Yesterday (Labor Day in the US), my son Brendon and I took the day off to do some final work on both of our vehicles. We started with the Apex Overland recovery points that came off the Gunship when we put the Shrockworks Ultralight bumper on it (which negated the need for the Apex Overland recovery points) and put them on his 4Runner. This was a very simple task, and we had it complete within about 20 minutes.
The next portion of the day’s events took much longer, mostly because we needed to buy some tools to get the job done, namely the 4.25” circle saw. I had purchased a TJM snorkel for the Gunship, but it wouldn’t fit due to the roof rack. So, I decided to make it an early Christmas present for my son, one that will come in handy next week on the trails we will be on as he will be the trail vehicle (I will be lead).
We began the process with Brendon taking out the air box and disconnecting the requisite pieces. He then removed the lining of the passenger side front wheel well which wasn’t very easy to do because of the way the clips are put in. But, Brendon got that part done and we began the process.
I cut out the fender template and taped it onto the vehicle while Brendon got the drill out and drilled out the necessary holes. He then cut out the larger hole for the TJM snorkel.
After test-fitting the snorkel, the next scary part of the job was drilling two holes into the A-pillar. He measured twice and drilled those two holes carefully (and they were perfect). I then helped mount the snorkel by reaching up into the fender and tightening the top-most nut as the area was tight and my arm/hands are smaller than my son’s.
Once we got the snorkel bolted on, Brendon connected the portion inside the fender that connected the snorkel to the air box and we finished up that part of the job.
We then moved on to working on both of our rigs at the same time, mounting ARB differential breathers. These were super-simple to do, and took roughly 30 minutes to complete from first wrench-turn. We will now feel safer with water crossings.
We finished up around 7 pm, and we were both smiling. We got a lot done, his 4Runner has some added cool factor and usability, and he told me last night he was even getting slightly better gas mileage.
Our next big trip starts later this week, so expect a lot more here soon!
Overlanding with PaleoMarine 