Lola the 4Runner

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet LOLA! She is old, she is tough, she is butch. "lola" means "grandmother" in the Philippines, and "transgender" according to The Kinks! haha. She is our new home as we overland down south through Central and South America. Hazardous jungles, scorching deserts, rugged 3rd world streets, treacherous mountain passes, and hundreds of miles of desolate roads will be dominated. Or so we hope!

 

I wish I could promote an American product here, but the fact is there are certain vehicles that can't be matched as far as reliability, toughness, and their abundance of parts outside of the states. For that reason we purchased a well maintained 1994 Toyota 4Runner, 4x4, 3.slow V6, 5spd manual, and 189k miles. A true classic in the world of overlanding.

 

Now that a ride was acquired, it was time for a test run....an exhausting 15 hour straight drive up to the frigid weathers of February in New Hampshire for some snowboarding with the family. All went well until the day we were leaving. The roads were windy and covered in ice and snow, and as we come to a bend in the road Lola lost traction (totally my fault - Chris) and went straight into a large snowbank at 35-40 mph, bounced off, spun backwards and then rolled up into the bank. Amazingly, only broken items were the side mirror and a couple beers in the back. Half hour later a tow truck pulled her back over, fired up the engine, and we were on our way back home. Even got better gas mileage afterwards!

 

 

 

 

This is how we roll.....

Now that the roll test was passed, and aesthetic appeal added (dents and chipped paint), it was time to do some modifications:
-A second battery installed in the back along with an inverter to charge electronics and power fans, a heatblanket etc.
-Hidden kill switch installed.
-5% Limo window tinting to keep the haters guessing.
-Goodbye rear seats and hello sleeping platform. This gives us a cozy place to crash whenever and wherever we want with the ability to store most of the gear underneath.
-Viper alarm system, it better be like the commercials where a giant viper slithers out and bites the would-be thief.
-Nifty bike rack that swings out away from the rear of the vehicle. This allows us to drop the tailgate without issue. Not only will this carry our mountain bikes, we'll have a 5 gallon jerry can, camp chairs and other misc items strapped on it.
-Rear speakers were removed, and we altered the side panels to give access to some extra storage room and hang bungee/cargo net from the ceiling.

 

 

Evolution of the sleeping platform. I even trusted Mallary with the power tools.

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy