Leaderboard

I'm not normally a fan of painting headlights, but IMO that look suits it. Breaks up some of that chromed plastic where it's not doing anything. Not sure about the grille. I replaced the emblem on mine with a rubber rat's head, though, so maybe I'm not the guy to talk to about tasteful grille mods.

I can finally report that the power valve screws are done turns out none of them were missing or loose, but I locktited them anyway to be safe. Even though the job seemed like a waste of 4 hours, at least now I have peace of mind. Going to be taking a long road trip soon, so I’m glad I know for sure that they won’t be falling out when I had it running in the garage to confirm that I put everything back together properly, I noticed a faint squealing and it turned out to be an idler pulley not putting enough tension on one of the serpentine belts, so I tightened it up and the squeaking stopped. Very happy I caught it before it shredded a belt because that same thing happened a few months back on the other belt

Its been a little while since my last update. Just got the warn manual hubs in the mail today, so I'm looking forward to installing them. I'm planning to tackle the power valve screws at the same time. I've been busy this past week with thanksgiving travelling so I haven't had a chance yet. On tuesday I finished doing the injectors and valve cover gaskets on my girlfriends 4runner. I'm still not done though, I found a crack in the passenger side cover so I'm going to replace it as soon as the part comes in. The damn thing is also starting to hesitate when you give it more than a light suggestion of throttle as you're starting off from a stop light, so I also have to look into that. Maybe TPS, but I'm not sure what could have changed since I never messed with it during the disassembly or reassembly. Anyway, Ill stop there so I dont get bashed for talking toyota lol On the pathy I installed a hitch mounted shackle which has already seen some use pulling people out of the snow. I picked up a smittybuilt trail jack (HiLift) and mounted it to the front brushguard in a spot thats not really noticeable but also keeps it easily accessible, rather than having to take it off the roof and fumble around risking damage. I also put on a set of rear facing light pods and I have a set of rock lights that I'll be installing along the running boards in the near future. To keep the dash clean, I've been wiring everything to a single switch panel mounted just forward of the dome lights (where the sunglasses holder used to be). So far, the main light bar, undercarriage camera monitor, and rear facing lights are all wired up, and once the rock lights go on, I can finish the job by closing off some open space that is leaving the wires exposed because the switch panel doesn't cover the entire hole. There's a fifth switch thats separate from the others and I've been brainstorming ideas on what to do with it. Yes I could just get some yellow fogs and mount those to the brush guard down low, but what fun is that?? Its also got a push button "ignition" style switch next to it, so my mind immediately jumps to having some sort of crazy contraption wired up to a two stage system where you have to first toggle the switch to arm and then push the button to activate. I have no idea what contraption would be cool enough to warrant a system like that, but I don't think surface to air missiles are a legal vehicle customization, so I'll have to skip that one.......for now. I ordered a wavian 5 gallon jerry can yesterday and was playing around with the idea of mounting it to an aluminum plate, and then attaching the assembly to the truck with some sort of hinged mechanism where the spare tire usually goes (underneath the truck). I'll be getting a full sized spare soon and likely a swinging carrier to mount it on, so the space would be unused. Maybe the switches could be wired to a door solenoid that catches the edge plate and holds it, and when its activated the solenoid could release the gate and allow access to the jerry can? I'd have to measure how much room there is in the spare tire well of course, and then find a solenoid with a strong bolt that is normally extended rather than retracted so that turning the truck off doesnt dump the jerry can. But I think it would be possible. The main thing I'm trying to avoid is having a big ugly gas can sticking straight up on the roof. Oh yeah and I've also got an NPORA sticker coming in the mail next week, so thats pretty sweet. The rig is starting to come together now, and its really exciting. My girl is getting mad that I cant stop staring at it through the window whenever we go out to eat haha. Thanks a lot guys, I blame all of you for this obsession

Very common trick, works well. Having done the screws myself, definitely recommend the cardboard and taking some pictures. Also a torque wrench and the torque specs from an FSM.

One smart trick was a guy who pushed each bolt into a cardboard template to keep track of what went where

of course the engine would be inside the car lol but great display of how it works. the work needed to be done ends at 14 mins, very easy if you just slow down and keep track. also at 18:26 in the video, you’re staring directly at the power valve screws, there is 2 for each gold power valve. @raingoat this would help when trying to explain the procedure!