Articles

  • Project Car SOTU: 4Runner Project keeps running

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    My 2010 Toyota 4Runner SR5 has been getting somewhat regular updates on Hooniverse. In recent times I installed Rigid Industries off-road lights, eBay LED interior lights, and provided a four-season update on my BFGoodrich KO2 tires. Other than routine maintenance and one annoying intermittent issue there’s not much to report. It currently has less than…

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  • Project Car SOTU: Stormtrooper 4Runner

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      There must be some unwritten rule, something of a taboo, about not thinking positively about a project vehicle while in its presence. It’s almost like the car, or truck, knows when your brain inwardly speaks well of it and, as if it has a special sense, proceeds on its own accord to kick you…

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  • Project 4Runner: Four seasons with BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2

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    It all started about fourteen months ago when I got a flat tire on a busy New England highway, in the middle of the afternoon, with my whole family in the car. Something big and sharp punctured my five year old right rear BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A tire. The tire was beyond repair and needed to…

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  • Project 4Runner: When good LEDs go bad

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    Sometime ago I switched out the factory interior light bulbs of my 4Runner to LEDs. The LEDs were purchased from a forum recommend eBay seller, Fyre Flys. The idea was to have more light and less power draw. This was a win-win, as my daughter always puts he dome light on to read but frequently…

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  • Project 4Runner: Rigid Industries D2 LED Lights Review

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    Somewhat thankfully, the long winter months are behind us now. The days are longer and wearing hats and gloves is no longer required. The ski season is also over and with it are our frequent trips to northern New England. In January, our fifth generation Toyota 4Runner project rig received a set of LED auxiliary driving…

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  • Project 4Runner: LED interior light upgrade

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    It was the Matchbox car that my son dropped that really did it for me. It sounds silly, but I could not see it, at least not easily. Then it was the time when my daughter, who loves to read, left the dome light on overnight, which drained the battery. That happened like three more…

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  • Project 4Runner: LED Auxiliary Lights from Rigid Industries

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    Winter months frequently send us north, into New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. A few hours of driving takes us from the hustle and bustle of Boston and into the serenity of wooded, snow covered, mountains. Two-lane roads meander between those mountains, following the paths of the rivers that shaped them. Covered bridges connect the old…

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  • Project Car SOTU 2016: Toyota 4Runner Mall Crawler

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    The annual-or-whenever-we-get-to-it Hooniverse Project Car State of the Union is upon us. The last time I discussed my family truckster here was back in March when I ended up on the side of a busy highway with a flat tire. At the time I developed some plans for a summer road trip. In preparation for…

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  • Flat tire and hunger for adventure starts a quest for mods

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    Perhaps slightly inspired by Zach Bowman’s mega adventure or the memories of my own African safari adventure, my wife and I have decided on a family road trip into the great white north this summer. The plan is to pack up the trusty 4Runner and drive toward Portland, Maine, from where we will take the fast ferry to Nova…

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  • Our Cars: 2010 Toyota 4Runner SR5 is the newer family truckster

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    After years of discussions, decision making, (sadly the hundreds of comments on these posts were lost) and shopping, I have finally purchased a replacement for my family hauler, the 2005 Acura MDX. The two finalists were: 2010 Acura MDX with the Advance Package. I liked the MDX because the first one served us so well and…

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