Flightless Kiwis - Alaska to Argentina ... at some point.

[Flightless Kiwis]

Like most things its taken some time to get round to starting this thread. We began our adventure in Alaska in May 2014 after stopping in at Overland Expo, Flagstaff.



We flew into Anchorage, Alaska with just our packs and the only forward planning we had done was to organise 10 days of accommodation. The lack of planning was almost our undoing as finding a vehicle was proving difficult, that was until the ideal vehicle fell into our laps.



Once we had our four wheeled ticket to freedom (2001 Toyota 4Runner) we were set, we had transport and a place to sleep. From there we built out the 4runner as best we could on the side of the road with limited tools and headed North to Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay. After that it was south all the way to the bottom ... well, after going North again to Inuvik, Canada but then its south, at least until we head North again.

You can see what we did on our upgrades page of our blog, it covers the sleeping platform we built, our second battery and fridge, roof top tent, suspension etc.



We also have a bunch of posts on gear, resources, and posts on the journey so far.

 

[Flightless Kiwis]

Out with the new in with the old!

While heading back north towards Oaxaca we had a slight brake related issue. After a couple of days of intermittent alarms and dash lights the brake booster gave up all together. Fortunately this was on the way to Overland Oasis, Oaxaca. Unfortunately for us we chose a 4runner with the most complicated and expensive brake, ABS, traction control system, and off course it was all integrated in one large part.


Toyota quoted $48703MXN to fix the problem, and by fix I mean replace the entire unit.

So, with the help of Calvin from Overland Oasis we swapped out this monstrosity for something a little more traditional.


The new/old brake setup

The only drawback is now no ABS or traction control etc. However considering the price difference to replace the unit with a normal brake booster and master cylinder was so huge ( $48703MXN vs. $3500MXN ) we think we did the right thing. We will just have to drive even slower.

 

[johnnytravels]

That is really cool. I love seeing the work people put into their vehicles in preparation for a long trip. I'll definitely check out your blog for more details.

 

[Flightless Kiwis]

Some reassembly required ?!

Now the brakes are sorted out the next project is to reattach the rear suspension mounting plate. It seems at some point, some damage was done to this part of the chassis and has slowly gotten increasingly worse over time. The only reason I found this was because the brakes failed and I was checking the wheel speed sensors for damage. I didn't accurately measure but from using the eye-o-meter most of what was supposed to be attached no longer was.

View attachment 293494
Suspension top plate where it should be welded to the chassis.

View attachment 293495
Peaking between the body and chassis. This tear is toward the back of the plate.

View attachment 293496
Same tear as above but from below. Scuff mark is from the spring bouncing out of where it should be.

I don't have a good picture but the line of weld along the front edge of this plate had also come away.

However, once again, with the help of Calvin from Overland Oasis, Oaxaca we managed to get in, realign, and weld the plate back in place.




Everything back where it should be

I guess the lesson here is even if everything seems all good inspecting underneath your rig every now and then is probably a very good idea ... mostly because I also noticed the front sway bar bushing need to be replaced and there is visible movement in the rack and pinion bushings, probably could have left it but since I will have the tools out...

 

[photo_i]

We are following you on FB, guys. Happy trails!