Recent content by theheineken

Eh, to each their own. When I need a tool that I'm going to use all the time, like a ratchet or set of impact sockets, I buy quality. When I need a tool I'm going to use once, or want to use in a way I might hurt it, I buy Harbor Freight. I'm not going to lose any sleep over buying the...

They seem stout, I have zero complaints. For as often as I plan to use them (meaning probably never), they were the perfect price. I can see having to help someone out of the snow, but other than that we don't have too much sand here to need them. I could never have justified the price of the...

Definitely check out the BAL Series C jacks for stabilizing, I'm loving them on my trailer and they'll stow better and reach down further than most jacks I've seen on the web.

With factory taillights crafted from unobtanium, I spent a few hours scouring the Amazon and etrailer.com for a set of taillights that would fit the factory holes and look decent. After not finding anything that was ideal, I settled for these oval LED lights: Sadly, they've got a plastic...

It was time for the tub and frame to be reunited, this time with proper hardware instead of the terrible mish-mash of carriage bolts and random fasteners it had when I got it. Look at that ground clearance underneath! Add to that, the rear stabilizing jacks are completely hidden from view...

Time had come to paint the outside of the tub. Armed with an orbital sander and a gob of sanding pads, I went to work getting down past the rattle-can paint job of the previous owner, as well as through any scratches and rust. The sander ended up taking it a bit further than I had planned, but...

Torsion axles are neat, but those puppies are something like $350 for the set. Also, I'm using a truck frame which has a hump to allow for axle travel, so mounting them to the frame isn't so easy -- the tires would be stuffed up in the wheelwells. Lastly, I really like having shocks!

I think the trailer itself will make quite a bit of difference. With my 4Runner, I'll average 16 mpg at 70 mph. With the RTT on top I'll get 13.5-14 mpg. With the trailer in tow I get 11.5-12 mpg. Another big factor is that when we're in the hills pulling the trailer I'm running in 4th, not...

A couple years ago I went to South Africa and on every single truck there was a Lasher spade: On the way out I bugged our driver relentlessly until he stopped at a hardware store in Vryburg so I could buy one and stash it in my luggage. It appears to be bomb-proof. The blade and shaft are...

Alright, I just bit the bullet. Hoping I have them in time to slap them on the 4Runner for the trip to FJ Summit.

Did you or anyone else actually give these a try? I'm debating ordering them.

Next order of business -- dropping some weight while gaining some lift. Something I've wondered for a very long time is why folks don't take a 4" drop axle and flip it so that it's a lift axle. When you start looking up info on the web, the only decent answer is that the camber would be off...

At the same time, I gave the frame a fresh coat of black paint and installed a set of rear jacks for stabilization. After looking all over the web for a low-profile jack, I came across the Bal C-Series jack. With 31" of drop and a 3k lb. capacity, it was a no-brainer: Mounted high up...

This spring it was finally time for it to come apart to lose some weight, get a new axle and a fresh coat of paint. Eight bolts liberated the bed from the frame: Several hours at a time and armed with an angle grinder with a wire wheel, I stripped the bed to bare metal, primed it with a...

At this point I could really assess how I liked the trailer for the intended purpose. It pulled incredibly well, soaked up the bumps and was very stable even at higher highway speeds. Knowing that we were good to go, I began swapping on some necessary parts. A new 2" trailer coupler brought it...