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This thread is to share the adventures of my 2015 4Runner Trail Premium named Jane. Jane came into our lives two years ago when my then GF decided that she wanted an SUV. I had recently sold my 2000 LX470 and she didn’t feel her TL was up to dog duty any longer! I have owned a plethora of Toyota 4x4s in various degrees of modified, so I was naturally pushing her towards a GX or a 4Runner. She ended up finding a great deal on Jane, so that was that. To be honest, it was just a fluke that we ended up with a Trail. This vehicle was supposed to be doomed to grocery getter status as I had a built 4Runner already. After owning Jane for about a year, my now wife and I had a long discussion about our hobbies and goals. We decided that adventuring was a priority and Jane was ready for the challenge!
The first modification we did was a LabRak roof rack and a Freespirit Recreation Medium RTT. We decided on LabRak for the build quality and the lack of noise. I swear that this rack is quieter than the stock roof rack! LabRak gets a lot of bad publicity due to the cost, but I honestly believe it is worth every cent.
As for the tent, we decided on FSR for a couple reasons. First, they are located in Bend, Oregon, which is only a few hours from our home. Secondly, we liked the tent better than CVT. It is true that all the tents are made by the same manufacture, but FSR is just a better value than CVT. I have owned three CVT’s in the past and I would just rather give my money to someone else. FSR has bent over backwards for me and I would really urge people to consider them before CVT.
The next order of business was to get some constant power to the cargo area. Jane has the built-in inverter, but you need to have the engine running for it (or any power ports) to work. That wasn’t going to cut it with our fridge! I ended up removing the factory tool kit and installing an auxiliary fuse block. Then I installed a power port for the fridge, two USB ports, and a switched digital volt meter so I could check the voltage at the block.
Now it was time to start doing some small adventures to see what other modifications we wanted to do. I would strongly encourage anyone who is thinking of building a rig to use it before modifying! There were a few camping trips here and there, but our first big trip was taking our quads out to Hepner, Oregon, for a week to ride around and watch the eclipse!
Here is another pic from some winter exploring in the Clatsop State Forest.
It took about a year of multiple trips, but we finally had an idea on how we wanted the modifications to look. The first thing we wanted to do was lift Jane. To be honest, I didn’t mind the ride height, but the super soft stock springs and shock valving sucked! After weighing the options, I decided that the suspension was not a thing I wanted to skimp on. I decided on Icon Vehicle Dynamics stage 2 system and was lucky enough to find a lightly used version for a good deal. I pulled Jane in the garage and learned the frustration of lifting a KDSS equipped rig first hand.
The next order of business was tires. The stock Bridgestone street tires just were not cutting it! After some research I knew that I wanted a 285/70r17 tire. I have run Duratrac’s before and I really liked the tire but was a little concerned about the sidewall strength. I ended up finding them at Discount Tire for a good deal, so I pulled the trigger. I ended up getting E rated tires (hoping for a stronger sidewall) and I bought the warranty just in case.
And we were able to test them right away at my club’s annual Christmas Tree Run.
I couldn’t have been happier with the way Jane was performing. The suspension is just flat incredible! We knew that we needed to get Jane armored up, but the bank account needed to recoup. It was around that time that Mark at MetalTech asked if he could use Jane to test fit some new products. Mark and I have been personal friends for quite a while and we were happy to help him out. Well, one fitting turned into two, which turned into… If you don’t know how much work and effort is put into the R&D of new products to manufacture, let me tell you it rarely goes smoothly. There is a lot that goes into it. Bottom line was Mark and I made an agreement for him to use Jane exclusively for R&D and marketing instead of MetalTech buying a vehicle that they would need to sell in a year or two. It ended up being a win/win for both of us and the partnership works since we trust each other. Jane was dropped off and the transformation began. She got a MetalTech Fortress stage 3 front bumper with an Engo winch. The rear bumper is MetalTech’s new Valkyrie stage 3 swing out. MetalTech’s bumpers are a bit unique because they are a true one piece, no-cut system. We also got a set of MetalTech’s awesome sliders. I can’t say enough about MetalTech and their attention to detail. They truly make works of art and I would highly recommend them to anyone in the market for some armor.
And of course, we needed to try it out! We ended up heading to LaGrande, Oregon and navigating USFS roads all the way to Ukiah, Oregon. From there we headed to the Painted Hills. This gave us some feedback for MetalTech and got us out of town.
Part of the deal with MetalTech is they would use Jane for marketing. We decided that new wheels would be in order, mainly to complete the look, but also to widen the track a bit. We also wanted a matching spare for the tire carrier.
Shortly after the wheels were installed, Jane got to accompany MetalTech for a photo shoot out in Christmas Valley, Oregon. Unfortunately, my wife and I couldn’t join, but we got some great pictures out if the deal.
Thanks guys! I'm excited to share the adventures. @jakey_poo has probably seen it cruising around Forest Grove and Cornelius since it is my wife's daily.
I have another trip to post about, but I need to get off my butt and edit some photos...
Meanwhile, Jane was dropped off yesterday to MetalTech. She will be getting the updated rear bumper, which will be the production bumper, and her vinyl. Then she leaves on Friday with the MetalTech crew to Arizona for Overland Expo West! So she will be on display even before I get to see it "finished". LOL. Here is a link to more info on Overland Expo West, just in case you don't know what it is: https://www.overlandexpo.com/west/ I am excited to hear the feedback and see the pics.
I have definitely been slacking on the updates. My apologies. Jane got to hang out with the good folks at MetalTech4x4 a lot this summer. After Overland Expo West, she went to NWOverland in Washington, then FJ Summit in Colorado, and then to UT Expo in Utah... She was a busy girl! Unfortunately, neither my wife or I were able to join them.
However, my wife and I got news of the most unexpected adventure of all. After being told my wife couldn't get pregnant, our son Canaan Thomas is due in March! That means that Jane will be taking on more domestic adventuring for a little while. She still needs to spend some time at MetalTech's shop to dial in the rear bumper a bit more, but other than that not much is going to happen to her.
Wow, I really need to do a better job with this thread!
Jane was doing her duties as my wife's daily driver until March 13th. That is when she was upgraded from DD to baby hauler with our son, Canaan, join us finally.
The poor kid looks just like me:
In the months leading up to Canaan's arrival, my wife and I started having serious talks about how we are going to camp and recreate with a baby. Typically, we would be exploring about either on quads or in the truck and camping out of the RTT. That works amazing when it was my wife, myself, and our 10 year old daughter. We just couldn't see how we were going to make it work adding Canaan and a large dog... It was time for a trailer. So the quads and trailer went up for sale and we started shopping. After a ton of online searching and intense discussions, we went from an off-road trailer with a RTT, to an Air Opus Outback (super cool trailer!), to an off-road teardrop, back to the Opus, and settled on a travel trailer with an "off-road" package. LOL!
We ended up ordering a brand new Flagstaff E-Pro E19BH with the thought that it would serve as base camp and we will explore from there with day trips in Jane.
The features of this trailer are great and way beyond a typical travel trailer of this size. Even better is it was designed with a ton of features geared towards boondocking or dry-camping. They include 30 gallon tanks, dual propane tanks, 100w solar on the roof that is expandable, a built in inverter, torsion suspension, enclosed tanks, etc. So far I am continuously impressed with this trailer and I'm excited to use it to get out more with the family.
The first thing that I had to do was extend the stinger on my Andersen hitch so the power tongue jack will clear the swing-outs. Trust me, this was a last resort option, but it is working way better than I feared. I wouldn't recommend it, necessarily, but it does work. I still need to trim off the end but it is working for now.
We just got done with our shakedown trip. We wanted to go somewhere with full hook-ups so I could test all of the systems. The trailer pulls great, Jane handled it great, and everything but one window works as it is supposed to. I am a happy camper. (See what I did there?)
And it let us make family memories that otherwise wouldn't be possible.
04-30-2018 | 02:42 PM
