Dparo's 2007 Adventure Build (1 Viewer)

[Dparo]

I've always figured nobody would really be interested in my builds because they are not as impressive as many others and I am pretty reserved by nature, but it wouldn't really be fair not to point out the positive contributions that others have done for me and also recognize the valued input from even more people. So this build is pretty much done but along the way I had many issues pop up and figured it would be a good way to condense everything into one thread. I'm going to reserve a few posts as I can't do this all at once, and I'll try to toggle the brain cells a bit to get it all out. I'll also be posting some obligatory dog pictures along the way.

The adventure title is a bit generic, I'm not an overlander, I just like to explore places I haven't been to. Ghost towns are something I really like to visit. I don't like heights so I don't like shelf roads but I made it through a few spots that were a bit unnerving. I am not a content creator so unfortunately there are probably many things I did not document but I will try to paint a mental picture at a minimum. I will edit the posts as I find more pictures and fit them in accordingly. I'm pulling pics off of three phones, two computers, and an old iPad that isn't working right.

Originally I was a Jeep guy, had three TJ's and two were 06 Rubicons. Decided to pursue a Tacoma build but the dealership wouldn't work to source a 5 VIN code so I gave up on that. Went after an 80 but after seeing what there was in the midwest eventually got into a 2001. Sold that to get into a mint 07 from Florida and that's where this started. I'll do my best to keep the timeline in the appropriate order but multiple phones may have mixed up some pictures.


The day it was bought...

Current form...

 

[Dparo]

So this was bought in March of 2017 and with 105k miles on it.

Flew down to Jacksonville and drove it home to Indiana. It was apparent that it needed new TPMS sensors after about 500 miles. No big deal, already had a set of Stealth SCS-SR8's sitting in the boxes ready to go that were going to go on the 2001. So for a few months black electrical tape did the trick...

I drove it stock for quite some time, did some baselining, headed to Banff in late 2017 for our Honeymoon, trekked the central Idaho mountains on the way home, then ordered up some Cooper ST MAXX tires in the spring and headed to Discount Tire.

On the drive home the vibe issues were obvious...



I guess they looked ok.

Well that mess can be seen here.

My experience with SCS SR8

So as some of you have asked I had some issues with the SCS SR8 wheels for my 2007 Land Cruiser. Truthfully I hesitated to make this thread because I didn’t want to be perceived as trying to stoke up people in my defense. I do not care about that at this point. I will not ever install one of...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Dparo]

SCS wouldn't make things right, so I dumped them for less than half of what I paid and ordered some Methods. Also near this time I decided to get the full Trekboxx system and drove to California for the install. It was a little side trip as we went to Yosemite for a 30 mile four day hike. On the way hit up the salt flats. This point I was a little sticker crazy.

At some point leading up to this trip I knew the Trekkboxx would make doing work behind the 2nd row of seats a bit more difficult so in preparation for that I removed the 3rd row seats and carpets and Dynamatted the entire rear. I also ran a separate fuse box for the new electronics that would be back there, mainly for USB charging ports, some lighting, and a future 12v fridge. Regrettably I can not find any pictures on that right now but I will add them if I come across them.
Also had removed the factory roof rack in preparation for the new one.

And the Trekboxx…

On the way home I went to Equipt for my roof rack and then to Slee for the Icon 2.5 suspension and Blueberry front bumper.

New factory headlights with 9011/9012 mod and new grille from @kelly saad

It is worth noting that I usually do most of my own work, mainly because it forces you to learn your vehicle, and secondly because I like doing it. At this point I believe only a few places have done work on it since I owned it and not enough good things can be said about them as far as I am concerned. David at Trekboxx was great to work with and still answers my questions when I need and I am planning another two builds on my other Cruisers so I'm sure we will do business again. Paul at Equipt installed my roof rack himself and was also very welcoming to his shop. This trip concluded with the stop at Slee and I dealt with Amory who also answered a bunch of questions and worked through some hiccups along with Ben to get the Icon suspension there on time for my trip. I've been to all of these places again since then which I will talk about but I wanted to say thanks for the customer support up to this point.

 

[Dparo]

Being that this is a dedicated use vehicle and not a daily it doesn't get a lot of miles put on it so over the next few months I started to get it ready for the next trip, and really the first trip for it to do what it is meant to do. We planned on doing the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail during the summer of 2019 and so I had a few more things that I wanted to get done, the rear bumper was now the main priority.

Originally I was going with the Slee rear but then saw that either the 80 or 200 was getting the revised one so I decided to wait for the revised 100. Well, that appeared to have been put on hold so as much as I wanted to stay with Slee I absolutely despise those latches that are/were used on the older version and present 100 version. Call it personal preference from the Jeep days when those were used on some in that world, I didn't like them then either. Had an A to Z on my last TJ build.

So I needed a bumper and fast. Somehow I came across someone on here selling their Dissent spot and they were due next for shipment. I secured that spot and picked up the pallet a week or so later. I had a little trouble finding a place to powdercoat it but did find one and got it dropped off, the trip was two weeks away and they said it would be done in time.

While this was just happening I had been acquiring the parts to remove the Navigation system and make it a Toyota non-NAV spec vehicle. That main thread is here.

post 2003 nav delete how to.

Nov 1, 2023 update PSA for the current assemblies flooding the USA from facebook. narness set is 220+ shipping. Anyone with the pigtails and the connectors that come with your FB assemblies has an easy task of hardwiring it with the PDF non nav workbook posted. I will continue to make...

forum.ih8mud.com

I never really cared for the BT grom style system so it had been also on the to-do list for a little while.

@jerryb not only created the thread but made the harnesses to make this come together much easier than it would have been.

I was somewhere in the middle of the NAV swap when I decided "when in there" it needed more.

The previous owner wasn't too good at not spilling everything apparently, found a lot of coffee stains, a few meals, and about a dozen of those wrist bands that were a thing when Lance Armstrong was legit.
I ended up removing the associated NAV parts and did a complete audio system swap "while in there". Thanks to @suprarx7nut for some recommendations on speakers. I went with a Morel component in the front doors, Audiofrogs in the rear doors, a Audio Control LC-6.1200, a JL Audio 10" and a Kenwood Excelon DNX995S. All wiring was also replaced.

First time powering it up and I missed something...but the HVAC works!

Ah, a wire had popped loose and was a slight nightmare to get restored but it is gtg.

 

[Dparo]

Some additional changes were to find the full size tub for when there is no CD changer *pic not mine* but similar concept.

One nice thing I added was a USB line that runs to the brain of my HAM radio so I can plug in my laptop here to program the HAM which is installed under the passenger seat.

Got the audio system back together and started to get prepped for the bumper install when it got done at powdercoat...

 

[Dparo]

Powdercoat place calls and they are done, drive 45 minutes to pick it up and plan on working late to install, leaving in exactly a week.

Get home and find this...



Almost all of it was like this and I didn't know it because they had everything boxed up ready to go. So the next day after work I had to drive back to drop it off so that they could redo it. Bigger problem is now they didn't have enough material to shoot so I had to overnight them some material. They called me the following Tuesday to say it was done. I drive down that night and see about ten pieces have massive amounts of bubbles and I was not happy. I told them I was supposed to leave in two days and this is what they are able to give me!!?? He says they will redo it and have it the next night. Obviously they failed. I called and told them to box it up, he insisted on baking off the now twice failed material (probably didn't want the evidence of shoddy work out there) and I said I'd be back to following night to pick it up. I pulled up and he was still blasting the parts but I waited and we loaded up everything. I stopped at the hardware store on the way home and bought six cans of krylon. Sprayed everything that night and installed everything the next day and left for the trip Friday afternoon, only a day late.

Ended up not getting the right swingarm on but everything else was done so off we went.

 

[Dparo]

So we crossed into Wisconsin some time mid afternoon and started out on the trail, err well this portion was mostly roads. Found a place for camp on night 1 about 830pm and decided that was enough for one day.

Can you see the issue? We were at site 56.

Now? Hmmmn.

A nice night, had to get some dinner in before bed.

The blue lights that I put in the rear hatch ended up being more purple and one died on this trip so I have since changed them to red for night use. See that brown horizontal line to the left of my hatch between the spare? That is train tracks. Trains use these tracks ALL NIGHT LONG. In fact I counted three trains between midnight and 1am, and all of them are happy to let you know by testing their horns 50 yards away. And guess what else, we had an absolute torrential downpour that night, and guess who didn't have the rainfly on the 6-man Coleman tent? THIS GUY. And guess who owned the two *not yet four month old Rottweilers* that ran circles in the tent all night long and licked the walls of the tent from the condensation ALL NIGHT LONG? Yep, THIS GUY again. BTW the trains kept going by so we had a symphony of tent licking with horns and thunder. My wife didn't like that music for some reason.

At around 5am I decided to throw in the towel and had her get inside the Cruiser with the dogs while I packed everything up during the thunderstorm. I didn't even hurry as I couldn't get any wetter. We ended up driving to the next town to try to get something to eat but they didn't have power. Kept going but the road was closed. That's a County worker checking things out.

Detoured around...at least someone was able to get some sleep.

Most of that day was uneventful, and so was the next except for a downed tree that was a bit too big.

We ended up not camping the next night but instead staying at a retired work colleagues home when he moved there. It gave the wife a nice reset and it was nice to get out of the rain.

Got back on the trail the next day and hit the much talked about Delta Diner.

I don't know if it is being away from decent eating for a few days that people crave this place or what but after getting through their minimum wage speech I found it very average at best.

Someone was watching us...

Don't worry, he's fine, the AC was running. He is still alive.

One thing actually worth noting is DD had a note either on the FB page or their website that their hours can change without notice, well we were actually there the day before during their old hours from two days prior but under the new hours they were closed. Triple check that before you lose a cell signal.

 

[Dparo]

We stayed at Wanoka Lake Campground that night, I liked that place. We let the dogs go swimming even though the water was off. Well I think we actually lucked out with that one, a week later I read about blue-green algae in Wisconsin killing some dogs. Gotta be careful.

Another thing those popular spare tire bags of the name I can't recall do not handle weight well. That is from a single $5 bunch of firewood. Trasharoo, that's it.

Maybe the rain weakened it. It has since been replaced by a Northbound GARB. It is built much better.

GARB 1 | NB Expeditions - https://www.nbexpeditions.com/product-page/garb-1

A few more pics, the northern portion is definitely nicer when you get into the forests.

Got really far up north, almost to the Lake and boom!

After the end there is a water well on the Lake that cars were lined up to fill up, it was some high quality H2O.

We decided get on the ferry and go to Madeline Island for the day/night.

Yeah, my plates are visible, big deal. My full name is on here too.

We got home and bought a camper. No more rain. A/C! Well, knowing what I do now I should have bought a Patriot or something similar.

 

[Dparo]

A couple weeks later got it down to the Kentucky Toyota Trail Ride and ran in the medium group iirc. I could be wrong on that. Mountain Springs Road on the Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway was interesting.

Off-road | Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway

The Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway is a collection of off-road trails in Eastern Kentucky.

www.ridethedbbb.org

A few pics from that.

This was my first organized event with the 100 and definitely made me think of a couple of changes...The KYTLCA puts on the event and is a great group of people, I'm a member but I live in Indiana and made the six hour drive a couple of times now. It's a fun time and I wish I could go more.

 

[Dparo]

Dogs were still small so the camper made sense, we knew it wasn't a towable offroad type but it was towable with the 100 and had some comforts, like a real bed. We headed down to Land Between the Lakes and spent a long weekend there. I don't have too many pictures of that but I'll see if the wife still does.

 

[Dparo]

So next big planned trip was the IDBDR set for August 2020. There was a lot to do between the LBL Labor Day 2019 trip and the IDBDR. Update on that tomorrow.

That list was a lot more work than expected but again once you go down the rabbit hole of "while in there" it doesn't seem to get to the end much.

The to-do list
-Dual batteries
-Redarc charger w/mount
-ARB dual compressor/OBA
-Winch
-R&R rear bumper for proper powdercoat
-install brake controller in a more permanent way
-Switch Pro install
-12V fridge
-RTT
-Sliders and skids
-move from an 18" wheel to a 17"
-seat covers
-build a platform for the 2nd row
-scangauge

-Dual batteries

Went with Slee mounts for both the Primary and Secondary, and went with the ARB mount with the Secondary. I probably am a bit on the overkill side so everything is with circuit breakers in between. Blue Sea was my brand on just about all of my electrical devices.

Secondary with ARB dual compressor

Found a spot to mount the bracket from Wits End for the Anderson PowerPole Solar Input and OBA hookup.

-Redarc

Made a bracket out of SS since none were available at this time for the Redarc and installed that.

Installed a dual battery monitor. Not sure I will keep this long term, it's been on my new to-do list to replace to something else.

I thought I had more pictures of the OBA install but I guess I don't other than this one. The 2.5 gallon tank is from Wits End and it was a rush install so it is something I need to get back to at some point. It isn't heavy, I just needed a third hand hence the jack. I mounted it to the spare crossmember which doesn't have a level mounting surface anywhere on it, but I was running very short on time at this point and needed to just get it functional. It has worked perfectly actually and I did forget up until now that it was something I needed to revisit.

Here's one of the regulator on the right. Also shows where I mounted the Switch Pro to the firewall.

Here is the actual 8 button switch. I don't smoke so I removed the ashtray panel and replaced it with the non-ashtray Toyota panel. Conveniently it has two ports for the BlueSea USB dual chargers with some unibit work. It is showing as NLA but the number is 55413-60130.

 

[YezusLX]

Dude. This. Secondly, how do you go from a pretty sharp '07 to that awesome piece of artwork below the stock form? That is freakin' sweet-ass sweet! I would like to propose that you offer up some build photos of the incredible build you have put together. I admire the humbleness and reservation but respectfully, we need to know all the things! Well, done! Moar, please, and thank you for sharing your work.

 

[Live to Ski]

U r a machine. It's going to take me 6m just to install the "million part" dissent rear bumper:-(

 

[LRSIIaCruiser]

Great write up. I like how you went from changing the nav, to exposing every wire in the interior of a 100 series. I would love to tackle the nav delete/replace, but I’m very intimidated on gathering the parts and installing, and having my hvac work. How difficult was it all in all? Thanks! Also… mine is an 07 galactic aswell! Great taste.

 

[sunfic]

Being that this is a dedicated use vehicle and not a daily it doesn't get a lot of miles put on it so over the next few months I started to get it ready for the next trip, and really the first trip for it to do what it is meant to do. We planned on doing the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail during the summer of 2019 and so I had a few more things that I wanted to get done, the rear bumper was now the main priority.

Originally I was going with the Slee rear but then saw that either the 80 or 200 was getting the revised one so I decided to wait for the revised 100. Well, that appeared to have been put on hold so as much as I wanted to stay with Slee I absolutely despise those latches that are/were used on the older version and present 100 version. Call it personal preference from the Jeep days when those were used on some in that world, I didn't like them then either. Had an A to Z on my last TJ build.

So I needed a bumper and fast. Somehow I came across someone on here selling their Dissent spot and they were due next for shipment. I secured that spot and picked up the pallet a week or so later. I had a little trouble finding a place to powdercoat it but did find one and got it dropped off, the trip was two weeks away and they said it would be done in time.

While this was just happening I had been acquiring the parts to remove the Navigation system and make it a Toyota non-NAV spec vehicle. That main thread is here.

post 2003 nav delete how to.

Nov 1, 2023 update PSA for the current assemblies flooding the USA from facebook. narness set is 220+ shipping. Anyone with the pigtails and the connectors that come with your FB assemblies has an easy task of hardwiring it with the PDF non nav workbook posted. I will continue to make...

forum.ih8mud.com

I never really cared for the BT grom style system so it had been also on the to-do list for a little while.

View attachment 3131791


@jerryb not only created the thread but made the harnesses to make this come together much easier than it would have been.

I was somewhere in the middle of the NAV swap when I decided "when in there" it needed more.

View attachment 3131794View attachment 3131795View attachment 3131796View attachment 3131797View attachment 3131798


The previous owner wasn't too good at not spilling everything apparently, found a lot of coffee stains, a few meals, and about a dozen of those wrist bands that were a thing when Lance Armstrong was legit.
I ended up removing the associated NAV parts and did a complete audio system swap "while in there". Thanks to @suprarx7nut for some recommendations on speakers. I went with a Morel component in the front doors, Audiofrogs in the rear doors, a Audio Control LC-6.1200, a JL Audio 10" and a Kenwood Excelon DNX995S. All wiring was also replaced.

View attachment 3131810View attachment 3131811


First time powering it up and I missed something...but the HVAC works!

View attachment 3131813

Ah, a wire had popped loose and was a slight nightmare to get restored but it is gtg.

View attachment 3131816

Where do you source all the parts for this? do you have a parts list? I always want to do this but some of the parts are not available.

 

[Dparo]

Great write up. I like how you went from changing the nav, to exposing every wire in the interior of a 100 series. I would love to tackle the nav delete/replace, but I’m very intimidated on gathering the parts and installing, and having my hvac work. How difficult was it all in all? Thanks! Also… mine is an 07 galactic aswell! Great taste.

Thanks!.. It really wasn't too bad, most questions have already been asked in that thread, but yeah the parts chase I have heard is a bit more difficult due to some NLA parts. When I was buying the only NLA was the preferred bracket set so I just found someone had posted an alternate version.

One of the reasons I took that path was to move to a more traditional button/knob HVAC control system and not rely on a screen.

 

[Dparo]

Where do you source all the parts for this? do you have a parts list? I always want to do this but some of the parts are not available.

I haven't kept up with that since I completed mine a few years ago but I did use partsouq and amayama for a couple of pieces. There is also a parts thread on the 100 forum that might help.

 

[sunfic]

I haven't kept up with that since I completed mine a few years ago but I did use partsouq and amayama for a couple of pieces. There is also a parts thread on the 100 forum that might help.

Thanks!

 

[Dparo]

@sunfic

2006 non nav info. Part numbers.

@TXSunDevil , do you think the AC amplifier we have now in 2006 is any different than the non nav version AC amplifier? They seem like the same thing, but different part numbers. In the book it does not list a separate AC amp, it just designates W or W/O Nav. Seems to me the three connectors...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[ClassyJalopy]

This is great thread - thanks for sharing. How far are you from the Badlands off road park? Any interest in a day trip?