminder...on the skid plates --- these continue to do their job, glad I have them in there. Crawling down to the Mall and Homedepot can be harsh at times

 

The mods continue here on this rig:

Dobinsons C59-327 (2 to 2.5") - Heavy Load with 200-400 LBS. I got rid of the 2" Icon. I will post those shortly for comparison.

These lift the vehicle in the back and will see how everything settles after I load up all the crap I usually carry when I travel.


And since I was in the neighborhood doing this job, I went and added the adjustable sway bar links for the back from dobinsons as well. These seem thicker and a bit longer than stock.

 

^
Probably not the best "angle" pictures but here the before and after. The shiny clean picture shows the 2"Icon Rear Coil Springs



The one below is the Dobinsons C59-327 Rear Coils, provides 2.5-2.75″ with stock weight. It goes to 2” with 200lbs to 400lbs constant load.

 

ARK Splashguards, had to trim them in a few places since I have the external reservoir on the suspension.

 

Body Mount Relocation by DRT - https://www.drt-fabrication.com/product/5th-gen-4runner-cmr
Ok, on this mod, I know I'm going to get some from many for several reasons:

1. Back when I was a freshman on this forum (2020), I said, there is no way I cut the frame on my 4R, no way I would do such a thing....well I finally caved on the urge to prep for 34s. The DRT product seems very good and solid.
2. I painted the parts the same color as Big Blue but I should have gone with black and keep the frame uniform and low key. This will get fixed and corrected. Nobody can see it anyway.

P.S. Still a freshman with a 0.0 GPA

 

That is a super sharp truck your wife has! I love the bright red paint! Looks like you’ve done an amazing job keeping it up with the Texas sun. I sure wish they made more color combos like that.

 

I just came across this thread . Great job on all of it OP. Since you’re running heavy I imagine the 4.56 gears did more for overall driving experience than the supercharger.

 

Thank you . It is holding ok for its age 2017. It is kept inside at all times and I'm the primary care giver. Lots of goodies underneath as well. But certainly a pavement princess, it will never see a trail.

 

Yes, I think the regearing has been the best thing. The SC is ok, but I have mix feelings about it. I don't think it is worth the hassle and the extra coin. It is touchy too at times so adds more headaches. But when you get on it, it goes!

 

Blue is getting ready for this trip below. We start Saturday from Houston into Moab - 1 week there, then 1 Week in Scottsdale, and back to H-Town. Let's hope all goes well. Will be testing the rig in some places! More to come.

 

Wave as you go through the Q.

 

Great build thread! Have a good trip and report back.

Just saw your body mount relocation. That’s commitment! Did you weld it up yourself? Was it hard getting a good angle when welding the top side?

Also, your Mickey Thompsons, are they load E? Curious because the load E’s have thicker side lugs, but I’ve never seen good pics of the SLs up close to see how those look in comparison.

 

Thank you. I started with Kraptor Lights and this is where I am 5 yrs later.
On the BMC, I did the initial cutting "under supervision " of my friend at the shop to get the commitment and buy-in, but no, I let the experts do the welds, I don't have the skills to make it look nice and this needs to be done right IMO.
On the tires, they are E load. I think I have close up picture. They are better for offroading for sure but a bit loud to my taste. I was running Faulken WP and those were pretty quiet but wore out a bit fast. Blue sees more HWY driving than city driving.

 

E load per picture. E4? whatever that means.

 

Big Blue departed Houston towards Moab today. First pit stop tonight at Albuquerque. Sad as usual but I got only 12.2 mpg today, yeap carrying too much crap . More gear at top so I am sure this didn’t help.
Decided to run this case at top


And probably 300 lbs worth of junk (my office and my wives office as well in the back) and just luggage plus some food.


The Dobinsons spring coils that i added last month seem ok, no squad at all, firm there in the back. The Maggie came thru for us today in certain places where it was allowed of course, we covered almost 900 miles with no issues. I just got to the camp ground...yes this is how I camp in the wild.


More to come this week!

 

So this is one of the reasons why I chose 456 gear ratio on Big Blue instead of 488s, and that is a much lower RPMs at higher speeds. For the record the speed limit here was 75mph and I was being careful here and using a separate phone. Also, the combination with the supercharger is best on the lower gear ratio than a higher one too. Truck is running 33s as of this picture.

 

Well gang, my vacation and trip to Utah and Arizona is coming to an end this friday and I have got to get my butt back to Houston and get back to real life (work!). There will be a couple of notes I'm going to be putting out here on this thread, all related to Big Blue and the Moab trip in particular. Some of you have seen already pictures in the scenic thread of some of the stuff I have done. I will use some of those here but will try to use good material related to Big Blue.

Blue got thru the following 5 trails:

• Fins and Things
• Hell's Revenge
• Sevenmile Rim
• Steel Bender
• Sand Flats Road

A total of 165 miles of offroading - it doesn't sound like much but I can say with confidence how reliable our 5th Gen is, it never complaint, it never gave me issues, every time I air up to get on the HWY she behaved extremely well like nothing happened at all. . I have gained another level of respect for this vehicle and its capability offroad. This unit is just impressive for a weekend warrior like me.

Lessons:

• Prepare and practice a lot before you come out here for the first time.
• Get a spotter or a decent local person to wheel with. Don't go alone in the trails if you can.
• If you don't feel safe doing an obstacle, just move on, it's ok. The idea is to have fun in the trail and not be stressed out.
• Have plan b, plan c, etc, if something goes wrong. I wanted to do Hells Gate badly and got thru it, even twice, so If I did it, you can do it too.
• Check your rig every day, before and after getting into the trails. Just be OCD about making sure everything is good and sound.
• Be safe and kind to people. Don't be a jerk out in the trail or on the road for that matter. - the 4R community is a nice group of folks - so keep it that way.

Camp Ground:


This is how I camp - at the closest marriott property. A toilet is very much needed! And a decent at the end of the day.

August might not be the best time to come to Moab, UT. It was 104 and 105 just about every day. I got in the vehicle one day and saw this and just couldn't believe it.


122F


The 4R did so well guys, the rig was super well behaved and no complaints - since this was my first time in Moab, I had to go and visit TrailMater and just have his phone ready, I told him that I hope I didn't have to call him. I didn't want to end up in YouTube and all the bullies here would probably have a ball messing with me.

 

Fins and Things:

This was the first trail - - it was like driving thru a giant roller-coaster park. The trail was a mixture of slickrock fins and sandy soil, it was well marked.


There was even a toilet in the trail . This is very much needed at my age! Fins and Things was a good way to get introduced to Moab.

Mistake 1: I forgot to disconnect the SwayBar. After all the damn work I did a year ago, I totally forgot. I think I get a bit into the motion of airing down and/or getting to the trail that I forget to use the tools.

 

Hells Revenge - the most popular trail in town. Challenging in a fun way and amanzingly scenic - . The views are just beautiful, so many wonders we have out there.



Blue has been behaving well, 4Lo throughout, ATRAC on, no issues.


The Colorado River there - so beautiful looking IMO.

Blue looking and getting ready for Hells Gate.

Hells Revenge a must do if you come to Moab! P.S. However, there was nobody around here on a tuesday. Of course I was the only coming out here at 104F.