2007 Sequoia - Soy-Quoia Build

Soy-Quoia

Familiar Member
Jan 8, 2017
66
71
18
Minnesota
Alright... It's been far to long and no update from me... I haven't done too much to the old Soy. I'm still working with Gamiviti to make a slight tweak to their existing rack to allow use on a Sequoia but things have been slow. I needed/wanted a roof rack again so I took some ideas from Sal R. and made one. I took my old rack converted from an ATV ramp, cut it to 42", raised the stock rails 1/2", ran 1-1/2" aluminum angle along the stock rails, and bolted the ramp to the angle. It works pretty decent. I had a fairing to cut down wind noise but I removed it as I'm in the process of installing a 42" LED light bar.
A pic of the rack from the top:
IMG_4935.JPG
Here is the pic of the angle attached to both the rail and the rack:
IMG_4936.JPG
As I said, I'm in the process of mounting a 42" curved LED light bar as well as 6" LED pod pairs on the sides and rear. I will post pictures of those as they are complete.

As I have had a break from my family and work, I have been slaving away at my trailer, better know as the E.A.T... As posted in the
camping rig section, I started with an old boat trailer and a dream that has started to come to fruition.
IMG_4914.JPG
IMG_4915.JPG
I beefed up the frame, ran a 2" x 1/4" thick square tube front to rear with a 2" receiver at the back, added a 3,500 pound axle and 6x5.5 hubs, 1.25" hub centric spacers pushing the track width out to within a 1/4" of the Soy, laid a 3/4 plywood floor and built the box on top out of 1/2" ply. I still have to add side door up front, a battery/tool box in front of the spare, and mack some mock rain gutters for the rack but It's usable. I ended up having to build custom fenders to accommodate the width after installing the spacers but I'm glad I ended up going that route anyway. The fenders are strong enough to jack the entire side of the trailer up and I can fit a full 20 lbs propane cylinder in the rear corner. I used some scrap mdf to build a stove/cooler slide out in the rear. I used some cheap drawer slides to get it done and now that I'm sold on the idea, I will buy some decent locking slides and use some good ply before fiberglassing the entire setup to seal it. I was throughly impressed with both how the trailer rode and how the Soy pulled it. I was able to make it down a trail that my buddies 80 series, and my brothers modified Pathfinder got stuck! I ended up finishing the trail, taking the long way to the trail entrance, and pulling both of them out. Both have made fun of the Soy's larger stature but they were not laughing as I pulled them out!

Here are a couple shots as we were getting ready to head home:
IMG_4917.JPG
IMG_4916.JPG
The longer I have the Soy, the more I fall in love with it! They are an outstanding, and very underrated off road rig!
 

Soy-Quoia

Familiar Member
Jan 8, 2017
66
71
18
Minnesota
Oh, one more item to address... I have been very dissatisfied with my Treadwright tires. I ended up having some vibration issues after installing the tires and Treadwright basically told me to go fly a kite... After a significant amount of weight we were able to get them to balance good but they cause a vibration between 45-55 mph. I have eliminated every possible issue from the vehicle itself, even to the point that I installed a different set of wheels and tires, and the vibration went away. So, I will be selling these tires and buying something else in the very near future. My recommendation is to not bother with the Treadwrights. They were a real let down.
 

Jim Smola

Moderator
Staff member
Founding Member
Dec 28, 2016
424
173
43
Inman SC
Alright... It's been far to long and no update from me... I haven't done too much to the old Soy. I'm still working with Gamiviti to make a slight tweak to their existing rack to allow use on a Sequoia but things have been slow. I needed/wanted a roof rack again so I took some ideas from Sal R. and made one. I took my old rack converted from an ATV ramp, cut it to 42", raised the stock rails 1/2", ran 1-1/2" aluminum angle along the stock rails, and bolted the ramp to the angle. It works pretty decent. I had a fairing to cut down wind noise but I removed it as I'm in the process of installing a 42" LED light bar.
A pic of the rack from the top:
View attachment 750
Here is the pic of the angle attached to both the rail and the rack:
View attachment 749
As I said, I'm in the process of mounting a 42" curved LED light bar as well as 6" LED pod pairs on the sides and rear. I will post pictures of those as they are complete.

As I have had a break from my family and work, I have been slaving away at my trailer, better know as the E.A.T... As posted in the
camping rig section, I started with an old boat trailer and a dream that has started to come to fruition.
View attachment 761
View attachment 762
I beefed up the frame, ran a 2" x 1/4" thick square tube front to rear with a 2" receiver at the back, added a 3,500 pound axle and 6x5.5 hubs, 1.25" hub centric spacers pushing the track width out to within a 1/4" of the Soy, laid a 3/4 plywood floor and built the box on top out of 1/2" ply. I still have to add side door up front, a battery/tool box in front of the spare, and mack some mock rain gutters for the rack but It's usable. I ended up having to build custom fenders to accommodate the width after installing the spacers but I'm glad I ended up going that route anyway. The fenders are strong enough to jack the entire side of the trailer up and I can fit a full 20 lbs propane cylinder in the rear corner. I used some scrap mdf to build a stove/cooler slide out in the rear. I used some cheap drawer slides to get it done and now that I'm sold on the idea, I will buy some decent locking slides and use some good ply before fiberglassing the entire setup to seal it. I was throughly impressed with both how the trailer rode and how the Soy pulled it. I was able to make it down a trail that my buddies 80 series, and my brothers modified Pathfinder got stuck! I ended up finishing the trail, taking the long way to the trail entrance, and pulling both of them out. Both have made fun of the Soy's larger stature but they were not laughing as I pulled them out!

Here are a couple shots as we were getting ready to head home:
View attachment 760
View attachment 763
The longer I have the Soy, the more I fall in love with it! They are an outstanding, and very underrated off road rig!
Love that you used the gen spokes on your trailer.
 

Soy-Quoia

Familiar Member
Jan 8, 2017
66
71
18
Minnesota
I have not done the dual battery install yet. I had a few other things come up and it was put on the back burner. I believe the install will move forward this winter while the Soy goes under the knife again. Tear down begins in the next week or so and I will update on the progress.
 

Soy-Quoia

Familiar Member
Jan 8, 2017
66
71
18
Minnesota
Alright... Time for an update. Finally pulled the Soy out of the garage. I refreshed the entire driveline with wheel bearings, SPC uca, lower ball joints, u-joints, ECGS clam shell bushing, half shafts, and finally installed and wired the dual batteries. Oh, and best of all, ditched the Treadwright experiment for some Discoverer ST Maxx in a 255/80R17 variety. Obviously most of it is pretty boring and you can't see it unless you look for it, so I won't post pictures. However, the dual battery install turned out decent.

I had pretty much everything sitting in a box in the corner. So I couldn't justify spending the few hundred dollars on a National Luna system. If you need to by all the parts to do the install, do yourself a favor and just get the Luna system... If you are/were a car audio nut at some point, do what I did.

IMG_6002.JPG

This is my switch panel. Voltage on the left is the main battery, right is my aux battery. Both are wired through relays that switch on and off with the key. The zombie looking switch on the right controls my big solenoid that connects the two batteries. That switch is also wired through a relay that disconnects with the key. So, if I forget the switch on, it still disconnects and isolated the batteries so they wont drain each other if left connected. The other switches control/will control the lights around my rig. Roof light and bumper light are wired. Side/rear/rock lights are yet to be wired.

IMG_6003.JPG
Here are the batteries. I built my own battery tray to house both batteries in the factory location and it fits well. Yellow top is the main battery, blue top is the aux. The large solenoid on the firewall make the connection between the two. My winch and lights run off the aux battery. After the voltage drains below 12v, I just flip the switch and it charges as the vehicle is turned on. (the coil of hose are my breathers for the diffs and transfer case. I still need to finish that project...)
 
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Soy-Quoia

Familiar Member
Jan 8, 2017
66
71
18
Minnesota
What snorkel is that? eBay special?
Sorry for not responding... Yes it was an eBay special. I'm going to start looking into an ARB snorkel. If I can reuse my existing holes, I will pull the trigger quick. If the fit will not work with whats already there, I am going to have a new fender painted when/if I finally get around to ordering a BFF rear bumper. If you are considering ordering one, just do it right the first time and order a Safari snorkel.