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Just started buying parts for a minor engine “overhaul”. Super excited to finally get started on this. I’ve been planning it for a while now, doing a lot or research on parts, locations, and how to do different jobs properly. A lot of this stuff is pushing its limit of reliability and I road trip a lot so I need the peace of mind of the preventative maintenance. I’ll be doing: *Takes deep breath* MAF, IACV, plugs, injectors, fan, radiator, fan clutch, water pump, starter (solenoid is starting to stick), Thermostats, upstream O2 sensors, fuel pressure regulator, PCV, coolant temp sensor, knock sensor, valve cover gaskets, spark plug tube seals, cold air intake, and replacing worn vacuum hoses. Probably a few things I forgot but yeah that’s most of it. I’ve got a few things already on order but still saving for the rest. The other thing I’m looking at is having the timing chain replaced. Not sure if it’s worn or not but at 280K it must be right? Oh yeah and I’m going to try making a trailer with one of the axle kits they sell online. It’ll be nice to load it up with spare parts and camping gear for longer trips rather than clutter the cargo area of the truck itself

I promise you’ll do it 20 times better than I did lol. I don’t even bother making the wires look clean and tucked away. I figure I’m always messing with the electrical stuff and adding things so it’s easier to leave them in temp positions than to dig under panels every time I decide to move or add something.

New underbody camera is finally mounted. I went with a hard wire connection to fix the spotty connection issues the last one had, and so far so good. I’ve noticed that the front shaft spins with the wheels at all speeds so far, but I haven’t gone fast enough to get the 4wd error light or get rid of the vibration so I still don’t know what happens to the front shaft when that occurs. Time will tell, and I’ll update when I it happens. I ended up mounting it to the front of the crossmember that’s between the Tcase and tranny. I love the new spot because it lets me see the front wheels but also under the bumper for when I’m going over hills. And of course the underbody lights make it usable at night as well. My next goal is to shield it somehow so that it doesn’t get killed by road debris like the last one. I’m thinking super clear lexan, but it’s hard to figure out a way to mount the shield effectively or make any sort of box around it because there’s not much room where I put it

Added some retrofit headlights! These are a Toyota DIY H4 kit from bxbuilt.com B3 bi-LED projectors with V2 Flat shrouds. I added halos to the kit, and have them wired for DRL duty, but they’re also switchback compatible, so I have them wired to the turn signals, and they function perfectly as hazards and turn signals. Andrew, the owner of BX Built, was super helpful along the way and answered all my messages about the headlights. He’s very easily reached on his Instagram account @bx_built. If you hit him up about headlights, be sure to tell him Tyler / @thewhitepathfinder sent ya! You’ve probably also recently seen these exact headlights (minus the halos) on @herotrooper ‘s R50. He was the inspiration for this mod! More photos to come, as well as a YouTube video!

The Yakima River Valley, a nice start to our day trip.

Daytripping in the Cascade Foothills with@TowndawgR50

Sunday Drive up north mendocino count

A lot of people around here use the BFG brand of tires and that's a good choice if you don't have mud or deep snow. I need to get to the cottage so I went with the Goodyear Wrangler Territory (aggressive mud and snow tire). They are a bit loud on the highway when they are new but quiet down about 15% after they are broken in. They are great off road in the dirt, mud and snow but will understeer and plow if you turn full-lock and try to head in any direction other than straight ahead (tread design effect). Owned them for 2 years now and have many thousands of worry free miles on them. They do have a nice thick sidewall on them so I decided to remove my anti-sway bars since the ride was more harsh than I wanted. I did not really note much of a performance (sic) detriment to removing the anti-sway bars after installing those tires. The summer tires that I had were way too soft and allowed to truck to roll far too much to be comfortable without the anti-sway bars so I just sold them with the wheels and run the Goodyear tires all year.