I've been a lurker here for quite a while, been a member of Yotatech for a long time but would like to get more involved here because of the vast knowledge of 3rd gens on this forum. Most of the complex part of my build is mainly complete, I just have a few large things to do before I stop dropping money into it.
I purchased this 4runner September 24, 2006 with 138,000 on the clock. I have added just under 140,000 miles since then. It was bone stock except for the upgraded stereo. It was in pristine condition, definitely a lucky find. It's main job was to get me to high school and back 10 miles away. Before long, I had dreams of making it more capable.
97 4Runner SR5 4x4
Suspension/Lift
Toytec coilovers 650 lbs.
OME 861 Coils Rear
Bilstein 5125's
Toytec 1" Body Lift
Toytec 1" Diff Drop
Camburg UCA's
Tires/Wheels
315/75/16 Cooper STT Pro Tires
16" Procomp Rock Crawler Wheels
Drive
3.4 V6
5 Speed Transmission Swap
4.30 Gears
E-Locker Retrofit
Diff Breather Mod
Performance/Electrical
ISR/Deckplate Mod
Hiflow Exaust
7" 6000K HID Offroad Lights on Bumper
170 Amp Alternator
Dual Optima Batteries
National Luna Battery control system
ARB Fridge
"Big 3" Wire Mod
Full Time Outlets
Exterior
ARB Front Bumper w/ M8000 Winch
Custom Rear Bumper w/ Tire Carrier
Trail Gear Sliders
Frame Endcap Mod
Custom Bolt on Jerry Can Carrier
Tepui Kukenam Rooftop Tent
Defender Rack Mounts
99+ Headlights
Interior/Communication
Cobra 19 Ultra III CB
4' Firestik II
Tacoma Whip Mod
Custom Rear Drawer System
Sleeping Platform
JDM Field Monitor Unit
Maglite mod under seat
Pioneer Head Unit
Wired for XM
Xplode Speakers all around
99+ Headlight/Foglight combination switch
How it all started...
The first change that happened was the removal of the running boards. Good thing I did before the rocks got to them. Next came the ARB bumper and the winch. This is the single best mod I have ever done, next to the locker. A winch and even one locker can get you through just about anything. You dont need huge tires or a lift for 98% of the trails that DD 4runners do. As for the ARB bumper, I think it is worth every penny. Its strong, looks great and gives you the protection for the unexpected. 2 winters back, I slid off the road on an icy curve and slammed head on into a pine tree going 25 mph. Without it, I would have suffered major damage no doubt. Now only a small dent helps me tell this story.
The Trail Gear sliders came next. Only being $130 for a pair, I thought it was a great deal. I would recommend them anytime, they sure have saved me more times than I can remember. I decided to weld them on, thinking they would be much stronger than bolt up. The problem with this is they can never come off unless cut off, but I didnt think I would ever need them off. And so they remain, and I still love them.
Then there was the exaust. It's only a Magnaflow muffler, an off brand of Flowmaster. I love it and it was only 40 bucks!
After doing some trail exploring with friends and lacking a CB when everyone else had one, I broke down and purchased a cobra CB from walmart. Coupled with my original Radio Shack magnetic antenna, it worked ok for close range. Eventually I replaced the antenna with a new 3' Firestik antenna mounted just above the passenger tail light on a special bracket that I modified to clear the hatch.
Next came the lift, tires and rims. I chose the Revtec 3" coilovers because they are relatively inexpensive, and had great reviews about a comfortable ride. By now, I was exploring tougher trails with larger rocks, and I found myself bashing an axle or a skid plate quite often. So I also decided to go with the 1" Toytec body lift so I could clear some new 305/70/R16 BF Goodrich All Terrain's. I was absolutely thrilled with these tires. They did great on snow and rocks, made no road noise and didnt reduce my gas mileage at all. This will not be the last time I purchase them.
The one thing bad about the body lift is the gap it creates between the front bumper and the body, as you can see. Years later I finally fix it, which I will explain about later.
I decided to Hurculine my rear bumper because as those of you that have the chrome rear bumper know, they are dent magnets. Luckily, I only managed to put a small dent on one corner before this. I also didnt like the fact that the rear bumper really stood out when the rest of the 4runner was either anthracite or black.
After applying this stuff, it pretty much made the bumper bulletproof. I swear you could shoot the thing with a .22 and the bullets would bounce right off. I lathered it on pretty thick, about 4 coats. I loved the look of it, I still do in fact. It gives it an awesome look as well as protects it. I have since moved on from that bumper, which is for sale if anyone wants it.
As for the Tundra brakes, I always kept hearing about how awesome they were. I also heard that they bolt right up. so eventually it was time to get new pads, so I went to my local brake shop and told them to replace my calipers with Tundra calipers and pads of a similar year. So he did, no problems.I'm really not sure on the size they are. I really didnt feel a huge difference in stopping power, if I could go back I probably wouldnt have spent the money on them.
The next mod to come was the rear differential breather extension mod. The new breather comes out at the gas filler. I think this is one of those must-do mods for all 3rd gen owners. We have weak axle seals as it is, and the vulnerable stock breather location lets moisture easily into the axle. This will blow your axle seals faster. Its cheap and easy, I dont see why everyone doesnt do it.
Who Besides me hates the fact that Toyota never made any of their 12v outlets full time? Domestic trucks got this one right. I hated that I could never charge a cell phone or something overnight when camping. On top of that, my outlet was fried because I used a 3 million candle power spotlight in it. All because of the cheap 20 guage wiring Toyota uses. To fix this I bought a couple of new outlets from Kragen, Along with some 12 guage wiring with 20 amp fuses and had at it. I wired these to a fuse block I already had to run some auxillary lights on my bumper and roof, and this was already tied directly to the battery, so I wired the outlets to it. I now use my stock outlet, another one wired near it, as well as one in the back for a future fridge/freezer. They are all full time, and can run up to 20 amps each. Easy to do, comes in handy, everyone should do it.
The next thing that had to be done was get rid of that flimsy power antenna that us SR5'ers were plagued with. If it was up, it would hit every branch and if it was bent at all it wouldnt go down, and it's motor would just constantly run. If it was down, you couldnt listen to the radio on the trail. The solution? order a whip design from a Tacoma. This mod took me less than an hour to accomplish, and I am super happy with it. I used an OEM one from Toyota, which was pricey. I'm sure you could get by with a generic one for less price. Follow this for instructions
The "Taco" Whip Antenna Mod
The next mod is one of my favorites. Many people say that deleting the ISR does nothing, but I beg to differ. This, coupled with the deckplate mod, gave me more throttle response and better acceleration. Not to mention the awesome roar it creates under the hood! Other than that it takes some PVC caps to cap off the parts where the funky plastic boxes were on the intake, and the ISR mod is complete. I love it, others dont, but I'm happy I did it. Heres the link to these mods
Intake Silencer Removal Mod Installation For '96 – '97 3.4L Engines - YotaTech Forums
(cant find a working thread for the deckplate mod, but you get the idea from the pics)
The next change on the 4runner wasn't really by choice, I had to do it. The front sway bar end links snapped.
Instead of replacing them, I decided to take the whole sway bar off and try driving it that way. I am convinced that the end links snapped because the IFS was overflexed, which means it would happen again if I replaced it, or got quick disconnect end links for the trails. I didnt mind driving with it off, it does lean a little more than it would with the sway bar on, but I dont drive like an idiot so I'm not worried I'm going to flip. Others have driven my 4runner and said it has scared the crap out of them, but I dont feel that way. This will not change anytime soon for me, I may even get quick disconnects for the rear sway bar to maximize flex.
One day I had nothing to do, and decided to fab up a jerry can carrier that is hitch mounted. This has come in very handy. I also bought an anti rattle bracket so nothing moves around when this is mounted.
I may soon sell this one and build a new one that better accomodates my new bumper.
Finally I broke down and got my Aussie Locker for the rear diff.
This has done wonders to my offroading experience, as all lockers should. The think about this though is that it absolutely kills my tires, especially in parking lots where I have to make tight turns. Above 20 mph, I dont even know its there. Under 20 mph, my diff might as well be welded. Its not a problem for manual transmissions, because they can just clutch in and cut power to the rear diff in turns. A friend of mine told me I should just punch it into neutral in sharp turns, and it really works but is a hassle. I am saving for an ARB locker for the rear, so I can order that when I order my front ARB locker. After I got the locker, I finally came out of my shell and started going on some wheeling trips with others of you from this site.
Finally the gap between the front bumper and the body finally got on my nerves enought for me to do something about it. To me this was like surgery. I had to cut the mounts for the bumper in half without damaging the support braces. This was very tough, since I had no access to a plasma cutter at the time. The I had to reweld them up exactly an inch higher than they were previously. On top of this I also cut off the stock end caps on the frame and trimmed and welded a piece of angle iron inside, which really increases the strength for winching capability. everyone who has a winch on their 4runner should do this; anyone who plans to move their winch bumper up an inch and continue to winch, this is a must do. You can also drill a new hole in the front of the new angle iron for new bumper mounts in the front, which I did. I highly recommend doing this. I've seen pics of other peoples 4runner's frames ripping apart because it was not reinforced. Better to be safe than sorry. Thanks to j-money$$$ for being the guinea pig for this - I followed his thread
Arb bumper with a body lift - fix - YotaTech Forums
Next I went out with some buddies to the Pismo Jamboree. Awesome experience, It'll be an annual trip for me for now on
Next one morning I noticed that my coolant was slightly redish, and very oily. This could only mean one thing - the milkshake. I immediately flushed my tranny and coolant and got a hayden tranny cooler. I'm an idiot for not doing this earlier. This is destined to happen to every 3rd gen out there, so PLEASE, for your sake, do this before you destroy your drivetrain. Go spend the $50 to prevent the milkshake from ever happening. Luckily I was able to catch it early enough so it didnt cause any damage.
I always liked to say my 4runner was in pristine condition, until the night that I flopped while snow wheeling.
Most of the damage was to just above the tail light where the CB mount dug into the body, most of the other dents came out. Still doesn't look quite right though. Was able to pull it over and drive it home just fine, just needed an alignment afterwards.
Then construction began on my rear bumper. It was custom designed my me and built my myself and a friend from college, who now owns perssonmotorsports.com
A few months after I decided it was time to upgrade my suspension, as my front passenger shock had literally exploded offroad. Time for Toytec coilovers up front and LC coils in the back.
My stock upper control arms rubbed on the tires with this new lift. Instead of getting spacers, I thought this would be a great excuse to get some Camburg UCA's
Then built myself a rear drawer system. It has since been covered with padding and carpeting, but you get the idea. Made of 3/4 inch plywood from old closet doors from my bedroom, so pretty much built these for free.
Since I have a spare tire on the back, I had to get a Trasharoo. I love this thing.
It is only used on camping trips, so it isn't on there all the time.
New tires will definitely come first, but the plan is to have the elocker by mid to late January. Still sucks being open for that long though.
man, sure took you alot faster than I ever did mine. I see some members are having a hard time finding these units nowadays.....lucky you! 
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