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Project “Conclusion”: 1991 Toyota MR2 “Someday Race Car”
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Not all projects get the end they deserve. Not all get the end you want them to. Not all even turn out to be projects. My ill-fated MR2 was all of the above. My friend Dan and I picked up the little second-gen Toyota MR2 a few years back. We had big plans for the…
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Project Update: 5th gen 4Runner TRD Off Road
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Recently we established that this is no longer Hooniverse but rather 4Runnerverse. Now it’s time to check in on one of my very own Toyota 4x4s. Nine months ago I picked up a 5th gen 4Runner to serve as an all-purpose vehicle. Needing something that could do everything from daily duty to beach trips and everything…
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The Montero: Running around on a new set of shoes
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My 1991 Mitsubishi Montero has become my daily driver. The 1974 Mercedes-Benz 280 still gets some driving attention, but it also wears a pair of For Sale signs in the front and rear glass. As I’ve been driving the Montero, I’ve also been fixing a few issues that have popped up. This “cheap” truck is…
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Fixing the wheel stud on my MItsubishi Montero
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My cheap Montero is, as you know, proving itself to be a bit of the opposite as of late. Things are dripping. Slaves are revolting. And recently, a wheel stud decided to break away from its group. While test fitting a new set of wheels and tires, one of the six lugs on my driver-side…
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Random Amazon LED headlight bulbs aren’t bad
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One thing that I never liked on my Toyota 4Runner are the headlights. The 2010 – 2013 SR5 and Limited models came with headlights that had silver bezels. I started looking around for used OEM headlights from a Trail model, which had black bezels instead of chrome. I didn’t want to go aftermarket because of…
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Captive rotors can go to hell
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That wheel above? It’s the left-front wheel on my Mitsubishi Montero. The hub is a six-bolt setup, but at the moment it’s been downgraded to five bolts. Why? Because well testing the fit on my new wheel and tire combo, a wheel stud snapped. That bit of rifled metal sheared right off and left me…
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My Volvo 850R: Parts are in (mostly)
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A bunch of comments with really great insight came in following my first post on whether or not to do all the work required for my Volvo 850R. Your comments were a good push to do it myself. After going through them all, and talking to some buddies, I’ve decided to tackle this over Spring…
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Stormtrooper 4Runner: Fitting the Old Man Emu 3″ suspension lift
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An off-road vehicle is nothing if not for the ability of its tires to maintain traction. No traction means no forward progress. Without forward progress, a day spent wheeling quickly becomes a day spent getting unstuck. As every off-roader knows, that’s only fun for so long. This isn’t simply a tire issue though. Springs and…
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Meguiar’s helps me clean the interior of my Montero
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My 1991 Mitsubishi Montero looks pretty nice on the outside. The pain is in decent shape, and there’s only a very mild smattering of dents, dings, and bruises. Not bad for a 28-year-old truck designed to go play in the dirt. On the inside, however, things are a bit more rough. The interior is in…
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Project Introduction: My new 5th-gen 4Runner TRD Off Road
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Things didn’t exactly go as planned last summer. The Grand Sport debacle backfired entirely and I found myself amidst a full-blown conundrum of needing a daily-driver that aligned with my primary hobbies of exploring, hiking, and off-roading. For a change my brain said “buy something normal” and, for the first time, my heart agreed. It was…
