Topic: Steel City Racing & Marlin Crawler: KOH 2019 Toyota 4Runner IFS 4600 Build

[Charles4x4]

Pre-Race Activities Recap:
Once we made it to the lakebed for good, @RustyNailJustin and our shared camp/pit crew team had us all setup:


I cannot thank Justin, Brittain, and the rest of the team enough for taking us under their wings and showing us the ropes.  We all hung out around the camp fire each night and had an amazing time.  And the meals the camp crew made for us all were AMAZING!




While we were with Dylan at Icon, Tom Wayes came in from pre-running and spent a solid 30-mins with us talking about our 4Runner build and giving us Tips and Advice.  Tom is First Class - what an amazing experience.

On Monday morning at 8am, we were first in line for Tech.  They spent about 45-mins reviewing the build and giving us pointers.  She weighed in over 5,000 pounds - that 2" DOM Cage wasn't light!  We were thankful to pass tech with zero issues or remedies needed.

After Tech, we stopped by Ruged Radios for them to program our Radio and make sure our Intercom and Helmet connections were solid.  Afterward, we stopped by Factor55 and they swapped our Thimble and Hook to ProLinks with Aluminum Covers.  Thanks again to Rugged Radios and Factor55 - what amazing companies and individuals!

Now, our attention turns 100% to Pre-Running.  We got the GPS file from Brittain (Ultra4, please post the GPS files to the website going forward!) and downloaded all required Satellite imagry via the LeadNav ProPack before we left Otwell's shop.

Now we have a 100% blank LeadNav that we need to fill up!




Fortunately the folks at Polaris RZR hooked us up with an amazing 4-seat RZR that we used to drive all of EMC Lap 1 in about 2.5hrs.  With LeadNav's Pre-Running software, we were able to add all Caution, Accelerate, Turns, and POIs with ease without even stopping.  We never pre-ran Lap 2, but felt confident we could figure it out given it was mostly rock trails.






After pre-running, we took the 4602 car out for more Seat Time on 2-3 occassions.  We tested it in the desert and on certain Lap 2 Rock Trails.  We also had 3 separate Photo Shoots for various magazines.




It was around this time that one of the Media guys told us our build was voted as a "Top 5 Build at KOH 2019" by a few different magazines.  More to come on this in a few months.  What an honor!

At this point, we're feeling really good about the car.  We've tested it 4-5 times and gained some much needed Seat Time.

Next up, Race Day!

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Race Day Recap Part 1:
The Drivers meeting on Tuesday night went smooth except they accidentally re-drew for 4600 Non-Qualifiers and Dave said they had to revert back.  Because of this, it was a big chaotic on race day as we never knew exactly when or where we were supposed to go.

The weather was VERY Cold, Windy, and Miserable all the way around.


On race day, we showed up around 7:30 and most cars were already in lines.  It was windy and our 4Runner showed 29 degrees at the starting area.  Someone told us to go to the front of a line right in front of Justin, which made sense since we were starting 3rd and he was 5th of Non-Qualifiers.  About 15-mins later someone else told us to go to the back of another line.  We started to move (it's hard to maneuver when you are all strapped in), but then someone else yelled at that person for moving us and forced us back into position.  It was chaotic, but eventually settled down.

Our comms weren't working, then they were, then they weren't, then they were  again.  Our GoPro wouldn't turn on.  I think it was simply too cold...  The car was running fine, our comms were working, we had the heater running full blast, and our navigation was ready to go.

I have to pause here and thank everyone that came up to us - especially in the staging area.  It felt like 20-30 people said "I follow your build on XYZ - Good luck today".  We had amazing fan support and it really made us feel good and took our mind off the race.



Around 8:30 we finally pulled up to the line next to a Red Cherokee.  We really hadn't scouted the short course at all, so we were simply going to try to take our fellow competitor off the line and see what happened.  To be honest, we were ready to get out of the congestion and into the desert.

We put it in D and our V8 quickly took the lead.  We hit the jump at speed and my co-driver said "The red cherokee is way behind.  Nice work".  Here's the Ultra4 Coverage (notice the commentators still manage to talk about Jeeps almost the entire time...!  Toyota, please gain some pull here via sponsorship in the coming years!):

https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/2367402696825805/

Evidentially most 4600 cars "pulled up" at the jump.  We didn't get the memo...  Our Marlin / RockSolidToys / Icon suspension performed flawlessly.  RCV captured this now iconic shot of us at the jump:


We kept the lead until just before the sand hill when a Black Grand Cherokee that had taken a bad line pulled in front of us and the Red Cherokee we were ahead of took a risky line to pass 2-3 of us.  They would eventually finish 2nd or 3rd I think.

Robert Otwell captured this video of us after the short course.  It's amazing how much smoother our suspension was on this section than the Jeeps...
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/2222668998051241/

And RockSolidToys got this video of the same section:
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/1653577314788701/

At this point, our experience started catching up with us.  Simply put, we had told ourselves we were going to run OUR race.  But when those cars that you know you're faster than start passing you while you are sitting in traffic behind slower cars, your competitive side starts to take over.

After the Red Cherokee passed us, we were still behind the slower Black Grand Cherokee at the sand hill.  We had pre-ran the left line 10x in the car and knew we could fly up it.  When the slower Black Grand Cherokee took the left line, we pushed it and tried the right line only to bog down in deep sand 10' front the top.  Ego now in the ditch, we backed down, threw the Atlas II in Low, and easily climbed up the left side just after Justin Reece passed us in the 4619.


We crested the hill and our LeadNav said "Accelerate, Accelerate, Accelerate" so we did.  About this time, we had a drone hovering right in front of us.  We both turned and said "That was sweet!".

We hit 85mph on the lakebed when we started seeing parts all over the track.  Hi-lift Jack Handles, the jack itself, cases of oil, etc.  We backed it down so we could avoid all the parts thrown all over the track.

After the lakebed, the car began to settle into the desert rythm.  We were passing 4500, 4800, and 4600 cars left and right.  We were amazed at how many cars were on the side of the road in the first 30-mins of the race.  We were feeling good.

Justin was right in front of us and we decided to follow him for a bit.  After 2-3 mins, we realized our car was just faster in the desert so we waived and honked as we passed him on a Left Side track.  We held that position for ~15 mins through various desert terrain.  The car was running so well.  We had huge smiles on our face.  This was fun.  This was what we were hoping for.

Not needing anything, we flew through Remote Pit 1 and started climbing a few mountain passes.  Justin's 4619 shines in this terrain and he was all over us.  At the top of the highest pass where there is a blind left turn, Justin nerfed us gently to say "let me pass".  We did and he subsequently passed 3 other cars way off trail.  We couldn't believe the 4619 held together - there was no trail, huge rocks everywhere, and his car was bouncing all over the place.  It looked risky to us.  To Justin, that was racing and that was where his car shines.

At this point we found ourselves behind a group of 4-5 4600 cars and Justin was no-where to be seen.  We knew we were faster than all of them.  After 15-20 mins of what we called "being lulled to sleep" by slower competitor traffic, we found a multi-track desert section and starting picking off cars 1 and 2 at a time.

At this point, we should have exercised patience and let the course unveil our opportunities to pass.  But one big, old Blue Ford just kept sitting in front of us.  He wasn't slow, but we couldn't see anything and knew we were faster than him.  It started to get to us.

After 15-30 mins of driving behind him through various terrain and optional lines we had picked in pre-running, my Co-Driver said "Get on his bumper and let him know we are here".  We started to drop down into a canyon and entered a wash/goat trail.  It was tight, but we wanted to keep the pressure on the Ford and didn't want to slow down.

While in one of the tightest sections going around 20-25mph, we both felt our Front Passenger tire hit something.  We had seen a rock and thought we had avoided, but honestly couldn't see very well with a huge Blue Ford bounding everywhere right in front of us.

I looked at my Co-Driver and said "Did you see what we just hit?"  He said he didn't and I said I didn't either.  We drove another 100 yards or so and I started to feel our steering get really weird.  We were still in the middle of a pack of 4-5 4600 cars, but I had to pull over and check it out.

My Co-Driver jumped out first and went silent.  I asked how bad it was, but he wouldn't tell me.  I finally made it over to the Front Passenger side and saw that we had bent the heck out of our Tie Rod to Spindle connection.  We had a few comments on Facebook about this being a "weak link" a few days before and my heart sank.

Determined to keep going, we pulled the truck next to a rock and attempted to steering the tire into the rock and "bend it back".  This sheared it off completely (it was only hanging on by a thread at this point). 
[/IMG]

Still determined to keep going, we pulled out 2 ratchet straps and attempted to ratchet the Passenger Front into a Straight Only path.  One turn and both ratchet straps broke instantly (our MarRack is very strong!).  In one final attempt, we pulled the huge HD 3-Way Strap off the spare and tried everything we could to get it to hold with no luck.


A 4500 car had broken down just behind us and needed fuses.  We had plenty and gave them all the 20amp fuses we had.  They took off and we were all alone.  Now our attention turned to recovery.

I noted our position (just shy of Mile 26) on LeadNav and Matt climbed the highest peak to relay in our dilemma to our Crew Chief on the hand-held radio, to our wife via my phone (Verizon worked surprisingly), and to Ultra4 on Weatherman Repeater channel.

I have always loved the stories where teams do whatever it takes to keep going or to self-recover and I was determined not to sit and wait for help.  We determined that going backwards on the track was the fastest way out of the canyon (we were ~40% in) and tried driving forward in 2wd.  Our Passenger tire immediately turned out and we went nowhere.

We eventually figured out that our RCVs actually held up in 4wd despite our steering issues and that the car would move in reverse.  The "course cleaner" car had passed, so we felt it was okay to go backwards for recovery.  So we threw it in Reverse 4wd and made our way 15 feet at a time.  The car would go a few feet, then go left or right and we'd have to go forward, winch the tire back into position with our Warn Front Zeon 10-S Platinum and Bubba Rope Gator Jaw, and repeat.  We actually made it a long ways before JT with Ultra4 showed up in a side-by-side.


JT's first words were "Holy S&*#" you guys are in a really bad spot.  He didn't know how far we had already came.  JT said to keep going, but that he was sending Darick in his white 4Runner to help.


We kept going, this time using our Warn 9.0RC and all the Bubba Rope gear we had to get us up and over rocks, hills, washes, etc - all in reverse with only 1 tire able to steer and 1 that kept throwing us off.  We did this for ~2hrs solo.

Darick showed up and over the next hour towed us in reverse back to the closest lakebed.  To our surprise, the day just kept getting better from here.  The 4895 car had broken down after a shot tranny and two front Falkens that they had run on for 30-miles flat.




Continued Below...

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Race Day Recap Part 2:
Other racers had thrown cold drinks out for broken down cars, so we were well hydrated.  We had a fire.  Darick had his dog.  JT and some lady showed up on the side-by-side and hung out for an hour or so.  It was literally a KOH Party in the middle of nowhere.

And to top it all off, RockSolidToys, Otwell, Brian, and other friends all found our position and showed up.  Brian pulled out a Meat, Cheese, and Cracker tray.  We were living the high life!  We couldn't believe it - a party complete with a fire, dogs, food, cold drinks, great stories, friends - all in the middle of nowhere in the desert.  How cool is this!


Unfortunately the 4602 wasn't going anywhere:






Not only had sheared the steering off, but we also bent the Lower A-Arm to Spindle joint.  Our Crew Chief Brittain and our two wives showed up about 2-hrs later and we were rescued:




At this point, Brittain and our wives heard that our teammate Justin Reece "was through Main Pit and headed into Lap 2 in solid position".  We jumped in the car and took off to help Justin wherever we could.

[cbeers]

EPIC adventure and a great write up...thank you for sharing the entire experience.

i look forward to your rebuild and return   

CB

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Race Day Recap Part 3:
We jumped in the rental jeep with our wives and headed to Hammertown as fast as it would go.  Our Crew Chief told us that he'd drop the 4602 car off at camp and told us to "Get to Justin".

When we arrived at Hammertown, he had just passed through Remote Pit 2 and we believed he was in either 1st or 2nd place.  The rest of Rusty Nail Racing and Steel City Racing started showing up at the jumbotron.  We were shocked when the commentators seemed to know nothing about Justin and kept talking about all the Jeeps.  A member of our team eventually yelled out "Justin and that little Toyota are kicking all those Jeeps $^@'s".  The commentators finally perked up and said "Ooh, Justin Reece seemed to be in the lead in 4600 now and we just heard he's in a Toyota...!"  Finally, some Toyota Recognition.

The next hour or so passed quickly and Justin was clearly going to win as long at the 4619 held together.  The whole crew was there when he finally came into sight and crossed the finish line.  It was amazing!

For those of you who don't know, Justin has raced KOH ~10 times and has finished 2nd, 3rd, and beyond many times.  He is genuine, kind, humble, and a joy to be around.  For example, he and his crew finished the 4619 car a week early to come to Lucerne Valley early to spend 2-3 days in the shop helping us work on the 4602 car.  He showed us the ropes, helped us not make rookie mistakes, and was just plain fun to hang out with in camp.  He is as good of a person as there is.

Justin took the checkered flag and everyone went nuts.  His interview was classic - thanking everyone, recapping how long he has been trying to get 1st place in 4600, and somehow seamlessly layering in a shout-out to Toyota asking for them to help him "get a real rig to race next year".  It was classic!


The entire team celebrated hard that night.  If we couldn't finish KOH, the second best thing was for our team mate Justin Reece and our amazing crew to Win KOH!  It was awesome.






Thursday we took our wives to Palm Springs as a "Thank You" for allowing us to spend the past month working on a race car.  On Friday we climbed a mountain that allowed us to see Wrecking Ball, Jack North, Jackhammer, and various desert sections of 4400.  We were having a blast, but we were also exhausted.

So, why didn't we race 4400 on Fri?  A few reasons:
1) A week or so before the race I had 3 of my largest sponsors beg us not to race 4400.  They had put so much into the car and didn't want to see it destroyed in a day.  They thought 4400 on 35's was a bad idea and would rather have a car capable of finishing and possibly winning EMC in 2020 and beyond than have the brief period of publicity of a car that is destroyed in 4400.
2) A few days before EMC I had received a call from Hobie saying that he had a conflict and couldn't make it to KOH this year.  He had a few ideas for us to race, but it was a long shot.
3) Given our Steering and Lower A-Arm were shot and they were the only ones in existence, even a quick Ruff Stuff repair wouldn't get the car back running for 4400.

On Saturday morning, we packed up the RV and 4602 on the trailer and took off.  It took us 10+ hours to return the RV, get a V8 Yukon, get a HD trailer, Unload and Reload the 4602 and the piles of stuff from the final month of the build, buy HD ratchet straps, get the right receiver/ball, put on the original 32's because the 35's were too wide for the trailer, etc.  While we wanted to leave around 10am, we found ourselves leaving Otwell's at 5:30pm.  We had to return the rental car 1.5 days later and had a 27+ hour drive ahead of us.  It was going to be a long next two days!




At some point we lost our 2 empty dump cans in New Mexico...  This was the only casualty of the trip.

We didn't have any real significant sleep until 32-hrs later Monday morning at 4:00am.  Special thanks to my Co-Driver Matt for enduring this LONG TRIP back with me.  It would have been impossible solo!


We were the most exhausted we've ever been.  Just getting the 4602 off the trailer and into the garage with no steering was a nightmare.  And then there were the 10 Tires and hundreds of pounds of tools and random stuff from the build.


Now, 2-days later, we're mostly recovered and able to write these posts.

Here's what I've learned:
1) KOH is awesome.  Period.  If you share this dream, chase it.
2) If you are decent at budgeting, don't let the cost scare you.  We ended up 5% over our original budget.
3) The logistics are harder than you think, especially if you live on the East Coast.  Flights, RVs, 2-3 Rental Cars, Trailers, Multiple trips from Shops to Hammertown, Pit/Camp Logistics, Food, Beverages, Fuel, Spares, etc.  This is where the costs were much higher than I had expected.
4) You need a Team.  Without BigMike at Marlin Crawler, Wyatt and Matt RockSolidToys, Luke and HD at 4x4Labs, Robert Otwell, Dylan and Adrian at Icon, Our Pit Crew, Justin Reece, Bird, Andrew, Josh, Brittain, and the rest of the team, this dream would have been dead long ago.
5) You need Sponsors.  Without our sponsors, including Marlin Crawler, RockSolidToys, 4x4Labs, Icon Vehicle Dynamics, Otwell Fabrication, Warn, Advance Adapters, Cooper Tires, KMC Wheels, RCV, Factor55, Bubba Rope, PowerTank, Odyssey Battery, Dynatrac, Fiberwerx, Drivelines Inc., Syndicate Offroad, Pro Eagle Jacks, PRP Seats, Doug Thorley Headers, URD, Alltech, East Coast Gear Supply, Aeromotive, AFE Power, Rugged Radios, Magnaflow, and all of our other sponsors, this build would have been dead long ago.

We set out on this journey with 3 simple goals:
1) Have an amazing adventure - Check
2) Pass Ultra4 4600 Tech and Launch off the starting line at KOH EMC - Check
3) Finish KOH EMC - NOT Yet!

2/3 goals are now met.  The race course for KOH EMC 2019 was setup really well for our car.  A ton of desert with the hardest rock trails saved for the end.  And no Backdoor!  Let's hope 2020 is as kind to our type of build!

In order to meet Goal #3 in 2020, we need to make a few adjustments including:
1) Reinforce Front Suspension and Gain Downtravel: The protype performed extremely well given it's the only one in existence.  Clearly we need to beef up our Steering to Spindle connection of course, Modify our Spindle for more Down Travel (it hits our coilover), and Beef up our Lower A-Arm to Spindle connection (where we bent the Lower A-Arm).  Then reset Limit Straps and Air Bumps. We are at 21deg on our RCVs and they can take up to 28deg with the changes above.  We can gain another 3-4" of Downtravel in the front here.
2) Gain Rear Suspension Uptravel: Bend some new upper links around our crossmember in the rear to gain another 3-4" of Uptravel.  Then reset Limit Straps and Air Bumps.  In reality, the Front Suspension performs so well that it outperforms the rear suspension today.  These changes will level travel Front to Rear.
3) Improve Visibility: Cut out and lower our dash bar and cut out and raise our windshield bar to gain additional clearance.  We simply cannot see as well as we need to for KOH level racing.
4) Shed Weight: Find ways to cut a few hundred pounds withnout compromising the vision of this build.  Keeping the look/feel of a 4Runner while also allowing it to perform at KOH level.
5) Gain Experience: Find ways to get more quality seat time before KOH 2020.

Congratulations again to Justin Reece and our 4619 / 4602 Team!  What an amazing culmination to 10-years of KOH racing for Justin!  We hope we have the opportunity to team up with Justin and team again in 2020!

Now, I'm going to get the garage organized and the 4602 cleaned up and then take some time off to focus on my family and business.  Looking back, if we had to break in KOH 2019, we were certainly fortunate that the break happened before any other damage could occur and it was isolated to one section of our build.



As of right now, our car is literally 95% ready to race for KOH 2020.  With the 5 Enhancements above, we'll be at 100% and ready to go!  This is a great feeling considering the long push we've had over the past 6-months.  We didn't cut any corners and this dedication and approach will put us way ahead for 2020!



Thanks again to all of you for following our build.  We hope you feel like you have been part of the adventure and I really appreciate all of your feedback and support.  It was also great meeting so many of you on the lakebed!  I'm sure I've left out a ton of details, but I hope you have enjoyed this build thread.

Thanks to Ultra4 for putting on an amazing KOH 2019!

[cbeers]

did i already ask about the brown gem in the background?
 

CB

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

did i already ask about the brown gem in the background?
 

CB

yeah that’s my ‘87 SR5 Turbo DD I restored.

Here you go:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116/87-turbo-restoration-build-304774/

[SqWADoosh]

Great story guys. Hell of an effort!

[cbeers]

yeah that’s my ‘87 SR5 Turbo DD I restored.

Here you go:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116/87-turbo-restoration-build-304774/

FANTASTIC job on that 1st gen !!!

CB

[Slabzilla]

Great job of representing our Yotas, see you next year.  I've been  fan of Justin for quite a while, been rootin' him on for years, I have an xtracab myself.  I'm thrilled he finally made a First in the 4600s, he's definitely earned it.  Maybe now people will realize that there is something other than jeeps in the race.  I was watching the IFS vehicles in the LCQs on the web as I couldn't make Hammers in person this year and I could almost see your rig floating over those whoopties.  Next year I want to see you in person blasting over the desert making those jeeps wish they had brought a Toyota.   

[4runner17]

I understand that if someone bought the new long travel front kit when it becomes available they probably wouldn’t want to break the steering knuckle but isn’t that better than breaking the rack and pinion?  Although I’m sure in normal use the steering wouldn’t take a huge hit like that unless they were negligent.

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

As a quick update, our Prototype RCLT front suspension is all off and will be shipped back to Marlin this week in anticipation of v2.0 in March:
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/417348032170183/

https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/311887279678866/

Stay tuned.

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Our 4Runner was chosen as the 2nd Most Innovative car at KOH 2019 by Offroad Extreme, only behind Jordan Pelligrino's IFS/IRS car.

https://www.offroadxtreme.com/features/car-features/top-5-vehicles-of-koh-2019/

Nice to have some additional exposure for our team and sponsors!

BigMike's RCLT Kit was featured in the article!

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Quick Update: Here's what we've been waiting on - straight from BigMike at Marlin Crawler:
https://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=d5bc8985618dcfc79ce1c35b307aa75a&topic=103556.0;message=1163197

We've been receiving regular updates from BigMike at Marlin Crawler over the past few months since KOH and are really excited to see his announcement of their RCLT v2.0 Kit. 

Even better - the first version of v3.0 of Marlin Crawler's RCLT kit that he hints at in the posts is coming to our Steel City Racing 4Runner in a month or two.  Can't wait to get our hands on RCLT v3.0 and finally get the 4Runner out of the garage!







Also, a few more technical specs and details can be found in BigMike's personal build thread here:
https://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=d5bc8985618dcfc79ce1c35b307aa75a&topic=100408.msg1163180#msg1163180

And some pics of his Tacoma on 40's with RCT v2.0:










As a side note, while we've been waiting for RCLT, we stripped the interior, applied a finish coating to our roll-cage and all steel work, re-routed our fuel lines to get rid of some excess hose, and are working on a few small upgrades including looking for ways to cut weight. 

We also have a few more upgrades planned with RockSolidToys and Otwell Fabrication for KOH 2020!

More to come...

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Update:

Steel City Racing will be teaming up with Justin Reece @rustynailsjustin and the combined 4619/4602 crew again for KOH 2020.  We're doing final prep and upgrades to the 4th Gen v8 4runner as we speak and all the Improvements listed above in the 2019 race recap will be completed prior to 2020's race.

Big News: These improvements include Marlin Crawler RCLT HD v3.0!!!  Follow us on Facebook / Instagram for the latest pictures and news. 

And if you're in Hammertown, come by, introduce yourself, and check out the car in person.  And if you're mechanically inclined, we still have a few slots open to volunteers on our pit crew - PM me is you're interested.

Thanks for continuing to support Steel City Racing and be praying that all goes well for Justin and I in the 4619 and 4602 cars this year!  We're hoping for a safe, fun, fast race for both of us.  And of course, Justin's hoping to repeat after his win last year and we're hoping to become the first modern gen v8 powered IFS 4600 car to Finish King of the Hammers!

[T-Revv]

 

Update:

Steel City Racing will be teaming up with Justin Reece @rustynailsjustin and the combined 4619/4602 crew again for KOH 2020.  We're doing final prep and upgrades to the 4th Gen v8 4runner as we speak and all the Improvements listed above in the 2019 race recap will be completed prior to 2020's race.

Big News: These improvements include Marlin Crawler RCLT HD v3.0!!!  Follow us on Facebook / Instagram for the latest pictures and news. 

And if you're in Hammertown, come by, introduce yourself, and check out the car in person.  And if you're mechanically inclined, we still have a few slots open to volunteers on our pit crew - PM me is you're interested.

Thanks for continuing to support Steel City Racing and be praying that all goes well for Justin and I in the 4619 and 4602 cars this year!  We're hoping for a safe, fun, fast race for both of us.  And of course, Justin's hoping to repeat after his win last year and we're hoping to become the first modern gen v8 powered IFS 4600 car to Finish King of the Hammers!

Looking forward to seeing you at the hammers this year.  Will be watching you cross the finish line for sure.

[Slabzilla]

I'm Hyper-Stoked you guys will both be back.  We'll be out there rootin' you on and keepin' all the digits crossed that you both finish in the lead.    

[zippo]

I'm coming for you...







It might be 2022, but i'm coming for you. :-p

[Rockcrawlintoy]

I'm coming for you...







It might be 2022, but i'm coming for you. :-p

Different class though

[zippo]

They run on the same day!

[Volcom]

2/3 goals are now met.  The race course for KOH EMC 2019 was setup really well for our car.  A ton of desert with the hardest rock trails saved for the end.  And no Backdoor!  Let's hope 2020 is as kind to our type of build!

Sounds like the 4600 race is going to be really tough this year.  150 miles? More rocks and down Backdoor.

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

Update:
I’m writing this from the truck somewhere in Western AZ.  We will be in LA tonight and at RockSolidToys tomorrow morning.

Over the next few says we’re tweaking the new v3.0 front suspension and doing some things to the rear suspension that we didn’t have time for last year. We also need to redo our front brake line routing with the new front suspension.

We then head to Lucerne Valley to Robert Otwell’s shop for a day or two for a few fabrication changes that should greatly improve visibility. Then we hit the lakebed with our shared Rusty Nail & Steel City Racing teams.

We are going to get in as much seat time as possible before EMC. We literally blocked everything else out except for another shock tuning session with Icon.

The car is really solid. The new v3.0 Suspension (and especially the steering setup) is vastly superior than v1.0 (of course) and even v2.0 BigMike was testing on his Tacoma on 40s for past 6-9 months.

Right now I think we’re one of the most unique entrants to 4600 this year, especially with the Gladiator thing having finally run it’s  course. And likely the only 4600 IFS rig unless some of the older 1st gen torsion bar cars come back for the race.  We have a new strategy for race day this year and hope it will lay off big.

Be pulling for us. Our sponsors have been amazing all year and we have a really solid team pairing together 4619 and 4602!  We can’t wait to hit the lakebed in a matter of days for KOH 2020!

[Rockcrawlintoy]

Update:

Right now I think we’re one of the most unique entrants to 4600 this year, especially with the Gladiator thing having finally run it’s  course. And likely the only 4600 IFS rig unless some of the older 1st gen torsion bar cars come back for the race.  We have a new strategy for race day this year and hope it will lay off big.

Isnt there a TTB ranger thats racing as well? Thats fords idea of IFS

[zidaro]

Alright!!   Race is over.   How'd it hold up??? 👹

Oh- ya looked great too.   Hope ya had a blast

[Slabzilla]

Charles DNF'd, but Justin came in 5th.  What happened to the rig, only one lap?  We're still here for you man.   

[Rockcrawlintoy]

Charles DNF'd, but Justin came in 5th.  What happened to the rig, only one lap?  We're still here for you man.   

Be

He made it to chocolate thunder and ran out of time if he had another hour or two he would have made it

[Hilux_Max]

So the 4Runner finished in the Top 10 - thats not a bad effort in my opinion - well done guys.

[Slabzilla]

Thanks Hilux,  I didn't get to watch the EMC so I wasn't  aware  of his "time-out".  I'm just glad it wasn't the new RCLT set-up.  Next Year Man!  Now he knows it works he can press it and himself a bit more next time.  Great Job Charles and of course, Justin.   

[Rockcrawlintoy]

So the 4Runner finished in the Top 10 - thats not a bad effort in my opinion - well done guys.

“Finished” technically a DNF

[Charles4x4 [OP]]

We’re driving back as we speak but I wanted to send out a quick note. We didn’t finish but would have if we had more time. We worked hard and relentlessly the past month and did end up putting over 125 miles of hard prerunning on the car. We broke a ton of stuff after each prerunning seasion that we had to fix between sessions.  When it finally stopped breaking and ran strong for 30+ miles on course, we said it was good and quit pretunning.  Some of the pre-race stuff was epic - running through hammetown with Marlin himself leading the charge on repairs, borrowing tools from Jason Scherrer, getting help from GenRight, Fox, GBR, using BFG’s press, having Don Brennon help us fix issues late into the night, having RCV overnight parts from Illinois, etc. The support we received from everyone was out of this world - we are truly all in against the course and it was so great to see everyone pitching in to help anyone competing.

The race was awesome. We had zero mechanicals, zero body damage, only winched once (probably didn’t need to but thought it would save us time), and got a Top 10 in 4600 class when they pulled us off the course at RM 126 despite us having 40-mins left of run time.

The 4runner did great in the desert - even better than we expected - but really surprised us in the rocks over and over, walking past solid axle cars stuck left and right. The most epic was when a 4500 car was stuck in the line we wanted on Jackhammer and their co-driver said “I can spot you down the 4400 line but really don’t think you will make it.”  A few minutes later his jaw was on the ground as maneuvered through an impossible line with his spotting help without any damage and only having to back up once. Having the same clearance as 40s on a solid axle with our IFS in 35s really paid off and our gearing, v8, Atlas, ARBs , axles, driveshafts, etc all worked flawlessly together.

Our pit crew did amazing and Justin recorded an other Top 5 finish! 

The only issue we had all day was when we took the wrong line on a bypass (4400 level route iMO) that wasn’t marked well (markers fell down) and drilled our drivers front on a big ledge and then had to baby it a little more after a few creative pit fixes. Without that I think a finish was certainly within our grasp.

I could tell stories for days, but we’re still worn out from the 9-hr marathon race and have been driving for over 20-hrs toward Homs at this point.

I’ll be shipping RCLT v3.0 to Marlin next week for R&D purposes and then we’ll eventually run their final version of the HD kit with a few final tweaks Mike wants to make after inspecting the car after the race in Hammertown.

There are some pics on FB and IG, but more should start coming in soon after people get out of Hammertown. We had drones, helicopters, and camera crews on us for a good bit of the 9-hrs we were on course so they better have gotten a lot of content!  Wish Ultra4 gave us more press but we’re thankful for the coverage we got. Thanks for your support - we had fans all over the course who really helped push us on. We heard “Team Toyota” over and over!