Today I mostly rested. I’m still feeling pretty haggard from my crash. I did make some time to tidy up the garage and the ugly rust on the frame, etc. Pics of that tomorrow. I also cleaned up the original reinforcement backing plate pieces and trimmed the backing plates to fit over the knuckles. Gotta pick up some calipers to proceed.
So I knocked off all of the rust scale then applied this stuff a couple times to neutralize the rust.
A little chassis black and it’s looking a lot cleaner under here now.
I learned about this brake upgrade as the “GX460 brake upgrade”. I knew the 5th gen T4R has the same platform but for some reason assumed that the brakes were better on the GX. They aren’t, it’s the same exact stuff. If I was smart I would have researched this sooner and bought my backing plates through Toyota instead of Lexus and that would have saved me $15-20 each, it’s the same part number. The good news is that calipers and rotors are much easier to find (and at a lower price) when you’re searching for Toyota parts vs Lexus. I’ve also found the slotted (not drilled) rotors through Stoptech.
Picked my refurbished knuckles back from the machine shop yesterday with new genuine Toyota bearings, seals, etc.
I also re-booted and greased my axles. I bought some inexpensive clamp pliers from Napa, they bent on the very first try.
I bent them back, gave it another go and that little bent piece eventually broke off. So yeah, don’t buy this garbage.
So I rang up a motorcycle tech buddy of mine, went over to his shop and I installed the clamps properly.
I just got the drivers side reassembled other than the brakes, sway bar and one cotter pin.
I should have the calipers back next week, hopefully driving by next weekend.
The Sequoia drives great, brakes are awesome. And finally, something forum worthy.
This isn’t exactly the look I was going for, and it’s a long, dull story as to how we got there, but I don’t mind it. The wheels are a little blingy for my tastes and bigger than I expected them to look. And the tires are far more tame than originally planned. But I can deal with it considering the price I got them for. And I think they work with the paint well enough.
Saturday morning a buddy of mine and I are taking the Sequoia and heading back to our hometown in Arizona. Spending most of our time camping and exploring around the Utah/Arizona border. I’m really looking forward to it now that the weather in Seattle is changing. I’m not ready for summer to be over!
One last public service announcement, change your heater T’s!
Looks great! I really like the height of yours, looks like you're still using stock UCAs? I'm planning on doing a mild lift and was on the fence about doing UCAs right away.
Never been to the salt flats but it's definitely on the bucket list.
Yup, I went super simple and basic with 5100’s on the third notch. All stock otherwise. I really like how the 32’s fit up front. It doesn’t look right with the third row in and a full tank of fuel though, a hair nose high. My buddy just gave me a pair of old rear springs from his 80 to try out, hoping for an inch or less of rear lift.
It was a chilly night camping in the Wasatch National Forest.
Wednesday my main goal was to make it to Goosenecks State Park for camp. Everything else was a bonus. Utah state highway 95 turned out to be a huge surprise, massive scenery around every corner, just spectacular. Highly recommended!
We stopped at Natural Bridges National Monument for a few hours, did some hikes and really enjoyed the peace and lack of people there.
Onward through the Moki Dugway. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much of the earth in one moment of my entire life. It just seemed to go on forever.
This was at the edge of our campsite at Goosenecks. One thousand feet down to the San Juan River.
On the horizon we could see the edge of Monument Valley.
Amazing place to see, unfortunately a horrible place to camp. I don’t know if it was because a cold front was moving in or just the topography of the place but the wind was pretty horrible all night long.
Some clouds moved in and made for a beautiful sunrise though, we took a few pics and got the hell out of there ASAP
.
After MV the plan was to see Antelope Canyon... I was aware that a guide was needed but I wasn’t aware that there is an upper, lower and “X” canyon options along with too many different guides and prices to choose from ($40-$80 per person). It felt like a tourist trap, I wasn’t feeling it, so we bailed. I thought Horseshoe Bend would be better, boy was I wrong. It was only $10 but the crowds were absolutely suffocating. Took a couple quick pics and left.
Originally I planned to head to the North Rim after this but the weather looked a little too chilly for my gear. After dealing with throngs of people I was ready to make it to my destination, so we just motored south through Sedona and to our hometown of Prescott.
In about a week I’ll be heading back to Seattle. Not sure yet what my route will be but I’m thinking California...
