100 Series Family Adventure Rig
- Thread starter Bretthn
- Start date
Bretthn
Explorer
A few maintenance items taken care of this week and heading to George Washington National Forest tonight with a couple friends.
Full brake service including front and rear Toyota rotors and pads. New e-brake shoes and brake fluid flushed. Amazing how nicely it stops now compared to the brakes that were previously on there.
While the brakes were being done I had the front wheel bearings serviced too.
Had the transmission flushed.
I started getting some pretty good valve cover gasket leaks and found that some of the bolts were could be turned with only fingers. I tightened them down just a bit because I think they only call for 7 foot pounds. I will replace the gaskets soon.
New DHP group 31M replaced under warranty. Been parked at the airport 3-4 weeks at a time, several times in the last few months... The group 65 is about toast too and still under warranty. I am looking at solar charging options.
3 new Bosch wiper blades too.
Hopefully will have some good pictures to post up on Sunday from GWNF.
Full brake service including front and rear Toyota rotors and pads. New e-brake shoes and brake fluid flushed. Amazing how nicely it stops now compared to the brakes that were previously on there.
While the brakes were being done I had the front wheel bearings serviced too.
Had the transmission flushed.
I started getting some pretty good valve cover gasket leaks and found that some of the bolts were could be turned with only fingers. I tightened them down just a bit because I think they only call for 7 foot pounds. I will replace the gaskets soon.
New DHP group 31M replaced under warranty. Been parked at the airport 3-4 weeks at a time, several times in the last few months... The group 65 is about toast too and still under warranty. I am looking at solar charging options.
3 new Bosch wiper blades too.
Hopefully will have some good pictures to post up on Sunday from GWNF.
Bretthn
Explorer
George Washington National Forest
Sitting in Thailand right now and thought I would post pictures from our trip to George Washington National Forest. Photo credit goes to my buddy Marten. I took a few with my cell phone but don't have them available to post at this time. Justin also brought along his GOPRO so hopefully he will get a video up sometime too.
We left late on a Friday evening. View of Pilot Mountain headed north out of Winston Salem.
We headed straight for what I think is the highest peak in the area the first night. Cant think of the name. Marten got some great shots and we got our first indication of just how cold the weekend was going to be.
The first night we set up camp in the dark and I realized that hammocks are not for camping in below 20 degree weather. I had my army sleeping bag system and was still cold. Marten and Justin slept in hiking tents.
You can see a bit of snow that we got overnight laying around Martens tent when we woke up the next day.
After breakfast Saturday we drove between 40 and 60 miles of gravel roads. Most were well maintained forest service roads but some places got a little muddy.
The picture doesn't do it justice but this is a nice long and steep climb. It gets a little tricky at the top and requires a spotter if you want to avoid rocker panel damage.
The sky at was clear and we could see for miles when we hit the peaks of each mountain and got clear of the trees. There was even some snow left on the shady sides of the mountains.
Saturday afternoon we set up camp early and cooked a good dinner. I will tell you, if you have not ever just thrown bacon on a stick and cooked it over an open fire, you are missing out. Its the only way I want my bacon from now on.
We packed up early Sunday morning and made the long 4 hour drive home.
It was a great trip. A little cold but still great. The next time this group gets together for a camping trip it will be in Sweden.
Thanks again Marten for letting me steal your pictures.
Sitting in Thailand right now and thought I would post pictures from our trip to George Washington National Forest. Photo credit goes to my buddy Marten. I took a few with my cell phone but don't have them available to post at this time. Justin also brought along his GOPRO so hopefully he will get a video up sometime too.
We left late on a Friday evening. View of Pilot Mountain headed north out of Winston Salem.
We headed straight for what I think is the highest peak in the area the first night. Cant think of the name. Marten got some great shots and we got our first indication of just how cold the weekend was going to be.
The first night we set up camp in the dark and I realized that hammocks are not for camping in below 20 degree weather. I had my army sleeping bag system and was still cold. Marten and Justin slept in hiking tents.
You can see a bit of snow that we got overnight laying around Martens tent when we woke up the next day.
After breakfast Saturday we drove between 40 and 60 miles of gravel roads. Most were well maintained forest service roads but some places got a little muddy.
The picture doesn't do it justice but this is a nice long and steep climb. It gets a little tricky at the top and requires a spotter if you want to avoid rocker panel damage.
The sky at was clear and we could see for miles when we hit the peaks of each mountain and got clear of the trees. There was even some snow left on the shady sides of the mountains.
Saturday afternoon we set up camp early and cooked a good dinner. I will tell you, if you have not ever just thrown bacon on a stick and cooked it over an open fire, you are missing out. Its the only way I want my bacon from now on.
We packed up early Sunday morning and made the long 4 hour drive home.
It was a great trip. A little cold but still great. The next time this group gets together for a camping trip it will be in Sweden.
Thanks again Marten for letting me steal your pictures.
Any idea of a part number on this? Is it Toyota part or?
The airbox that is.
Bretthn
Explorer
It's pretty cool. A little run down and may even be permanently closed. I would not make long trip just for it but there are a lot of other things to see in the area.
It is a factory Toyota part but I do not have the numbers. They are in a post on Ih8mud somewhere.
Bretthn
Explorer
I will trade you all my local destinations for yours.
All-Terrain
No Road Required
Bretthn
Explorer
Practice run
So my alternator completely crapped out on me this morning on the way to work. With a DC Power Engineering on the way in about two weeks I was hoping my current one would last. Since the Lexus is my only vehicle at the moment I was forced to change it out. I bought the cheapest one I could source locally and will slap it on Ebay or keep it as a spare after I get my new HO alternator.
Since I was a little annoyed with having to do a practice run of swapping out my alternator, I decided to do some tinkering that was a little more enjoyable. I had some LED strip lighting that a buddy gave to me so I wired it into the rear hatch where there is a lot of room for improvement. Of course I had to make a simple job difficult by routing the wiring through the factory wiring boot in the hatch. It is a tight fit but worth it in my mind. I will have to get some better double sided tape to hold them in place and I noticed two LEDs in the strip are burned out but overall it looks good and is functional.
So my alternator completely crapped out on me this morning on the way to work. With a DC Power Engineering on the way in about two weeks I was hoping my current one would last. Since the Lexus is my only vehicle at the moment I was forced to change it out. I bought the cheapest one I could source locally and will slap it on Ebay or keep it as a spare after I get my new HO alternator.
Since I was a little annoyed with having to do a practice run of swapping out my alternator, I decided to do some tinkering that was a little more enjoyable. I had some LED strip lighting that a buddy gave to me so I wired it into the rear hatch where there is a lot of room for improvement. Of course I had to make a simple job difficult by routing the wiring through the factory wiring boot in the hatch. It is a tight fit but worth it in my mind. I will have to get some better double sided tape to hold them in place and I noticed two LEDs in the strip are burned out but overall it looks good and is functional.
Yuman Desert Rat
Expedition Leader
Bummer. I have my spare alternator sitting in my garage.... I need to sell it, too....