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

family dump run full to the top

 

Small addition to the Runner today. Billet Agency6 handles on the roof rack.

 

I used my 5th Gen as a tool-runner and a taxi today.

Friend called me from a grocery store nearby — his GMC Canyon had dumped most of its oil, thanks to an incorrectly-sized O-ring on his new (yesterday) oil filter. He managed to get it parked before damage. A trip to the parts store nearby (oil, new filter (again), 24mm socket I didn’t already have), plus a few minutes under the hood and a short fight with a milk crate (bad thing to use as a stepladder), and he’s on the road again.

Made a trip to the touchless car wash afterwards. It didn’t do a good job. I’ll be doing some scrubbing tomorrow, if the weather holds.

 

Yesterday I cannibalized the sleeping platform I made for a different vehicle to make it fit the 4R. Nothing fancy. Plywood, a 2x6, spray glue, staple gun, black automotive carpet I had laying around from a previous project, and some black spray paint.

 

The jaws will pierce the wires insulation, so best to wrap them with something to protect the wire.

 

Percased my new head unit and sound mat today,
Pioneer DMH 3050 NEX
it's the same unit that I did in my buick, but with idata link

 

Blue Loktite on the Wolfbox TriPro mirror bolts because they shook themselves loose somehow and replaced the whimper wipers with a set from 4Runner Lifestyle. Pretty nice wiper blades. We’ll see how long they last. The old ones I took off were burnt toast.

 

Nice rack!!!! Which one is it?

 

Thank you. It’s the Westcott designs low profile roof rack with 42” cutout for the BD light bar.

https://westcottdesigns.net/product/2010-2024-toyota-4runner-5th-gen-lo-pro-roof-rack/?_gl=1*1xkxnhb*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTk3NjY1NjU1MC4xNzcyMzg2NTE0*_ga_GFEEBPBX3G*czE3NzIzODY1MTMkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzIzODY1MTMkajYwJGwwJGgw

 

Good on you to take the time to help a friend in their time of need. I've got a scar on my shin from a milk crate incident.
And a new tool is always a good thing. Sir.


Edit.
Yesterday I helped my neighbor remove his second gen P/U topper so he could load a home made rack that supports the rear tires of his RZR. They'll be off on another Moho adventure this week.
And I'm changing out a set of old tires/wheels for the Lady across the street today.
New wheels/tires for her '79 Trans Am, the kind with the screaming chicken on the hood. Her Mom was a huge fan of Burt Reynolds and has an autographed pic of him standing next to her car.

 

Always!

 

used 4r to buy birthday balloon and party supplies for my oldest son.
his Taekwondo gym is hosting his Sonic The Hedgehog party, including a sonic piñata

 

Drove the SR5P to church and drove home in ice/snow mix. Got home.....sat down.....heard some rattling in the cabinets.....looked at the wife as she looked at me.....confirmed we had a 4.1 earthquake evidently zeroed in 20 miles west of us about an hour ago.

 

Put Photon to work helping a friend clear some downed trees.

 

Exersice the 4WD on the 2011 4Runner

 

Heat shrink

 

File them down

 

Two layers of shrink tube over the serrated jaws works just fine.

 

Figured out how to shift into 4L today too. That U hook motion fried my brain for a few minutes.

 

That little dancing banana is how I felt when I discovered my ORP had a heated steering wheel.

 

for those future readers, soldering has come a long way and for a project like inline speaker crossovers or most any other low voltage application found in the 4Runner; many companies make low skill "solder connectors".

Heat shrink solder butt connector test.
https://www.reddit.com/r/CarAV/comments/ufg7yy/i_love_how_tidy_and_effective_the_solder_shrink/

some examples:
https://www.wiringdepot.com/store/c/162-Heat-Shrink-Crimp-Solder-Seal-Terminals.aspx
Many more generics like these:

$8 YNZDRWA 200PCS Solder Seal Wire Connectors Kit, Upgraded Heat Shrink Butt Wire Connectors, Waterproof Electrical Butt Splice Wire Terminals for Marine Automotive Trailer RV Boat Truck Wiring

https://www.amazon.com/YNZDRWA-Connectors-Waterproof-Electrical-Automotive/dp/B0D4M49PBM/

yes the soldering iron and a roll of solder has its place... but there are easier / quicker / more reliable ways now.

 

Wow. Had I known about these, I'd have delayed this project until getting some. It would have saved me a couple of hours and a sh*tload of frustration with my one-handed, old-school soldering iron approach. Part of the frustration was once I got everything connected, finally, and started soldering, it took so long to heat up the connection to melt the solder that the wiring would get hot, even away from the splice and start to shrink the shrink wrap I needed to slide over the connection later. These would have been a welcome substitute. I'm (almost) tempted to undo my connections and redo them with these.

 

Biggest mistake people who don't do a lot of soldering is NOT tinning the wire prior to making solder connection.
Not a fan of those heat shrink W/solder butt splices either. JMHO

 

Finally got a chance to test out the Dometic I got a smoking deal on during black friday.




Right now I have it plugged in to my EcoFlow Delta 2 which is getting fed 12V power while the rig is running. I'll have to install an AC/DC converter soon so it can charge properly, but this method worked for what I had planned this weekend.



Fridge worked great to keep my daughter's formula and a couple of cheese cakes cold while we went to a car show! Later in the day we planned to head over to my parents place and have dinner. Having the fridge in the rig is 10x easier than dealing with bags of ice and risking soggy cheese cakes! (No way the wife would ever forgive such a blunder)

Here's the rig parked up near the Gas Monkey Car Show. (Installed the Gobi ladder the night before as well)



Had a great time at the car show. My daughter is still too young (4 months now) to know what the hell was going on here! But the wife and I had a fun seeing all these classic cars! Some of which were highly modified...









And some were beautifully restored to factory condition











Pretty awesome to take the wife and show her a bit of the car culture I grew up with. Thanks to Gas Monkey for putting on the show and thanks to the people who brought their cars out and participated. It was a great time!

 

^^^ That Boss 429 is bad to the bone. I sure do wish I had never sold my 1970 fastback that I had basically turned into a Mach1. Youth....enough said.

 

Well, I’ve done very little to my ‘24. However, I did give it a nice wash.

 

Apparently Aaron Shelby agreed since he autographed the radiator. Pretty badass that Carroll Shelby's grandson autographed the thing.

*At first I thought it was Ian Shelby and didn't know who the hell that was. But that's Aaron's signature according to some light research*

 

I put a pioneer dmh26606NEX in my 4runner last year. out of everything I have modded on my 4runner that just might be my favorite. having waze, qobuz and onX on a touchscreen has been a game changer.

 

Cornfed leveling spacers installed. And alignment. Dark when I picked it up so it’ll have to wait to show a photo.

 

My entire system is going to pioneer, I know some haters are going to gag, but I have never had any issues with Pioneer.