4runner Project Updates

0:00Music Welcome to Botches Off-Road Podcast. It's just Alex here. I'm just doing a quick, I don't know, 10, 15 minute, maybe episode. We've all been super busy, dude. Gavin's got some family stuff going on, so he's probably gonna be taking a step back from the podcast for a little while. While he gets that sorted out. Mark, we were supposed to record last night. He had an emergency call, had to go out and fix some fiber. He was out to like, I don't know, midnight. It just, man, life's getting in the way hard here, but wanted to give a little update on the forerunner project. So we will, there is a wrap coming of sorts, because last weekend we went out, we had, we did our annual third gen forerunner weekend. It was a fantastic time.

1:08It was the last time that the silver truck was going to be going on a trip and it showed, man, I had electrical systems quitting working all over the place. I overheated, like, you name it. It just, it was time for that truck to fucking die. I still love it. Things beautiful. I got some beautiful pictures as a last send off. I've got a video of it doing some obstacles. Like it was, it was great. But we'll get through all that when we do the wrap with everybody when we get to it. So first, I just kind of wanted to let you guys know where I'm at. So the frame is done. Mostly, still got a well down brackets to hold up that 150 fuel tank. I still got a well down the outboard shock relocation, but I'm not going to well down the shock relocation until I get the axle set. I haven't actually, I probably will do that. So the problem with the third gen forerunner is that our shock mount can collect mud and dirt.

2:13And there's almost no way to clean it because it's, excuse me, it's between the cab and body or the cab and frame, which makes it so it just becomes a pocket for stuff to collect in. In Michigan that causes rot, whereas if you don't put the shock in there, now it's got a natural drain hole where that shit can drain out of this is actually what brought it out my last third gen. And you couldn't see the rot until it was too far gone because it was covered in the spot. So I still have to do the outboard shock relocation stuff like that. I did get the sound deadening put inside of the body. Mostly I ran out of sound deadening when I got halfway pat or halfway across the front seat. So I still have firewall, front and passenger footwell and doors left to do everything else is sound dead and didn't finished.

3:18I might leave it at this point, see how bad it is and come back to it. But as of right now, I think that it's good enough. I also got the rear axle pulled out which once the rear axle came out, it really showed the rust. I'll put for chapter right here. I'll put the picture so you can see it. It's bad man. Like I don't know how I didn't die driving this thing. It's really freaking bad. Man, when I got no one else to bounce off if I say I'm a lot sorry listeners, I guess get used to it because that's a lot to edit out. I should be painting the rear axle today is the plan today into tomorrow.

4:21And then I'm hoping to get the front suspension pulled this weekend along with the front diff, the steering rack, the skid plate, the last of the stuff I need off that truck and then she'll just sit there and be a part struck. It does it will have a good automatic transmission that has only ever been overheated once but that was like 2000 miles ago and she's been fine. So if you're looking for a high mileage automatic, let me know I got one for cheap. We've got some other things to figure out inside the body yet like I'm adding that right now I've run my house batteries out of packouts but I want one permanent house battery. So I got to find where I'm going to stick that I think in the rear quarter panel on a four runner or third gen four runner. There's a pocket that Toyota made for holding like whatever whatever they put in there it's got a pocket there.

5:21And I think I'm going to tuck it back inside that pocket and then cut out the plastic so that it it'll hang out of the plastic just a little bit because it's a little thicker than that space. But that should give me a pretty solid spot to keep a battery. It also gives me somewhere to store or not store but house electric connections. And the plan with this truck everything pretty much everything is going to run off of a switch panel connected to this battery. So the fridge all accessory lighting the music player. All of that stuff will run off this battery and then the only stuff that will run off the truck battery will be obviously starting heating cooling. Turn signals that kind of stuff so what this gives me the ability to do is if I'm running lighting at camp for any reason area lighting anything it'll kill my house battery not my truck battery. And then I can hook up a solar panel or start the truck or do whatever I have to do to charge it.

6:27So that should be pretty helpful now what that does mean is I've got to run a for gauge wire front to back which I have on the current truck but I do not plan on reusing any of that. I'm starting fresh with this build it costs more to start fresh but man does it look nicer and work better when you do. I that and the other truck was beat man I'll include a bunch of pictures in here it was frickin beat but I I was mean to it so what do you expect. See what else did I get done. I just got a bunch of stuff come in really. Yeah the frame absolutely drop dig gorgeous couldn't ask for a better frame the camping weekend better than you I ever could have asked for great send off for the truck. And I honestly think that I'll have this thing at least operable maybe not interior installed but at least put together and drivable by like early December by I'm plugging right along man I need to.

7:36Maybe I'll try some airplane stripper I got to get all the paint off the front control arms because they're flaking and there's like four different colors that are showing so I need to get those all cleaned up and then I'll just like everything else a layer of rust converter couple layers attractor and amel. And I'm the whole trucks getting that I had to change all my himes on the back because they were all seized both the bolt going through them was seized to the high and then the high was seized in its location so the rear axle was only really pivoting it wasn't really. I don't know how it was working maybe under enough load it was causing the himes to move but they were really really seized so I need to then I just replace those before winter time I'm going to have to come up with something I can spray on them or put on them during winter to keep them from getting salt in them.

8:36Because I think that is the major problem they're kind of right in line for salt to collect so it would make sense and I'm kind of worried about the himes on the front the front tyrods the univall seem to still move but I do need to replace them. There's just a lot man it's basically going through using the used stuff from the old truck is kind of a bearer because there's a lot that's just I mean Michigan did Michigan stuff and now they're tight and seized and I yeah it's just a lot there's a lot I'm sitting here looking at pictures to kind of think of stuff to say and I just keep seeing these rust holes and I'm like good Lord dude how did I survive that. And to be fair we took the truck apart two years ago and rebuild some of the frame horns in the back and none of this was rotted at that time so this is all new rot within the last two years I'd say even within the last year because last year we put new springs in the back and it wasn't like this so this this is all new stuff that's happened since last July.

9:55And it's just it's crazy man it happened fast and a lot of it just comes down to stuff water could collect there or mud could collect there so I'm the new the new frame I'm going through and just all these spots are stuff can collect I'm putting drain holes I've already added. 4 or 5 drain holes to the frame that aren't from the factory but it just it needs a man I lived somewhere where we use salt to take care of the road salt causes water so now you've got a water or a salty brine that is spraying the underside of your truck the entire time you're driving so it does also help that now that I have the power stroke the for runner won't be driven daily as much. You know I drive from sometimes from the farm to town on my wife's at work but nine times out of 10 I don't go anywhere when she's at work because I work where I live so there's no point I just can't wait man I like I'm sure it gets old here me talk about this thing but this for runners going to be sick and it is going to be.

11:06At this rate probably one of the nice the cleanest third ginseng Michigan just well put together everything that needs done is done you know it's rush protected out the guy like I'm not only in my rest protecting it as I build it when I'm done I'm getting it wall waxed or some type of treatment on top of that to keep it from rusting because this is not something I ever want to deal with again. You know the this for our building now this is one I want my kids to be able to drive I want them to learn manual on this and I don't have any kids so it at least has to make it 19 years. Yeah it's it's project man I'll I'll put a bunch of pictures kind of like a slideshow every couple minutes I'll do a new picture on artwork so you guys can see chapter arts for it. Also go to our website botches off road calm I just got the store setup and you should be able to order stuff yeah go try it will see what happens I don't know I don't know if you work yet so.

12:17Yeah guys that's it for me I will catch you guys later. you