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Leap of Faith: The Stormtrooper 4Runner Canadian Retrieval Mission
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Sometimes you do crazy things when the juice looks like it will be worth the squeeze. Six months ago my best friend and I drove to the Great White North to buy a twelve-year-old Toyota. It was one of our best adventures yet. This is the story. Off-roading has been a constant in my life.…
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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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Straight Outta Canada: Stormtrooper 4Runner Introduction
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The tale of the Stormtrooper 4Runner starts back when I was a young kid, back with memories of riding in a booster seat in my dad’s lifted YJ Wrangler on weekend off-roading trips. My impressionable mind would suck these memories up like a sponge, imprinting upon me a never-fading love for all things four-wheel-drive, off-road,…
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2018 Lexus GX460: Project Introduction
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Hooniverse has housed stories about a select few of my vehicular doings over the years. It started with the Challenger, then the VehiCROSS, MR2, WRX, a 4Runner, Corvette, another 4Runner, a Miata, and a third 4Runner. Now it’s time to introduce my most recent build, a 2018 Lexus GX460. We discuss it regularly on The…
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Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 7 – Vespas, a Pacifica, & Off Road Bios
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Welcome back to the Off the Road Again podcast! We’ve missed you. The focus is on the off-road adventure but we also dabble in all things SUV and truck, maybe even some rally cars. Ross & Chris, discuss the Nissan Frontier, Toyota Trail editions, the Jeep Gladiator Mojave, the NORRA Mexican 1000 Vespa class, and Chris’…
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Ten Years Later: Lots of cars and major life changes
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Ten years is a lot of time. More than a third of my life. Back when Hooniverse was founded, I entered my first semester in college. Ten years later I’m not just a different car person, but a different person entirely. 2009. A post-it note on my cork board has,” Live Life to the Fullest”…
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Project Introduction: 2013 Mazda Miata Club PRHT
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The first Miata I drove was a modified, ex-race-car NA-generation model. My seat time was limited to a few laps on Lime Rock Park’s infield autocross course. But something in my brain clicked. The Miata was unlike anything I had ever driven. It was so light, so nimble. Tossable in a way I didn’t know…
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Hooniverse Asks: What was your wedding chariot?
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The week of my wedding is finally here. After endless planning throughout an 16-month engagement, the event itself is this coming Saturday. My fiancé (not for long…) and I are ecstatic. The feeling is surreal. This time next week I’ll be a married man, and we a married couple. A few days ago while discussing…
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Hooniverse Asks: How do you reinvigorate your love for a project?
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I haven’t been very good to the Stormtrooper 4Runner lately. Alright, that’s not entirely true, since I installed new suspension recently and did a lot of upkeep/repainting (more on that in the coming weeks). But truthfully, in the last 7 weeks I’ve driven the truck once. It sits outside alone in the cold, staring longingly…
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RC Off-roaders, MagnaRide Bypass, Toyos Open Country AT3 – Off The Road Again Podcast: Episode 198
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Welcome back to the Off the Road Again podcast! We’ve missed you. The focus is on the off-road adventure, but we also dabble in all things SUVs, truck, and van, and maybe even some rally cars. In this episode of the Off The Road Again Podcast, hosts Ross Ballot, Chris Tracy, and Spencer Ballot dive into a variety of…
