Vman's majestic wheelin' and build thread™

[SlowBuild]

Here is my edited video of our winter DV family trip. Highlights include Mengel Pass, Butte Valley, the Racetrack, Lippincott, and the Saline Valley, plus my sister's engagement on the racetrack...

Thanks. Great video! I think this is the one that’ll convince my wife to do some longer camping trips with the family. If it works, I’ll definitely owe you

 

[bucfl]

Thanks for sharing! Awesome! Where would you get gas?

 

[vman07]

Thanks for sharing! Awesome! Where would you get gas?

We got gas at Furnace Creek, it was surprisingly "cheap" for DV, I believe 87 was "only" $4.50/gallon. We all carried extra gas as well...

 

[geanes]

@vman07 ... do you have a GPS track of that? I'm planning out my Utah expedition for the late Spring and wand to start thinking about logistics of a DV trip maybe in the Fall.

 

[vman07]

@vman07 ... do you have a GPS track of that? I'm planning out my Utah expedition for the late Spring and wand to start thinking about logistics of a DV trip maybe in the Fall.

Sorry I don't have any KMZ/KML or tracks of the route. I'd be happy to create some lines on a map if you'd be interested. Our route covered around 150 dirt miles with another 100 on pavement...DV is a big place.

 

[geanes]

Sorry I don't have any KMZ/KML or tracks of the route. I'd be happy to create some lines on a map if you'd be interested. Our route covered around 150 dirt miles with another 100 on pavement...DV is a big place.

Thanks! That would be awesome! I can locate the general areas in DV on GoogleEarth. Just curious how the different trails are "stitched" together. Some lines on a map for general bearings would work well. I've already laid a track on GE for Lippincott Pass

 

[Slickspawn]

Welcomed to the 100 series world Vman. I always enjoyed your trip reports from expedition portal!

 

[viducce]

Great trip, just being together with friends/family, enjoying the beautiful country and good food, nothing really beats that!
Thanks for sharing

PS I had a Montero prior to my LX, was a great truck...

 

[TexasCharley]

You are correct, the second ground you see goes from BlueSea to 2nd battery. You could also ground the BlueSea to the chassis but it was no big deal to go directly to the battery. A Dual install is not at all complicated, just requires a bit of planning, time and funds...

I will be doing this on my next build. I want to add a "quick connect" feature so that I can put the fridge outside once at camp by connecting a 10' lead.

 

[vman07]

Mod update, I liberally and blatantly borrowed *cough* copied @LandCruiserPhil's attic design and made my own attic rack. I thought hey I'll save some coin and make this thing myself. Three trips to the hardware store later and about a dozen minor adjustments to center the attic, and I was done. Whatever Phil is charging is worth it for the convenience alone ...

And then on March 7th my wife helped with the very expensive and time consuming 2nd baby mod™ and we welcomed little Everett Muir into the world. Learned something about the Latch system on the LX in that you only have the option to put the two car seats directly next to each other. Everett will learn to start dodging flying toys...

 

[Ouray19]

Congrats on the mod! I have installed 2 of those so far. Every now and then you question why you decided to do it, but, it's always one of those you're glad you have at the end of the day

 

[BJJCruiser]

Congratulations! We are expecting our first at the end of May. We actually bought our LX in preparation of our baby. Looks like we made a good choice!

 

[ChuckB]

Congrats on the second addition!! We bought our 100 before our twins were born and then added a third 20 months later. Three car seats fit across the second row just fine in case your were wondering .

 

[Ager Venator]

Our first real off road trip was with family to the Carrizo Plain.

That is ridiculously beautiful.

 

[vman07]

I changed my spark plugs, air filter and cleaned the throttle body today...

I was pretty stoked at how the old plugs looked, very uniform wear and not much in the way of fouling, deposits etc...

Then cleaned the throttle body, lots of grime and tar came out...

Followed by a wash and a picture with just the right filter to hide the brush scrapes.

 

[vman07]

Free time has been at a premium lately with two kids under two. Who knew they'd want so much attention, holding, diaper changes, baths, food etc?

I've been knocking off little projects here and there: Changed the cabin filters...no rat's nest or raccoons hiding in there but they were dirty enough.

Then I did a headlight restoration with the Maguire kit on both my 100 and my wife's Lexus sedan. The results were pretty good. Time will tell how long the plastic stays clear...

 

[vman07]

Next project was a tablet mount for mapping and navigation. On my big rock crawler, I just drilled a RAM mount into the dash and called it good, because who cares when your truck is already beat on and is 27 years old? Here is my setup in my 4runner...

For a tablet mount in the 100, I went with a Panavise mount that mounts inside the center stack. Coming off the Panavise is a RAM ball mount:

But I was aware that you can't just hang a tablet and case off this and expect it not to shake and wobble, so I added a support leg to this. I added another RAM ball to the shifter bezel to support the tablet:

So with two attachment points available to support the tablet, next comes the arms and tablet cradle...

 

[vman07]

My assistant, yea I put a towel down in case he crapped...

Here is the arm that supports the tablet from below. It's an articulating arm that attached to a RAM ball that is attached to the cradle.

Here is the cradle without a tablet:

And then with my Samsung tab A, 10.1. It's very stable vertically but it still sways a bit laterally so I may add a third attachment point between the center stack and the upper left corner of the cradle, but for now it's good on the trails I've been on.

Hanging out by the start of the Slickrock trail....

 

[BJJCruiser]

My assistant, yea I put a towel down in case he crapped..

I hear ya, I got crapped on this morning.

 

[bucfl]

I used to be able to do a ton around the house...