200 Series Disclaimer: Note, these events and this teardown occurred with a 4Runner. However, since I'd rather debate the proper levels of molybdenum disulfide in my driveline grease than what ninja star wheels look best, I tend to spend my time on the 200 forums rather than the 4Runner forums. In other words, 200 series people are my people. The statements herein should pertain to both 4Runner and Land Cruiser. Our family 200 gets to live a more pampered life as our 4Runner gets abused on-trail.
The lead up: I had plans to run the High Watermark Trail in Arkansas over Thanksgiving break. I reached out to a few friends to see if I could get some more rigs on the trail, but with the holiday, it wound up being a solo trip. Then, some unexpected trips to the hospital for my wife meant that it was going to be an especially short trip. I had 24 hours to do a trail that Jeeps on 35s say is ideally a three day trail. You can see where this is going.
The Fork in the Road: Things had gone smoothly for the most part. I got to the Buffalo River crossing at sundown and crossed without event. I drove a few hours into the dark and did a few more stream crossings that were again, uneventful. I setup camp and the next morning things were going smoothly again. I came to the first big bog hole. On the right was a nasty 100m of mud and grime. To the left, looked like a much more frequented and shorter crossing.
The Event: You can see in the photos that there's ice on the water and frost on the leaves. I wasn't too eager to leave the warm, dry cabin of the truck. The track had been easy so far. And I had miles to make. So I didn't check the depth. It was a mistake. I don't have may photos of the situation, but eventually my tires were unable to move me forward or backward. Tried every trick and gadget to make any movement, but I was in a bottomless pit. Eventually water started to come into the cabin. Lots of it.
The Aftermath: I left the truck running and no lights ever showed up on the dash. It took 30 minutes from the picture of the fork until I was on dry land on the other side of the bog. I learned that winches are silent when operated underwater!
The truck got me through the rest of the 100+ miles of trail and the 4 hour+ drive back home without a problem. Eventually the truck got harder and harder to start and I had to replace the starter. This job is also a pain on the 4Runner.Six months later, I was finally in a headspace to teardown that starter motor and see what had failed.
Continued next post.
The lead up: I had plans to run the High Watermark Trail in Arkansas over Thanksgiving break. I reached out to a few friends to see if I could get some more rigs on the trail, but with the holiday, it wound up being a solo trip. Then, some unexpected trips to the hospital for my wife meant that it was going to be an especially short trip. I had 24 hours to do a trail that Jeeps on 35s say is ideally a three day trail. You can see where this is going.
The Fork in the Road: Things had gone smoothly for the most part. I got to the Buffalo River crossing at sundown and crossed without event. I drove a few hours into the dark and did a few more stream crossings that were again, uneventful. I setup camp and the next morning things were going smoothly again. I came to the first big bog hole. On the right was a nasty 100m of mud and grime. To the left, looked like a much more frequented and shorter crossing.
The Event: You can see in the photos that there's ice on the water and frost on the leaves. I wasn't too eager to leave the warm, dry cabin of the truck. The track had been easy so far. And I had miles to make. So I didn't check the depth. It was a mistake. I don't have may photos of the situation, but eventually my tires were unable to move me forward or backward. Tried every trick and gadget to make any movement, but I was in a bottomless pit. Eventually water started to come into the cabin. Lots of it.
The Aftermath: I left the truck running and no lights ever showed up on the dash. It took 30 minutes from the picture of the fork until I was on dry land on the other side of the bog. I learned that winches are silent when operated underwater!
The truck got me through the rest of the 100+ miles of trail and the 4 hour+ drive back home without a problem. Eventually the truck got harder and harder to start and I had to replace the starter. This job is also a pain on the 4Runner.Six months later, I was finally in a headspace to teardown that starter motor and see what had failed.
Continued next post.
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I can't take the Tacoma forums for this very same reason!
