2010 Sequoia: Rally Support/Tow Rig, Fauxverlander, and Vacation Hauler

Browsing around marketplace I picked up an additional LX470 wheel for $20 and a used Cooper A/T (load range E) tire with about 60% treat in the size I use for another $20.....so bought both of them. mounted, and now I have a matching-size spare and can get rid of the 12-year-old factory spare tire on its rusty steelie wheel (which isn't the right size anyhow). 

Today I've been sketching out my roof rack plan and figuring out how much material I need to get. Since I have to build a gas tank skidplate for the Raider anyhow, I'm just going to pick up a full 8x4 sheet of 1/8 stee which I'll also use for the rack side plates. Still a work in progress, but this is basically how I design stuff.....

The plan is to build the rack itself for under $200 in materials, plus whatever lighting and stuff I plan to use. 

Lurker checking in, long time no talk!

Curious how those airbags work out for you. I've been towing Miatas on an 18ft aluminum open with my '08 5.7 Sequoia and still feel like I need to do something about this. I'd been looking into Timbrens and SumoSprings, but if this works effectively may be the better option for me. 
 

Mine is about to cross 200K, has needed nothing but a starter and pre-emptively did Bilsteins on it. 

Finally got to DMV today, and was able to transfer the plates from the old rig (which was in my wife's name) to the new one

With that, got to take it for a drive, finally, with all the new stuff on it. Initial impressions:

- This thing is big. Dimensionally it's just barely larger than the old one but it really FEELs huge, especially the big hood which substantially reduces sightlines to the front corners.

- As previously noted, the steering is still a lot lighter than I'd like. Wondering a bit if there's any way to reduce the assist (larger pulley on the PS pump?). It's not the end of the world, but it does make driving a bit twitchy unless you're pretty steady with your wheel hand. That said, this thing has an AMAZING turning radius. I'd say a few feet tighter than the old one, which is nice since it's a big truck. 

- The load range E tires + Bilstein 5100s substantially firm up the handling, and the truck is very responsive and composed, even compared to the old one (which is 1000 lbs lighter). The roads around here are excellent, so not much chance to test out how it feels on rough stuff, but most of its life will be on highways towing, so on-road feel is the priority. I also had 20psi in the rear air bags (the old one I usually kept 10 in them when not towing).  Can definitely feel the tread of the BFGs. I know they're brand-new so will wear in a bit, but I don't recall feeling the tread on the Wildpeaks or my Grabber ATXs when new. Not really an issue. 

- It's quick. The old one you could really feel the weight of the heavy tires. This one, doesn't feel much different from when I drove it home on much lighter (and slightly smaller) P-rated tires. It gets up and goes when you push the pedal (and you can almost hear the gas getting sucked from the tank, lol). 

- As I was driving I kept getting a "clink" when turning mildly and loud "clunk" when turning harder.....sounded like it was coming from the right side somewhere near the middle of the truck. Got home and searched all around, under seats, etc for something I left back there and found nothing. Started to get a bit worried it was somehting under the truck, until I realized that my little center console divider thing had three heavy sockets in one of the bins (sized for the truck lugnuts and trailer lugnuts). Whew. 

- The A/C cranks. It was 98 degrees when I went out and the truck had been sitting in the sun all day. It was comfortable in literally one minute. My GTI takes like 10 minutes to cool down after sitting in the sun all day....

- Not totally sold on the "leveled" front end (raised about 1.5" from stock to match the rear unloaded height). I feel like it just reduces the front corner view from the driver's seat and once I have gear in there I think it's going to look kind of "country" (for lack of a better term) with the front end sitting up high. At some point I suspect I'll take the front suspension apart and drop the front spring perches to the lower setting. We'll see if things settle and/or if I get used to it.

Anyhow, all feels fine otherwise. It'll take some getting used to, especially the signlines and steering compared to the old one, but not really an issue. I cleaned the old girl up today for her new owner to pick up in a couple days.

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We had a rallysprint up at Rausch Creek offroad park last weekend about 3 hours away so I hooked up the trailer, loaded the rally car, and give the new rig its first tow. The tow up was uneventful, and when we got there we had to do reconnaissance runs of the course, so unhooked the trailer and used the Sequoia for that as well

It handled the tight and rough stage just fine, of course (the stage is for rally cars, not ORVs), and frankly was FAR more comfortable doing it than my old Sequoia or 4Runner. The IRS rear end soaks up uneven areas and rocks really well, and the great steering radius on this thing made even some tight areas in the trees easy.

The rallysprint went well the next day and we towed home a lot dirtier

So, some impressions and thoughts:

1. The old Sequoia was a pretty solid tow rig, but every weakness it had (there were a few) Toyota corrected on this one, in terms of performance. The ride is better, the handling is far better (even with an extra 1000 lbs.), and in general it's just more comfortable.

2. Power: The old rig had enough power to go anyplace with a 5k towing load, but you still had to do some planning for large hills, else you'd have to do some slow pulling. This one no such issue. I actually found myself not even paying attention to hills or where they were. This pulls the 5k or so as if it's not there. The tow mode sets the transmission to hold gears much longer and it'll pull up to about 5k rpms even under light throttle.  In any case, the power difference is pretty notable.

3. Transmission: very, very smooth. Even when pulling heavy you barely even feel the shifts.

4. Brakes: This was a major weak spot of the old Sequoia, as its brakes were basically just 4Runner brakes put on a truck that was too heavy for them. The brakes on the new one are outstanding, especially with the Hawk SP pads on them. I used to really not like trailering in heavy traffic due to the old rig's mediocre brakes. In this one, I found myself forgetting I was even towing (and yes, my trailer has brakes). It stops really, really well. 

5. Suspension: Even with the airbags at 30psi, the rear visually sags a bit more than I like, but it felt fine when driving. Probably the nature of the IRS rear. That said, no porpoising, no drama. Tows solid even on rough or uneven roads.  Also, the sway bars on this are huge, and you can feel it. On my old one I always thought it needed a much larger front sway since the front end really dove badly when cornering while braking/towing. This one doesn't do it at all, and in general it handles well when towing.

6. Steering: Still a little bit lighter than I like, but I got used to it and it was fine. 

7. MPGs:   Old one got between 9 and 10mpgs towing the rally car, depening on the terrain and how fast I was going. On this trip I averaged just a shade under 12, and I was driving how I usually do. So, 2mpgs at least better is pretty nice for having all the extra power and weight. I mean, it's no diesel, but for a gasser that weighs 6k and has 400hp, seems pretty decent. 

8. Cargo: fits stuff fine, though I dislike how the last 18" or so of the cargo floor slopes downward toward the rear hatch. As noted before, not as much overhead height from the seats folded down into the floor, but that's not an issue. 

9. Storage: all the bins, slots, etc were great for a tow/road trip. Lots of places to put several drinks, phones, and all the other crap you have when you're driving long-ish distances. 

10. The BFG KO2s feel good, though they are definitely louder than the Wildpeaks on the old Sequoia. I was runing 45psi up front and 55 in the rear while towing. No drama.

11. The old Sequoia's stability control was VERY intrusive when towing.....basically ANY sharpish turn at speed, and ANY turn while braking, it would beeb and activate. In the new one, I didn't notice it turn on at all, at any time, and I was trailering with my usual....uh....enthusiasm. 

Overall, it was drama-free and the easiest tow I've ever done, hands down. This was a good decision. 

looks great especially with the BFGs.   

I'm a big fan of Sequioas.

Fun following along on this one.  I also thought the reverse lights on my Sequoia were weak and replaced the bulbs with these LED's.  Great results for very little money.  

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LX4FMD1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Today for some stupid reason I took the BLACK rack off the BLACK truck on a 95 degree day in the sun. And really, didn't need to do it yet. But I'm impulsive like that... Mostly just wanted to see what the bolt spread through the roof is, and where exactly they were so I could plan out the feet I'm going to build for the rack.

My ideal plan for this rack would have been to get solid 8-foot x 3-inch plate for the side runners, but didn't want to buy a full 8x4 sheet locally ($$$) and shipping on stuff 8 feet long is ridiculous (I order stuff like this from onlinemetals, btw). So I ordered 4-foot pieces and just welded them together. Easy peazy

Then got everything leveled as well as possible (my garage floor is FAR from level in either direction), and tacked in a pair of crossbars so I could square everything up

Then sweated my arse off all day (taking frequent breaks in the A/C) and more or less assembled the basic frame, minus a few crossbars.

I went with relatively thin steel for the sides to keep weight down. It's still a bit flexible in this long length so I've had to be pretty careful to keep things square and level. Once the whole rack is done everything will be more rigid with additional bracing.

So here's where I'm at currently. I did some diagonal corners at all four, and up front I'm integrating a permanent small fairing, which will go over the LED bar that will be mounted below it. Tomorrow I'll finish up the last couple crossbars and then install my bracing bars. I posted my original design above and I'm more or less sticking to it, but making some changes on the fly as I think of them.

It's really cheaper to buy from online metals then find it locally?? I use them for small random stuff, but they are local so I can just pickup. 

Honestly I'm not sure. This being the Washington DC area everything is overpriced, and most of the local metal places are only open pretty much during the hours that I am working, which means I have to blow a vacation time just to go pick up steel lol. Plus I find that they seem to be pretty unenthused about helping you if you are not a corporate customer. I find that for anything other than big sheets, it's just more convenience and fairly close in price just to order online. And saves me a 30 to 60 minute drive.

The shipping cost of all this metal for the rack is probably less than the value of a couple hours of vacation time anyways, So probably all evens out. But there's certainly something that he said about ordering at 11:00 p.m. from your couch and having the stuff arrived two days later without having to go pick up stuff.

Other than the one big local metal warehouse, The big box stores that are nearby never have what I'm looking for in the sizes I need.

Moving along on stuff over the past week. I didn't take any pics, but I got the basic rack up on the roof with the help of a neighbor and blocked it up into the position I wanted it in. Then did some measurements and cut out some plate to build feet, with the plasma cutter. 

Then basically assembled them and tacked them into place on top of the truck before taking the rack off to finish weld them. This truck is kind of inconvenient in that the OEM rack feet/bolts not only mount on a curved angle, but the roof also narrows slightly as it goes back, so nothing at all is square. So off the truck the feet look a bit goofy

Spent a few days welding stuff up and adding the rest of the crossbars and some center brace bars (out of some scrap pieces I had sitting around). Today I drilled out my tiedown holes. So these will only be on one side, since the other side will have a pull-out awning there. On the other side I'll put some hidden tiedowns inside the outer frame rail. But I wanted the holes both for practical purposes and to make it look a bit cooler :)

Also cut out some holes for the cheap LED inset lights I got for general illumination. Two will go on the driver's side and two on the back (the awning has its own lights). Doing ok with the plasma cuts but still could be cleaner. But it'll be covered up anyhow by the lip of the lights

I have to clean up an accidental cut I made with the cutoff wheel...oops

Also, finished up my fairing design, which is integrated to the rack and will also hold the LED lightbar I ordered. More on that this weekend.

So, that's where I am at the moment...

Finished up a few details of the rack this morning and then painted it up. After that was dry I did a couple coats of truck bedliner, since it holds up a lot better than just spray paint.

Then installed the lighting and ran some wiring pigtails (which I'll hook up later once I figure out where I want to bring the wiring through the roof, get some switches and relays, etc.)

Then my wife and neighbor helped me put it on the roof. I was pretty worried that the odd-angle feet would not line up well, but they actually lined up perfectly with all the bolt holes. However, for one reason or another the two middle feet ended up sitting about 1/4" too high off the roof (the rack must have flexed when I tacked the feet together since all the support bars weren't in at the time, and unflexed when I fully welded it up). After a bit of thought I ended up just cutting out some 7"x 3" spacers out of some 1/4" black HPDE scrap I had sitting around, which filled the gap nicely. So, bolted everything up, and then installed my other usual rack feature: composite chicken coop flooring. I've found it makes a great base to put stuff on, and it's lightweight and tough.

This time I decided to order the white colored grid rather than the carbon-colored. The thought being that white will reflect more sunlight from the top of this big black vehicle, or something like that. Plus, thought it might look cool. I later read that the white stuff tends to break down more quickly from UV rays (the carbon-colored is that color because it has an anti-UV additive, apparently), so I guess we'll see how it holds up. Worst case I'm out a hundred bucks and buy the carbon/black stuff if I need to. 

In any case, pretty pleased how it turned out overall. I'm going to add a few other features here and there (including an awning, which is why there are no tiedown holes on the passenger side). I also put a cheap 44" single-row ebay LED bar on the front under the fairing, which is why I built the front that way, specifically for it.

Chicken coop flooring. Keeping that one in my brain for later. 

Carry on 

java230 said:

Chicken coop flooring. Keeping that one in my brain for later. 

Carry on 

The Range Rover people have been using it for years, that's where I got the idea. But it's really the ideal thing.

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

I guess I don't hang out with enough Range Rover people!

Either way, glad the new rig is coming together 

Home after a solo drive of just over 11 hours from Maine to Virginia. 640 miles today and over 1,500 in the last 4 days round trip to New England Forest Rally (see my rally car build thread for more on that). Average 68 mph not including stops on the way home, and 17 miles per gallon (not towing, btw). The truck was equally at home on gravel stages recovering rally cars, twisty Maine roads, NYC streets, climbing Mount Washington, or cruising at 80+ for hours on end on the highway. And somehow I am neither tired nor the least bit sore from driving this thing so much. It really is a flawless road trip vehicle other than being thirsty.  Also, the brakes are really good with the Hawk SD pads....huge upgrade from the old Sequoia. Here's some pics from the trip:

street parked in NYC somehow, and even more random, another black Sequoia parked behind me

Hanging with Nonack's BRZ rally car

Mt. Washington

(following another black Sequoia, oddly)

recovering Dan Downey's broken rally car

being tailgated by some Irish guy...

gas out in the boondocks of Vermont

For roof wiring, I decided to go with a 7-wire trailer cable, routed to a junction box on the rack. That way I can expand things as-needed if I get other things outside the truck that I might want power for.. Probably not 7 things, but it can't hurt to have a few extra (one is a ground anyhow). Also, a trailer cable has thick insulation so good for passing through holes and holding up to the weather. 

As noted before, I had decided to go through one of the rack feet. There's a hole through the outer skin of the roof, but I drilled through the lower section too (behind the side curtain airbags) to route the wires. As usual, please ignore my sloppy welding....nobody will see this part of the rack besides people who see this pic lol. I sealed up both layers / pass throughs well with silicone, but the cable is already a snug fit so don't think there will be any water issues. 

Through the roof and into the interior. 

And routed down the A-pillar next to the dash, and out by the kick panel. I haven't decided yet whether I want to do the relays in the engine bay or inside someplace. Thoughts?

Then mounted up the junction box inside the passenger-side side rail of the rack, mostly flush. This side of the rack will have an awening anyhow, so it'll be totally hidden. Had to trim the flooring stuff a bit to get the right fit, but no issue. Will wire everything this weekend.

As noted before, I set up a junction box on the rack to simplify wiring so ran all the wires today up on the rack. 

I picked up some Toyota-fit button/switches off Amazon and they seem to fit well and look reasonably OEM-ish (no "Zombie LIghts" switches in neon green lol...) . I may eventually rearrange some of the stock buttons to get all the lighting ones together, but for now, they'll go in a few different areas. For the front bar this one will be the most easily accessible since it's the one that I will use the most

The others will go in some blanks open to the left and right of the steering column

Doing the wiring. Very exciting. On a side note, there is infinite space underneath the center console for stuff. Good place to stash the relays.

But, now I have working lights. Yay. .

Those buttons are great. I'm jealous mine is not 4wd. 

Slick with the trailer wiring harness, totally stealing that. 

For a while with the old Sequoia, I had planned to build a rooftop water tank (using the home-build PVC pipe method) but never got around to it. At rally/rallycross events, things (and people) get very dirty and having some water or a quick shower right there has always been something I thought would be super-useful. When I got this new one, decided I'd do it. Got my materials list together and was about to go to Home Depot and then was talking to a buddy from my ski shop days who had a line on a "scratch and dent" Yakima roof shower for cheap - basically the "real" version made of aluminum and much easier to mount. While I like building stuff myself, sometimes for just a bit more cash I like to get something that is simply better. So, picked it up:

Basically, it's 7 gallons (also available in 4 and 10 gallon versions), has threaded outlets on both ends, a filler at the top with a pressure-relief valve, and a schrader valve so you can pressurize it up to 65psi (basically the pressure of a home water system). Or you can let the sun heat things up and naturally pressurize it - though not sure what PSI it gets to that way. 

Also comes with mounting hardware, a couple bolt locks, and a hose and spray nozzle with a quick-release fitting (standard garden hose thread, in case you want to buy a longer one at home depot). You can also get a shower head on a flexible neck - I think this part I'll DIY. Anyhow, it comes with brackets for regular crossbars, but my rack setup doesn't really have available crossbars to use that way so I had to make up some brackets. Luckily I had some L-shaped brackets from an old kids play set I just took apart, so modified them a bit and painted...

Then after some adjusting, got it all mounted up:

Here it is with the hose setup attached (I'll stash it in the truck when not in use since it has a quick-release)

The big fill opening/pressure valve on the top. 

Anyhow filled it up with the garden hose and then put about 50psi in with my air compressor and tested it out. Works great, and probably sprayed good-pressure water for about 5 minutes before it ran out. Apparently if you just use gravity (or "natural" pressure) you get 10+ minutes of water.

So, that was a pretty good addition for my uses and seems to be very nice quality (I worked for a Yakima dealer for 20 years, so generally trust their quality for most components)

Towed up to rallycross last weekend.

This thing is far better through the twisty uphill W.Va. mountain roads pulling 5k than the old Sequoia was (no surprise there). Anyhow, after a day of dirty racing, the roof shower worked great at rinsing off a lot of grime. Of course, I forgot to put a cover over it (aka white towel) on a 95 degree sunny day so it was a very hot shower lol...

Anyhow, the heat turned to over 5" of torrential downpour all evening, so we hung out under my pop-up and drank beers. The guys with tents slept mostly wet on the flooded parking lot or grass near it (not much rain was expected, so nobody had a chance to set up storm shelters or on higher ground). I set up.....an air mattress in the rig 

So, I slept fine, and was totally dry. Well, at least the rain cleaned up all the dirty cars and tow rigs...

Also, while it was raining I yelled to a buddy to put the tailgate down since it was up. He did so without realizing the sprayer for the water tank was hooked over the lift support and CRUNCH....snapped the left-side piston in half. This hatch is heavy as hell, and won't stay up with one, so had to use some wood (got a new one today, so good as new)

After 6-7 weeks' wait, finally got my seat covers from Wet Okole (the wait is long because they're made-to-order in California). I really dislike slippery leather seats, especially when they're made for Fat Americans like the ones in the Sequoia seem to be, with no sign of bolstering for those of us who are on the slimmer side of things (or, I'd like to think that at least). The 1st gen also had this problem and I got the Wet Okole covers for it too and they were great. Better grip, much more comfort, and no stiches parting or other wear. Anyhow, as with last time they fit perfectly, install was a breeze, and they match pretty well.

There's a center armrest cover also, that fits pretty well considering the odd shape of the early Gen2 console cover.

I ordered them with the "pouches for stuff" on the back, since figured that might come in handy for smaller gear, etc.

Also got word that my awning is still a couple weeks away - not a surprise since all the ships from the Pacific are traffic-jammed at the Port of Los Angeles right now, and it's coming from Australia. Such is life. 

bluej (Forum Supporter) said:

Slick with the trailer wiring harness, totally stealing that. 

Yup.

Been a while. The rig has gotten a lot of use towing to motorsports stuff. A few weeks ago it was Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR):

Though it's generally preferable to do reconnaissance runs in a car (other than the competition car, by rule), we didn't have a recce car with us, so did it in the tow rig, full of 1000lbs of gear, spares, and wheels.

We were 2nd place in our class (Open 2WD with 7 stages of 8 done)

Unfortunately, I hit some jumps too hard and tore out some rear suspension stuff...and DNF'd on the final stage. Oh well.

So while we were there, my crew chief (who has a 4Runner) rolled down the rear window on the tailgate and it wouldn't come back up. This has happened before to me (you can get it up by opening the hatch and pulling it up while someone presses the button). This happens because for some reason Toyota didn't rustproof the regulator and rails and the bottom of the hatch gets water in it through the window seals. So eventually the lower pulley and cables get rusty and the resistance trips the safety sensor on the window and wont' let it come up. I tried once to clean up all the rails but it was all fairly rusty, so I just bit the bullet and bought a new assembly for $250 (which includes a new motor)

Removal of the old one was pretty easy (thanks also to a how-to on IH8MUD forum) and got the new one in. So, now it works. Yay. And it's nice and smooth/quiet

Here's the old one:

Doesn't look as bad as some I've seen on the forums, but I guess it was enough to not make it work reliably.